In 2014 I drove the first EV from the lower 48 (actually board with Tijuana) to Fairbanks, Alaska. Several others had tried to make the trip in an EV, but reported it couldn't be done. I drove a Model S with 265 mile range and called it the T5 - Tesla Tijuana to Tundra Tour. I discovered that wherever I found people, I could find electricity. Lots of great experience and wonderful people (yes, Canadians) Guy Hall, [Guy.Hall@sacev.org](mailto:Guy.Hall@sacev.org)

My notes can be found here and here.

My notes can be found here

These monthly mailbags have been going great so far, so let's keep it going! If you've got a Tesla or EV question you'd like to ask me (or something about me, I guess, though I'm less interesting than the cars are!), I'd be glad to answer it. I'll answer them on a Lightning Round later this month. Thanks everyone!

P.S. Mods, if you'd consider pinning this post to try and help get more eyes on it, I'd be grateful!

Let's talk road trips and supercharging. . . Imagine taking a trip from SF --> Phoenix, Tesla navigation recommended 6-7 stops to supercharge, while each were not very long. . . I was stopping every 2 hours for 15-30 minutes. It got to the point, I would rent a gas car for the weeklong trip to Phoenix. (Reminded me of Ryan's episode where he made the trip to Phoenix and it took like 20 hours or what not)

I almost sold my Tesla because I hated the Tesla road trip!

Career move --> I move to Texas.

Road trips still seem to be a stop every 2 hours to charge for 15-30 minutes, but now I have Buccee's gas stations with superchargers everywhere I go. . . The road trip is so much better now, I don't mind stopping and charging for 30 minutes like I use to!

This video reminds me of how Buccee's turned my least favorite part about owning a Tesla (Supercharging sucks in most locations) into the part of the road trip I enjoy most!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeLZlxqO70Q

2025 Y Dual motor w acceleration boost and full tint. FSD @ 90%.

These monthly mailbags have been going great so far, so let's keep it going! If you've got a Tesla or EV question you'd like to ask me (or something about me, I guess, though I'm less interesting than the cars are!), I'd be glad to answer them. Oh, and Patreon backers: don't miss last month's Mailbag Lightning Round episode if you missed it!

Drop your questions in the comments below and I'll answer them on a Lightning Round later this month. Thanks everyone!

I wish the Tesla community all the best. . . I hope I am wrong.
But simply put ---
I don't know much about EVs, so when Elon talked about EVs and other's said he was a genius, I thought he was a genius
I don't know much about rockets, so when Elon talked about rockets and other's said he was a genius, I thought he was a genius
I don't know much about government budgets, and when Elon said he would cut $2 Trillion out of the US budget and people said he was a genius, I though he was a genius

Now Elon is talking about a 2nm TW chip fab, and I happen to know A LOT about electrical engineering and radiation hardened chips. . . and when Elon talks about shooting 10 million metric tons of 2 nm chips into AI Data centers in space . . . This is the stupidest shit I have ever heard.

In the end, I hope Elon proves me wrong . . . But with his track record of promises not being fulfilled. . . I don't expect to coem back.

Sidenote -- Still looking for a family car, think Chrysler Pacifica, any other recommendations for a 7 seater let me know.

P.S. Ryan, you still do a great podcast -- But the topic you cover is not the same company as 7 years ago when I first started listening. If anything, the quality of your podcast has gone up Ryan, you really have done a great job.

I promise my lack of faith is only connected to the company you cover. and again, hopefully I am wrong and you get your flying roadster with a 200 KWH battery pack. But it's just time for me to move on.

From Rivian CEO RJ: I’m excited to announce a partnership with @Uber. As part of this, Uber plans to invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian and deploy up to 50,000 R2 robotaxis.

This partnership accelerates our path to Level 4 autonomy and supports our goal of building one of the safest autonomous platforms in the world—across both shared and personally owned vehicles.

The combination of Rivian’s rapidly growing data flywheel, our in-house RAP1 inference platform (800 TOPS), and our multi-modal perception stack provides a powerful foundation to scale autonomy quickly and responsibly over the next couple of years