Bend <--> Crater Lake on a Single Charge

[omarsultan]

Hey folks:

Planning a trip up to Bend this August. Anyone have any idea if I can make it from the Bend SC to Crate Lake and back again on a single charge (250 rated miles in out MX P90D). I see there is a destination charger at the Lake, but I want to see if I can make the trip without being dependent on the charger, in case it is busy or dead.

Thanks,

O

 

[TaoJones]

If this heat keeps up in SoCal, I may be able to tell you in about 2.5 weeks.

That said, please note that iirc, it's about 33 miles to circumnavigate the lake as well.

So: 93+93+33 = 219.

Given that the elevation will net out (deferring to evtripplanner for the specifics), it looks doable at least in an 85 or better.

 

[Lyon]

Also, don't forget that the speed limit on 97 has gone up to 65 in sections. The prevailing traffic speed is probably closer to 70.

 

[ohmman]

Another backup plan is the free 80A charger at the OIT in Klamath Falls. Not really on the way back to Bend, but an option in case of an emergency.

 

[ecarfan]

Did you try entering your trip data into EV Trip Planner ?

Planning a trip up to Bend this August. Anyone have any idea if I can make it from the Bend SC to Crate Lake and back again on a single charge (250 rated miles in out MX P90D). I see there is a destination charger at the Lake, but I want to see if I can make the trip without being dependent on the charger, in case it is busy or dead.
O

 

[omarsultan]

Did you try entering your trip data into EV Trip Planner ?

I have. The site pegs it at ~200 RM (roundtrip) to the north side of the lake modeling a Model S P90D w/21s. I only have a couple of long road trips under my belt with the MX and don't have a good feel for my real world range, so trying to do due diligence.

 

[rhumbliner]

And you're keeping in mind that you can re-charge at Mazama campground on the south side of the lake? We used that charger last week. Also, be forewarned the loop drive was not yet open on the SE portion -- snow hasn't melted yet.

 

[ncktckr]

I picked up my P90D X last week in Fremont and drove up thru Crater Lake and to Bend. While I can't comment on Bend -> Crater Lake -> Bend, I will say that I was sweating the range anxiety quite a bit during this portion of my return trip to WA.

My last Supercharger stop was Mt. Shasta in CA (charged to 100%), and going from there to Klamath Falls left me with about 40% charge; if I didn't luck out with having the single destination charger free at Running Y, I'd have had to slink over to Grants Pass and give up on the Crater Lake portion of my trip. With a full charge leaving Klamath Falls in the morning, we made it up to Crater Lake, around the west rim, and up to Bend's Supercharger with about 9% charge remaining. The drive between Klamath Falls and Crater Lake was about an hour and a half with a lot of climbing, so the battery drain was expected; the leg from Crater Lake to Bend was mostly downhill and flat so I felt uneasy but comfortable making it.

A few things I learned during this portion of the trip:

1. Projected battery usage during trip is pretty damn accurate and left me impressed on multiple occasions. I was worried it wouldn't factor in elevation changes but it proved me wrong time and time again at Mt. Shasta, Crater Lake, Mt. Hood, etc... it was almost spot on each time I reached my destination on the other side of many climbs.
2. In Autopilot we trust when it comes to more efficiently managing energy usage than my heavy, heavy foot. I'd say that I used Autopilot 90% of the trip between Klamath Falls and Bend, including idling in the 45 minute line to pay for park entry. Even when being gentle, I spiked energy usage much harder than Autopilot did and if I hadn't used it at all I'm not sure I'd have made it.
3. Tesla needs to solve for releasing chargers when cars are fully charged. A Model S owner was using the destination charger at the lake, but his car was charged (solid green) and the cable was locked into place since his car was locked (well, I didn't check that his car was locked... but I assume so); with the owner nowhere in sight, I couldn't use it to top-up while we hiked. I love that people can't yank the cable during charging, but after a charge is complete it should be up for grabs.

 

[pdxrajiv]

I have no opinion on Bend->Crater Lake->Bend feasibility but I did do the Springfield->Crater Lake->Grants Pass trip recently and found out that EVTripPlanner's 218 RM estimate was off by quite a bit, possibly because of lower external temperature than anticipated, and higher headwinds than accounted for.Also, I found that it was not easy to incorporate the drive up to the crater lake rim village in the evtripplanner calculations.
I ended up having to charge at the Park to make it to Grants Pass.

 

[Rocky_H]

if I didn't luck out with having the single destination charger free at Running Y, I'd have had to slink over to Grants Pass and give up on the Crater Lake portion of my trip.

There are other options in Klamath Falls; check Plugshare.

There is an 80A J1772 at the Oregon Institute of Tech. There is another Tesla owner with an 80A HPWC. There are two other 14-50 options.

 

[BEEZR]

Tesla needs to solve for releasing chargers when cars are fully charged. A Model S owner was using the destination charger at the lake, but his car was charged (solid green) and the cable was locked into place since his car was locked (well, I didn't check that his car was locked... but I assume so); with the owner nowhere in sight, I couldn't use it to top-up while we hiked. I love that people can't yank the cable during charging, but after a charge is complete it should be up for grabs.

Did you try to release the charging cable from the port? I agree, at a destination or other public location there should be a way to release the public charger -- or at least a way to use your Tesla app to ping the owner of the Tesla through their app to let them know someone is waiting.

 

[omarsultan]

Thanks for all the feedback -- I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[ncktckr]

Did you try to release the charging cable from the port? I agree, at a destination or other public location there should be a way to release the public charger -- or at least a way to use your Tesla app to ping the owner of the Tesla through their app to let them know someone is waiting.

Ah, nope, would that work? I just tried from the car end, I didn't realize there was a charger-side release.

 

[Rocky_H]

Ah, nope, would that work? I just tried from the car end, I didn't realize there was a charger-side release.

Yes, J1772 charging handles have a release button for the latch. In addition to sending a stop signal to the car’s charging system, it releases the handle from the adapter that is in the Tesla’s charging port.

 

[BEEZR]

Yes, J1772 charging handles have a release button for the latch. In addition to sending a stop signal to the car’s charging system, it releases the handle from the adapter that is in the Tesla’s charging port.

I meant the port on the car. My understanding is that you DO NOT want to release the handle from J1772 adapter while the adapter is connected to the car -- the adapter will get locked into the car.

 

[Rocky_H]

I meant the port on the car. My understanding is that you DO NOT want to release the handle from J1772 adapter while the adapter is connected to the car -- the adapter will get locked into the car.

What you are saying doesn’t seem to make sense. The adapter is ALREADY locked into the port. Unhooking the handle can’t lock it in more than it already is. As a matter of fact, if the car itself is unlocked, pressing the button on the J1772 handle will briefly unlock the adapter from the charge port, so you can pull them out together.

Apparently we are not understanding each other somehow or I guess I don’t know what use case you are talking about. Are you talking about a person unhooking a public charging handle from a car that is not theirs, or someone unhooking from their own car?

 

[BEEZR]

What you are saying doesn’t seem to make sense. The adapter is ALREADY locked into the port. Unhooking the handle can’t lock it in more than it already is. As a matter of fact, if the car itself is unlocked, pressing the button on the J1772 handle will briefly unlock the adapter from the charge port, so you can pull them out together.

Apparently we are not understanding each other somehow or I guess I don’t know what use case you are talking about. Are you talking about a person unhooking a public charging handle from a car that is not theirs, or someone unhooking from their own car?

I'm talking about using a J1772 handle and the Tesla adapter. I was told at delivery that you must remove the adapter and handle together -- if you remove just the handle the adapter can/will get re-locked into the port and you cannot get it out easily. So press the latch on the J1772 handle (stops charging) and then pull everything out together when green light turns to white. If not, the car is bricked, basically, since you cannot drive with anything in the charging port. You need to call roadside assistance at that point. This is what I was told, and I thought I read it here, too...

 

[Rocky_H]

I'm talking about using a J1772 handle and the Tesla adapter. I was told at delivery that you must remove the adapter and handle together -- if you remove just the handle the adapter can/will get re-locked into the port and you cannot get it out easily. So press the latch on the J1772 handle (stops charging) and then pull everything out together when green light turns to white. If not, the car is bricked, basically, since you cannot drive with anything in the charging port. You need to call roadside assistance at that point. This is what I was told, and I thought I read it here, too...

Whoa. That is REALLY incredibly disturbing that someone representing Tesla told you that, since it is utter bull$#it.

It is slightly more convenient to hold the J1772 unlock button and then grasp both to pull them out together, but it’s no big deal either way, and the car is definitely NOT bricked or has any need for roadside assistance to deal with it if the adapter is left in.

Here’s what happens: If you just pull the J1772 handle out, the port will re-lock, with the adapter in. It is very simple to unlock the port to get the adapter out. Two ways:

(1) Slightly more cumbersome: On the charging page on the center touchscreen, there is a button to unlock charge port. Press that, and then the port unlocks, and you can pull the adapter out.

(2) Easier: So that you don’t have to get into the car and back out, just hold down the back trunk part of your key fob for about 3 seconds. That unlocks the charge port, and then you pull the adapter out.

 

[ncktckr]

(1) Slightly more cumbersome: On the charging page on the center touchscreen, there is a button to unlock charge port. Press that, and then the port unlocks, and you can pull the adapter out.

(2) Easier: So that you don’t have to get into the car and back out, just hold down the back trunk part of your key fob for about 3 seconds. That unlocks the charge port, and then you pull the adapter out.

That's good to know. This happened to me with a ChargePoint J1772 connector that I pulled out while leaving the Tesla adapter in... I freaked out at first, but then just went thru the hassle of tapping my ChargePoint card again, plugging the cable back into the adapter, then removing them together. Next time I'll try one of these two ways.

Back to my original reply, the charger at the top of Crater Lake is actually a Tesla HPWC, not a J1772, so that's why I wasn't able to press something on the other side to remove it even though the person's car was fully charged.

 

[omarsultan]

My experiences are the same as @Rocky_H

A couple of times I have flubbed pulling the J1772 handle and adaptor out in one deft move--worst case is I have to unlock the charge port again and pull the adaptor out.