So I drove to Vermont to see the eclipse today (spoiler: the sky was bright, then dark, then bright again).
Months ago I had decided I wasn’t going to fly to Texas or anything to see this eclipse. So I kind of mentally checked out about it until it was nearly here. Then a friend who has a house in Vermont texted me: “Hey, come up to see the eclipse.” It wasn’t until I looked at the shadow’s path on a map that I realized exactly how close the totality was going to be to me. It was going to sail right over my friend’s house, and remarkably, the weather looked promising. I had never before witnessed a total eclipse, and suddenly here was an invitation that required only a three-hour jaunt north and a day off work.
Okay, I’m game. Let’s make this work.
The situation was complicated by the fact that I have an electric car with only 200 miles of range. I would need to charge once on the way up and once on the way back. The Tesla supercharger network is pretty well filled out these days, but this trip was going to take me right through one of the sparser areas on the whole east coast. More to the point, there was going to be an extraordinary crush of people on their way to the same party. Many of them would be in Teslas hungry for the same electrons as me. I feared that there was a big demographic overlap between people who travel to see eclipses and people who drive electric cars. My fear, as it happened, was justified.
I decided to drive up the night before to see if I could avoid some of the rush. The traffic wasn’t bad, and at 10:30 PM, I turned into a dark shopping center complex in West Lebanon, New Hampshire. I was looking for a set of 16 Tesla superchargers, and as I came around the side of the building, I saw that all but two of the charging stations were already occupied. I had a spot, but it was disconcerting to see how busy the place was at such a late hour. It ratcheted up my anxiety for the next day. I knew I was going to have to come back to this very spot tomorrow afternoon when the traffic would be much worse. There were simply no other alternatives. My late night pre-eclipse charge took a half hour, and then I was on my way.
The next day was the eclipse: bright, dark, bright. I think I mentioned that already. Just as soon as the totality was over, I hopped in my car and headed south. I wanted to beat the crowds, but almost immediately I was in a dispiriting amount of traffic. Clever as I was, it seems that other people had conceived much the same plan. The bums. I now faced something like an hour on I-89 before I would get back to the West Lebanon superchargers. And every minute I wondered how long the line of thirsty Teslas would be. I mentally prepared to spend hours in that parking lot.
Pulling off the highway, I couldn’t help but notice the large number of other Teslas using the same exit. My blood pressure was rising. Then at last came the moment of truth. I turned into the shopping center lot and found a queue of a couple dozen cars ahead of me. I was actually relieved. I had my place in line, and now I could just wait. Charging takes a while… how quickly would we advance? I arrived just before 5 PM, and about fifty minutes later I was at the front. Once plugged in, it took another half hour before I could finally start the last leg of my voyage home.
What was my takeaway from the experience? Going electric in this case was indeed a nuisance, but I’m still a believer. This was a rare situation. I have never before had to wait in a line just to charge my car. And a total eclipse certainly qualifies as an extraordinary event that would stress the network to its limit. They’re not going to size the network based on eclipses. Despite my delays, the system held up pretty well. People were in good spirits and behaved well. The chargers did their work quickly enough, all things considered. If I had had access to a gas-powered car for this trip, I probably would have taken it. But I didn’t, and I was happy enough with how things turned out.
After all that, was my drive to the eclipse worth it? Yes. That dark part, when our smiling sun was crushed into a smoldering gasping mouth, hovering just overhead, blind, hungry, and dripping flame? That was terrifying. Worth the trip. Five stars, would go again, electric car and all.
Rambles Blog at Star Chamber 