PHX to SEA - Electrify America Trip Advice?

[Buffalo Bob]

This missive is probably best directed to our SO CAL brethren... The trip I'm planning has two alternate routes. The quickest one heads north through Salt Lake City, and then cuts a pretty direct NW route through Twin Falls, Boise and on to Seattle. This route is similar to a trip that we just made to Omaha, in that the Electrify America stations are not that frequent, but we found each one to be reliable, fast, and (most importantly) immediately available. So, here's the rub... I would prefer to take the slightly longer I-10 route westbound through Quartzsite, Palm Desert, skirting the LA area to the north, and then up along I-5 the rest of the way. EA spacing is similarly sparse between here and the outskirts of LA, but I am noticing that the 'in use' factors seem much higher until one gets well past LA. BTW, I'm seeing that higher usage on a Friday, and we will be traveling through that area on a (probably busier) Saturday. At least in metro Phoenix, I consistently see daytime usage of all EA stations really spike on the weekends. Do you think I would be wiser to take the SLC route, or barring that, to delay our departure to a weekday? The last thing I want to do is arrive at a place like Quartzsite only to see a line of cars waiting to charge! Thanks so much for any advice you can provide!

 

[hydbob]

This missive is probably best directed to our SO CAL brethren... The trip I'm planning has two alternate routes. The quickest one heads north through Salt Lake City, and then cuts a pretty direct NW route through Twin Falls, Boise and on to Seattle. This route is similar to a trip that we just made to Omaha, in that the Electrify America stations are not that frequent, but we found each one to be reliable, fast, and (most importantly) immediately available. So, here's the rub... I would prefer to take the slightly longer I-10 route westbound through Quartzsite, Palm Desert, skirting the LA area to the north, and then up along I-5 the rest of the way. EA spacing is similarly sparse between here and the outskirts of LA, but I am noticing that the 'in use' factors seem much higher until one gets well past LA. BTW, I'm seeing that higher usage on a Friday, and we will be traveling through that area on a (probably busier) Saturday. At least in metro Phoenix, I consistently see daytime usage of all EA stations really spike on the weekends. Do you think I would be wiser to take the SLC route, or barring that, to delay our departure to a weekday? The last thing I want to do is arrive at a place like Quartzsite only to see a line of cars waiting to charge! Thanks so much for any advice you can provide!

If it were me, I'd go through SLC. I already avoid Quartzite as much as possible.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

If it were me, I'd go through SLC. I already avoid Quartzite as much as possible.

Thanks! I thought it was interesting that the Google photograph for the EA Quartzite location shows a line of about six cars waiting for a charger.

 

[Crimson]

I was just in the area east of LA near the I-10 visiting family and I would say to avoid that area for the time being if you're looking for wait-free charging at any of Electrify America stations, especially on a weekend. Quite a few stations are having their chargers upgraded to the latest generation, which is great news, but the problem is that they're shutting down the stations for the upgrades without planning to re-open the stations that finished upgrading yet aren't available for public charging due to testing or whatnot, so now drivers are going to Electrify America stations that aren't in the process of being upgraded or are already upgraded for the time being until they re-open, overcrowding them even more.

If you're deadset about taking the I-10 and connecting with the I-5, I would look at maybe another alternate path and trek to the Hesperia Electrify America station by taking a detour using the I-15 from the I-10. The Hesperia location is probably the best EA location I've used as it has 10 chargers and if a charger goes down, it usually gets fixed within two or three days (unlike some of the EA stations near LA...); I've only had to wait once for a charger for about 5 minutes on Saturday during lunchtime. From there, it looks like you can take an assortment of highways and freeways northwest towards Bakersfield and connect back up with the I-5 and probably charge at Kettleman City (approximately 212 miles from the EA station at Hesperia).

 

[Coho]

This missive is probably best directed to our SO CAL brethren... The trip I'm planning has two alternate routes. The quickest one heads north through Salt Lake City, and then cuts a pretty direct NW route through Twin Falls, Boise and on to Seattle. This route is similar to a trip that we just made to Omaha, in that the Electrify America stations are not that frequent, but we found each one to be reliable, fast, and (most importantly) immediately available. So, here's the rub... I would prefer to take the slightly longer I-10 route westbound through Quartzsite, Palm Desert, skirting the LA area to the north, and then up along I-5 the rest of the way. EA spacing is similarly sparse between here and the outskirts of LA, but I am noticing that the 'in use' factors seem much higher until one gets well past LA. BTW, I'm seeing that higher usage on a Friday, and we will be traveling through that area on a (probably busier) Saturday. At least in metro Phoenix, I consistently see daytime usage of all EA stations really spike on the weekends. Do you think I would be wiser to take the SLC route, or barring that, to delay our departure to a weekday? The last thing I want to do is arrive at a place like Quartzsite only to see a line of cars waiting to charge! Thanks so much for any advice you can provide!

I have made these trips - I feel much safer using the SLC route. We have not had any issues on the route. We generally do it over 3 days to account for the increase charge times. This year on our migration we chose to fly rather than drive but that is simply because I was lazy at the time of decision. It is a long road and generally I get too impatient. We tend to deliberately avoid weekends especially for passing through Vegas. Happy travels. Left my GT is Phoenix and Im sad…..

 

[BS8899]

I am driving from PHX to CA (Marin County) tomorrow (Saturday, Jun 1) morning. I have an AGT. I've done this route many times. I go by way of I-10 to around san Beradino then pick up on CA-210 and onto I-5. This route allows me to bypass taking I-10 into LA downtown to pick up I5. This route has many EA chargers along the way (Quartize, Indio, Palm Desert, Beaumount, etc.).

As to how crowded the EA charging sattions are, I seldom stop at Quartsite as it is too close to PHX. I typically recharge at Indio or San Bernadino. On this trip, I plan to charge at Colton CA, ~330 miles from PHX. Thereafter, I plan to charge at Kettleman CA. 2 Charging stops. That would be enough to be me back to Marin County (Sausalito).

As I travel mostly in the wee-hours of the morning, I don't entercount much (if any) lines at the EA stations. Starting early also allows me to bypass/avoid the "rush hour" in the LA area.

The best time I made on this oute is about 12-12.5hrs, with two EA charging stops. The total is 780 miles.

EA has gotten better in the past year. In CA, I have not encountered problems with downed chargers or chargers that won't recognize my Lucid. AZ's EA is getting betteras well. A year ago, EA was a disaster in AZ.

My advise is, start early in the day and avoid teh traffic. I plan to start at midnight tonighta nd expect to be in Marin by around noon on Saturday.

Have fun!

 

[HC_79]

This missive is probably best directed to our SO CAL brethren... The trip I'm planning has two alternate routes. The quickest one heads north through Salt Lake City, and then cuts a pretty direct NW route through Twin Falls, Boise and on to Seattle. This route is similar to a trip that we just made to Omaha, in that the Electrify America stations are not that frequent, but we found each one to be reliable, fast, and (most importantly) immediately available. So, here's the rub... I would prefer to take the slightly longer I-10 route westbound through Quartzsite, Palm Desert, skirting the LA area to the north, and then up along I-5 the rest of the way. EA spacing is similarly sparse between here and the outskirts of LA, but I am noticing that the 'in use' factors seem much higher until one gets well past LA. BTW, I'm seeing that higher usage on a Friday, and we will be traveling through that area on a (probably busier) Saturday. At least in metro Phoenix, I consistently see daytime usage of all EA stations really spike on the weekends. Do you think I would be wiser to take the SLC route, or barring that, to delay our departure to a weekday? The last thing I want to do is arrive at a place like Quartzsite only to see a line of cars waiting to charge! Thanks so much for any advice you can provide!

Good luck in LA….. if they’re not broken then they’re usually full with people hellbent on charging to 100% while a line forms

 

[Buffalo Bob]

Thank you all for the valuable information! Given the current EA situation in metro LA, and with the area being traversed on a weekend, I think we will opt for the SLC route. Barring recommendations otherwise, we'll probably overnight in Beaver, UT and Nampa, ID (just west of Boise). We have approximated this route several times before in an ICE car, including a long slog on lonely US 93 from Las Vegas to Twin Falls, but even a Lucid's range isn't up to that route. It is a pretty relaxing way to go. Thanks again!

 

[Coho]

Thank you all for the valuable information! Given the current EA situation in metro LA, and with the area being traversed on a weekend, I think we will opt for the SLC route. Barring recommendations otherwise, we'll probably overnight in Beaver, UT and Nampa, ID (just west of Boise). We have approximated this route several times before in an ICE car, including a long slog on lonely US 93 from Las Vegas to Twin Falls, but even a Lucid's range isn't up to that route. It is a pretty relaxing way to go. Thanks again!

Wise choice I think. The 93 route is the preferred route but alas Lucid cant pull it off. Ribs in Winnemucca has to wait. I love the isolation on that drive.