This is part three of a five part series that is describing an epic road trip to Alaska that was made from North Carolina with a Rivian R1S. Please be sure to read part one and part two of the story before continuing with this post.
I Made It! Now What?
As described in part two of this series, the epic EV road trip to Alaska was successful. Mission accomplished! I was met by our Alaska employees (who are also family) and we enjoyed a nice evening of good food and company. We also discussed a little business but that part is boring and nobody wants to hear about that.
My plan was to hang out in Alaska for about a week before starting the long road back to North Carolina. Fortunately, there was a nice bank of Tesla chargers in Chugiak which is just north of Anchorage and by Eagle River where I was staying. It was perfect because this set of Tesla chargers has the CCS adapter built in so I didn’t need the Tesla adapter (which I didn’t have). Otherwise, without the built in adapter readily available, there was another charger there but it wouldn’t have been as fast. The Tesla Superchargers were about as fast as you could get and enabled me to easily and quickly start out everyday with a decent charge.
So Much To See!
Alaska is a big state, a very big state with so much to see and do. There is a saying up there that Alaska is only 20 minutes away from Anchorage. It really doesn’t take long to get out of the city and into awe inspiring country that never ceases to amaze. It is absolutely stunning! I travel to Alaska often but what did I want to see on this trip? Could the EV handle driving around the state like a tourist? The only way to find out was to get out an explore, like the Rivian slogan, adventurous forever!
The Best Laid Plans Of Mice and Men…
If you have read the first two posts about this great adventure, then you know that I meticulously planed everything out and knew the locations of all of the charging stations that I would need. Alaska doesn’t have the same level of infrastructure that Canada has but it did have chargers located in key strategic spots that would be needed for any extended trips around the state. Unfortunately, a few of these key spots went offline during our trip. One of the manufactures of charging stations used in Alaska, Freewire, went out of business while I was on the trip. This really threw a monkey wrench into everything as it eliminated some key charging locations that were absolutely needed in order to explore certain areas of Alaska. Furthermore, it caused major anxiety as Freewire chargers were used in some locations in Canada. One specifically was absolutely needed to get home. It was going to be an interesting and somewhat stressful ride back!
Day Tripper…
Despite some of the chargers in Alaska going offline, I was still able to work things out and take the Rivian on some exciting day trips. A few nice trips included:
Talkeetna
This is probably the best place to get a good view of Denali but it is always hit-n-miss due to the weather. The mountain is so big that it really has its own weather and it is difficult to get good views of the mountain. The only thing you can do is go check it out and hope for a good viewing. The town is super quaint and has some nice restaurants, local shops filled with art and even very nice beach access to the river. So a trip to Talkeetna is never a wasted trip but if you are lucky you might get a great view of the largest mountain in North America. It was unfortunate but on this trip Denali was covered in clouds so I didn’t get to see it. The trip there, however, was wonderful. Instead of taking the main highway (highway 3) to Talkeetna, I drove up to Hatcher Pass and took the long dirt road from Independence Mine over to Willow where I joined the highway and finished the drive up to Talkeetna. While at Talkeetna, I was able to find and use a trickle charger at the Talkeetna Historical Society which gave me enough of a charge to comfortably make it back to Anchorage.
Seward
This is always a favorite spot to visit. The drive to Seward is spectacular and the town itself is a nice attraction. There is the Alaska SeaLife Center, beautiful beach access, and some exceptional hiking trails (e.g. the Exit Glacier up to the Harding Ice Field…Amazing!). The trip to Seward would not have been possible without the fast charger at the Seward Visitor Center as the only other charger in the area, located at Cooper Landing, was offline.
Homer
The trip to Homer almost didn’t happen as the fast chargers in both Homer and Cooper Landing were offline with no indication of when they would be back online. It was a 225 mile drive down to Homer so reliable charges were definitely needed for this trip. There was a Telsa supercharger and another charger of unknown speed at a Ford dealer in Soldotna. I decided to cautiously start the trip knowing that I could turn around in Soldotna if I needed to (although it was 150 miles to Soldotna so it was going to be close if I had to abandon the trip and turn around). I made it to the Tesla charger but, unlike the Tesla charger near Eagle River, it didn’t have the adapter so it was of no use to me. I continued on to the Ford dealer and was pleased to find a super fast charger that was actually free to use. Those random free charging stations are the best! I filled up on electricity and continued the additional 80 miles to Homer knowing that this charger in Soldotna was it until I returned here once again to charge on my way back.
Homer was an amazing place and I actually spent a few days there exploring around the city and onto the spit (the peninsula at the bottom of Homer). The beaches were amazing and the number of bald eagles that fly around the city are incredible.
The return trip back to Anchorage from Homer was without issue and I used the same free charger in Soldotna.
It Was Time To Go Home…
The time I spent in Alaska was amazing. I accomplished all of my goals and despite having an EV, I was able to go everywhere I wanted to go. Yes, there were a few challenges but I was able to work around them with proper planning. Yes, there’s always a plan B and sometimes a plan C but in the end, it all worked out. Amazing! But alas, it was time to go home now. This story will continue in part 4 of this series.
