Arizona

[Boomer AZ]

Driving to Los Angeles from Phoenix my first out of state trip with Lucid ever any tips you got? What apps will I need to check chargers working okay

Depending upon where in LA you are going, you can make it on one charge. If you want to charge along the way, heading to LA I use the EA charger in Indio. I find 11AM the best time to charge there.

Heading back home, I target the EA charger in Quartzite. I check its status while I enter Blythe. If Quartzite is full, I’ll use the ChargePoint DC fast charger at the Denny’s in Blythe.

I generally just use Plug Share App to find chargers.

 

[EVCar]

Depending upon where in LA you are going, you can make it on one charge. If you want to charge along the way, heading to LA I use the EA charger in Indio. I find 11AM the best time to charge there.

Heading back home, I target the EA charger in Quartzite. I check its status while I enter Blythe. If Quartzite is full, I’ll use the ChargePoint DC fast charger at the Denny’s in Blythe.

I generally just use Plug Share App to find chargers.

Absolutely agree.
For Quartzsite, if you get there before 9 am, usually no lines.
Walmart in Indio has a lot of locals filling up to 100%.

 

[Boomer AZ]

Absolutely agree.
For Quartzsite, if you get there before 9 am, usually no lines.
Walmart in Indio has a lot of locals filling up to 100%.

I find the locals tend to go to Walmart around noon time. Getting there around 11AM I’ve had maybe a 90% availability rate.

I agree with Bobby about the need for finding and using destination chargers in the LA area. Finding a DCFC is difficult there. Before 9AM and after 5PM the commuters are charging up. Sunday mornings are generally a good time to DCFC.

Back to the plug share app. It does a good job of telling the availability of charging stations. I read the reviews and comments that people leave. Some posters will leave comments as to where their backup charge stations are. That how I got hooked up with the ChargePoint DCFC in Blythe. OBTW. That one is 120kW shared between 2 stations. If you are the only one there, you get the full 120kW. Good place for a bio break and a milkshake.

 

[nck]

I have made this trip to LA in my Taycan a few times. Here are a few tips:

Phoenix to LA:

1. Leave Phoenix with 100%
2. Check on Quartzsite when you are about 5 mins out. Use the EA app or lucid router planner (with the Taycan I can see it in the route planner) to see if they are full. This site is known for its lines
3. If it is full, skip and go to Blythe. There is a 50KW charger by Denny's and a new one by a bank that I have not used yet
4. The third option is around Indio, there are a few options around Indio
5. One charging stop should get you to LA

LA back to Phoenix:

1. Leave with 100% if you can. Not sure where you are staying in LA, but getting a hotel with chargers is good. The public chargers always have a line with locals that do not have a charger at home
2. The Dessert Hills outlet is a good stop if you can't leave LA at 100% as it has both EA and EVGo stations. The chances of getting one are higher if there is a line.
3. If you can leave with 100% you can probably stop around Indio as there are multiple charging options

You probably only need one stop to charge (if you need to charge at all). I use the Plugshare app to find chargers, it's been the most reliable source

 

[blueice89]

Well we made it to Oxnard CA, it was night mare at Quartzsite so I am going to avoid that charger in future. I think next time I will direct direct phoenix to Indio. Indio / Indian wells had a much better charger hidden near a sprouts. Our charger 10 miles from the Oxnard beach was also very good. I wish I got more familiar with the charging interface this is my first out of state road trip with lucid. But the 3 menus I found very useful are :

Charging search charger — then drag to bottom and 3 other menus open up as tabs for charging.
Chargers near me
Chargers on route
Chargers in destination

This is my first time learning this but the these 3 menus saved me so much time. I could see exactly how many people at an EA charger and I could make snap decisions like hey let’s take this exit now cause the chargers just freed up. You want the number of on numerator to be positive at least 1/6 or 1/4 to go there.

I learned a lot and wish I did more out of state road trips so this was second nature I would have made less stops I think. Everything else has been great on this car in this trip!!

 

[Bobby]

Well we made it to Oxnard CA, it was night mare at Quartzsite so I am going to avoid that charger in future. I think next time I will direct direct phoenix to Indio. Indio / Indian wells had a much better charger hidden near a sprouts. Our charger 10 miles from the Oxnard beach was also very good. I wish I got more familiar with the charging interface this is my first out of state road trip with lucid. But the 3 menus I found very useful are :

Charging search charger — then drag to bottom and 3 other menus open up as tabs for charging.
Chargers near me
Chargers on route
Chargers in destination

This is my first time learning this but the these 3 menus saved me so much time. I could see exactly how many people at an EA charger and I could make snap decisions like hey let’s take this exit now cause the chargers just freed up. You want the number of on numerator to be positive at least 1/6 or 1/4 to go there.

How's your efficiency been?

 

[ccarroz]

Question to anyone/everyone here - I just did my test drive at the Fashion square location and the only odd / jarring thing during my entire drive was I really had to push hard on the accelerator in Smooth mode to get the car moving!? Perhaps I'm used to the gentle acceleration needed with the Model 3? I just wasn't able to reason why I felt that way. Swift mode was slightly better I suppose

I only have a pure, and have no problem with acceleration in all modes. I joke around and taught my kids to lean forward when they were acting up and slammed the accelerator and watch him go to sleep.... Although admittedly, launch mode throws too much power for just a rear-wheel drive car traction control kicks in like crazy. I live in Gilbert. Would recommend getting a home charger as soon as you can. + I think if I had the glass canopy in this state in the summer, I might want to kill myself. I had a loner and well yes I know they make a cover for it, The glass canopy makes it hard to keep the car cool.

 

[borski]

I think if I had the glass canopy in this state in the summer, I might want to kill myself. I had a loner and well yes I know they make a cover for it, The glass canopy makes it hard to keep the car cool.

The sunshades really do solve this problem. But you may need to keep them on in AZ much more of the year, which might defeat the purpose anyway.

 

[blueice89]

How's your efficiency been?

Getting around 3.00 miles per kWh

 

[Bobby]

Getting around 3.00 miles per kWh

Really? Are you averaging like 85 or 90 mph? On that same drive, I averaged 3.8 at a steady, but boring, 70 mph. Don’t get me wrong, my lifetime average is about 3.1. But when I am on a road trip, I change my driving style to reduce charging stops, particularly on heavily traveled routes or dates. The frustration you have with Quartzite, for example, wouldn’t have happened at all!

 

[blueice89]

Really? Are you averaging like 85 or 90 mph? On that same drive, I averaged 3.8 at a steady, but boring, 70 mph. Don’t get me wrong, my lifetime average is about 3.1. But when I am on a road trip, I change my driving style to reduce charging stops, particularly on heavily traveled routes or dates. The frustration you have with Quartzite, for example, wouldn’t have happened at all!

I can try going slower back Home I am going about 80 on avg. do I need to turn off ac?

 

[Bobby]

I can try going slower back Home I am going about 80 on avg. do I need to turn off ac?

If you don’t need it, why have the compressor running. I believe it exacts a 5 to 10% penalty on efficiency. Just try to have a relaxed trip home. Unless you were in a rush to get somewhere, slow down, accelerate gently, etc. You can definitely make it all the way home if you are gentle and careful, especially when you go through the mountains.

 

[Pragmatic]

AC draw will be heavily dependent on outside temperature and humidity. If it's dry and 80F outside use the AC. You will not lose much range due to AC at highway speeds in the desert when the outside temps are 80 or less. Keeping speed low will have a much greater impact, be comfortable.

 

[blueice89]

So our return trip we filled to 95% at Oxnard stopped at Indian wells to also fill to 95% and made it home with 8 miles left first time I saw the charge soon warning. All and all considering first charge was at our leaving destination made it through 447 miles stopping once. It was nice first road trip with lucid, learned a lot of tricks and will never ever stop at Quartzsite again

 

[Alex]

will never ever stop at Quartzsite again

I think that is the consensus. Once, I had to skip Quartzsite due to the exit being closed. The other time there were too many cars waiting in line.

 

[EVCar]

So our return trip we filled to 95% at Oxnard stopped at Indian wells to also fill to 95% and made it home with 8 miles left first time I saw the charge soon warning. All and all considering first charge was at our leaving destination made it through 447 miles stopping once. It was nice first road trip with lucid, learned a lot of tricks and will never ever stop at Quartzsite again

What was your speed for this stretch? AC on? Any construction delay?
Trying to talk myself into skipping Quartzsite, too.

 

[blueice89]

What was your speed for this stretch? AC on? Any construction delay?
Trying to talk myself into skipping Quartzsite, too.

I averaged 80 mph there was heavy traffic Oxnard to Palm Springs. Think I went 100 miles in 3 hours lol

 

[blueice89]

I averaged 80 mph there was heavy traffic Oxnard to Palm Springs. Think I went 100 miles in 3 hours lol

Also I have a lucid grand touring

 

[blueice89]

If coming from Arizona side I would top off at buckeye or whatever is last charger out of town. Charge to 95 buckeye and drive direct to Indian Wells sprouts

 

[EVCar]

I averaged 80 mph there was heavy traffic Oxnard to Palm Springs. Think I went 100 miles in 3 hours lol

How about traffic from Quartzsite back to Phoenix?
I have a GT, too, so I "should" have the same efficiency.