September Rally: Mount Lemmon

On Saturday, September 9/21/24, Valley of the Sun EVA joined the Tesla Drivers Club for a group drive from Tempe to Mount Lemmon.

Departing from the Tesla Supercharger at Arizona Mills, 19 vehicles met up for conversation and opportunity charging, with 15 of them heading down to Tucson, and 4 more meeting us in Tucson.

A Polestar 2 owner was hanging out at the Electrify America chargers at Arizona Mills, hoping to catch a Cadillac Lyriq come through. As chance would have it, John Morrill and his Lyriq made his day!

The drive up Mount Lemmon was beautiful! A balmy 59 degrees at the top, it was a great relief from the heat in the Valley of the Sun. Our timing up the mountain met with an Octoberfest celebration, so parking was a challenge. Several of the group members made it to the top of the drive, at around 9,100 foot elevation, and walked over to the top of chair lift for expansive views of Tucson.

Shaun Barnette in his Chevrolet Bolt, had 60 miles of predicted range at the top of the mountain. On the way down, after traveling a mere 27 miles, his range estimator displayed 120 miles! The Culin Family’s Rivian R1S, traveling from the top of the mountain to the Electrify America charger used only 0.27 kWh to travel 56 miles - now THAT’S proof of the benefits of regenerative braking!

Photo credit: Rachel Culin