Mountain Climb From Exeter to Mineral King

[johnr]

Went from Exeter to Mineral King the other day. It was an experiment in completely draining the battery on a long steep climb, then relying on regenerative braking on the way back to make it home again - and it was a success!

The first half of the route is highway and mostly level, then the second half is a narrow, twisty, steep road. Total distance is 49 miles one way, 98 miles round trip. On the highway, we kept to about 50mph on the way up, and 40mph on the way back (not much traffic, so it wasn't a problem) - and of course, slower on the twisty road. The Leaf handles it in style, no problem at all. Except it sure eats up electrons! Starting with a full charge, the indicator changed to triple dashes three miles before reaching the top - but we made it there. I figure another mile and it would have entered turtle mode. After a nice hike on a beautiful day, it was time to head back home. On the way back down, it managed to regenerate two solid bars of range which was just enough to make it all the way back home without stopping to charge (if I had to, I could have stopped at a friend's house in Lemon Cove). Here's a map, an elevation profile, and a couple of photos.

{View in Google Earth}

Map of route: {Bing Maps}

[Boomer23]

Incredible report. Imagine, three flashing bars at the top and you made it all the way back home. Amazing, and very brave of you, I'd say.

Of course, those Red LEAFs seem to have more range than the rest of us.

[DaveEV]

Wow - so 7000+ ft of climbing and 98 miles all on a single charge! That has got to be a new record! How much did you have left when you got home - and what was your backup plan if you didn't make it to the top?

Kinda makes a 70 mile 4200 ft climb trip (net elevation gain of about 2000 ft) trip I've been thinking seem easy in comparison...

How did you generate that elevation chart?

[TonyWilliams]

How did you generate that elevation chart?

Ya, what he said !!!

[ahagge]

Way cool trip! We camped by Mineral King (and hiked to Monarch Lakes) a few years ago...gorgeous spot. But that drive up is nasty with turns! Did you carry your own GPS with you? I wish we could get access to GPS info from the LEAF itself.

I'm 99% certain that the graph was generated by Google Earth using a GPS log that JohnR got from somewhere (I'm presuming a personal GPS or smartphone that he carried with him). I use it all the time for generating elevation profiles when hiking and biking. Cool tool especially if your GPS logs speed, heart rate, cadence or other data, as it can overlay that on top of the elevation profile.

It took guts to drive to the dreaded '---' with no certain way to charge at the top. Kudos to you for your bravery!

[occ]

Wow! That's a pretty awesome (and daring) trip! Very good to know the LEAF can do that...I don't think I would have the guts...congrats and thanks for the report!

[johnr]

Wow! That's a pretty awesome (and daring) trip! Very good to know the LEAF can do that...I don't think I would have the guts...congrats and thanks for the report!

Thanks, occ, and everyone else, for your kind words. I felt like doing something awesome, and I guess this counts

Wow - so 7000+ ft of climbing and 98 miles all on a single charge! That has got to be a new record! How much did you have left when you got home - and what was your backup plan if you didn't make it to the top?

Kinda makes a 70 mile 4200 ft climb trip (net elevation gain of about 2000 ft) trip I've been thinking seem easy in comparison...

How did you generate that elevation chart?

This was the second time I tried something like this - the first one (see here) wasn't quite as ambitious, but it helped me gain the confidence to try this. Really, I wasn't completely certain I'd make it all the way to the top - but I wasn't afraid of getting stranded either - if I had to turn around, it's all downhill for a long ways, and then I have a friend in Three Rivers who would let me charge at his house if needed. There was one thing I was afraid of - if it entered turtle mode and got so low it wouldn't start up again. So I determined to not let it get to turtle - or if it did, to stop immediately. There is no way to charge at the top - there is no electricity up there except for a few cabins that have solar panels!

I admit I was also nervous on the way back, after descending several miles and it still showed flashing dashes! But then it suddenly changed to a mileage number and kept growing.

The main thing is keeping your highway speed slow enough. If you go half as fast, you can go twice as far. For the elevation chart, I used Google Earth. I didn't carry a GPS, but I just plot the route using "directions from ... to ..." and then hit "edit ... show elevation profile".

I wonder if any other electric vehicles have made it in to Mineral King. Or am I the first?

Way cool trip! We camped by Mineral King (and hiked to Monarch Lakes) a few years ago...gorgeous spot. But that drive up is nasty with turns!

Yeah, Mineral King is one of my favorite spots, and I was hoping to be able to reach it in the LEAF. Well, it's possible, just barely. Yes, that is quite a gnarly road ... but I also find it fun to drive!

[trentr]

My hat is off to you, simply amazing! How many people in the car?

[TangoKilo]

I did a similar run down here in SoCal a week ago. 94 mile round trip to Newcombs Ranch with a 5000' elevation change... The LEAF is a very nice ride in the mountains!

[TonyWilliams]

just plot the route using "directions from ... to ..." and then hit "edit ... show elevation profile".

My Google Earth elevation profile pops up in metric !!! I cannot figure out how to change that. I guess I'll just learn the French measuring system.