Hi Lawrence, I am in a similar situation. I drive 4-5 times a year on a 1100 mile round trip between Northern California and Southern California. I drive my RAV4-EV with an aftermarket CHAdeMO port. It has an extended range of 125 miles. Even driving at 60 mph, I don’t seem to get more than about 110 miles when it is loaded with a couple of German Shepherds and all of our gear. I aim for a max of 100 miles between charging stops and drive along Hwy 101. The difficult spot is between Salinas and San Luis Obispo. You can just make it (I have been told) if you drive 50 mph with a light foot in good weather. There are those that do that. I spend the night in Paso Robles instead and charge L2 at the motel overnight. I am ready for a break by then anyway. Because you are using the maximum range each trip, you are having to spend a lot more time charging in the “taper”, which is a lot slower than the “up to 50 kW” charge rate. Typically, I have to charge twice for 45-60 minutes, overnight, and then twice more.
I just got my new Tesla Model 3LR. It will shave a huge amount of time off of the drive. I only have to charge twice on the way down: once for 15 minutes and once for 20 minutes. I will not even use the extended range mode. Because the charging sessions are short, I will be charging in the sweet spot at 115 kW (approximately 475 mph). The Model 3LR has much better mileage than the RAV (or even the other Teslas) and charges quicker as well. I can drive on I-5, a shorter route and drive at 70 mph instead of 55-60. I will probably stop more than twice just to stretch our legs, have something to eat and drink, and use the facilities. As much as I like the RAV and it’s carrying capacity, the Model 3 will work out much better for the longer trips. John --- John G. Blair Occidental, California http://www.blairstudio.com - Impressionistic Art i...@jgblairphoto.com > On Jul 30, 2018, at 9:10 AM, Lawrence Rhodes via EV <ev@lists.evdl.org> wrote: > > I guess I should have included CCS as good. You can now make a trek North on > the 5 to get to Oregon. However while you pointed out L3 stations they are > all CCS. I can't use that with my Leaf. I'm not venting just pointing out. > As well there is a CCS gap from Stockton CA to LA on the 5 for CCS. However > there are 3 main paths to LA from N. California. Two out of three are good > for each standard. It just takes some planning on Plugshare and realizing L3 > is not a good way of looking at it. You must segregate each standard so you > don't show up at a L3 with a Bolt and see a Tesla station....oops. I do know > how to use Plugshare and when I request Chademo it gives the right results. > That is how I found the gap in N. California. You can do the trip on > Chademo. You just have to find an L2 and suffer a 3hour addition to your > travel time. That is what we did coming North on the 101 from LA to San > Francisco. If you drive Chademo you must stay in King City for a few hours. > As of today You can not make a trip on the 5 from San Diego to Oregon in > either standard. CCS must use 99. Chademo has the gap near Weed, CA where a > 3 hour stay must be made. There is no alternative route. What I think > should happen is Govt. involvement. It should be required that all fast > charge stations have equipment or allow equipment that allows any fast charge > standard to be utilized. I would love to use the Supercharger system with my > Leaf. That would mean I could go cross country with my Leaf today...However > with the reduced charging speed of 40kw not sure I'd want to go cross country > with that slow standard. I will probably buy a Tesla 3 with 140kw charging > speed. It's not the range...it is the charging time that makes EV's slow. > If you could charge in 10 minutes even an 84 mile Leaf would be acceptable to > every car driver. Lawrence Rhodes _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
