2011 All-Electric Antelope Island Tour

Several weeks ago I decided to take my truck to a place where (at least to my knowledge) no electric vehicle has driven to, on its own power before.

Antelope Island, Utah. In middle of nowhere in the Great Salt Lake there is a lone mountain that stands high out of the water. Antelope Island. Decades ago they built a 7 mile long causeway from Syracuse, UT, across the Great Salt Lake to Antelope Island. The island now has several miles of paved and un-paved roads.

I mapped out ahead of time the route I would take in my electric truck. I took the Interstate to Antelope drive and from there drove strait west until I reached the Lake shore. I drove the 7-mile causeway to the island and proceeded to drive around the island.

 

I took a wrong turn and ended up on top of a high vista looking out over the west shore side of the island. Backtracking, I headed into the direction I originally planed (to a farm-house 11 miles down the road. I knew this 5 mile wrong way turn would cost me in the end but for some reason I continued to the farm house anyway. Against the better judgment of the voices in my head, I kept going onward. I don’t know which is crazier, having voices in your head or not listening to them tell you that you are going to get stranded on an island without electricity while you are driving an electric truck.

I made it to the farm house and spent a while looking around.

As the sun was starting to set behind the mountain, it occurred to me that on the other side of the large island, and across the 7-mile causeway, there is a large gate that closes at sunset. “If that gate closes before I go under it, I am spending the night here”.

I started driving back the way I came. I made it back to the causeway but as I got about ½ way across, my battery pack began to show signs of being done for the evening. I could no longer maintain 50mph, 45, 40, 35. As the sun was quickly getting lower in the sky behind me, I squinted in vain trying to make out the toll shack and gate on the other end of the causeway. After what seemed like an eternity, I passed the shack and drove past the gate. “Whew!”, at least I will not be sleeping with coyotes tonight. Where I end up is another story”.


I did it! I am the first person to drive an all electric vehicle from land, across the causeway to Antelope Island and back again.
I let the truck battery pack rest for a few minutes in hopes of gaining some extra range.

I still had a good 15 or so miles to go before I made it back to my house. I thought about the route I took getting here and how it was not exactly a strait line. “If I cut through some neighborhoods, I may be able to shave 3 miles off my trip home”. Driving slowly on the shoulder, I managed to go another 6 miles before the truck battery was all the way dead. I pulled onto a dead-end street. OK, now what?

By this time, it was pretty dark outside. I went to the nearest door and rang the doorbell, “May I borrow a cup of electricity”? I asked.

The old lady at the door looked worried and confused. She directed me to a man across the street. He was kind enough to let me plug in for an hour.

As I waited for my truck to get some life back, I thought about the day's journey. It was an adventure to say the least.
I wrote a thank-you note to the kind, unknown citizen who lent me a dime’s worth of electricity. He had since gone back inside for the evening so I unplugged, left him my note and a dollar for his trouble of helping me.

One kilo-watt-hour only gives about 3 miles worth of range in my truck but letting the batteries sit for an hour must have helped too. I was able to drive the remaining 7 miles back to my house. Well, Almost.

As my batteries were beginning to show signs of being done just 2 miles from home, I approached the round-about. Not wanting to use my brakes for fear of wasting any precious momentum that I had acquired, I turned off, one turn early. This route was about the same distance as the next round-about exit but as took the turn, I remembered the large hill that this route included.

There was no way I would make it up that hill, not with the batteries in the condition that they were in. I drove up most of the hill before being forced to stop for a 5-minute battery rest. This time, even the motor controller was powering itself down due to low voltage. "It’s about time it reached a low voltage state.", I thought to myself.

Amazingly, the ATX power supply that provides power for my headlights and the all-important contactor relay managed to stay up without any complaints whatsoever. That’s a well-made piece of equipment.

It gave me an idea though. I turned off the headlights and to my surprise, the motor came back to life with a lethargic surge. Slowly, I was off again. Only ¼ mile remaining. I rolled into my cul-de-sac and started to go up the driveway. Denied! My truck would not roll up the gentile hill slope into my garage. I let it rest on final time before it lugged slowly up the incline and into its spot in the garage by the charging outlet. After 63 miles and a very long day, I’m home.