I need to charge - Big Bear

[bradtem]

I took my car from LA to Mendocino county on the coast. Once you get up on the PCH up there, it's a charging desert. I had to drive over a mountain range to t he next valley to a super charger. I was extremely nervous as I was cutting it fine, especially considering the mountains. I took it really slowly up the hill and regen down the mountain. I actually ended up barely using any electricity at all by the end, I was gaining so much power going down the hill, it almost seemed miraculous. Also shout out to many of the wineries and breweries in Anderson valley that have Tesla chargers on site (albeit slow).

I have done that drive a couple of times in my Tesla. It's not as much as a desert as you fear. There is a charger at Big Sur and at Fort Bragg, and that doesn't seem a lot, but there are also few detours so the only way you will run out of power is if you do a bunch of backtracking.

Now I have done that backtracking when I was staying in one town or another along the route, but then you can find quite a lot of hotels (though not that cheap) with level 2 charging and even Tesla destination charging to get you set. There is even a hotel in Mendocino with Tesla Destination charging that will let you park there if they don't have guests using their stations that night.

My favourite though is the chargers that are found at several of the beaches. What better thing to do while charging than spend time on the beach? We did a 3 hour kayak trip at Van Damme State Park, and there's charging essentially right on the beach! Here's me and another Tesla charging up while at the park. Free, too!

That said, it could get a bit better, and it will. If you want to truly do highway 1 from Stinson Beach to Fort Bragg in a SR+ it could be an issue if you don't stop at a beach like this. That's 170 flat miles from Sausalito though, and should not be an issue even in that SR+ unless you backtrack a bunch.

 

[SteelClouds]

Kinda harsh. Did you have a bad day or something?

Yeahh. Mr Grumpy. I read his responses and I get what he’s saying but no need to harsh about it. You have no idea to the back story of OP and why he got where he is. I know peoplee wiith ice that constantly run the tank to less than 1/8 and then panic going to work because they are too lazy to fill the car sooner. Or the process intimidated them so they ignore it Or. Or. Or. they have dozens of excuses. I know new EV owners that are absolutely clueless. The dealer didn’t tell them anything. They buy the EV because of all the news and it sounds cool and none of their friends have one so they get to be the cool kid for a bit. Then reality sits in. Having to carry adapters is stupid and not required for gas so new owners would not naturally think of it or not be used to the idea. I’ve seen tesla owners all the time without the J adapter. Often it’s a used tesla. The dealer didn’t include it and the new owner is clueless. All they know is teslas “supercharge” who needs an adapter? This is real. I just had this conversation with a new owner on his second day of ownership at a supercharger he couldn’t use ( didn’t know to transfer ownership in the app) and no adapter. And zero knowledge of plug share etc. I was able to steer him and family to a nearby EVgo that took CC and had a Tesla adapter. So being grumpy because someone doesn’t know as much as you do is not being very fair to the. OP. There was a time you didn’t know either and I’m sure you asked some stupid questions. We have all been there before and will continue to be there at times

 

[KenC]

As somebody who believes we need to switch to EVs, it's a bad day when an EV ends up making things a lot worse for you than driving a gas car. This was one of those times -- but only because of uncertainty, since the car could have handled the situation fine.

Not that EVs never involve compromise, especially on trips into the country. But I hope to see less and less of it, and to say that the gasoline car has more compromises than the electric one. We need that to make this transition.

Ideally the tools should get so accurate at their estimates and planning that we never have to doubt them. Now, in the very specific case of Big Bear, there will be a supercharger there before long, since it won the voting contest. But that doesn't solve the rest of the rural areas we want to drive to. I can see why Tesla didn't put a charger there at first -- you generally don't need superchargers at the top of hills, for the reasons discussed.

You'd think more destination spots would have EV charging. Seems like a lost opportunity.

 

[SteelClouds]

You'd think more destination spots would have EV charging. Seems like a lost opportunity

I had this very conversation with the city leader at a small town on Route 66. They had the perfect position for attracting EV owners to grab a quick L2 charge and strip them of a few bucks for sit down lunch and all kinds of trinkets. But even after running the math, not needing any permits other than some 220 and a gravel parking lot, they didn’t see the attraction. No matter the town is slowly dying. The movie cars is real for them. You can’t fix stupid or intentional ignorance

 

[brkaus]

oops! yes, you are correct.

honestly, until this thread, i thought EVERYONE LEFT THEIR ADAPTERS in the car 24/7.

J1772, yes. Mobile connector, no.