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Texas Roadtrip - Part 3
Driving Home from San Antonio
Mark D Larsen
June 16-18, 2025

After a thoroughly enjoyable visit with family in San Antonio, it was reluctantly time to head home. The night before I had plugged my 240V “granny” charger into Amanda’s dryer outlet, and by the morning Rocinante was again charged to 80%. We loaded the car, our ice chest, our snack sack, gave Amanda a farewell hug, and set the navigation directions to take us back to Junction.

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

Here is my usual introductory video to start the journey,

Moxie quickly curled up in her car seat, probably not thrilled to spend another three days on the road.

Here is the view ahead of the green rolling hills north of San Antonio.

We arrived at the chargers in the closed Econolodge motel with 43% in the battery.

I plugged into a 150 kW dispenser which predicted 12 minutes to reach 80%.

This time I noticed that there was all kinds of trash just tossed behind the transformers. Damn, and here I thought EV owners by default were more conscientious about the environment. Guess not.

Curiously, I could tell that the lone CHAdeMO charger hadn't been used in ages, since there was an elaborate spiderweb right under the plug's handle.

The charge finished with a guess of 225 miles of range, evidently boosted by driving at slower speeds in San Antonio.

I set the navigation to Ozona, and it predicted we'd arrive with 26%.

While in Texas I often saw these "Silver" alerts along the highways.

They admonished drivers to report any sighting of specific cars. I was told that the intent was apparently to locate elderly citizens who had gotten lost with dementia. This Nissan had been missing for days.

The hills started to flatten out a bit, although the surrounding areas were still green.

Rather than 26%, we arrived in Ozona with 34% left.

Having driven at freeway speeds, the 80% charge in Ozona guessed only 206 miles.

The map predicted 15% upon arrival in Ft. Stockton.

We again passed the wind generators, which were turning with the wind this morning. As you can see, we could see that temptress Dolly again.

Rather than 15%, the battery was at 26% when we reached Ft. Stockton.

It was getting hotter, and Moxie was reluctant to get out of the car.

The guessed range was now only 171 miles with an 80% charge.

The heat was starting to kick up dust devils on both sides of the interstate.

There are a couple of smaller dust devils in this video.

With 22% remaining, we arrived in Van Horn.

Oddly enough, there was a large Yerba Madre electric van plugged in next to us that was headed to Austin from California.

Moxie was perplexed to see such a big EV.

The 80% charge only guesses 160 miles of range.

We spent the night in a moderate Super 8 motel. The next morning the navigation to El Paso predicted that we'd arrive with 23% in the battery.

A dry, rugged, familiar mountain ahead.

My narration as we start the second day of our journey home.

After passing that mountain, we could see the Rio Grande and the Mexican farms on the other side.

The farms on this side of the river were extensive and flourishing.

I had to chuckle when I saw this exit sign. "Tornillo" means screw in Spanish, which strikes me as very appropriate, given what the administration’s Border Patrol is now doing to undocumented immigrants and even citizens in this country.

We actually arrived with 28%, rather than the predicted 23%.

Unfortunately, the charger was only producing 62 kW.

Even worse, after a half-hour the rate was still at only 67 kW.

I therefore unplugged after hitting 70%, which was nonetheless a few minutes beyond my "free" limit. I thus had to pay $1.21 for this pitiful charge, as I explained on the main page for this roadtrip.

Next stop would be in Deming, NM.

After again winding my way through the construction in El Paso, we finally reached the border.

I was amused by this roadrunner’zilla alongside the highway.

We now had the flat deserts of New Mexico ahead, hopefully without any dust storms, though we did hit a dust devil as narrated below.

Driving through a dust devil en route to Deming. You might notice in this movie and subsequent photos that I had resolved to henceforth just drive the speed limit, or even 5 miles above it, rather than trying to save battery, as I now realized that the difference in energy efficiency was fairly negligible.

We passed the familiar rough, dry mountains in New Mexico.

I could see a long load coming toward us on the other side of the highway.

As it got closer, I could see that it was a huge blade for a wind generator, probably en route to one of the Texas wind farms.

In the distance I could also see an orchard out in this dry desert, and wondered where they would get water to irrigate the trees.

Here's another dust devil swirling on that side of the highway.

We arrived in Deming with 19% in the battery.

Moxie was reluctant to get out of the car in the heat, but I found some shade for her under a nearby tree.

at our next stop in Lordsburg we had 47% left.

The good news is that the charging rate started out at 226 kW.

By the time the charge reached nearly 80%, the rate was still 157 kW.

The range guesstimate was now 173 miles.

The navigation showed that we'd arrive in Benson with 22%.

It amused me that the directions told us to exit at Pomerene Road. How flattering for Moxie!

We crossed the border into Arizona.

The same pile of bolders came into view.

We again passed many huge ones.

Here we are again approaching Benson, but this time in the day.

Sure enough, we came to Pomerene Road.

Upon arrival at the chargers, there was still 26% in the battery.

Moxie was getting tired, but agreed to take a bathroom break.

At least there was a bit of shade there for her.

It took only 13 minutes to finish charging.

The 80% charge guessed 171 miles to reach our motel in Tucson.

Here we arrived at the Quality Inn.

We still had a 56% charge, so I decided to charge the next day when leaving Tucson.

We could see the odd pinnacle near Tucson from our motel.

The room was very clean and comfortable, the best one we'd had on this trip.

The next day we drove just a couple of minutes to reach the Tucson chargers.

The 80% charge now guesstimated 172 miles of range.

That would be more that enough to drive to Casa Grande. The navigation predicted 53% upon arrival.

We drove by Tucson’s famous Picacho Peak en route to Casa Grande.

Here is a closer view of it.

I was impressed that the landscaping at the overpasses here were decorated with imitation Native American petroglyphs.

In hardly any time at all we reached the Casa Grande chargers.

We still had 60% —not 53%— in the battery.

After an 80% charge, the range was guessed to be 175 miles.

The navigation predicted that we'd make it to Dateland again with 17%.

Here is my narration to start the third day on the journey home.

I noticed that some of the Saguaro cacti had been damaged on their lower trunks. Their wounds looked burned, and I wondered if a wildfire had once blown through the area.

Farther along the highway I could see “forests” of Saguaros that didn't look damaged.

There is that odd, double trouble peak ahead.

We then started to pass large cornfields.

Also other types of crops. Alfalfa perhaps?

Then more corn again.

This was sight that I hadn’t noticed before. It was a large solar farm, but not of regular panels: they had reflecting concave mirrors that focused the sun on tubes. I would venture to guess that they were producing supplementary hot water for the geothermal plant behind them.

We arrived in Dateland and I plugged in.

Unfortunately, that charger was broken and only displayed computer code on the screen. I therefore moved to the next charger rated at 150 kW.

We'd arrived with 24% in the battery, and the charger started putting 173 kW into the pack.

By the time it neared 80%, the rate was still at 158 kW.

The guess-o-meter displayed 180 miles of range.

The navigation indicated nearly a two hour drive to Quartzsite, leaving 10% in the battery.

We again drove through the government proving ground and contemplated the oddly shaped mountains ahead.

I'm not sure what they are "proving" in this desolate area.

Here is that mountain with a topknot again.

And here is a volcanic cone.

The mountains looked rougher the closer we got.

There were some very sharp peaks along the ridges.

As we got closer to Quartzsite, we drove through a series of dips and rises on the road.

We arrived in Quartzsite, and I was surprised that we were the only EV plugged in this time.

Perhaps the scorching temperatures were discouraging travelers to be driving in the day.

Moxie was very reluctant to get out in those temperatures, but she did consent to let me carry her over to the pet area for a needed bathroom break.

We'd arrived with 12% instead of the predicted 10%, having averaged 2.6 miles-per-kWh.

I was amazed that the initial charge rate was 229 kW, despite the heat.

However, it ended at a lower than usual 134 kW rate after 18 minutes.

We now had a guessed range of 193 miles.

The navigation directed us back to Needles, with an arrival of 20% in the pack.

I was frustrated that we ended up behind a long convoy hauling an oversized load.

After the convoy turned off, we again had to drive over numerous dips and ridges. Then the road turned very rough as we wound through a canyon and then dropped down to Needles. You might notice that, just to experiment, I switched the heads up display from "augmented" to "standard."

I could see the green fields in Needles, fed by water from the Colorado River.

We arrived with 36% in the battery instead of 20%, having driven a 2.9 miles-per-kWh, probably boosted by having to follow that slow convoy.

After the 80% charge, the display guessed 169 miles.

The next stop would be back at Primm, supposedly with 26% still in the battery.

This took us back through the Joshua Tree National Monument.

After cresting the summit, we could again see the thermal solar farm in the distance.

We still had 35% in the battery when we arrived in Primm.

Moxie again recognized where we were, and deduced that we were going home finally.

The 80% charge now guessed a 183 miles range.

I set the navigation to take us to the chargers in Mesquite, NV.

While driving through Las Vegas, the sun started to set in the west.

In Mesquite the battery still had 28%.

This time the guessed range was ever higher with 194 miles.

I set the navigation to take us home, where we would arrive with 55%.

In reality, we pulled in front of the garage with 57%, with a 2.5 miles-per-kWh efficiency.

I admit that this roadtrip was extremely long, definitely not for the faint-of-heart. However, undertaking such a journey in an EV makes all the difference. Rocinante performed flawlessly, despite the occasional problems at the Electrify America chargers with reduced rates, broken dispensers, and a couple of wait times. Would I do it again? Absolutely, for I loved spending time with my family members, but not in the near future. Racking up so many miles and hours on the road is simply inevitable when one has children living so far away.
I just hope these narratives will help neophyte EV owners to know what to expect when taking such long distance roadtrips. At the very least, this journey disproves the false accusations of EV naysayers who claim you “can’t take roadtrips in them.”

Here is my usual introductory video to start the journey,
Moxie quickly curled up in her car seat, probably not thrilled to spend another three days on the road.	Here is the view ahead of the green rolling hills north of San Antonio.
We arrived at the chargers in the closed Econolodge motel with 43% in the battery.	I plugged into a 150 kW dispenser which predicted 12 minutes to reach 80%.
This time I noticed that there was all kinds of trash just tossed behind the transformers. Damn, and here I thought EV owners by default were more conscientious about the environment. Guess not.	Curiously, I could tell that the lone CHAdeMO charger hadn't been used in ages, since there was an elaborate spiderweb right under the plug's handle.
The charge finished with a guess of 225 miles of range, evidently boosted by driving at slower speeds in San Antonio.	I set the navigation to Ozona, and it predicted we'd arrive with 26%.
While in Texas I often saw these "Silver" alerts along the highways.	They admonished drivers to report any sighting of specific cars. I was told that the intent was apparently to locate elderly citizens who had gotten lost with dementia. This Nissan had been missing for days.
The hills started to flatten out a bit, although the surrounding areas were still green.	Rather than 26%, we arrived in Ozona with 34% left.
Having driven at freeway speeds, the 80% charge in Ozona guessed only 206 miles.	The map predicted 15% upon arrival in Ft. Stockton.
We again passed the wind generators, which were turning with the wind this morning. As you can see, we could see that temptress Dolly again.
Rather than 15%, the battery was at 26% when we reached Ft. Stockton.	It was getting hotter, and Moxie was reluctant to get out of the car.
The guessed range was now only 171 miles with an 80% charge.	The heat was starting to kick up dust devils on both sides of the interstate.
There are a couple of smaller dust devils in this video.
With 22% remaining, we arrived in Van Horn.	Oddly enough, there was a large Yerba Madre electric van plugged in next to us that was headed to Austin from California.
Moxie was perplexed to see such a big EV.	The 80% charge only guesses 160 miles of range.
We spent the night in a moderate Super 8 motel. The next morning the navigation to El Paso predicted that we'd arrive with 23% in the battery.	A dry, rugged, familiar mountain ahead.
My narration as we start the second day of our journey home.
After passing that mountain, we could see the Rio Grande and the Mexican farms on the other side.
The farms on this side of the river were extensive and flourishing.	I had to chuckle when I saw this exit sign. "Tornillo" means screw in Spanish, which strikes me as very appropriate, given what the administration’s Border Patrol is now doing to undocumented immigrants and even citizens in this country.
We actually arrived with 28%, rather than the predicted 23%.	Unfortunately, the charger was only producing 62 kW.
Even worse, after a half-hour the rate was still at only 67 kW.	I therefore unplugged after hitting 70%, which was nonetheless a few minutes beyond my "free" limit. I thus had to pay $1.21 for this pitiful charge, as I explained on the main page for this roadtrip.
Next stop would be in Deming, NM.	After again winding my way through the construction in El Paso, we finally reached the border.
I was amused by this roadrunner’zilla alongside the highway.	We now had the flat deserts of New Mexico ahead, hopefully without any dust storms, though we did hit a dust devil as narrated below.
Driving through a dust devil en route to Deming. You might notice in this movie and subsequent photos that I had resolved to henceforth just drive the speed limit, or even 5 miles above it, rather than trying to save battery, as I now realized that the difference in energy efficiency was fairly negligible.
We passed the familiar rough, dry mountains in New Mexico.	I could see a long load coming toward us on the other side of the highway.
As it got closer, I could see that it was a huge blade for a wind generator, probably en route to one of the Texas wind farms.	In the distance I could also see an orchard out in this dry desert, and wondered where they would get water to irrigate the trees.
Here's another dust devil swirling on that side of the highway.	We arrived in Deming with 19% in the battery.
Moxie was reluctant to get out of the car in the heat, but I found some shade for her under a nearby tree.	at our next stop in Lordsburg we had 47% left.
The good news is that the charging rate started out at 226 kW.	By the time the charge reached nearly 80%, the rate was still 157 kW.
The range guesstimate was now 173 miles.	The navigation showed that we'd arrive in Benson with 22%.
It amused me that the directions told us to exit at Pomerene Road. How flattering for Moxie!	We crossed the border into Arizona.
The same pile of bolders came into view.	We again passed many huge ones.
Here we are again approaching Benson, but this time in the day.
Sure enough, we came to Pomerene Road.	Upon arrival at the chargers, there was still 26% in the battery.
Moxie was getting tired, but agreed to take a bathroom break.	At least there was a bit of shade there for her.
It took only 13 minutes to finish charging.	The 80% charge guessed 171 miles to reach our motel in Tucson.
Here we arrived at the Quality Inn.	We still had a 56% charge, so I decided to charge the next day when leaving Tucson.
We could see the odd pinnacle near Tucson from our motel.	The room was very clean and comfortable, the best one we'd had on this trip.
The next day we drove just a couple of minutes to reach the Tucson chargers.	The 80% charge now guesstimated 172 miles of range.
That would be more that enough to drive to Casa Grande. The navigation predicted 53% upon arrival.	We drove by Tucson’s famous Picacho Peak en route to Casa Grande.
Here is a closer view of it.	I was impressed that the landscaping at the overpasses here were decorated with imitation Native American petroglyphs.
In hardly any time at all we reached the Casa Grande chargers.	We still had 60% —not 53%— in the battery.
After an 80% charge, the range was guessed to be 175 miles.	The navigation predicted that we'd make it to Dateland again with 17%.
Here is my narration to start the third day on the journey home.
I noticed that some of the Saguaro cacti had been damaged on their lower trunks. Their wounds looked burned, and I wondered if a wildfire had once blown through the area.	Farther along the highway I could see “forests” of Saguaros that didn't look damaged.
There is that odd, double trouble peak ahead.	We then started to pass large cornfields.
Also other types of crops. Alfalfa perhaps?	Then more corn again.
This was sight that I hadn’t noticed before. It was a large solar farm, but not of regular panels: they had reflecting concave mirrors that focused the sun on tubes. I would venture to guess that they were producing supplementary hot water for the geothermal plant behind them.
We arrived in Dateland and I plugged in.	Unfortunately, that charger was broken and only displayed computer code on the screen. I therefore moved to the next charger rated at 150 kW.
We'd arrived with 24% in the battery, and the charger started putting 173 kW into the pack.	By the time it neared 80%, the rate was still at 158 kW.
The guess-o-meter displayed 180 miles of range.	The navigation indicated nearly a two hour drive to Quartzsite, leaving 10% in the battery.
We again drove through the government proving ground and contemplated the oddly shaped mountains ahead.	I'm not sure what they are "proving" in this desolate area.
Here is that mountain with a topknot again.	And here is a volcanic cone.
The mountains looked rougher the closer we got.	There were some very sharp peaks along the ridges.
As we got closer to Quartzsite, we drove through a series of dips and rises on the road.
We arrived in Quartzsite, and I was surprised that we were the only EV plugged in this time.	Perhaps the scorching temperatures were discouraging travelers to be driving in the day.
Moxie was very reluctant to get out in those temperatures, but she did consent to let me carry her over to the pet area for a needed bathroom break.	We'd arrived with 12% instead of the predicted 10%, having averaged 2.6 miles-per-kWh.
I was amazed that the initial charge rate was 229 kW, despite the heat.	However, it ended at a lower than usual 134 kW rate after 18 minutes.
We now had a guessed range of 193 miles.	The navigation directed us back to Needles, with an arrival of 20% in the pack.
I was frustrated that we ended up behind a long convoy hauling an oversized load.
After the convoy turned off, we again had to drive over numerous dips and ridges. Then the road turned very rough as we wound through a canyon and then dropped down to Needles. You might notice that, just to experiment, I switched the heads up display from "augmented" to "standard."
I could see the green fields in Needles, fed by water from the Colorado River.	We arrived with 36% in the battery instead of 20%, having driven a 2.9 miles-per-kWh, probably boosted by having to follow that slow convoy.
After the 80% charge, the display guessed 169 miles.	The next stop would be back at Primm, supposedly with 26% still in the battery.
This took us back through the Joshua Tree National Monument.
After cresting the summit, we could again see the thermal solar farm in the distance.	We still had 35% in the battery when we arrived in Primm.
Moxie again recognized where we were, and deduced that we were going home finally.	The 80% charge now guessed a 183 miles range.
I set the navigation to take us to the chargers in Mesquite, NV.	While driving through Las Vegas, the sun started to set in the west.
In Mesquite the battery still had 28%.	This time the guessed range was ever higher with 194 miles.
I set the navigation to take us home, where we would arrive with 55%.	In reality, we pulled in front of the garage with 57%, with a 2.5 miles-per-kWh efficiency.