After staying close to home for three years to avoid COVID, my husband Andy and I were eager for a change of scenery.  Anticipating, last February, that the winter’s atmospheric rivers would lead to a “superbloom” of native wildflowers, we planned a spring road trip to Carrizo Plain National Monument in San Luis Obispo County. Carrizo Plain is the largest single native grassland remaining in California and is known for its spectacular spring wildflowers, birding opportunities, and solitude. It is remote and almost entirely undeveloped – the perfect challenge for planning our first road trip in our new, all-electric Tesla Model Y. There are no services within or anywhere near the Monument – no food, water, gas stations, and, certainly, no EV charging stations. Could we do it? And, if we were going to drive all the way to Carrizo Plain, what other sights could we see in that part of California?

Making a Plan

We had briefly visited Carrizo Plain 30 years earlier on a trip to Southern California by taking a long detour off Interstate 5.  Hoping for a more scenic drive this time, I looked for options to approach from Interstate 101 and realized that doing so offered the opportunity to also explore a section of the Central Coast we had not previously visited.  With the aid of Travelocity and Plugshare, I made lodging reservations and plotted a route that would take us to Paso Robles, Carrizo Plain, Pismo Beach, Morro Bay, Cambria, Atascadero, San Luis Obispo, and Pinnacles National Park.

Travelocity allowed me to filter my lodgings search to show only those accommodations with onsite EV charging. I simply entered my destination and dates, then scrolled down to “Amenities” in the list of filters on the left side of the screen, clicked on “See more”, and selected “Electric car charging station” from the drop-down menu.

Plugshare’s Trip Planner showed me even more charging stations all along the route, as well as the miles between each of our destinations.  The Trip Planner accounts for the make and model of EV being driven and flags any trip segments that appear too long for the vehicle’s range.  Initially, it flagged the entire first day of our trip, which I thought was odd since the number of miles I wanted to travel that day was well within our Tesla’s range.  Eventually, it dawned on me that Plugshare was not “aware” that we have a Level 2 EV charger at home and would be starting our trip with a full battery.  This was easily resolved by designating a nearby public EV charger, rather than our home address, as our starting location. 

Hitting the Road

The only part of the trip that really posed a challenge was our primary destination: Carrizo Plain.  Aside from campsites, there is only one lodging option within at least 20 miles of the National Monument and there are no charging stations within 50 miles or more.  The Plain is nestled between two mountain ranges and all services are on the other sides of those ranges, with the exception of one old motel just outside the Monument boundary.  Staying at that motel would enable us to spend a few days exploring the Monument without having to commute back to civilization each day but it had no EV charger.  I needed to figure out how to ensure we would have sufficient juice remaining in our battery to get back over the mountain range to a charging station at the end of a multi-day stay at such a remote location.  As it turned out, we made it out of Carrizo Plain with battery juice to spare.   

Our first stop was Paso Robles, a three-hour drive from our Bay Area home.  Having gotten off to a very late start, we drove straight through and arrived at the Adelaide Inn around 10pm.  We unloaded only what we needed for our overnight stay, then plugged our car into one of the inn’s two complimentary Level 2 EV chargers.  By early the next morning, Andy, the car, and I were all recharged and ready for the drive to Carrizo Plain. That drive, alone, was worth the entire trip. Mile after mile, the road was flanked by huge, gorgeous swaths of wildflowers.  

Our reservation for the next two nights would be at the California Valley Lodge, the old motel located just outside the Carrizo Plain National Monument boundary but far from anything else.  The Lodge has definitely seen better days, but our room was spacious and came equipped with a full-size refrigerator, microwave, and just enough counter space to accommodate the portable induction cooker we had taken with us so we could prepare our own meals (this was an all-electric trip in more ways than one!). 

Have Plug, Will Travel

Although there are no EV chargers at the California Valley Lodge, the manager had told us there was an RV hook-up onsite, which he thought might work for us.  His uncertainty made us a little nervous, but, after some deliberation, we had decided it to take the risk. Upon our arrival, however, the manager said the RV hook-up was no longer an option (we never found out why). Fortunately, he had another idea.  Directly across the road was an old, defunct gas station under the same ownership as the motel. 

Although the pumps had been removed long ago and the building was vacant, the electricity still worked and there was an exterior outlet we could use.  It was only a standard 120V outlet, so we would be trickle charging, not supercharging, but that was sufficient to more than replace, overnight, whatever energy we used on our daily excursions around the Monument. I loved the poetic justice of recharging our EV at a defunct gas station!

Carrizo Plain was in full bloom and truly a feast for the senses. We could easily have enjoyed a much longer stay but, after two nights there and with the temperature rapidly rising, it was time to move on to our next destination: Pismo Beach.  Enroute, we were lucky enough to spot a small herd of pronghorn antelope and we made lots of stops to admire the wildflowers.

Coastal Day Trips

Our lodging in Pismo Beach – aptly named the Beach House Inn — was right next to the beach and our room included a kitchenette where we were, again, able to put our induction cooker to good use.  There were a couple Level 2 EV chargers in the inn’s parking garage. The front desk clerk had kindly emailed me a photo of one of the chargers in advance so we could determine whether it was compatible with the Tesla, and Andy had made sure we had the appropriate adapter to match that charger.  

We made Pismo Beach our temporary home base from which to explore the coast and took day trips to Morro Bay, Cambria, and surrounding points of interest. Highlights included birdwatching at Morro Rock, wandering through the Elfin Forest in Los Osos, walking the Bluff Trail at Fiscalini Ranch Preserve, and visiting the Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero. Since we were preparing our own meals, we also stopped at the Cambria farmers’ market to pick up some locally grown produce and organic artisan bread from a San Luis Obispo bakery.  As we had done in Carrizo Plain, we simply plugged-in the “Mothership” at the end of each day and headed out with a full — or nearly full — battery each morning.

Nightly charging wasn’t really necessary, since none of our excursions came even close to exceeding our vehicle’s 330-mile range, but having a fully charged battery each morning gave us peace of mind and the flexibility to explore and take unplanned detours.  When it was time to head back toward the Bay Area, we took our time and detoured by Bread Bike Bakery in San Luis Obispo to pick up a couple loaves of the artisan bread we had discovered at the farmers market and then stopped in Paso Robles to try the sheep’s milk ice cream at Negranti Creamery (we now fantasize about driving to Paso Robles for dessert several nights a week!).  Having started our return trip with a full charge, we had battery miles to spare when we encountered a long stretch of backed up traffic on 101 near King City; thus, we were able to take advantage of an unplanned backroads detour recommended by the Tesla’s navigation system.

Our Last Day

We spent the last night of our trip at a Motel 6 in Soledad so we could get up early the next morning to visit Pinnacles National Park before driving the final leg of our journey home. There was no EV charger at the motel but there was a Tesla Supercharger station less than a block away.  We were confident we had sufficient battery charge remaining to drive to and from Pinnacles and still have enough to get home but . . . well, frankly, we didn’t know what else to do in Soledad on a Monday evening, so we decided to visit the Supercharger and “top off” our battery just to give ourselves an extra cushion and kill some time. In less than thirty minutes, I had completed a crossword puzzle and the Tesla battery was full. 

We had a lovely hike at Pinnacles the next day, aside from getting caught in a brief hailstorm, which made our descent from the upper stretch of the Juniper Canyon Loop trail a bit treacherous. Our subsequent drive home took longer than anticipated, due to a torrential rainstorm, but we eventually arrived safely. With impeccable timing, the sun came out just as we pulled into our driveway. 

Reflections

We had been gone nine days and traveled nearly 1000 fossil fuel-free miles, while incurring no costs to power our vehicle (not counting our stop at the Tesla Supercharger, since we didn’t need those kilowatts to complete our trip). In the end, all but one of our lodgings had provided free EV charging onsite. This saved us over $300 compared to what we would have paid for gas to power our old internal combustion SUV.  We had also saved money by preparing all but one of our dinners on our induction cooker. Now that we’ve experienced how easy, fun, and economical road tripping in an EV can be, we’re looking forward to many more all-electric adventures.

Editor’s note: Please note that while electricity rates do vary from place to place, it is generally cheaper to charge a car than it is to fill up with gasoline. Gas prices also are more volatile and electricity prices more stable. Charging should be done with permission, as it was in the case of Kathleen’s stay at the Lodge.