I need to charge - Big Bear

[alexthager]

Hello,

This is my first post on the site so I'm sorry it's me asking for help – but I'm not sure what my options are! I'm in Big Bear, CA for the weekend, and I didn't bring my mobile charger or adapter to use other EV stations. I'm leaving Sunday (tomorrow), but I'm a little worried about making it down the mountain, even with regen. I have 19% left in my 2019 Standard Range M3, and I'm worried I'll be under 10% tomorrow morning from the cold.

I'm not sure what to do since the only chargers up here aren't Tesla-affiliated and I don't have any charging equipment with me. I was wondering if you knew of any solutions or if I could offer to pay someone to let me charge for about 15-30 min?

Thank you for any and all input!

 

[XPsionic]

Just take it easy down the hill, you won't use any battery from Big Bear down to the supercharger at the bottom of the hill due to regen. A Better Route Planner says 0% usage exactly from Big Bear Lake down to Highland supercharger.

 

[gaswalla]

have you checked on plugshare? (get the app or go to website)... do you have your j1772 adapter?
There are level 2 chargers in Big Bear all over the place to use with the adapter. A few places have Tesla wall chargers: RE/MAX at 626 Pine Knot Ave and Sierra Blue Suites Hotel...
There's also a supercharger at Lake Arrowhead, which is probably not a reasonable plan, but just FYI

 

[alexthager]

Just take it easy down the hill, you won't use any battery from Big Bear down to the supercharger at the bottom of the hill due to regen. A Better Route Planner says 0% usage exactly from Big Bear Lake down to Highland supercharger.

Thanks for your help! You're pretty confident I'd be able to make it down with less than 10%?

 

[RayK]

I see a couple of things which may work for you:

• Find a friendly Tesla owner in the area who has a J1772 adapter that they may be able to loan to you while you charge at the non Tesla-affiliated station. I'm assuming that is what you mean by non-Tesla affiliated; a Level 2 charging station and not a DC FAST station which would require totally different adapters. I see about 8 locations around Big Bear with J1772 handles on plugshare.com.
• Find a very friendly Tesla owner who has a mobile connector that you can borrow. You will be limited to the NEMA adapter(s) that they have. Plug in overnight and you should have enough juice in the morning.

Once you manage to extract yourself from this situation, I'm sure that going forward you will always have a J1772 adapter in your car. It also helps to carry the mobile connector but you might have to invest in several NEMA adapters; both 120V (5-15) and 240V (14-50).

 

[alexthager]

have you checked on plugshare? (get the app or go to website)... do you have your j1772 adapter?
There are level 2 chargers in Big Bear all over the place to use with the adapter. A few places have Tesla wall chargers: RE/MAX at 626 Pine Knot Ave and Sierra Blue Suites Hotel

I just downloaded plugshare. I don't have any adapters or chargers with me.. I know really stupid planning, but I assumed there were a ton of superchargers in Big Bear - finding that out the hard way! So I'm not sure what options I have? Are you saying this Remax place and Sierra has all the tesla stuff I'd need?

 

[alexthager]

I see a couple of things which may work for you:

• Find a friendly Tesla owner in the area who has a J1772 adapter that they may be able to loan to you while you charge at the non Tesla-affiliated station. I'm assuming that is what you mean by non-Tesla affiliated; a Level 2 charging station and not a DC FAST station which would require totally different adapters. I see about 8 locations around Big Bear with J1772 handles on plugshare.com.
• Find a very friendly Tesla owner who has a mobile connector that you can borrow. You will be limited to the NEMA adapter(s) that they have. Plug in overnight and you should have enough juice in the morning.

Once you manage to extract yourself from this situation, I'm sure that going forward you will always have a J1772 adapter in your car. It also helps to carry the mobile connector but you might have to invest in several NEMA adapters; both 120V (5-15) and 240V (14-50).

Thanks for your advice!

I'm just not exactly sure how I could go about these options? I guess this post is kinda that, but is there some other way you'd recommend finding these tesla owners?

And absolutely! I have no desire to end up in this situation again. I recently got my Tesla and I went to Vegas and there was an abundance of chargers on the way from LA. I assumed the same would be with Big Bear, and I'm finding out the hard way that is not the case!

So I'll definitely be bringing my charger and adapters moving forward.

 

[alexthager]

Also, another user noted that I could make it down the hill to the other charger. Is that actually possible? I may have under 10% charge in the AM.

 

[father_of_6]

If it's downhill the whole way, it should be a free ride. Your battery already paid for it on the way up.

 

[gaswalla]

rolling the down the hill and starting with 19% is not a good plan, but it likely would work. Starting at 10% with freezing temps is way too risky in my opinion (over 400k miles driven personally in a Tesla)... Go into your car, and put the Highland superchargers as a destination, and see what the arrival percentage range will be... that's your best guess if starting at current state of charge

 

[XPsionic]

Thanks for your help! You're pretty confident I'd be able to make it down with less than 10%?

I've been up there in my sr+, it takes no charge to get back down. The only issue is your battery will be cold and you'll have limited Regen for a while, but say you use 5% battery to get down to highland and you start with 10%, you'll still get there with 5% to spare.

Just chill and remember to bring your adapter or charge more before you go to big bear next time.

If you're freaking out and need to change, go to remax and see if that one is open, they have a Tesla plug. Or here Sierra Blue Suites Hotel & Resort | PlugShare

Like i said though, I wouldn't lose any sleep over this if i were you.

 

[KenC]

That's the altitude map from Big Bear resort to Highland, 33miles' first half it's pretty flat, until about mile 14, then it's steep downhill. You actually lose about 10% in the first 16miles, so if you start at 10%, you may hit 0%, then you regen 5% by the time you get to Highland!!! Wow, that's cutting it close. If you really are 10%, go slower than the speed limit, and don't turn on the heat. At least, not until you get past mile 16 and start regaining SOC!

 

[XPsionic]

View attachment 903497
That's the altitude map from Big Bear resort to Highland, 33miles' first half it's pretty flat, until about mile 14, then it's steep downhill. You actually lose about 10% in the first 16miles, so if you start at 10%, you may hit 0%, then you regen 5% by the time you get to Highland!!! Wow, that's cutting it close. If you really are 10%, go slower than the speed limit, and don't turn on the heat. At least, not until you get past mile 16 and start regaining SOC!

Looking at the graph, if I were OP I'd probably want to top up the car to at least 15% at one of the two locations with a Tesla destination charger tomorrow morning.

Assuming the car wakes up with like 16-17% battery tomorrow in the chilly morning, there's gonna be enough juice to get down the hill.

 

[BitJam]

As others have said, if you are cutting it close on range then GO SLOW. By going 25 or 30 mph, you will get 30% more range compared to going 55 mph. Even if you only start with 10% SoC you should be okay if you go slow in the flat part.

 

[ngng]

If the battery is cold it isn't going want to take any regen.

 

[BitJam]

If the battery is cold it isn't going want to take any regen.

According to the map posted by @KenC, the first half of the trip is mostly flat. The big downhill only starts after about 15 miles. The battery should be warmed up just fine to get regen for the big downhill stretch.

 

[ngng]

According to the map posted by @KenC, the first half of the trip is mostly flat. The big downhill only starts after about 15 miles. The battery should be warmed up just fine to get regen for the big downhill stretch.

I feel like a frozen pack with a low SOC is going to require a lot more than 15 miles to accept full regen. I'd be interested in learning more in the event I am in a similar situation.

 

[ucmndd]

I feel like a frozen pack with a low SOC is going to require a lot more than 15 miles to accept full regen.

it most definitely will.

 

[Shelburne]

If you are a member of AAA, call them and have them tow your car down to the Tesla supercharger. If and when you call them, make sure they know that your car is a Tesla and they have to send a flat bed tow truck. And also be sure to read the section in your manual about towing a Tesla.

 

[kman42]

Big Bear won the supercharger vote last quarter, so there will be one in a year or so. I hope you make it down the hill okay. I was shocked when we were planning a trip up there and learned there wasn't a supercharger. So many Teslas in SoCal and such a popular destination. Good luck!