Las Vegas to Southern California

[crxpilot]

Interested to hear if anyone has done a Las Vegas to Southern California run or know if its possible in the Rav4EV? Maybe a stop at the stateline to top off somewhere and then someplace in Barstow to refill again?

 

[Khoa]

http://www.plugshare.com/
Look at the 15 between SoCal and LV.
Looks like you can do Whiskey Pete's to TCBY in Baker, to Barstow, to Mojave Desert AQMD in Victorville
Hopefully that'll take you as far as Ontario where you'll have plenty to choose from.

That's a lot of long rest stops though...

 

[Dianne]

Does anyone use RECARGO?

PS: Hiya Pilot!!

 

[TonyWilliams]

Does anyone use RECARGO?

PS: Hiya Pilot!!

They merged a few months ago, so soon it will be just one with PlugShare.

 

[TonyWilliams]

If you have a new Rav4 EV with no battery degradation, then you can go 142 miles at 65mph (3.4 miles per kWh * 41.8kWh usable) on level terrain. At 55mph, that will jump up to about 163 miles (3.9 miles * 41.8kWh usable). NOTE: no consideration made for wind, terrain, elevation gain, heater use, etc.

Absolutely no heater. Seat heaters are OK. Air conditioning is OK, too, but use some restraint. If it is 110F out, perhaps only cool the cabin to 80F-85F.

So, first the obvious. You need to start with a 100% "extended charge". There is some good news... even though you go over a mountain range and through Death Valley, the beginning and ending elevation is about the same at Las Vegas and at Barstow (around 2000 feet).

I highly, highly recommend the Tesla UMC to J1772 conversion. Full 40 amps, and you can get 240 volts at RV parks. There is one at:

137 miles from the Las Vegas strip:

Twin Lakes RV Park
50 amp service, NEMA 14-50
760-257-3377
46200 Twin Lakes Rd
Newberry Springs, CA 92365


142 miles from the Las Vegas strip:

Newberry Mountain RV Park
50 amp service, NEMA 14-50
760-257-0066
47700-47798 National Trails Hwy
Newberry Springs, CA 92365


144 miles from the Las Vegas strip:

KOA Campground
50 amp service, NEMA 14-50
760-254-2311
35250 Outer Hwy 15
Newberry Springs‎, California‎ 92365


Roadster charge station at (you would need a Roadster adaptor... I could rent you mine, if you want):

157 miles from the Las Vegas strip:

McDonalds, to the right of the drive-through
1611 E Main St
Barstow‎ California‎ 92311


You will need five hours of charging at the RV parks, and probably 6 hours at the Roadster charge station. You can charge at the full 40 amp rate, and you are extremely unlikely to have a lowly LEAF, or Plug-In Prius, etc, hogging all those amps at either an RV park or the Roadster charger.

If you decide to use public J1772 for this trip, good luck. At 208 volts and 30 amps max, you just added many hours to that five hour charge time.

There is exactly ONE J1772 at:

Whiskey Pete's
100 W Primm Blvd
Jean‎, Nevada‎ 89019

Good luck if it's in use, or broken, etc. Because this is only 30 amps at 208 volts, I recommend the MINIMUM you'll to get comfortably to the Barstow or Newberry Springs area. At 208v/30a, you will gain 18.7 miles per hour charging for 65 mph down the freeway (NOTE: no consideration made for wind, terrain, elevation gain, heater use, etc). You will need a ChargePoint card. I also recommend a Blink card for the trip.

It's another 177 miles to downtown San Diego from the Roadster charge station in Barstow, and there are TONS of places to charge. Easy.

****************************************

Miles Gained per Hour Charging @ 87.5% charger efficiency
70F Ambient temperature - hotter or colder will decrease miles gained

---------------------------- 2.7 miles/kWh - 3.4 miles/kWh
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 (2011-2012 LEEF EVSE doesn't work)
16 / 240 ------ Home ----- 8.9 miles ----- 11.2 miles (2011-2012 LEEF EVSE doesn't work)
20 / 208 ------ Public ----- 9.4 miles ----- 11.9 miles (2013 LEEF EVSEupgrade.com)
20 / 240 ------ Home ---- 11.0 miles ----- 13.9 miles (Clipper Creek LCS-25)
24 / 240 ------ Home ---- 13.6 miles ----- 17.7 miles (dryer outlet)
25 / 250 ------ Home ---- 13.7 miles ----- 17.9 miles (2013 LEEF EVSEupgrade.com)
30 / 208 ------ Public ---- 14.8 miles ----- 18.7 miles (typical public J1772)
30 / 240 ------ Home ---- 17.1 miles ----- 21.6 miles (rare public J1772)
40 / 208 ------ Public ---- 18.5 miles ----- 23.4 miles (Tesla Roadster/Clipper Creek)
40 / 240 ------ Home ---- 22.7 miles ----- 28.5 miles (RV park, welder outlet, Tesla UMC)

 

[TeCKis300]

It's technically possible as Tony points out. But I personally would be a bit apprehensive to try and drive 55/65 mph on this route, especially if it's anywhere near the peak travel times on the weekends where people are rushing to get to Vegas / back to LA for work week.

Though Tony might have some insight or strategies to best do that safely as well.

 

[geo]

140+ miles to Newberry Springs is cutting it very close

Top off in Primm if you can. They actually have 2 Chargepoints. Even if you added only 20 miles back in, it would help.

If Baker had a J1772, it would be very doable.

 

[TonyWilliams]

It's technically possible as Tony points out. But I personally would be a bit apprehensive to try and drive 55/65 mph on this route, especially if it's anywhere near the peak travel times on the weekends where people are rushing to get to Vegas / back to LA for work week.

Though Tony might have some insight or strategies to best do that safely as well.

I use an LED sequenced lighted direction arrow attached to the rear of the car. I traveled 3500 miles at a max speed of 55mph almost all on freeways. Here in California, truck drivers are required to drive 55mph in the slow lane, and I fit right in:

 

[TonyWilliams]

140+ miles to Newberry Springs is cutting it very close

Top off in Primm if you can. They actually have 2 Chargepoints. Even if you added only 20 miles back in, it would help.

If Baker had a J1772, it would be very doable.

You would have to define "close". For me, having a 10 or 20 mile reserve is plenty with multiple charge locations to choose from. The beauty of any EV is that you can just slow down if you're coming up short.

The trip is "doable" because the car can make the multiple locations in the Barstow area. If this was a "one horse town", I wouldn't try it. Baker doesn't have J1772, so why bring it up?

You have to plan these types of trips assuming that single locations don't work for any reason (like Whiskey Pete's). If I were driving it, I likely wouldn't stop there at all, if I had a solid reservation at one of those RV parks down range and I had my J1772 40 amp EVSE and Roadster adaptor (since there is a Roadster 70 amp plug there).

Trying this trip expecting to be "served" with J1772 is not a sound plan.

 

[EVBill]

Nice setup Tony with the lighted direction arrow. I was wondering how one might make a run for the 200mi club without the risk of being run over on the freeway, or finding a long empty road in the desert.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Nice setup Tony with the lighted direction arrow. I was wondering how one might make a run for the 200mi club without the risk of being run over on the freeway, or finding a long empty road in the desert.

It put me in the 100 Mile Club with the LE*F !!

I just did a 389 mile weekend, leaving here in San Diego on Saturday, driving up to the Ronald Reagan library, staying overnight on Saturday in Simi Valley, and returning Sunday via Malibu and Pacific Coast Highway.

Drove 55mph the whole way. With my 6.5% degradation, that gave me about 156 miles of range. I charged up in Newport Beach for 2 hours (dinner at Cheesecake Factory) on the drive up, then an overnight charge in Simi Valley near the library / museum. They had a Lincoln display, also.

On the return Sunday, I charged 90 minutes in Santa Monica (lunch) and 75 minutes in Costa Mesa (IKEA shopping) on the return. Both of these were low voltage, slow chargers. The last one was a Blink that hit 197F degrees.

 

[EVBill]

6.5% degradation after how many miles (20-25K)?

I've stopped by the Costa Mesa Ikea a few times but was hesitant to use the Blink charger, where did you get the 197F degree reading from?

 

[TonyWilliams]

6.5% degradation after how many miles (20-25K)?

I've stopped by the Costa Mesa Ikea a few times but was hesitant to use the Blink charger, where did you get the 197F degree reading from?

Yes, I'm about 23,000 miles now.

I measured 197F on the J1772 plug pin, one of the power pins. The other was "only" 145F, or so.

Ambient was about 70F - 75F, and the cord from the Blink EVSE was about 85F.