Big Bear, wrightwood, route 2 and mountain Drives in LA

[Green G-IAN-T]

Hey everyone I am a new model y owner who certainly understands the implications on range of elevation, driving habits, and temperature. I do a ton of mountain driving and backcountry snowboarding

I am just wondering everyone's experience on driving to big bear for instance from the west side of LA, for extra peace of mind do you supercharge prior on the way up? It appears on multiple apps there is not any proper destination charging up there?

I have had some interesting traffic jams returning for going from people who do not know how to drive in the snow or just stop for snow play on the roads.

So any real experience would be really helpful

 

[365gtb4]

Do a range charge in San Bernardino, Fontana or Rancho before going up the hill. You will use a lot of range going up but mostly cost going down. If you are in snow then your usage will increase a lot.

 

[Srad600Volt]

I'm on the other side of LA but I did this trip last week. I have not found any charging stations in Big Bear yet, so you need to have enough juice to get up and down the mountain. You do get a good amount of range back coming down the mountain. There's a supercharger in Rancho Cucamonga and another in Colton that are "on the way". I was able to go up and back during that super heavy traffic jam last week (took hours longer than normal), with a full car (me, wife, two small kids and dog) without needing to charge at all. Left home with 90% charge, got back that night with 115miles of indicated range left. It's a 156mi round trip from my house, and temps were in the mid-low 20's on the mountain. We were also driving in snow once past chain control. If you're coming form the West side of LA, you will very likely need to supercharge at some point. If I were you, I'd supercharge in Rancho on the way up and then you don't have to stress while on the mountain.

*EDIT* I haven't tried getting to Wrightwood yet, but it should be doable since it's closer and I believe lower elevation than Big Bear. My uncle has a Bolt and we usually go up there together to ski/snowboard. He used to stop at my house (from OC) and we'd switch to my ICE car. But now that I've switched to electric, this will be our first year heading up on electricity.

I am also able to go on a canyon run from my house to Crystal Lake and back (90 mile trip) going pretty hard up/down the mountains with more charge left than I expected. Don't remember the amount though.

 

[artnalex]

What he said above ^^^, but Fontana Supercharger might be a slightly better option than Rancho Cucamonga as you drive to Wrightwood.

 

[VeganDiver]

Fwiw I used to take my electric clarity with a whopping 89 miles of range up to wrightwood. I would need to charge it up fully at Victoria gardens (near base of Cajon pass) and barely make it up the hill. I had a friend there with a welder, so I could plug into his 6-50 outlet and charge up before heading back. Although on the way back I’d gain 20 miles of range going down the hill. Anyway short of it is that (useable) battery is about 1/4 the size of the MY so I’d expect to lose 20-25% on the way up and almost nothing coming down. Depending on where you live Wrightwood should be easily doable without a charging stop for most of LA county if not all.

 

[beachmiles]

A big bear supercharger is currently the #1 requested charger in the world.
Please vote to keep it in the #1 spot.

Supercharger Voting | Tesla

Vote on the next Supercharger location.

www.tesla.com

I added 2 more specific location requests in big bear for the next voting cycle at these locations. Maybe if more people add these spots manually this will increase the chance further of getting a charger installed here.
42170 Big Bear Blvd, Big Bear Lake, CA 92315
630 Knickerbocker Rd, Big Bear Lake, CA 92315