Overland Trip to Alaska - Follow For Updates

[igoreka]

Great read! Thanks for updates. Keep it up!

Sponsored

 

[Cybergirl]

Well, I dropped by Tesla Service just before closing at 5 pm. I asked for an update on my Cybertruck service appointment scheduled for Sept 4th. A quick check revealed that the needed part (suspension air valve assembly) was delivered earlier that day. We arranged for me to bring my truck in tomorrow morning to have it installed and tested.

The vault must be emptied to access the suspension control hardware, so I wondered out loud where I was going to put all that camping gear. Charlene, the service coordinator, said, "You can to put your things into our Cybertruck's vault while the technician is working on your truck". Their CT was available, waiting on state registration. She then told me I could have a loaner (Model Y) while the work was being done. This all was transacted after closing. Needless to say, I was elated. What service!

 

[hemiarch]

Sounds like a real blow for freedom. So when it’s fixed, are you going to leave as originally scheduled or already adjusted to the idea of staying?

 

[Cybergirl]

If all goes well with the repair, we will continue on to Seward, AK before making the return trip through Dawson City. A side trip on the Dempster Hwy to the Arctic Circle, Inuvik, and on to Tuktoyaktuk, NWT is still a possibility depending on weather conditions and our states of mind at the time. The 10-day forecast is for intermittent rain and drizzle which can dampen spirits.

 

[Cyberham]

Banff is in Alberta, not BC

 

[Cybergirl]

My truck's suspension adjustment problem has been fixed. The air valve block was replaced under warranty. FSD appears to be restored, and re-calibrating. The service at Anchorage was the best I've experienced. They went out of their way to get me back on the road quickly.

 

[hemiarch]

Awesome! Back at sea then…
May the wind be at your back.

 

[EricFelt]

So glad your truck is back to 100%!

For anyone contemplating the drive to Alaska who is not up for the full round trip through Canada, I highly recommend traveling one way via the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) ferry. I drove my Cyber Truck from Virginia to Alaska in July. Everything went well with camping, charging, etc. My windshield was cracked by a rock in Yukon but otherwise no vehicle damage/problems. I was planning to ship the truck back from Anchorage to Washington state but both Alaska car shipping companies stopped accepting electric vehicles. AMHS is still accepting electric vehicles, though for this summer they are not serving Anchorage. We therefore booked passage from Haines AK to Bellingham WA and I am on the ferry right now. It's been wonderful. They intentionally park the EVs near the boarding door and have allowed me to drive off the ferry and then re-board at Sitka and Ketchikan, so it is sort of a poor man's cruise with free excursions . Surprisingly, there is a second Cyber Truck on this ferry, a guy moving from Alaska to Tennessee.

 

[hemiarch]

So glad your truck is back to 100%!

For anyone contemplating the drive to Alaska who is not up for the full round trip through Canada, I highly recommend traveling one way via the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) ferry. I drove my Cyber Truck from Virginia to Alaska in July. Everything went well with camping, charging, etc. My windshield was cracked by a rock in Yukon but otherwise no vehicle damage/problems. I was planning to ship the truck back from Anchorage to Washington state but both Alaska car shipping companies stopped accepting electric vehicles. AMHS is still accepting electric vehicles, though for this summer they are not serving Anchorage. We therefore booked passage from Haines AK to Bellingham WA and I am on the ferry right now. It's been wonderful. They intentionally park the EVs near the boarding door and have allowed me to drive off the ferry and then re-board at Sitka and Ketchikan, so it is sort of a poor man's cruise with free excursions . Surprisingly, there is a second Cyber Truck on this ferry, a guy moving from Alaska to Tennessee.

So where does one sleep aboard such a ferry? Are there cabins? Doable with kids?

 

[EricFelt]

So where does one sleep aboard such a ferry? Are there cabins? Doable with kids?

Yes, 2- and 4-bed cabins are options that I would definitely recommend if traveling with kids. When I first booked this trip the cabins were sold out; I put myself on the wait list and did get one. Some passengers sleep on the outdoor sundeck chairs (which lie flat), some sleep in the movie theater recliners, some roll out sleeping bags on the floor in the Solarium. There is a reasonably nice and very low cost dining room and bar/lounge. The scenery (whales, mountains, fjords, etc.) is of course amazing. Overall, I was expecting a bare bones ferry and have been impressed. Definitely not a Disney Cruise, but a great alternative to driving back across Canada, which I loved the first time but am happy to not do again.

 

[pricedm]

So glad your truck is back to 100%!

For anyone contemplating the drive to Alaska who is not up for the full round trip through Canada, I highly recommend traveling one way via the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) ferry. … AMHS is still accepting electric vehicles, though for this summer they are not serving Anchorage. We therefore booked passage from Haines AK to Bellingham WA and I am on the ferry right now. It's been wonderful. They intentionally park the EVs near the boarding door and have allowed me to drive off the ferry and then re-board at Sitka and Ketchikan, so it is sort of a poor man's cruise with free excursions . Surprisingly, there is a second Cyber Truck on this ferry, a guy moving from Alaska to Tennessee.

Sounds awesome !

 

[hemiarch]

Yeah. A cruise doesn’t let you show up at these destinations with a Cybertruck. YOUR Cybertruck.

 

[RM Rilke]

This is good to know. I have a party I’m supposed to attend in Bellingham in September. It would be interesting to grab the ferry to Haines and drive back. Food for thought for sure.

 

[Cybergirl]

August 23, 2025

We’re back in Tok, Alaska this morning at the Tundra RV Park. We’ll spend another night here before heading north to Dawson City, Yukon tomorrow. The weather forecast looks good for the drive to Chicken, AK and into Canada on the Top of the World Highway. The travel distance from Tok to Dawson City is 185 miles by this route. My overall trip efficiency is 475 Wh/mi, but I suspect my efficiency on this segment of the trip with fall closer to 500 Wh/mi due to the elevation change and poor condition of the roadway. I’ll need about 93 kWh to complete the route. My battery capacity is currently 119 kWh, so a full charge should be more than enough to get to Dawson City.

There’s a 50 kW DCFC Flo CCS1 charger in Dawson City which I’ll use to recharge for the trip north to the first Tesla wall charger in Eagle Plains, YT (we can thank ArcticCybertrek.com for installing wall chargers along the Dempster Highway all the way to Tuktoyaktuk, NWT).

The forecast for the next leg of our overland trip looks very good with above average temperatures, no rain, and partly sunny skies. This is the fall colors season, so the scenery should be magnificent.

Backtracking on our adventure to my previous post, after retrieving my repaired Cybertruck from Tesla’s Anchorage Service Center which, by the way, is a small, but true Tesla Service Center (5 employees), we spent a second night at the Ingra House which I recommend as one of the more affordable lodging establishments in Anchorage. The next morning we set off for Seward, AK with a stop at the Anchor Inn in Whittier where there are four 48A Tesla wall chargers. The weather there was cool, wet, and foggy, and not a very picturesque locale.

After ordering breakfast and taking in the museum there which highlights the war history of the Aleutian Islands, we returned to Seward Hwy via the 2.5 mile long tunnel ($13 toll), waiting our turn to use the one-lane road, and drove to Kenai Fjord Nat’l Park. We hiked a mile from the vistor’s center to get a closer look at the Exit Glacier. On the trail, signs were posted showing the extent of the glacier from the late 1800’s to 2010. As you can see in this photo the glacier has suffered 100+ years of global warming and will likely vanish in another generation or two.

We continued on to Seward and found this ChargePoint CCS1 50W charger for a much needed ‘fill up’.

We drove through Seward admiring the murals throughout town, then stopped at a seaside park for a sandwich before driving back to Anchorage to the CCS1 chargers at the Chugach Electric Association building on Electron St near the International Airport. We added enough charge to drive to the Eagle River campground a few miles north on Hwy 1 where we spent the night in our rooftop tent.

At 4 am the next morning, August 22nd, we closed up the tent and headed to the 250 kW Tesla Superchargers in Chugiak, AK where we charged to 100% to begin a full day’s travel to Tok. We stopped to charge again to 100% at the 50 kW Flo charger at Jam Jam Spot cafe south of Denali, and to 93% in Fairbanks at the Golden Valley Electric Association building on Ilinois St where there are two Flo DCFC 50 kW chargers available. While charging we walked a short distance to a Taco Bell for bite to eat which reminded me why I don’t eat at Taco Bells.

We finally arrived at the Tundra RV Campground in Tok at 8 pm with 14% SoC, a total day’s travel of 550 miles. I was able to use FSD the entire distance. The 50A 14-50 outlet at the campsite was limited by the truck to 32/32A. I'm not sure why. Tesla vehicles are fussy about charging circuits.

I'm looking forward to the trip to Dawson City tomorrow and the possibility of making it to the Arctic Circle and even to the Arctic Ocean.

 

[hemiarch]

That’s insanely cool. Thanks again for documenting all this.
Safe travels.

Sponsored