New California Corridor Fast Chargers Installed

[miimura]

Another one of these EVRUS units popped up in Tulare.

 

[Michael Bornstein]

That station at least makes some sense. It is 65 miles from Bakersfield, and the only DCFC here is at the Nissan Dealer. The next stop on the line is the Nissan Dealer in Visalia which is a ways off the CA-99 freeway. The next stop north is an NRG EVgo in Selma, about 30 miles from Tulare. I can see getting a partial charge in Tulare and then going to Selma or Fresno (55 miles from Tulare) to fill up. I wish he would install his station in the Castaic area or the Lebec area as those are spots that seriously need a charger.

I know I sound biased against Dr. Tran, but that is because I probably am. :twisted: He gamed the system, installing inferior products and thus making us wait for a better day.

Will I use his chargers? Probably, but just as you end up buying gas at the station that has a sign saying that the next gas station is 250 miles across the desert. Been there, done that, and wished I bought gas at the discount station 10 miles earlier. :roll:

BTW, I know we shouldn't compare electricity to gasoline but that gives us some idea of the pricing structure. The $10 RFID card will get you slightly under 12 kWh of electricity (after paying the $2.95 connect fee). That will drive your RAV about 40 miles. So you are effectively paying $10 for the energy equivalent of one gallon of gas.

 

[miimura]

If these stations had been installed in 2015, less than 18 months from award, nobody would be complaining because there was nothing to compare to. Now with NRG well into their build-out of redundant 50kW stations, these look so pitiful that I wonder why they bother. Well, I do know, it's all within the parameters of the original grant.

I suppose that the CEC learned their lesson and awarded real money, like 6X more, to overlay the I-5 and CA-99 corridors with modern chargers with electrical feeds capable of expansion to next generation chargers.

 

[miimura]

I just noticed that there is NRG site with a pair of BTC chargers at the Save Mart in Truckee. So, there's no problem getting back from the North Lake Tahoe area to the fast charger in Rocklin down I-80, but we need one more station someplace like Colfax to make it quickly up I-80 to the Lake in a RAV4 EV with Jdemo. There is a free Clipper Creek CS-40 at the Colfax Amtrak station, so you can make it with 30-60 minutes on L2, but a L3 sure would be nice in that area.

There is also a dual standard station at the Raley's in Incline Village and two Save Mart locations in Reno. PlugShare pictures indicate the Reno Save Mart locations have single BTC chargers, so I assume the Raley's is the same. These single BTC chargers can run from the supermarket's existing electric feed since they take 208V 3-phase power just like the A/C and refrigeration inside the store.

 

[miimura]

One more EVRUS 25kW unit at Econo Lodge Stockton.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I just noticed that there is NRG site with a pair of BTC chargers at the Save Mart in Truckee. So, there's no problem getting back from the North Lake Tahoe area to the fast charger in Rocklin down I-80, but we need one more station someplace like Colfax to make it quickly up I-80 to the Lake in a RAV4 EV with Jdemo. There is a free Clipper Creek CS-40 at the Colfax Amtrak station, so you can make it with 30-60 minutes on L2, but a L3 sure would be nice in that area.

If I win a couple tickets to go to the Gigafactory grand opening, I will probably drive the RAV4 EV up the 99.

 

[fromport]

I hope this might give us more charging spots:

http://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/07...-pedal-to-increase-electric-vehicle-adoption/

 

[n3ckf]

so i'm seeing a 110 ish mile gap on 101 between fast chargers south of Salinas on plugshare.
Does that match reality?

I may be driving that run in about 2 weeks. there are L2s between so its *possible* to do it safely but i wouldnt have to drive slow enough to actually be guaranteed of making a 110 mile run on 101 (that section also has hills so its less efficient than one would like too)

 

[miimura]

so i'm seeing a 110 ish mile gap on 101 between fast chargers south of Salinas on plugshare.
Does that match reality?

I may be driving that run in about 2 weeks. there are L2s between so its *possible* to do it safely but i wouldnt have to drive slow enough to actually be guaranteed of making a 110 mile run on 101 (that section also has hills so its less efficient than one would like too)

Google maps says it's 130 miles from the NRG station in Salinas to the one in San Luis Obispo. You have to drive pretty slow to make it without adding any electrons in between. The 70 amp charger at the Rabobank Atascadero is frequently occupied and it is only a single plug. You will probably have a better chance getting an available plug at the Paso Robles Park and Ride.

 

[n3ckf]

that shows 99 miles from the Salinas charger to the Park & Ride so that seems doable. I suspect that charger is going to be where most of the downtime is for this trip then.

 

[miimura]

The US Green Vehicle Council applied to move one of it's fast charger sites under the 2014 grant. It was reported by the CEC in the Localized Health Impacts report issued today.

Old Site:
U.S. Green Vehicle Council
612 Wainright Court
Lebec, CA 93243

New Site:
U.S. Green Vehicle Council
Econolodge
49713 Gorman Post Road
Lebec, CA 93243

The new location is at the next exit south off I-5. This is the area at the top of the long grade above Tejon Ranch (Wheeler Ridge).

 

[miimura]

Another of these USGVC stations is active on the I-5 corridor. Castaic Lake RV Park.

https://api.plugshare.com/view/location/14295

This location is closer to the freeway than the nearby NRG station. For the RAV with Jdemo, you would probably be better off going the extra few miles to Canyon Country Plaza if you really need to charge in that area.

 

[miimura]

Another USGVC station is active on the I-5 corridor. Days Inn hotel in Lost Hills

https://api.plugshare.com/view/location/93908

There is also a new NRG station on the CA-99 corridor at the Save Mart in Chowchilla. It is likely a pair of BTC chargers, but there are no pictures yet and one of the first users said that it only charged for one minute, then stopped. NRG has dispatched a tech according to the PlugShare comments.

Chowchilla may be interesting to people because it's reachable to/from Gilroy and Tracy. If coming from Tracy, you could skip Atwater on the way to Selma, but either way Chowchilla or Atwater, you will have one short leg between Tracy and Selma.

https://api.plugshare.com/view/location/93543

 

[miimura]

The USGVC station I listed with a new location above in Lebec is now active.

https://api.plugshare.com/view/location/94737

So, technically, I-5 is now populated with CHAdeMO chargers and you could drive your RAV4 EV from the Bay Area or the Sacramento area to the LA basin via I-5 only on fast chargers. Of course, this comes with the caveat that these chargers are relatively slow and relatively expensive.

 

[Tadol]

Thanks for keeping this updated! A slow fast charger is better than no charger at all!

 

[evdrive]

Thanks for keeping this updated! A slow fast charger is better than no charger at all!

Yes, indeed.

 

[miimura]

Thanks for keeping this updated! A slow fast charger is better than no charger at all!

Just make sure to bring your L2 EVSE that can use a 14-50 socket. RV parks are the only backup charging opportunities that show up on Plugshare near these I-5 corridor chargers. There is no backup at Coalinga, but there are nearby RV connections listed for Santa Nella, Lost Hills, and Gorman (Lebec). There are probably other backup charging possibilities, but they are not listed on Plugshare.

In any case, until the I-5 corridor is overlaid with more chargers, I would prefer to drive 101 between the Bay Area and the LA area. From Sacramento, I would probably use 99.

 

[miimura]

EVgo is slowly creeping their way up US-50 and I-80 towards Tahoe.

There is a new site at a Raley's store in El Dorado Hills with what PlugShare says are 4 dual standard chargers. The photos show new BTC chargers, but don't show all 4 units. This is only one exit further up US-50 from the Bel Air Grocery location in Folsom. Why can't they just jump to the Raley's store in Placerville? PlugShare Link: https://api.plugshare.com/view/location/96118

The other new site is at a Raley's store in Loomis, exactly one exit further up I-80 from the Walmart/Panda Express location in Rocklin. This location has two BTC chargers. Again, there is a Raley's in Auburn. Making bigger steps up the road to Tahoe would be much more useful. PlugShare Link: https://api.plugshare.com/view/location/96346

 

[miimura]

Interesting story at GreenCarCongress about the progress and locations for the CEC funded Recargo fast charging corridor on US-101.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2016/09/20160925-recargo.html

Summary:
Sites, from north to south - Gilroy, Gonzales, Greenfield, King City, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Buellton.
At least one 50kW dual standard charger and one L2 charging station. Some sites will have two 50kW chargers.
Black & Veatch has been issued a sub-contract for the buildout. B&V is the leading contractor used by Tesla for the Supercharger network.

Unfortunately, no news about the installation schedule or specific host sites.

 

[miimura]

A little more progress up I-80. There is a new NRG EVgo site at SaveMart in Auburn with two BTC dual-standard chargers.

https://api.plugshare.com/view/location/97079

EVtripPlanner says it is 66.1 miles to the Truckee NRG station with 9,040 feet up and 4,402 feet down in total. I think that's about 103 miles equivalent if you use +7mi/1,000ft up and -6mi/1,000ft down. The site says a S85 w/21" wheels would take 29.3kWh at 443Wh/mi.

Looks doable now for a RAV4 EV in good weather.