Family vaction from Texas to Arizona and back. (Long read)
Summer road trip is done!!! Below is a summary of the trip ran through Gemini containing data from A Better Route Planner, myaudi trip data and all available charging data I have (I never got a receipt from charging at the Shell recharge in Junction TX).
Southwest Loop: An EV Road Trip Story
Route: Tomball, TX → Amarillo, TX → Flagstaff, AZ → Sedona, AZ → El Paso, TX → San Antonio, TX → Tomball, TX
Dates: June 21, 2026 – June 27, 2026
Vehicle: 2022 Audi e-tron Sportback
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Trip Narrative
Honestly, driving an electric car across the massive open spaces of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona sounds like a recipe for range anxiety, but our recent 2,823-mile loop from Tomball out to the red rocks of Sedona and the heights of Flagstaff proved it’s totally doable. We used our Audi e-tron Sportback like an all-access pass to the grid, hitting up 23 stops across five different charging networks—Tesla, Electrify America, EVgo, Rivian, and ChargePoint (Ionna) —just pulling into whatever plug made sense at the time.
When we (Gemini) tallied up all the receipts, the math was surprisingly good: we covered the whole trip for **$428.84 in total charging costs**, which averages out to a really clean **15.2 cents per mile**.
The coolest part was watching how the terrain and severe summer heat changed our efficiency. Pushing highway speeds through a thick 92°F Texas afternoon (feeling like 98°F) started us off at a heavy gross driving efficiency of **2.48 mi/kWh**. As we made the long, steady climb up through New Mexico toward Flagstaff, the air cooled down to a much more EV-friendly 84°F, holding steady at **2.47 mi/kWh**.
But the real fun was coming down through the switchbacks around Sedona. Thanks to the vehicle's dual-motor regenerative braking setup, we recaptured a massive **463.87 kWh** over the whole trip. That's equivalent to pulling 40.7% of our total trip energy right out of thin air, saving us roughly **$295** in out-of-pocket grid costs! On the long cruise back home down past El Paso and San Antonio, we braved some brutal 96°F to 101°F heat indices while keeping a steady hardware cruising efficiency around **2.44 to 2.50 mi/kWh**.
## Core Trip Metrics (myAudi Hardware Baseline)
* **Total Distance Covered:** 2,823.51 miles
* **Total Charging Investment:** $428.84
* **Average Cost per Mile:** $0.152
* **Total Net Energy Purchased:** 672.44 kWh
* **Total Energy Reclaimed via Regen:** 466.08 kWh
* **Real-World Gross Vehicle Efficiency:** 2.48 mi/kWh
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## Complete Route & Charging Log
### Leg 1: Tomball to Amarillo
* **Weather Conditions:** 92°F (Feels like 98°F) — Humid, high AC load.
* **Leg Performance:** 2.48 mi/kWh | Total Cost: $77.09
* **Stops:**
- **Tesla Supercharger** (Madisonville, TX) | $9.95 | 26.92 kWh
- **Ionna Rechargery Relay** (Corsicana, TX) | $9.11 | 21.58 kWh
- **Tesla Supercharger** (Decatur, TX) | $23.56 | 63.69 kWh
- **EVgo / Pilot 723** (Amarillo, TX) | $22.58 | 35.36 kWh
- **Tesla Supercharger** (Quanah, TX) | $21.79 | 62.28 kWh
* **Overnight:** Amarillo (Sunday, June 21)
### Leg 2: Amarillo to Flagstaff & Sedona
* **Weather Conditions:** 84°F (Feels like 82°F) — Cooler mountain air, optimal battery performance.
* **Leg Performance:** 2.47 mi/kWh | Total Cost: $93.31
* **Stops:**
**Electrify America** (Amarillo, TX) | $14.85
**Ionna Rechargery Relay** (Tucumcari, NM) | $23.80 | 56.45 kWh
**EVgo / Pilot 1070** (Santa Rosa, NM) | $7.53 | 11.39 kWh
**Electrify America** (Albuquerque, NM) | $0.00 | 57.82 kWh *(Free Session!)*
**EVgo / Flying J 305** (Jamestown, NM) | $7.91 | 10.76 kWh
**Ionna Rechargery Relay** (Gallup, NM) | $17.14 | 40.66 kWh
**Rivian Adventure Network** (Holbrook, AZ) | $32.12 | 23 mins 48 secs | 47.95 kWh
**Electrify America** (Flagstaff, AZ) | $21.80
**Electrify America** (Sedona, AZ) | $15.82 *(Canyon Exploring)*
* **Overnight:** Little America Flagstaff (Monday, June 22)
### Leg 3: Flagstaff to El Paso
* **Weather Conditions:** 98°F (Feels like 95°F) — High desert heat, massive downhill grade.
* **Leg Performance:** 2.51 mi/kWh (Gross Propulsion Baseline) | Total Cost: $88.10
* **Stops:**
**Tesla Supercharger** (Phoenix, AZ) | $30.11 | 60.24 kWh
**Tesla Supercharger** (Tucson, AZ) | $30.65 | 60.11 kWh
**Tesla Supercharger** (Lordsburg, NM) | $27.34 | 70.10 kWh
* **Overnight:** El Paso Downtown (Thursday, June 25)
### Leg 4: El Paso to San Antonio
* **Weather Conditions:** 96°F (Feels like 101°F) — Intense heat wave across West Texas.
* **Leg Performance:** 2.44 mi/kWh | Total Cost: $48.07
* **Stops:**
**Tesla Supercharger** (Van Horn, TX) | $10.79 | 29.17 kWh
**Electrify America** (Fort Stockton, TX) | $30.62
**Tesla Supercharger** (Ozona, TX) | $26.66 | 72.08 kWh
**Shell Recharge** (Junction, TX) | *(Stop Only - Missing Receipt)*
* **Overnight:** San Antonio (Friday, June 26)
### Leg 5: San Antonio back to Tomball
* **Weather Conditions:** 91°F (Feels like 102°F) — Severe Gulf Coast humidity.
* **Leg Performance:** 2.50 mi/kWh | Total Cost: $22.27
* **Stops:**
**Tesla Supercharger** (San Antonio, TX) | $20.18 | 53.11 kWh
**Mercedes Buc-ee's** (Luling, TX) | $24.53 | 50.06 kWh
* **Final Destination:** Home (Tomball, TX)