Not sure where in WA you're heading, but as PLUS EV mentions, there are other options. For destinations in the northern half of Washington, continuing north on I-15 to I-90 is a reasonable alternative. Or you could spend an hour or two charging at an RV park somewhere between Boise and Pendelton. Or maybe you'll get lucky they'll fix Baker City in the next few days...
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Supercharger — Baker City, OR
- Thread starter BlueShift
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- Northwest oregon supercharger USA
Not sure where in WA you're heading, but as PLUS EV mentions, there are other options. For destinations in the northern half of Washington, continuing north on I-15 to I-90 is a reasonable alternative. Or you could spend an hour or two charging at an RV park somewhere between Boise and Pendelton. Or maybe you'll get lucky they'll fix Baker City in the next few days...
JamesBond
Member
You can bypass LA by going via Flagstaff -> Needles -> Barstow -> Bakersfield (I think) and taking 99 up instead of I5. Plenty of SCs along the way (we've done that for WA -> PHX & back). I5 is a good choice too, and I think you can make it from Mojave to Bakersfield on a single charge, and top off at Buttonwillow (at jct with I5). Lots of choices that completely bypass LA (like you -- we have absolutely no desire to get near that place and its insane traffic.
Not looking like such a bad thing having the CHAdeMO adapter now. I got one a few years ago as an alternative to buying the secondary AC charger in my car, and it has come in really handy several times. Because of this Baker City situation, I just lent it to a friend of mine here in Boise on Friday who is heading up to Northern Idaho this weekend, and they were able to use an Electrify America CHAdeMO station on I-84 to get through there instead, which worked out great.
I was checking out the CHAdeMo options (we do have one and haven't' used it in several years now) but Plugshare shows some issues with the two Electrify America stations between Boise an Pendleton. I guess we could just slow way down from Boise if it becomes a problem- Not going through LA is high on my list - as well as not going through Portland We are heading to just north of Seattle. We've been using the UT/ID route- only real traffic has been in SLC. The overnight in Kanab UT is pretty good- LaQuinta has a destination charger.
I wonder if the main problem with that is the un-intuitive reverse steps that are needed to get the EA stations to work right/easily. At every other kind of station I have ever used, the natural order of it is to use the station screen interface to process a charge and authorize the charging session, and THEN take the handle and plug in.
The messages that Electrify America has put in every Plugshare listing says to not do it in that order, or it has problems. They say as the very first thing, take the charge handle and hook it up to the vehicle, and THEN use the screen to authorize charging. It seems the reason for this is that part of their fee schedule is based on the power level the vehicle can take. So it needs to be hooked up first to check what that's going to be, and then it can be set up in the session.
I'll bet most people don't know about that and have been reporting problems from it. My friends used one of those between here and Pendleton and said it worked great. I didn't ask if it was La Grande or Huntington.
I always connect the CHAdeMO adapter to the plug coming from the charging station and plug it in to my car before I start anything! Works well that way with EA and Webasto (old Aeronvironment stations all over Oregon) and I believe Blink and EVgo too.
Edit: but I always try to end the session from the charger station screen or app and not by unplugging the car directly (first)! I once got my chademo adapter stuck on an EA plug in Idaho for awhile...
That never would have occurred to me to try it that way since on a lot of the other networks, the handles are latched/locked into the stations and will not release until you pay to authorize it first. That's how our Chargepoint stations at work are.
I agree with everyone about avoiding LA. And I also like your general idea of avoiding CA (and Portland) altogether. I might be biased since I've driven all those highways a million times and always want to try something different. If I were you, and I felt like the Boise to Pendleton gap was too much, I would stay on I-15 up to Montana and then over on I-90. It's a far more scenic drive than the Tremonton to La Grande stretch (by western standards this is a dreadfully boring stretch of interstate). It only adds 2 hours to your drive and maybe you'll get to see something new.
IdaX
Member
Well, I'm guessing we'll probably do what PlusEV suggests- Working out the details next. Unless by some miracle Baker city comes back up before we get to Tremonton. Looks like it's about 170 extra miles plus at least one extra Supercharger stop- so an additional 3-4 hours
Just went to the car and it shows on line now- as does Abetterrouteplanner, maybe it's fixed? Again, we'll make a decision at Tremonton
Just went to the car and it shows on line now- as does Abetterrouteplanner, maybe it's fixed? Again, we'll make a decision at Tremonton
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Just read about the Baker damage over on the Salem forum. Went out to the car and checked to see of Baker was offline on Tesla's map.
My X map shows Baker active with 1 person charging. Hope that's real, and the issue has been repaired.
Corrections appreciated.
-TechVP
My X map shows Baker active with 1 person charging. Hope that's real, and the issue has been repaired.
Corrections appreciated.
-TechVP
Hi Rocky
yes thanks again worked great after fighting with it for the same reason you mention. The handle was not locked in even though it looked like it.I went to the Huntington one because I saw mixed reviews on the la grande one. It worked fine once I figured it out.
It does look like the Baker City SC is back online I will be going through there again soon and will report back unless someone beats me to it.
Great news! I'll be driving through Baker City tomorrow from Boise and can post an update. I'll have enough to reach Pendleton if it's offline.
Made it to Baker City. I can attest it’s back on line. 7/8 according to the car’s Nav. And there are currently 2 of us charging
Baker city is up.
@BlueShift .
Baker city is up.
@BlueShift .
Baker City was still up for me. We're 3 of us charging on different banks no issues I could see!
We live in Boise and are looking to test a Chademo adapter with our M3LR on an upcoming trip to northern CA thru Winnemucca. Any chance of borrowing or renting yours for about 10 days?
IdaX
Member
The Baker City supercharger is adjacent to the "Sunridge Bar and Grill". The proprietor of that establishment will not let Tesla owners use the restrooms there unless patronizing the place. Moreover he was downright nasty about it and stated that he is putting up a sign to indicate that we are not welcome unless we spend $ in his establishment. I urge that any Tesla drivers charging in Baker City make a point of not patronizing that hostile place.
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