Going for an 185 mi drive today in my BEV .. Wish Me Luck!

[Zzzoom3]

I have to drive to San Diego, CA tonight for a business meeting tomorrow. It is a 186 mi drive from my home to the hotel I will stay. Even though I could rent a car or use my ICE, I've decided to throw caution to the wind and see how far I can push this EV thing.

There are plenty of level 2 chargers along the way, however, I'm trying to do the trip by using 2 DCFC along the way. There are only 3 SAE CCS in Southern CA as far as I can tell. The 1st station is 72 mi from my driveway. I don't anticipate this will be a problem driving in ECO PRO. The next DCFC is just 42 mi away. The last leg to my hotel will be another 72 mi which is where I'm concerned since the DCFC won't get me full in 30 minutes just 80%.

So the discovery here will be:

• How well will the estimated range translate into actual miles?
  How long do I have to stay connected on the DCFC to get full?
  How much will it cost me? The 2nd DCFC is not part of the ChargeNow network.

I'll report back tomorrow .. wish me luck! If you've got a tow truck business, maybe you could have a truck in the vicinity of Escondido, CA later tonight!

 

[drb]

I made that trip from Huntington Beach to San Diego a week ago. Unfortunately, the EvGO DC fast charger was out of service in San Diego's Fashion Valley, the only one of its kind in that area. I would call EvGO to see if it is up and running yet. I got three different answers to that question when I placed it to EvGO--one communication by email and two by phone--so persist and let them know that you heard it was out of service and if they would please check. Their first response will be based on the existence of the DC fast charger but not whether it is working.

 

[Chrisn]

I have only done three DC charges and never had the patience to do a 100% charge, but I think it would take at least 1.5 hours to get to 100%. After 80-90%, the rest of the charge is at the same speed as Level 2 (or even Level 1).

I wish you luck. You might want to use this tool (that someone else here point me to) to see how much net elevation change (positive or negative) there is from your second charge and your final destination:

http://www.doogal.co.uk/RouteElevation.php

I'm sure someone here has done the rough calculation of X feet of elevation gain translates to Y reduction in level EV miles. I assume rolling hills are pretty efficient (perhaps a 10-15% loss on the "round trip" of potential energy), but net elevation gains need to "paid for" via reduced range.

 

[Zzzoom3]

I wish you luck. You might want to use this tool (that someone else here point me to) to see how much net elevation change (positive or negative) there is from your second charge and your final destination:

Thanks .. not much elevation change along the SoCal Coast. I'm not expecting it to affect me

 

[Zzzoom3]

I made that trip from Huntington Beach to San Diego a week ago. Unfortunately, the EvGO DC fast charger was out of service in San Diego's Fashion Valley, the only one of its kind in that area. I would call EvGO to see if it is up and running yet. I got three different answers to that question when I placed it to EvGO--one communication by email and two by phone--so persist and let them know that you heard it was out of service and if they would please check. Their first response will be based on the existence of the DC fast charger but not whether it is working.

I'll be using the DCFC at Hermosa Beach and in Irvine on Quail Ridge Parkway. Only going as far as Rancho Bernardo, so I won't be visiting fashion valley this trip. Thanks ...

 

[fdl1409]

72 miles should be no problem even with only 80% SOC in warm weather and even road. Don`t drive much faster than 50 mph and you will arrive with quite a few miles of range left.

Frank

 

[Zzzoom3]

72 miles should be no problem even with only 80% SOC in warm weather and even road. Don`t drive much faster than 50 mph and you will arrive with quite a few miles of range left.

Frank

Thank you Frank that is good to hear. I'll be driving the CA interstate freeway which while it does not have unrestricted speeds, traffic moves steady at between 110-120 km/h. Traveling at 80 km/h could be a bit sketchy bu t I will try to keep it around 95 km/h

 

[Bunter]

Let us know how it all goes, and good luck to you Lou.

Cheers

Bill

 

[tiburonh]

I have to drive to San Diego, CA tonight for a business meeting tomorrow. It is a 186 mi drive from my home to the hotel I will stay. Even though I could rent a car or use my ICE, I've decided to throw caution to the wind and see how far I can push this EV thing.

There are plenty of level 2 chargers along the way, however, I'm trying to do the trip by using 2 DCFC along the way. There are only 3 SAE CCS in Southern CA as far as I can tell. The 1st station is 72 mi from my driveway. I don't anticipate this will be a problem driving in ECO PRO. The next DCFC is just 42 mi away. The last leg to my hotel will be another 72 mi which is where I'm concerned since the DCFC won't get me full in 30 minutes just 80%.

So the discovery here will be:

• How well will the estimated range translate into actual miles?
  How long do I have to stay connected on the DCFC to get full?
  How much will it cost me? The 2nd DCFC is not part of the ChargeNow network.

I'll report back tomorrow .. wish me luck! If you've got a tow truck business, maybe you could have a truck in the vicinity of Escondido, CA later tonight!

You are a brave man, Lou! I wish you good luck and look forward to hearing how it goes.

 

[Zzzoom3]

SO I made it and it went VERY WELL .. Whew!

Takeaways:

• DCFC works and it works very well. I used 2 DCFC both were 50A units. They delivered 80% SOC in 30 minutes; 90% in 60 minutes. We need these along our interstate routes and at major shopping centers! 188.7 total miles, no gas, no emissions

Here my trip stats:

• Distance traveled: 188 mi
  Driving time: 4:48 h
  Consumption: 5.0 mi/kWh
  Avg Spd: 40.3 mph
  Route: Ventura, CA to Rancho Bernardo, CA (U.S. 101, Interstate 405, Interstate 5, CA 78, Interstate 15
  Weather: Sunny, Hot (90 deg F)
  Legs: 3 - 73, 44, 71 respectively
  Stops: 2 - Hermosa Beach and Irvine; 60 minutes each (Starbucks and Sharkey's Wood Fired Grill)
  Traffic: Moderate to Heavy
  Stress: LOW - have you seen my thread about why Active Cruise Control is "The Bomb"

Summary: Don't be afraid to take your i3 on a road trip but make sure you plan ahead. Be prepared for public chargers that may not be in operating order. So have backup locations in mind.

 

[tiburonh]

SO I made it and it went VERY WELL .. Whew!

Takeaways:

• DCFC works and it works very well. I used 2 DCFC both were 50A units. They delivered 80% SOC in 30 minutes; 90% in 60 minutes. We need these along our interstate routes and at major shopping centers! 188.7 total miles, no gas, no emissions

Here my trip stats:

• Distance traveled: 188 mi
  Driving time: 4:48 h
  Consumption: 5.0 mi/kWh
  Avg Spd: 40.3 mph
  Route: Ventura, CA to Rancho Bernardo, CA (U.S. 101, Interstate 405, Interstate 5, CA 78, Interstate 15
  Weather: Sunny, Hot (90 deg F)
  Legs: 3 - 73, 44, 71 respectively
  Stops: 2 - Hermosa Beach and Irvine; 60 minutes each (Starbucks and Sharkey's Wood Fired Grill)
  Traffic: Moderate to Heavy
  Stress: LOW - have you seen my thread about why Active Cruise Control is "The Bomb"

Summary: Don't be afraid to take your i3 on a road trip but make sure you plan ahead. Be prepared for public chargers that may not be in operating order. So have backup locations in mind.

WOW! Great story. Well done. Especially in this hectic day and age, I love the idea of taking a couple of refreshing stops along the way. i hope your return trip also goes well.

 

[Zzzoom3]

WOW! Great story. Well done. I hope the return journey goes equally well!

Ditto!

 

[brosher]

I am equating my BEV to be similar to having a motorcycle over distance. More likely to enjoy fresh air over Ait conditioning and planning stops with good coffee/food/wifi near by. Can't wait until DC chargers work their way up here.

 

[drb]

Please let me know where the DC fast charger is in Irvine. I can't find it on my ChargePoint web site. Most appreciate.

 

[MarkN]

I'm sure someone here has done the rough calculation of X feet of elevation gain translates to Y reduction in level EV miles. I assume rolling hills are pretty efficient (perhaps a 10-15% loss on the "round trip" of potential energy), but net elevation gains need to "paid for" via reduced range.

Calculating the energy used to gain altitude is straightforward. All you need to know is the total weight of the car (including passengers and luggage) and the elevation change.

The energy in joules is the mass of the car in kilograms times the elevation gain in meters times the acceleration due to gravity.

There are 3,600,000 joules in a kilowatt hour.

As an example, the additional energy used by an i3 REx to climb I-70 from Denver, Colorado to the Eisenhower Tunnel through the continental divide with 100 kilograms of passenger:

base i3 REx mass: 1390 kg
total mass with 100 kg payload: 1490 kg
starting altitude: 1609 meters
ending altitude: 3401 meters
altitude gain: 1792 meters
acceleration due to gravity: 9.8 meters per second per second
joules: 1490 x 1792 x 9.8 = 26.2 million
kilowatt hours: 7.3 (almost 40% of battery capacity)

This is optimistic since it is ignoring the energy lost even with regeneration on downhills along the route.

Conversion from pounds and feet is left as an exercise for the reader.

 

[Chrisn]

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing.

DC Charging is great, but I fear that there won't be enough built to ensure high-confidence availability. When bought my Volt a few years ago, it was easy to find available L2 chargers in Palo Alto and San Francisco. No more. I now assume that I WON'T be able to find an available L2 charger.

Perhaps a random and rare occurrence, but yesterday I went to an eVgo DC Charger in the Bay Area. A leaf was plugged into the Chademo port an the SAE charge didn't start until the Leaf backed down to a slow charge. I went to grab a quick bite and about 20 mins later there were TWO OTHER i3s waiting to charge.

A 20 minute charge stop is not a big deal (and kind of fun), but if you have to wait for one or two cars ahead of you, it could be a bit of a bummer--- especially for BEV folks who might have no choice but to wait.

 

[Chrisn]

As an example, the additional energy used by an i3 REx to climb I-70 from Denver, Colorado to the Eisenhower Tunnel through the continental divide with 100 kilograms of passenger:

base i3 REx mass: 1390 kg
total mass with 100 kg payload: 1490 kg
starting altitude: 1609 meters
ending altitude: 3401 meters
altitude gain: 1792 meters
acceleration due to gravity: 9.8 meters per second per second
joules: 1490 x 1792 x 9.8 = 26.2 million
kilowatt hours: 7.3 (almost 40% of battery capacity)

This is optimistic since it is ignoring the energy lost even with regeneration on downhills along the route.

Conversion from pounds and feet is left as an exercise for the reader.

OK.

1792 meters * 3.281 = 5879 feet

5879 feet / 7.3kWh * 100 (for scaling) * 4 Miles/ kWh (typical efficiency) = almost exactly 0.5 miles, right?

So: For every 100 feet of net altitude gain, you lose half a mile of range (or one mile for every 200 feet of elevation gain). Easy to remember and compute in your head....

 

[Zzzoom3]

Please let me know where the DC fast charger is in Irvine. I can't find it on my ChargePoint web site. Most appreciate.

Use plugshare.com to find chargers. It's more complete than ChargePoint and allows users to "check-in" so others know if the station is in use as well as posting other good to know comments and pictures of the location.

The Irvine charger is a 3rd party charger from a local company called "EV Pump". $5 per charge and not part of the Chargepoint, eVgo, or Blink networks. The location is Quail Hill Shopping Center, 6783 Quail Hill Parkway, Irvine, CA 92602

 

[Cedriclekine]

I am equating my BEV to be similar to having a motorcycle over distance. More likely to enjoy fresh air over Ait conditioning and planning stops with good coffee/food/wifi near by. Can't wait until DC chargers work their way up here.

That is what we should tell to everybody that has doubt about bev
A good way to enjoy the road

 

[Zzzoom3]

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing.

DC Charging is great, but I fear that there won't be enough built to ensure high-confidence availability. When bought my Volt a few years ago, it was easy to find available L2 chargers in Palo Alto and San Francisco. No more. I now assume that I WON'T be able to find an available L2 charger.

Perhaps a random and rare occurrence, but yesterday I went to an eVgo DC Charger in the Bay Area. A leaf was plugged into the Chademo port an the SAE charge didn't start until the Leaf backed down to a slow charge. I went to grab a quick bite and about 20 mins later there were TWO OTHER i3s waiting to charge.

A 20 minute charge stop is not a big deal (and kind of fun), but if you have to wait for one or two cars ahead of you, it could be a bit of a bummer--- especially for BEV folks who might have no choice but to wait.

WOW .. they are going to need to install one of those take a number gizmos you used to see at the delicatessen, bakery, or butcher shop! The Freedom Station I used in Hermosa Beach had 2 DCFCs; one for CHAdeMO and one for SAE CCS. The other charger from an independent company was a single charger with 2 plugs. Not sure if it would allow simultaneous charging? Don't see why not but each vehicle would be limited to half power I would presume.