Friday, May 15, 2026
San Diego to a Wellton truck rest area
Late start out of La Mesa after a son's graduation; the plan said campground but the rig pulled over east of Yuma at 1 AM
- 340 miles
- 7 to 8 drive hours
- Alpine, CA Tesla Supercharger first charge
- I-8 truck rest area, east of Yuma (Wellton, AZ) tonight
Weather: Hot desert. Imperial Valley topped 82°F at our 9:15 PM El Centro charge; by 1 AM at the I-8 rest area east of Yuma it had settled to 70°F under clear skies.
The day, by the numbers
- Miles driven186mi
- Cost per mile35.9¢ / mi charging
- Towing efficiency1.68mi / kWh186 mi · 111 kWh
- Energy111kWh used · 87 kWh charged across 2 sessions
- Peak charge rate148kW
- Wind12mph WMostly tailwind
- Temperature74°F65 – 82°F range
- Peak elevation4,203ft↑ 9,050 ft↓ 12,270 ft
- Avg speed49mph · 3.8 hr moving
Map loads with JavaScript. Each day page also lists every stop in text below.
Day 02 in pictures
The day
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La Mesa, depart
Roll out from home in La Mesa to head back east and pick up Smugglers Escape from Boulevard.
Map 32.7670, -117.0230
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Alpine, CA Tesla Supercharger
Tailwind on this leg 12 mph from the W Climbs this leg +1,350 ft
2963 Alpine Blvd. Pre-pickup top-up before grabbing the trailer.
Map 32.8364, -116.7681
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Boulevard KOA, pickup Smugglers Escape
Tailwind on this leg 12 mph from the W Climbs this leg +1,600 ft
Hitch up at the KOA, retorque the wheels, roll east.
Map 32.6620, -116.2820
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El Centro, CA Tesla Supercharger
Tailwind on this leg 12 mph from the W Descends this leg −3,500 ft
Post-mountain-descent charge with the Airstream attached. Arrived 9:15 PM, Imperial Valley at -38 ft.
Map 32.7730, -115.5510
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I-8 truck rest area, Wellton AZ
Tailwind on this leg 12 mph from the W
1 AM pull-over after 80.5 mi from El Centro at 1.27 mi/kWh, 48 mph avg over 1h 39m moving. Did not charge. Slept three hours between semis under a clear desert sky, woke at 4:36 AM to roll for Dateland.
Map 32.6664, -114.2832
Towing segments this day
The charge-to-charge data, leg by leg.
Every towing leg logged today off the Rivian dashboard, with its elevation profile. Open one for the full per-segment data: efficiency, energy, grade, wind, temperature, and battery state of charge.
Where the electrons come from
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Tesla Supercharger
Alpine, CA Tesla Supercharger
2963 Alpine Blvd, Alpine CA. Pre-pickup top-up before grabbing the Airstream from Boulevard. v4 pedestals on v3 cabinets.
Nearby: Quick-stop town at ~1,800 ft in the SD foothills. Janet's Cafe and Marketplace next door for breakfast or coffee; Albertsons, Subway, and Domino's within a block. Viejas Outlet Center and Casino are six miles east off I-8 if you want a longer break. Cleveland National Forest trailheads start a few minutes north.
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Tesla Supercharger
El Centro, CA Tesla Supercharger
Post-mountain-descent charge with the Airstream attached. Imperial Valley at -38 ft, well below sea level.
Nearby: Imperial Valley Mall complex with a food court plus Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, In-N-Out within a couple blocks. Local picks for sit-down: Cattle Call (steaks) and the Mexicali-style taquerias on Imperial Ave. Glamis sand dunes are 30 mi east; the Salton Sea 30 mi north; Calexico and the Mexicali border crossing are 12 mi south.
Common questions about Day 02
- Why did Day 2 end at a truck rest area instead of a campground?
- A son graduation in the morning plus a late camper pack-up pushed our roll-out into the afternoon. The Boulevard to El Centro descent and the El Centro Tesla Supercharger session (60 kWh, $28.23, ending past 10 PM) ate the daylight. By 1 AM, 80.5 mi east of El Centro on I-8, the driver was done. We pulled into an I-8 truck rest area near Wellton AZ and slept three hours between semis. The planned overnight at Sonoran Desert RV Park in Gila Bend slipped to Day 3.
- How efficient was the Rivian R1T descending I-8 from Boulevard to El Centro with an Airstream?
- 2.35 mi/kWh on the 55.6 mi descent, only 24 kWh used while towing a 23 ft Airstream International. The grade did the work, about 890 ft of climb to the Crestwood Summit (4,190 ft on the trip readout) followed by a 4,259 ft drop into the Imperial Valley, ending below sea level at -38 ft at the El Centro Tesla Supercharger.
- Can a Rivian R1T charge at a Tesla Supercharger?
- Yes, with a Rivian-supplied NACS DC adapter. We charged at two Tesla sites on Day 2, Alpine (V4 pedestals on V3 cabinets, 76 kW average, $12.59 for 26.80 kWh on the way out of San Diego) and El Centro (V4 stalls, 148 kW peak, $28.23 for 60 kWh after the mountain descent). Pricing is set by the Tesla per-kWh rate plus tax, and the adapter is the only special hardware required.
- How long does an Airstream and Rivian R1T take to charge at a Tesla V3 vs V4 cabinet?
- At the Alpine SC (V4 pedestals on a V3 cabinet) we held 76 kW average and delivered 26.80 kWh in just under 15 minutes. At the El Centro SC (V4 cabinet) we peaked at 148 kW and delivered 60 kWh in the same kind of window. Same truck, same trailer, same SoC range. The cabinet behind the pedestal is what determines real-world charge speed, and V4 cabinets are roughly twice as fast as V3 for the Rivian R1T.
Detailed charging data
6 receipts, app screens, pedestal displays, and Rivian dashboard readouts. Click through with the arrows; tap the tile to view full size.