Cybertruck Adventure Log: Trying to Be the First (documented?) EV Through the WA-BDR

[Polygon]

Excellent writeup! You will be the 3rd CT to do the full WA BDR run, and first to do it with snow.

Shoot me a message and I'll add you to our offroading group. I also got a fairing delete kit with your name on it.

(The green truck joined us for the first couple days, didnt complete the full run)

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[thefsm93]

Excellent writeup! You will be the 3rd CT to do the full WA BDR run, and first to do it with snow.

Shoot me a message and I'll add you to our offroading group. I also got a fairing delete kit with your name on it.


(The green truck joined us for the first couple days, didnt complete the full run)

Oh wow that's fantastic! What routes did you take on the trip, and did your disperse camp? I know exactly where you took the photo with the three trucks, I was tempted to put my truck there and decided against it xD

If you are serious about the flaring delete kit I would take you up on that offer!!!!

 

[Polygon]

Oh wow that's fantastic! What routes did you take on the trip, and did your disperse camp? I know exactly where you took the photo with the three trucks, I was tempted to put my truck there and decided against it xD

If you are serious about the flaring delete kit I would take you up on that offer!!!!

We went S to N, on the standard route. Took Bethel Ridge, skipped Baby Head, did Number 2 canyon (kind of lame), did The Jungle (got a flat), checked out Arlington Mine Site. No trails were closed due to fire or active manhunts for that one guy.

Stayed at Packwood RV, dispersed N of Ellensburg, dispersed near Chumstick, dispersed N of Chelan, then Shady Pines in Conconully. At the border other driver Dennis went home and I did a few more days of offroading in BC.

Dennis was secretly testing out the Tesla Armor package. We did manage to put a big dent in his slider, but my truck was untouched - it's all skill! His video that has a lot of the BDR footage in it.

 

[thefsm93]

Oh man, Baby Head was such a let down I expected it to be tougher than it was. The Jungle was probably the hardest section of the entire trip. Totally do-able stock.


How did you get a flat in the Jungle?

(I also owe everyone here a section 6 post)

 

[thefsm93]

Section 6 - Final Update Post:

We pushed late into the evening the night before, and setup camp in the dark. While we suspected a really good view in the morning, we were all blown away with the ~270 degree views around us. Somehow we had parked at the very top of a hillside, and could see for miles around us. Not only did we have good views, but we had made it very close to a point of interest I had been interested in. The Arlington Mine site.

Once we got packed up for the day we continued up the rough road heading to the lower adit of the mine. Sadly it was collapsed and you couldn't get in, but it did make for some fun off-roading. My buddy even said we were on 3 wheels at one point. Since we weren't familiar with the area it took us a while to find the upper adit. Being a person with an interest in abandoned mines, I had to head in and explore the mine. I feel obligated to say this: abandoned mines are inherently dangerous and you should not go into them especially without training or knowledge of the dangers.

Since I'm supposed to be talking about the BDR, I will spare you mine specific details. What I will say is that it had many interesting features that most mines I have been in.

After we spent our morning exploring the mine, we finally got started for the day. We started out with a lower state of charge than expected primarily because of the cold weather, but after looking at the maps we decided we should have enough charge to make it to the end. Ideally we could arrive at the Canadian border with ~30% charge so we could skip going into Canada and make it back to Okanogan to charge instead. Conconully wasn't too far, so we headed into the little town.

On plug-share I found that the "Mayor's House" had a 14-50 outlet for EVs to use (Thank you whoever you are!). Since this plug existed, we figured it was in our best interest to stop there for a bit, talk to some of the locals and figure out what the conditions of Lone Frank Pass. It wouldn't be much charge, but it felt like the right thing to do while we made an educated decision.

Let me tell you what, Conconully had some of the nicest people I have met in a long time. (Okay, the town also had some incredibly nice bathrooms too LOL). I wandered into the town hall there and asked the lady if she had any idea what the conditions of Lone Frank Pass were, and while she didn't she had another guy from the back office's over who then called another person who was apparently in the process of checking the pass conditions. This interaction was important because we were going to have to peak out around 6,700' in elevation that day, and we had run into some problems with snow the previous day at lower elevations. After the guy got off the phone, he told us we would have to come back next year. He laughed, and then said "I'm only kidding" and proceeded to tell me that there was about 8-12" of Snow, but people have been driving through it and there are plenty of tracks to follow.

This gave us the confidence we needed to continue on with about 55% SOC. After talking to a few more locals who were asking us about the truck, we headed up the pass. It wasn't long before we had hit the Snowline. It was fairly smooth sailing throughout this section, we did end up having to load the motorcycle up on the truck above ~5,100 feet elevation. Even though it was smooth going, it was still a bit anxiety producing as we traveled on Ice over a mountain pass with steep cliff edges next to us. Invigorating, beautiful, but still terrifying! It didn't help that we hung out around 35% battery throughout the pass.

According to my video footage, it took us just shy of 2 hours to get over the pass and down below the Snowline. Once down, we unloaded the motorcycle once again and began our descent. We went from utilizing ~1400wh per mile, all the way down to 500wh/mile when we finally hit the bottom of the pass. From there is was smooth sailing to the Canadian border!

Really there isn't much more for me to say other than we ended up making it to the Canadian border at 5:04pm on 10/14/2025 with 30% SOC! Luckily for us we did have 30% because it turned out the border crossing closed at 5pm, so we would have been out of luck if we needed to charge in Canada!

Anyways, that's really it for me and this adventure. The truck did great, range was really never a problem, and all of the issues I had revolved around inexperience on my end. I'm pretty happy how it turned out, and I absolutely need to make a compilation video of the adventure. When I eventually get to it, I'll post it here.

I really appreciate everyone who came along with me on this journey. While it's clear I might not be the first person to complete this trip, I'm glad I could document it and publish it online for others to read. I really hope that my experience and time that I've taken on this forum will provide confidence to other EVs to accomplish this route.

Happy to help if anyone has questions or needs help with planning a their own BDR trip! It was a ton of fun, and an adventure I'll never forget. Thank you all for the support!!

 

[HaulingAss]

Thanks for the trip report, you got to see some beautiful and little travelled country. I loved the snow and are amazed you were willing to venture in it with only the OEM Goodyear Territory's, especially without any extraction gear!

Every time I see how much raw land there is in this nation, much of it being used for nothing, I'm amazed that a simple residential lot can cost so much! It just proves the point, location, location, location!

I always bring an electric chainsaw with an 18" bar with me, even on day trips, it gets used more than my recovery gear! And the newer electric chainsaws are amazing, no more gas/pre-mix, etc. And they cut at altitude just as well as at sea-level without needing an altitude adjustment.

I can recommend a Husqvarna 350i, it can cut a lot of large logs fast, on one battery. I bring the 120V charger too, not that I would ever need it, but it doesn't weigh anything and it's nice to know you could cut your way out of a windfall Armageddon if you had to! With a third-party soft case made for a chainsaw, it fits in the Cybertruck's frunk, taking up minimal space. The bar fits behind my regular soft cooler so the only real space consumed is by the powerhead/battery which is very compact. I was a Stihl guy (gas saws), but Husqvarna wins in electric, I'm afraid.

 

[Stuck4ger]

I’m surprised nobody commented on the first post about being towed out if he ran out of charge.

 

[mongo]

I’m surprised nobody commented on the first post about being towed out if he ran out of charge.

It's broken up into sections, the sections aren't *that* long, and low speed off roading isn't super high in terms of Wh/mile.
(Baja in dunes is an energy hog)

 

[sys700]

Well Guys, Section 2 is a wrap! (Okay that's a lie, I'm camping about 4 miles from the end point). Once again, I'm typing this on my phone so please forgive grammer and other problems.

Today was one heck of an adventure. All started normal with a bit of a late start after eating a delicious breakfast. If you haven't already, you should try toasted croissants with Nutella and a whole banana in them.

We started on our journey excited to conquer what is known as "Bethel Ridge" and "Baby Head Hill". However we quickly got distracted by the fact Rim Rock lake was completely empty, and we saw dirt bike riders out on the dry lake bed.

Of course we had to go and play, and man did we have a blast. Got to play with all sorts of off road settings, had fun doing donuts and did some extremely light rock crawling. Probably some of the most fun I've had in the truck yet. And, it was all live streamed to YouTube during it! Check out timestamp 49:10 onward for the lake action.

Sadly we couldn't hang out there for too long as we had a large day ahead of us. In fact, once we got on the trail we realized we were completely misled by the speed at which we traveled yesterday. Today was a much slower and rougher ride than section 1. Section 2 was nothing but large baby head rocks, large ruts, and rough 4x4 roads. (In fairness we did take the alternative "harder" route today).

My friends described today as "Shaking baby syndrome for adults"... For 8.5 hours Even with that, it was an incredible journey and the views were absolutely astonishing.

Bethel Ridge was one of the major highlights of the day. You climb up thousands of feet, and drive the length of a ridge with views on both sides. When you first get up there is a "hidden" view point that requires some fairly serious off-roading. Tight corners (thankful for 4 wheel steering), large boulders, and some sandy hill climbing.

This is where I broke my first wheel cover, going through a tight section and it got clipped by a log sticking up. I also smashed my passenger side rear mud flap trying to keep a large boulder from potentially hitting my battery. Turns out, I don't have much experience off roading in this large of a vehicle. Lessons were learned but the adventure and camaraderie made it a blast. Zero regrets.

After conquering Bethel Ridge we started the long and grueling crawl towards Baby Head Hill. I think we averaged 10mph through this section. It was beautiful, but even land rovers were taking it real nice and slow.

However, at some point the road smoothed out just enough to get a little too comfortable so we picked up our pace. Sadly the trail quickly turned into the home of extremely sharp rocks. In my infinite lack of wisdom, I kept up the pace because the truck was handling it incredibly well... Until I heard the classic Tesla warning chime. When I looked down I saw my passenger side rear tire was at 9psi.

I hopped out of the truck and immediately heard the sound of air spewing out of a tire. That's my first tire I've ever punctured off road and I'm sure it's not my last. This was my second lesson for today: Slow Down!

I had planned for this exact issue and brought with me a full size spare wheel/tire and tools. This was my first trailside tire swap I've ever completed. My friend who is a bus mechanic and is 6'5" graciously helped me. 15 minutes later we were on the move again, and now I get to drop off my tire at a tire shop while I supercharge in Ellensburg tomorrow Hopefully they can patch it so I can use it as my spare. (Punctured through the tread, not sidewall)

We continued on and while the trail was rough and slow going we eventually made it to "Baby Head Hill" which was supposed to be one of the hardest sections of the day... Except it was incredibly underwhelming and my buddy on the WR250 just now told me it was "The 25th out of 20 hardest hill climbs". It was a breeze. The road leading up to it was rougher than that hill.

As we continued we came to the conclusion it's probably best for us to setup camp just outside of Ellensburg. It seemed like the right choice because the sun was setting and the truck had plenty of juice left to cook dinner. Even with camping out the night before and cooking breakfast this morning, the truck still had 22% battery.

Oh, I almost forgot! Today's efficiency number was 678.5 wh/mile. This was over 116.8 miles.

So my three lessons learned today:

1. Don't bring wheel covers on these trips. So far I have 1 left out of 4. I managed to recover two, but one is just gone. Luckily I have another set back at the house. The small ones might be fine, but the large stock ones can not handle these rough trails.
2. Slow the "f" down.
3. I need to learn more about the "Correct" way to jack up the truck. We couldn't get the truck to only lift the rear tire, so we ended up lifting the entire passenger side of the vehicle off the ground.

Anyways, here are a few photos from today. Hopefully I can get my tire patched up as a spare before I start section 3

Did you use Jack Mode?

 

[thefsm93]

I always bring an electric chainsaw with an 18" bar with me, even on day trips, it gets used more than my recovery gear! And the newer electric chainsaws are amazing, no more gas/pre-mix, etc. And they cut at altitude just as well as at sea-level without needing an altitude adjustment.

A Chainsaw or even a good handsaw would have been better than the little 3"saw we had I might look into adding an electric chainsaw to my list here soon. Especially if I find a different way to mount the spare tire.

I’m surprised nobody commented on the first post about being towed out if he ran out of charge.

Yeah, I didn't expect that to happen but it was a nice little backup plan in case things went worse than my worst case scenario. Luckily I'd say for future trips planning for ~700wh/mile seems reasonable.

Did you use Jack Mode?

Actually, yes. We were on a slight hill (sketchy) and I think that was the majority of my problem.

 

[HaulingAss]

I’m surprised nobody commented on the first post about being towed out if he ran out of charge.

I didn't comment because I saw the trip was planned with 1000 Wh/mile consumption, so I was confident there would not be any towing to a charger. I travel lighter than @thefsm93 but, in the same conditions other than weight, I tend to average 550-600 Wh/mile. If I were loaded up it would probably be 575-625 Wh/mile.

The real kicker here is, in backcountry conditions that aren't too treacherous, ie. snow/ice/slick mud, etc. running low on charge is easily solvable if there is another truck ready to give you a tow. The Cybertruck can regen and gain range down mountain passes, in most places in the NW, almost all the Superchargers are downhill from the mountain roads. Typically, all that would be required is a tow for a few miles. The secret is not running your battery past zero before you get a tow. Then you can regen as much as traction allows simply by feathering the pedal while being towed. After a while you will likely have enough charge to regen out to paved roads and drive to a DCFC. But that's only if you failed to do reasonable planning or the route required a lengthy detour for whatever reason.

Tesla officially recommends against tow charging, but as long as the vehicle has enough charge to be operable, your SOC (State of Charge) is only going to increase and no damage will occur. What you don't want to do is tow the vehicle with it turned off, or with a completely flat battery (this requires a flat bed truck or trailer extraction). If the vehicle is operative, being tow charged looks to the vehicle just like you are descending a steep grade under regen.

Towing on flat pavement at 30 mph while using regen to charge will greatly increase the rate of fuel burn (or electrical consumption) of the tow vehicle, but the Cybertruck will add on a lot more more miles than the miles towed. In the backcountry it will depend upon whether you and the tow vehicle have enough traction and speed to regen a lot or a little but having to tow all the way back to a Supercharger (or even Level 2 charging) shouldn't be necessary.

I think the whole "running out of charge" thing is over-blown if you have a reasonable ability to plan for the unexpected. You do need to be able to factor in elevation changes, weather, driving surfaces, etc. if you plan to cut it very close but, even then, a little planning should prevent ever needing a tow charge. And, if faulty planning or circumstances conspire against you, there is always tow charging. Just make sure you have a suitable tow strap or line onboard.

 

[HaulingAss]

Actually, yes. We were on a slight hill (sketchy) and I think that was the majority of my problem.

I was surprised neither you or the motorcyclist had a plug kit. I would have pushed a plug in there, re-inflated, and been on my way in 10 minutes!

 

[thefsm93]

I was surprised neither you or the motorcyclist had a plug kit. I would have pushed a plug in there, re-inflated, and been on my way in 10 minutes!

We all were surprised, I think it was a miscommunication on our part because we each assumed someone had brought some. Turns out we all didn't

I'm with you on this. While tow charging is not recommended, I would absolutely do that in a pinch. I also didn't expect to run into that problem on this trip, but did have the plan in place if needed.

After this trip I agree that the "running out of charge" thing is overblown. At least in these conditions. Admittedly though, I would probably stick to routes less than ~150 miles between charges.

I loved watching my battery SOC go up while descending mountains. Most of my battery loss came from climbing elevation.

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