Initial Impression. Las Vegas Commute

[brad11140]

Purchsed my Rav4 Ev from Dianne at Carson Toyota. Love the car!

My current commute is 49 miles each way. I live in Southwest Las Vegas and work in Nipton CA which is just over the border about 6 miles from Primm. I have 3 co-workers that ride with me and yesterday was the first day we tried this. Fully charged the night before and I did not use the extended charge because I wanted to make sure we would not "need" the extended charge. 115 mile range when we started. Ran the AC on the way down in ECO High. When we arrived remaining range was right around 60.

I plugged into a 120V out at the power plant and let it trickle for the 12 hour shift. When we left I believe it was at about 73 mile range. Weather was nice so we rode back to Vegas with the windows down and no AC. Dropped the guys off and made it home with plenty of miles remaining. So it performed solidly and my charging yesterday was interrupted by power being down at our administration building. So I am interested to see what I get on the trickle charge today.

The car is super nice and for an EV I like that it looks like a normal car. There is a learning curve on the Nav system but I like it.

The one thing I dont like... The badging, actually the front badging. I am thinking of removing the huge EV on the front. Has anyone in here did that? It appears that it is a badge with pins, so using the dental floss method is not going to get the whole job done. I could probably put something else in is place.

Other than that I am extremly happy.

 

[AvLegends]

Possibly a stock Toyota emblem?

 

[AvLegends]

So you work at the new solar plant? Have driven by and flown over many times!

Looks like quite a project. I would hate to have to clean those mirrors! :shock:

 

[brad11140]

So you work at the new solar plant? Have driven by and flown over many times!

Looks like quite a project. I would hate to have to clean those mirrors! :shock:

Yes it is a massive project. My previous power plant was 26 acres. I thought that was big. This place is like 3500 acres.

We have some machines for mirror washing but they are slow so they just hired a team to come wash by hand for the commissioning tests.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I plugged into a 120V out at the power plant and let it trickle for the 12 hour shift.

The PRIMARY reason that you want to stay plugged in at work is to keep the battery cool. The cooling system will only work when in "READY" mode (driving) or while charging.

Many, if not virtually all, commercial areas will be 208 volt, instead of the 240 volts you have at home and "50 amp RV service". If the ambient temperature is 100F or hotter, I would imagine that a huge amount of the power with 12 amp / 120 volt plug (that comes with the Rav4 EV) would get used for the battery and charger cooling.

Miles Gained per Hour Charging
Amps/Volts -- Where ---- City Drive ----- 65mph

12 / 120 ------- Any ------ 2.8 miles ------ 3.5 miles (supplied cable with car)
12 / 240 ------ Home ----- 6.8 miles ------ 8.6 miles (EVSEupgrade.com mod)
16 / 208 ------ Public ----- 7.5 miles ------ 9.5 miles
16 / 240 ------ Home ----- 8.9 miles ----- 11.2 miles
20 / 208 ------ Public ----- 9.4 miles ----- 11.9 miles
20 / 240 ------ Home ---- 11.0 miles ----- 13.9 miles (Clipper Creek LCS-25)
30 / 208 ------ Public ---- 14.8 miles ----- 18.7 miles (typical public J1772)
30 / 240 ------ Home ---- 17.1 miles ----- 21.6 miles
40 / 208 ------ Public ---- 18.5 miles ----- 23.4 miles (just the Tesla branded ones)
40 / 240 ------ Home ---- 22.7 miles ----- 28.5 miles

 

[brad11140]

I plugged into a 120V out at the power plant and let it trickle for the 12 hour shift.

The PRIMARY reason that you want to stay plugged in at work is to keep the battery cool. The cooling system will only work when in "READY" mode (driving) or while charging.

Many, if not virtually all, commercial areas will be 208 volt, instead of the 240 volts you have at home and "50 amp RV service". If the ambient temperature is 100F or hotter, I would imagine that a huge amount of the power with 12 amp / 120 volt plug (that comes with the Rav4 EV) would get used for the battery and charger cooling.

Miles Gained per Hour Charging
Amps/Volts -- Where ---- City Drive ----- 65mph

12 / 120 ------- Any ------ 2.8 miles ------ 3.5 miles (supplied cable with car)
12 / 240 ------ Home ----- 6.8 miles ------ 8.6 miles (EVSEupgrade.com mod)
16 / 208 ------ Public ----- 7.5 miles ------ 9.5 miles
16 / 240 ------ Home ----- 8.9 miles ----- 11.2 miles
20 / 208 ------ Public ----- 9.4 miles ----- 11.9 miles
20 / 240 ------ Home ---- 11.0 miles ----- 13.9 miles (Clipper Creek LCS-25)
30 / 208 ------ Public ---- 14.8 miles ----- 18.7 miles (typical public J1772)
30 / 240 ------ Home ---- 17.1 miles ----- 21.6 miles
40 / 208 ------ Public ---- 18.5 miles ----- 23.4 miles (just the Tesla branded ones)
40 / 240 ------ Home ---- 22.7 miles ----- 28.5 miles

That's good to know and I noticed this yesterday. I had the vehicle me sitting outside plugged in and the range was not really increasing. Maybe 1 mile per hour. I moved it into our warehouse area which is climate controlled and plugged it in and than I saw the 3+ miles per hour range increase.

They are going to be installing a L2 EV charging station at the plant through EVgo. Don't know when that is going to happen though.

 

[TonyWilliams]

It will charge slower when cold, also.

 

[brad11140]

My brand new Rav4 with Ivanpah in the background.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h9764kk88v2vtoz/2013-08-31 13.05.53.jpg

 

[mhkp]

My brand new Rav4 with Ivanpah in the background.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h9764kk88v2vtoz/2013-08-31 13.05.53.jpg

That's a good looking car!

I also noticed that i get about 12m per hour of charging on Blink and 13-14 miles on ChargePoint. Both of these ate very disappointing. On my trip from Simi Valley to Rancho Bernardo (Tony's hood) I stopped in Ocean side for 2 hours and barely got enough (24 miles) to make it to my destination. On my way back I had to stop for 3 hours to get enough juice as I was using the AC in the 100 degree heat. This made my 3 hour trip (total of 150 miles) into a six hour trip. wish it was faster.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I also noticed that i get about 12m per hour of charging on Blink and 13-14 miles on ChargePoint.

Many (most) of the Blinks have been limited to 17 amps, and in the public, they are most likely only 208 volts.

 

[cossie1600]

How do you guys know how many amps it is charging?

 

[Ampster]

How do you guys know how many amps it is charging?

When I charge at Charge Point I use the phone app to see the kWhrs that go into the car. At home I charge during Midnite to 6AM Super Off Peak rate and can look at my smart meter data. The smart meter information is crude because it includes any phantom loads that my home is using. I don't log energy in and out.

 

[dark]

brad11140

my company is partner with Ivanpah, I used to go there during construction. My drive is from L.A., which is impossible to take my Rav4 EV.

I have 2 new projects, Primm and Eldorado, there will be a lot of driving for me soon. Too bad I can't take my Rav4 EV

 

[TonyWilliams]

brad11140

my company is partner with Ivanpah, I used to go there during construction. My drive is from L.A., which is impossible to take my Rav4 EV.

A Tesla Model S with a Supercharger in Barstow is perfect!

 

[brad11140]

brad11140

my company is partner with Ivanpah, I used to go there during construction. My drive is from L.A., which is impossible to take my Rav4 EV.

I have 2 new projects, Primm and Eldorado, there will be a lot of driving for me soon. Too bad I can't take my Rav4 EV

If your making the commute from Los Angeles daily than obviously you can't drive the Rav but if you decide to stay somewhere in Vegas and commute in than ship it up and use it for commuting. It is really a working out good for us.

 

[brad11140]

brad11140

my company is partner with Ivanpah, I used to go there during construction. My drive is from L.A., which is impossible to take my Rav4 EV.

A Tesla Model S with a Supercharger in Barstow is perfect!

Lol. I wish! Someday maybe but I need a serious raise to afford a ride like that. We have Famly in Victorville and that would be perfect for when we make that drive. Maybe Tesla will introduce a lower cost model someday, but I doubt it.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Maybe Tesla will introduce a lower cost model someday, but I doubt it.

$30k to likely $50k, the Tesla Model E (third gen car), due out in 2017-ish with 200 mile range and the size and performance of a BMW 3 series.

 

[brad11140]

Maybe Tesla will introduce a lower cost model someday, but I doubt it.

$30k to likely $50k, the Tesla Model E (third gen car), due out in 2017-ish with 200 mile range and the size and performance of a BMW 3 series.

Excellent!

 

[srl99]

Yes, disappointing. The Chargepoints I've seen in commercial settings read 5.4 - 5.6 kW, which is 10+% less than the 6.2kWH you would expect from 208V x 30 A. I've seen Model S's display a bit more from the same CP, perhaps related to power factor (5.7-5.9 kW)?

That's a good looking car!

I also noticed that i get about 12m per hour of charging on Blink and 13-14 miles on ChargePoint. Both of these ate very disappointing. On my trip from Simi Valley to Rancho Bernardo (Tony's hood) I stopped in Ocean side for 2 hours and barely got enough (24 miles) to make it to my destination. On my way back I had to stop for 3 hours to get enough juice as I was using the AC in the 100 degree heat. This made my 3 hour trip (total of 150 miles) into a six hour trip. wish it was faster.

 

[n3ckf]

The Chargepoints at Google give 6.0 to 6.2 KWH when charging. (it displays it right on the unit if you have the older LED type units). The very latest newfangled chargepoints have LCD screens (with a little guy animation on them) and i havent found the same data on them yet but i've only used them a couple times. We just got 20+ of them installed behind my building, so we temporarily have tons of EV parking again (it was getting to be a game to see how early you needed to get there to get an EV spot in the last couple of months. *Many* Googlers own EVs).