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Plugging Right Along
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SLC Roadtrip - Part 1
Driving to Salt Lake City

Mark D Larsen

November 11, 2025

As indicated on the initial webpage for this roadtrip, Part 1 is an annotated album of driving to Salt Lake City.

NOTE: You can click on the following photos to enlarge them and the movies to play them.

Early that morning, I set Rocinante to charge to 100%, knowing that we'd have a steep climb ahead of us en route to the first charging site in Beaver, Utah. As you can see in this screenshot, the guess-o-meter predicted 408 miles of range when we left.

When we got in the car, with the climate control on, that guesstimate dropped to 402 miles.

I describe where we're at and where we're going on this short roadtrip.

I took this photo when we left that estimated we'd have a 34% charge when we arrived at Beaver after driving an hour and forty minutes.

Climbing the canyon did take its toll on our energy efficiency, lowering it to 2.6 miles-per-kWh.

I took this photo after the highway leveled out when nearly to Cedar City.

I was amused to see way over in someone's field the same metal "pack train" sculptures we have seen on the highway to Las Vegas.

There wasn't any snow on the peaks above Brian Head ski resort yet.

The mountains along the side of the highway were quite rugged.

We spotted some cows, so Moxie sounded the alarm about the dangerous livestock.

We are approaching Beaver where we'll stop to take a bathroom break and charge Rocinante.

We plugged in at the only charger unoccupied, a 150 kW model.

As you can see, we still had 52% in the battery, with a guessed range of 177 miles when we arrived, having achieved 3.0 miles-per-kWh.

The display predicted it would take 11 minutes to charge to 80%, with an initial rate of 150 kW.

Moxie perked up to look out the side window.

What caught here attention were two "cousins" in the EV charging next to us.

The charger was still cranking out 127 kW when the session was nearly finished.

We now had a guesstimate of 283 miles.

Continuing on, we now passed more rugged mountains.

The display predicted that we'd have 38% in the battery when we reached the next charging stop in Scipio, Utah.

We passed Moxie's favorite exit along this interstate.

I couldn't see any snow at the Eagle Mountain ski resort to the east.

Here we are dropped down to Scipio where we'll plug in at the charging site visible on the left.

Another EV was leaving right when we arrived, so we ended up as the only EV plugged in.

We're arrived with 152 miles, 51% in the battery, and an efficiency average of 3.2 miles-per-kWh.

Even though this was a 350 kW charger, the initial speed was only 173 kW.

I really like that this site has a solar canopy over each charger.

I was also impressed to see that it had a garbage can and squeegees for washing off windshields.

It even had a fire extinguisher, in case ever needed.

I was also amused to see that nearby there was a rustic direction sign.

When nearly finished, the charge was at 99 kW.

The guessed range to reach SLC was now at 247 miles.

I set the navigation to take us to the next chargers at a Sam's Cub in SLC.

The display predicted it would take us almost 2 hours to drive 118 miles, and we'd arrive with 22%.

Funny thing, I've driven this interstate many times, but had never noticed the colored strata in these hills before.

Whoops. Someone had exceeded the 80 MPH speed limit. That is too fast for me, as I drive these highways at 75 MPH. I noticed that Mount Nebo in the background didn't seem to have any snow yet on its highest peaks.

Nor did Mount Timpanogos have snow on its peaks as we approached Provo.

We arrived at the chargers in the Sam's Club parking lot.

We still had 32% and 92 miles left, having achieved 3.4 mile-per-kWh of efficiency.

This time the 350 kW charger started out with 198 kW.

It then went up to 202 kW and predicted a 14 minute wait time to charge.

When finished, we now had 203 miles to drive locally around the area for the next day.

Now that we had arrived in Salt Lake City, readers might find Part 2 more interesting, as it details touring around the area instead of a mere travel log.

Early that morning, I set Rocinante to charge to 100%, knowing that we'd have a steep climb ahead of us en route to the first charging site in Beaver, Utah. As you can see in this screenshot, the guess-o-meter predicted 408 miles of range when we left.	When we got in the car, with the climate control on, that guesstimate dropped to 402 miles.
I describe where we're at and where we're going on this short roadtrip.
I took this photo when we left that estimated we'd have a 34% charge when we arrived at Beaver after driving an hour and forty minutes.	Climbing the canyon did take its toll on our energy efficiency, lowering it to 2.6 miles-per-kWh.
I took this photo after the highway leveled out when nearly to Cedar City.	I was amused to see way over in someone's field the same metal "pack train" sculptures we have seen on the highway to Las Vegas.
There wasn't any snow on the peaks above Brian Head ski resort yet.	The mountains along the side of the highway were quite rugged.
We spotted some cows, so Moxie sounded the alarm about the dangerous livestock.
We are approaching Beaver where we'll stop to take a bathroom break and charge Rocinante.	We plugged in at the only charger unoccupied, a 150 kW model.
As you can see, we still had 52% in the battery, with a guessed range of 177 miles when we arrived, having achieved 3.0 miles-per-kWh.	The display predicted it would take 11 minutes to charge to 80%, with an initial rate of 150 kW.
Moxie perked up to look out the side window.	What caught here attention were two "cousins" in the EV charging next to us.
The charger was still cranking out 127 kW when the session was nearly finished.	We now had a guesstimate of 283 miles.
Continuing on, we now passed more rugged mountains.	The display predicted that we'd have 38% in the battery when we reached the next charging stop in Scipio, Utah.
We passed Moxie's favorite exit along this interstate.	I couldn't see any snow at the Eagle Mountain ski resort to the east.
Here we are dropped down to Scipio where we'll plug in at the charging site visible on the left.	Another EV was leaving right when we arrived, so we ended up as the only EV plugged in.
We're arrived with 152 miles, 51% in the battery, and an efficiency average of 3.2 miles-per-kWh.	Even though this was a 350 kW charger, the initial speed was only 173 kW.
I really like that this site has a solar canopy over each charger.	I was also impressed to see that it had a garbage can and squeegees for washing off windshields.
It even had a fire extinguisher, in case ever needed.	I was also amused to see that nearby there was a rustic direction sign.
When nearly finished, the charge was at 99 kW.	The guessed range to reach SLC was now at 247 miles.
I set the navigation to take us to the next chargers at a Sam's Cub in SLC.	The display predicted it would take us almost 2 hours to drive 118 miles, and we'd arrive with 22%.
Funny thing, I've driven this interstate many times, but had never noticed the colored strata in these hills before.	Whoops. Someone had exceeded the 80 MPH speed limit. That is too fast for me, as I drive these highways at 75 MPH. I noticed that Mount Nebo in the background didn't seem to have any snow yet on its highest peaks.
Nor did Mount Timpanogos have snow on its peaks as we approached Provo.	We arrived at the chargers in the Sam's Club parking lot.
We still had 32% and 92 miles left, having achieved 3.4 mile-per-kWh of efficiency.	This time the 350 kW charger started out with 198 kW.
It then went up to 202 kW and predicted a 14 minute wait time to charge.	When finished, we now had 203 miles to drive locally around the area for the next day.