My Pure Electric Journey on the Yunnan Tibet Line with Tesla Model 3 in 2021

【Shenzhen】-【Everest Base Camp】

Preparations before Departure

• On-board charger: I bought a punade 16A charger with a 10-meter long cable on JD. It is recommended to equip with a ground wire stabilizer. I have encountered unstable current due to the lack of a ground wire in the local line many times.
  

• Air pump: Xiaomi air pump. I basically didn’t need to use it.

• Anti-skid chain: I forgot to bring it with me before departure. When passing by the snow-covered Sejila mountain pass, the road was icy. I made a disposable anti-skid chain with zip ties and safely passed through. It is recommended to prepare for it when traveling to Tibet in winter.

Route Details

Dali Ancient City

On the highway from Shenzhen to Dali, the whole course of which can be done with AP automatic driving. Charging piles are available at service stations in Guangdong province.

When entering Guangxi province, charging is necessary when getting off the highway. After fully charging, choose the next charging station. Due to high electricity consumption during high-speed driving, it is recommended to choose the distance to the next charging station not exceeding 350km.

In Yunnan province, there are charging stations at the service stations on the highway from Kunming to Dali. You can reach Dali Ancient City if your electric vehicle battery is fully charged at Kunming.

At the homestay in Dali, the landlord has a power supply for charging electric bikes. I used the on-board charger connected to the power supply, and it took a night to fully charge with a current of 10A.

Meili Snow Mountain in Deqen County

Dali – Shangri-La – Deqen County

Total distance: 450km

Setting off from Dali with a fully charged battery and driving on the highway all the way to Diqing Shangri-La. The Shangri-La Bus Station has fast charging piles. After fully charged, drive to Deqen county.

# No Expressway, Only National Road 214 to Deqin County

There are no charging stations in Deqin County, and no destination charging stations either. The local police department is said to have one, but it is not operational yet. Therefore, the only option is to use the on-board charger to charge the car in the hotel where you stay. The hotel owner was very kind and even pulled a cable through the third floor window of the hotel for me.

After resting for a day in Deqin County and visiting Meili Snow Mountain, I continued the journey.

Zogang, Tibet

Deqin – Mangkang – Zogang

Total distance: 380 kilometers

Departing from Deqin with a full charge, I continued northward along National Road 214 and officially entered Tibet Autonomous Region. As the altitude increased, the power consumption increased, and I needed to charge in Mangkang County. Tesla destination charging station in Mangkang was not open in winter, so I used the NIO destination charging station, which is located in the parking lot in front of Bema Hotel in Mangkang. Non-NIO electric vehicles can charge at a rate of 1.8 yuan/kwh and 20 kw/h. It took just about the time for a meal to fully charge.

I then took National Road 318 westward all the way to Zogang County. I stayed at the Zogang Shengfang Hotel, where there is a Tesla destination charger in the parking lot. The price for one night’s stay and charging is 200 yuan, which is reasonable, possibly because it is the off-season.

Ranwu Lake

Zogang – Basu – Ranwu Lake

Total distance: 300 kilometers

Continuing westward on National Road 318, we needed to charge again in Basu due to the undulating and winding mountain roads. The Dolashen Hot Spring Hotel in Basu has a Tesla destination charger. After communicating with the owner, the fee for charging is 50 yuan per time if you stay in the hotel, or 70 yuan per time if you do not.

We then continued to Ranwu Lake, stayed at the Ranwu Zichen Bohui Hotel, and found that the only NIO destination charging station in Ranwu Township was closed in winter. After communicating with the hotel owner, we were able to use the on-board charger in the employee dormitory on the first floor. The off-season room rate was 200 yuan per night.

Nyingchi

Rawok Lake – Bomi – Nyingchi, this is the most difficult day of the trip.

The total distance is 450 kilometers.

After fully charged at Rawok Lake that evening, we set off to Bomi County. Bomi County Zangwang Hotel has a NIO destination charging station. After filling up the battery while having lunch, we decided to go to Motuo spontaneously. After crossing the Himalayas, we encountered a blizzard. Fortunately, the road was not freezing and I didn’t have anti-skid chains with me. The mountain road is particularly rugged and bumpy, and the road is narrow, allowing only one-way traffic. When we arrived at the 50-kilometer checkpoint, we were stopped and we were advised to return because there was a mudslide ahead. We are a sedan and the staff at the checkpoint said we were the first Tesla to arrive here.

Helplessly, we turned back to National Highway 318 and continued to head west towards Nyingchi City. When we returned to Bomi County from Motuo Highway, we didn’t charge the battery. When we reached Lulang Town, the power was less than 100 kilometers. When we crossed the Sejila Mountain, we encountered a blizzard again, and the road began to freeze. The BMW X1 in front of me was a two-wheel drive and forced to climb the mountain, which polished the ice surface. At this time, my power was already lower than 60 kilometers, and I had no choice but to turn back to Lulang Town.

Lulang Xilu Hotel has a NIO destination charging station where we can recharge. By this time, it was already 11 pm, and the local stores had closed. We had no choice but to buy a few zip ties at the local supermarket and use the cotton ropes we brought with us to make disposable anti-skid chains.

After fully recharging the battery, we continued to Linzhi. We arrived safely in Linzhi City at 1 am and checked in at Linzhi Suba Express Hotel. There is a 10A socket in the hotel parking lot, so I used the car charger to recharge.

Lhasa

Nyingchi – Gongbujiangda – Lhasa

Total distance is 400 kilometers.Linzi to Lhasa has a highway, but the altitude of Linzi is only over 1000 while Lhasa is over 3000. The uphill mountain road on the highway consumes battery power quickly.

We chose to recharge at Gongbujiangda County. The Gongbujiangda Blue Sky Hotel has a NIO destination charging station. Since the hotel was closed due to Tibetan New Year, we communicated with the owner and were allowed to enter the parking lot to charge. After fully recharging, we headed to Lhasa. Upon arrival, we chose to stay in the spacious Liuwu New District and checked into the Minshan Yunshang Yuhan Hotel in Lhasa, where their internal parking lot has 10A sockets for us to continue charging with our onboard charger.

Shigatse

Lhasa-Shigatse
Distance: 280 km

After fully recharging in Lhasa, we departed for Shigatse. Half of the entire route is a highway while the other half is a national road. Upon arrival, we checked into the Rikaze Wangrun Hotel, which is next to the Tashilhunpo Monastery. This hotel is a state-owned garden-style hotel located within the walking street of Tashilhunpo Monastery. There is a NIO destination charge station in the parking lot.

Mount Everest Base Camp

Shigatse-Dingri County-Mount Everest Base Camp
Distance: 340 km

After fully recharging in Shigatse, we headed to Dingri County, where the Dingri Shiji Hotel has the only Tesla Supercharge Station in Tibet. The hotel was not open during the off-season, but there was a staff member who allowed us to enter the parking lot to charge after communicating with them.

After fully recharging, we entered the Mount Everest National Park. At this time, the entrance fee was waived, but we had to pay a fee of 160 RMB for the car. As it was an electric car, after the staff registered the details, we could drive all the way to the base camp without parking in the parking lot.

The temperature dropped to minus 20 degrees that night. Although there was still a lot of battery power left, I had planned to use the onboard charger to keep the battery temperature warm at my fellow villager’s house where I was staying overnight. However, their home did not have grounding protection, which caused unstable electric current in the charging socket, so I had to leave the car to charge overnight.

The next morning, we arrived at our destination, the Mount Everest Base Camp.

Summary1. It has been proven that a Tesla Model 3 with standard range lithium iron phosphate battery can travel to Tibet, and if staying in a hotel owned by a good boss, free charging is provided, saving a lot of cost. As long as the battery temperature is maintained when sleeping at night, there will be no winter decay issue with lithium iron phosphate.

2. My experience tells me that pure electric vehicles can handle any place with electricity and roads, but the problem is charging time. It is possible to stay in one place for an extra day or two if not in a hurry. Now, almost everywhere has electricity, but not every household has gasoline stored.

3. Anti-slip chains must be carried in winter, do not wait until the last minute like me, trying to make homemade anti-slip chains as they can only be used in emergencies and cannot be relied on in danger.

4. National Highway 214 and National Highway 318 are not as bumpy as imagined, except for the road to Motuo and the Jinsha River on the return trip, which are a bit rugged. Most of the roads are fine, and most of the sections from Linzhi to Lhasa to Shigatse are already expressways, which can be easily handled by electric sedans.

5. As a Tesla owner, I am grateful to NIO for providing charging stations since many Tesla charging destinations on this trip were not operational, and NIO’s charging stations ensured that my vehicle had a steady supply of electricity.

6. Lastly, I want to advise everyone to be mindful of driving safety! Do not overtake casually on the national highway in high-altitude mountainous areas. I saw too many accidents on my trip, most of which occurred because of illegal overtaking. Please pay attention to safety!

I hope everyone can also experience the different joys brought by pure electric travel.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.