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No supercharging in Bakersfield CA?

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So had to go to Bakersfield CA to get the COVID 19 shot at CVS. I live in Lake Forest CA / Orange County. My parents couldn't book anything nearby and the only option was Bakersfield. Probably because its out in the middle of nowhere and a little easier to get an appointment.

But what I noticed was there was only one supercharger on the way to Bakersfield, but no supercharging stations in Bakersfield CA. It's in Tejon Ranch, which seems strategically placed as your "last chance" to charge up before going into Bakersfield. Why is there no supercharging in Bakersfield, it's in the middle of nowhere but it not a tiny town. Has anyone ever traveled to Bakersfield as a destination or pass by it? I assumed a place like Bakersfield would be a good place to put a supercharging for those doing road trips to other major CA cities like Sacramento or going to National Parks like Yosemite.

Phoenix AZ was the only city I went to that seemed to be less Tesla friendly, only 3 superchargers in the entire city. I stayed in downtown Phoenix, and before I ventured out east into Mesa AZ, I had to be sure I charged up near downtown because there were no supercharging in Mesa at all, so I had to be absolutely sure I had enough for a round trip back to the hotel.

Drove my parent's Mercedes S-class to Bakersfield CA which is about a 160 mile each way trip, so didn't experiment with the Tesla. But I still checked in the Tesla GPS to see how it plans the route, and that's when I realized there was no supercharging in Bakersfield. So it seems like I would have to charge at Tejon Ranch, which is like 30-40 minutes outside Bakersfield, and be absolutely sure I can make it back after entering Bakersfield CA, since that was final destination and headed back home directly. I assumed Teslas were normal enough now because I see them everywhere in Orange County, LA, San Diego. I didn't see many Teslas in Bakersfield CA, more older beater cars than Teslas.

Checking the Supercharger map, it seems supercharging is easier travelling on I-5, but Bakersfield is on the CA-99. And the CA-99 goes through other middle of nowhere NorCal cities like Modesto, Fresno, Bakersfield. And there is only like 2 supercharging you can count on. Seems options are slimmer if you travel along inland cities of CA that aren't a close drive to the beach, and off an interstate.

So far the only places I have to supercharge leaving from Lake Forest CA is going to Santa Barbara round trip, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and San Diego.
 
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There are two popular superchargers on I-5: Buttonwillow and Bakersfield. But both are definitely west of town. Yes, Tejon Ranch is it for those traveling north on the 99. It looks like Tesla plans to add a charger at a downtown Target parking lot at the end of this year.
 

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1. A Better Routeplanner is your friend. Bakersfield is an easy trip from Orange county, just stop for a bit in each direction in Tejon Ranch.
2. Tesla has a Supercharger for Bakersfield in the works - ETA Q3 2021.

See attached screenshots.

Does Better RoutePlanner show recommended charging time for the case to just reach your destination, or does it consider the roundtrip part too, like leaving Bakersfield?

My Tesla GPS estimated 11% charge remaining from Lake Forest to Bakersfield, car had 80% charge. Yeah, I could make it to Bakersfield without supercharging, but I'll probably be screwed on the way back. Just wondering how people prepare for these kinds of inperfect situations where they must drive their Tesla to an area less friendly for EV / Tesla drivers.
 
I drove through Bakersfield to/from Las Vegas, and there were 2 Superchargers, one by the CHP on the West exit from town.
Easy Trip Food Store 29541 Stockdale Hwy Bakersfield, CA 93314. The next one North was a few miles up on Highway 5.
A new Supercharger in downtown Bakersfield is planned to open later this year.

I think Model 3s still comes with a J1772 adapter you can use at a lot of non-Tesla charging stations.
For faster charging there's a Chademo adapter you can buy.
.
 
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Does Better RoutePlanner show recommended charging time for the case to just reach your destination, or does it consider the roundtrip part too, like leaving Bakersfield?

My Tesla GPS estimated 11% charge remaining from Lake Forest to Bakersfield, car had 80% charge. Yeah, I could make it to Bakersfield without supercharging, but I'll probably be screwed on the way back. Just wondering how people prepare for these kinds of inperfect situations where they must drive their Tesla to an area less friendly for EV / Tesla drivers.

What? Stop at Tejon Ranch and charge for 10-15mins. You'll have enough to go to bakersfield and back to Tejon Ranch to charge before going back home.

It's just a little more planning.
 
Lots of places that are higher priority than Bakersfield - in my opinion. First need to cover more sports needed for travel and having the one nearby covers that area reasonably well.

Does Better RoutePlanner show recommended charging time for the case to just reach your destination, or does it consider the roundtrip part too, like leaving Bakersfield?

You can put your complete trip into ABRP so it will consider anything you tell it to consider. It doesn't have to be round trip either, you can add lots of waypoints.
 
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Yeah, I could make it to Bakersfield without supercharging, but I'll probably be screwed on the way back. Just wondering how people prepare for these kinds of inperfect situations where they must drive their Tesla to an area less friendly for EV / Tesla drivers.
I'm about to blow a gasket at the concept of this thread, considering Bakersfield, CA as some EV desert without charging options. It has freaking THREE Superchargers just on the West side of town! And it has lots of charging stations that don't happen to be Tesla brand (TM) station IN town!

Lots of places that are higher priority than Bakersfield - in my opinion. First need to cover more sports needed for travel and having the one nearby covers that area reasonably well.
Yeah, exactly. We still have problematic routes that don't have much for a few hundred miles.
 
Yeah, exactly. We still have problematic routes that don't have much for a few hundred miles.

They should put more on that CA99 freeway. At least for people doing touristy things, it's likely the road you take to access national parks like Yosemite from the SoCal area. I haven't been to a CA national park in a while, can casual level Tesla owners handle going to Yosemite and be able to charge?
 
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I haven't been to a CA national park in a while, can casual level Tesla owners handle going to Yosemite and be able to charge?
That has been discussed some. Here ya go






 
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So I have to do a drive from Lake Forest CA (OC) to Bakersfield CVS to get my 2nd Covid 19 Shot. I already did the drive, but I did it in my mom's Mercedes S-class which takes gas so I didn't get to try supercharging yet.

The only bad part for those coming south of Bakersfield is there is only one supercharger on the way to Bakersfield, but not in the city. Its's about 35 miles / 40 minutes before arriving into Bakersfield (coming from LA / OC). I really hate these kind of layouts so I'm trying to decide from these options starting from a charge of 90-100%:

  1. Go straight from OC > Bakersfield (don't charge), then charge on the way back leaving Bakersfield
  2. Charge on the way from OC > Bakersfield, and charge all the way to 90-100% so you can head straight back to OC
  3. Stop 2 times, one charge on the way, another charge on the way back


The only time I was faced with this inconvenient set up was in Phoenix AZ, where I had to go to the Mesa area, but I had to be sure I had enough to make it back to this one only supercharger because there were non in Mesa AZ.

And I need to meet my arcade friend back in OC so I can use his military discount for Dave & Busters. Since I AP, or profit on prizes, I really need his discount to maintain a good profit margin as it's 20 percent savings. Thankfully my mom said I could go to Bakersfield early in morning so I can work with this guy's schedule.

Is there a name for these kind of Tesla Supercharging routes where there is one supercharger is on the way to destination, but not at the destination.

1618641947324.png
 
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Do you really need to go that far? I got my 1st COVID-19 shot (leftover) at a Walgreens in Antioch (over 80 miles from home).

If you check Plugshare, there are several CHAdeMO chargers in Bakersfield and some on 99 between there and Lebec + a bunch between Castaic and Lake Forest. You could borrow a CHAdeMO adapter. :) It's going to be faster than public J1772 which is typically only 6.2 kW at max (due to 208 volts * 30 amps). I can't really help w/your routing as I don't know your area.

For shot 2, the 1st suggestion on a vaccine hunter FB group was to call Kaiser. That worked! I got a spot at exactly the 3 week mark, but about 35 miles from home. I kept checking CVS for them to do drops (of appointment slots) and got one there on the same day but in my city. I'll be calling to cancel my Kaiser appointment on Monday.

(Walgreens was goofy... I put in my 1st shot date of 4/2 and it said sorry, you're too early. You can come back on 4/22 to check for an appointment. The 21 day mark (ideal for Pfizer) is 4/23.)

The guy that gave me the hint (can't find his reply) had a general post for Bay Area folks on 2nd dose strategy:
#1 of 3 Kaiser and Stanford Healthcare
#2 of 3 CVS and Walgreens
#3 of 3 Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco, and Rite Aid

Each of them had some supporting text/hints.

BTW, due to CA's haphazard everyone is eligible (depended on county) and concern about the floodgates opening for the whole state on 4/15, I'd seen numerous folks drive all the way from the Bay Area to CSUB for COVID-19 vaccination. They'd post about being there or having just returned from there.
 
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Any particular reason you have two separate threads on the same topic? You already posted about this exact topic (driving from lake forest to bakersfield) for your first covid shot.

Im not a moderator for this section, or I would move this thread into that one... so this post is made as a regular member with a question as to why there are two of the same threads on this topic by you.

 
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Do you really need to go that far? I got my 1st COVID-19 shot (leftover) at a Walgreens in Antioch (over 80 miles from home).

If you check Plugshare, there are several CHAdeMO chargers in Bakersfield and some on 99 between there and Lebec + a bunch between Castaic and Lake Forest. You could borrow a CHAdeMO adapter. :) It's going to be faster than public J1772 which is typically only 6.2 kW at max (due to 208 volts * 30 amps). I can't really help w/your routing as I don't know your area.

For shot 2, the 1st suggestion on a vaccine hunter FB group was to call Kaiser. That worked! I got a spot at exactly the 3 week mark, but about 35 miles from home. I kept checking CVS for them to do drops (of appointment slots) and got one there on the same day but in my city. I'll be calling to cancel my Kaiser appointment on Monday.

(Walgreens was goofy... I put in my 1st shot date of 4/2 and it said sorry, you're too early. You can come back on 4/22 to check for an appointment. The 21 day mark (ideal for Pfizer) is 4/23.)

The guy that gave me the hint (can't find his reply) had a general post for Bay Area folks on 2nd dose strategy:
#1 of 3 Kaiser and Stanford Healthcare
#2 of 3 CVS and Walgreens
#3 of 3 Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco, and Rite Aid

Each of them had some supporting text/hints.

BTW, due to CA's haphazard everyone is eligible (depended on county) and concern about the floodgates opening for the whole state on 4/15, I'd seen numerous folks drive all the way from the Bay Area to CSUB for COVID-19 vaccination. They'd post about being there or having just returned from there.
My parents made the appointment, and Bakersfield was the only option for us as OC residents. I guess b/c its less populated so easier to get a spot there. I wish it were in LA, Santa Barbara, San Diego if it had to be far, but had to be Bakersfield and nothing to do there.

That ChadeMo adapter is like $400. And its huge, like a giant hose, def gonna take away cargo space for road trips. How does one even consider this to be worth it, costs alot and takes up space. So is having a ChadeMo adapter like a Tesla being able to have more supercharging stations?

1618650368841.png
 
Any particular reason you have two separate threads on the same topic? You already posted about this exact topic (driving from lake forest to bakersfield) for your first covid shot.

Im not a moderator for this section, or I would move this thread into that one... so this post is made as a regular member with a question as to why there are two of the same threads on this topic by you.

I didn't know how to find it, and I wanted to ask again. I'm hoping people could suggest which 1 of 3 options I should do for that Tejon Ranch charging station.
 
My parents made the appointment, and Bakersfield was the only option for us as OC residents. I guess b/c its less populated so easier to get a spot there. I wish it were in LA, Santa Barbara, San Diego if it had to be far, but had to be Bakersfield and nothing to do there.

That ChadeMo adapter is like $400. And its huge, like a giant hose, def gonna take away cargo space for road trips. How does one even consider this to be worth it, costs alot and takes up space. So is having a ChadeMo adapter like a Tesla being able to have more supercharging stations?

View attachment 654476
That's surprising. CA floodgates opened on 4/15 (State Expands Vaccine Eligibility to 50+ Californians Starting April 1 and All Individuals 16+ on April 15 Based on Expected Supply Increases | California Governor). I don't track So Cal counties but some counties in the Bay Area opened up to 16+ for their residents/people that worked there weeks ago while others in my area opened up a few days early.

You can't book online at places like CVS (COVID Vaccine (COVID-19 Immunization Updates) | CVS Pharmacy), Walgreens, Costco or Rite Aid? CVS lets you book a second dose online but you may have to try at random (or more educated times) for when they drop appointment slots. This won't help you but a guy (I think he works for Intuit) might be behind BayAreaVaccineNotification.

The guy at CHAdeMO Adapter Firmware Update Available has had his (when it was $450) CHAdeMO adapter pay for itself. We used to have some free then discounted/free stations up here thanks to Home Page - DRIVEtheARC but that ended. I took advantage of free CCS juice from them w/my Bolt when they quietly included CCS for free.

As for your last question, no. It just lets you charge on CHAdeMO stations. You might get 30ish to 50 kW, depending on the station and other factors, but that beats the pants off of J1772. 208 volts is common commercial voltage and most J1772 EVSEs for public charging are 30 amps max, so 6.2 kW or so your max.

This guy uses his adapter to charge for 19 cents/kWh instead of 34 or 35 cents/kWh at nearby 72 kW max urban-style Superchargers: CHAdeMO Charging the Model 3. Per CHAdeMO Charging the Model 3, his HPWC is still not installed.
 
That's surprising. CA floodgates opened on 4/15 (State Expands Vaccine Eligibility to 50+ Californians Starting April 1 and All Individuals 16+ on April 15 Based on Expected Supply Increases | California Governor). I don't track So Cal counties but some counties in the Bay Area opened up to 16+ for their residents/people that worked there weeks ago while others in my area opened up a few days early.

You can't book online at places like CVS (COVID Vaccine (COVID-19 Immunization Updates) | CVS Pharmacy), Walgreens, Costco or Rite Aid? CVS lets you book a second dose online but you may have to try at random (or more educated times) for when they drop appointment slots. This won't help you but a guy (I think he works for Intuit) might be behind BayAreaVaccineNotification.

The guy at CHAdeMO Adapter Firmware Update Available has had his (when it was $450) CHAdeMO adapter pay for itself. We used to have some free then discounted/free stations up here thanks to Home Page - DRIVEtheARC but that ended. I took advantage of free CCS juice from them w/my Bolt when they quietly included CCS for free.

As for your last question, no. It just lets you charge on CHAdeMO stations. You might get 30ish to 50 kW, depending on the station and other factors, but that beats the pants off of J1772. 208 volts is common commercial voltage and most J1772 EVSEs for public charging are 30 amps max, so 6.2 kW or so your max.

This guy uses his adapter to charge for 19 cents/kWh instead of 34 or 35 cents/kWh at nearby 72 kW max urban-style Superchargers: CHAdeMO Charging the Model 3. Per CHAdeMO Charging the Model 3, his HPWC is still not installed.

The only time I used non-Tesla superchargers was in Las Vegas NV, at the hotels & Dave and Busters. And they are all free! It was a good way to stay topped off if I'm going to be parked. I had to travel to Dave and Busters in Las Vegas while CA was closed during the pandemic. Now everything is starting to open up again, so hopefully won't have to rely on going outta state for my arcade fix. I am an advantage player for arcade redemption games.

It seemed most big hotels had EV charging. Harrahs had Tesla wall connectors in parking lot. Circus Circus, NYNY, Paris had Chargepoints. And the shopping center where Dave and Busters was had free charging.

I took advantage of those, its slow, but if I was sleeping or at D&B (because I'll be there for over 6 hours) it worked out. It was a good way to charge for free while doing local driving in the Las Vegas area, going to D&B.

One time a gas car parked (not charging) at the Harrahs Tesla charger overnight, then I saw the gas car owner the next morning, and I yelled at him for being lazy and taking away EV charging.
 
The only time I used non-Tesla superchargers was in Las Vegas NV, at the hotels & Dave and Busters.
What are "non-Tesla superchargers"?

When was your first shot date? You do NOT need to return to the same place or business for your 2nd shot. The Walgreens folks even told me that.

For kicks, i just tried booking on CVS (COVID Vaccine (COVID-19 Immunization Updates) | CVS Pharmacy) for a 2nd Pfizer dose, put in 04022021 (04/02/2021) for my a 1st shot date (was mine), Lake Forest, CA and it came up with a slots on 4/23 at 3 locations (2 in Orange, 1 in Laguna Beach). If I pick 4/24 or 4/25, there are 3 or 4 locations for those.

If I change it to Moderna, I'm given at least 3 locations at 3 of the suggested dates (4/30 thru 5/2). Pfizer vax should be at least 21 days after the 1st while Moderna's is 28+ days. See scheduling under the below for their recommendations.
 
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