I traveled from Olympia WA on August 4 to the BA (Union City, CA) and returned on August 12, 2024. In this thread, I will show you what to expect while traveling using the Electrify America charging stations to and from and summarize my experiences including a summary
I made it a two-day trip since each way was approximately 1200 miles. Starting off with a full charge, my first day took me to Medford, OR, totaling three stops; stopping approximately every two hours; two at reststops and one stop to charge. The second day took us to Union City, CA, the destination with two stops, one to charge and one rest stop. Our return was the same when it came to our midway stop in Medford and the number of stops. While at the destinations, in Medford, Union City, and Medford, I also charged to 90%, 80% and 80% respectively, before resuming on those travel days; therefore, I charged a total of eight times for the entire trip; four each way. I had concern about having enough chargers at each charging station because I had notice that there were only four chargers at most of the charger stations that happen not be a problem for us on our trip to Cali; however, on our return trip, we did run into an availability issue. Our first stop on our return trip in Cali, we stopped at the recommended stop location which happened to be a station with four charging points where two of which were out of order. As I pulled into one of the charging points, a guy charging up informed me that the two point at the island that I parked was out of order and showed me the line where two other cars were waiting. After thanking him for the info, I got in line. While in line, I looked for other chargers online; no other super charges were in range; therefore, I had to wait thirty-five or so minutes. I changed about 20 minutes getting enough charge to take me to Medford.
Summery: Other than having to wait over a half hour at a charging station, I had a great trip; the charging stations worked a lot better than I experienced a year ago; the lower the charge in my battery, the faster it charged. I got up to 250+ per KW/Hr although it throttled down during the charge based on the battery level. My concerns, that may resolve itself when we are able to use the Tesla charging stations, are the availability of chargers on the interstate. I notice that more charger per station are in WA and OR, not so much in my home state of CA. For my home state that is putting pressure on its citizens to go electric, it should ensure that enough chargers are available to use in regards to their mandate; concerning. The good news, based on better technology, our Air charges faster than other EVs. As I watch other vehicles rotate through the two available chargers at the station where only two chargers were available as they rotated off and on based on who was next; the rotation changed as I started my charge. A Rivian started its charge about fifteen minutes before I connected; when I connected, I notice that Rivian only had a 20 percent state of charge after being connected for over 15 minutes; I started at 20 percert and charged to 65 percent in 20 minutes before disconnecting and the Rivian only had 40 percent at that time. I would assume, he had to charge about an hour before he could proceed.
Additional Info: when I was younger, I would stop at a hotel/motel late at night and leave early in the morning barely getting enough rest and not enjoying the benefits of the venue that I was staying. Now that I am a little older and wiser, I only travel long distances in an automobile during daylight hours where I can enjoy myself and benefit from the venue services. I like to take advantage of using the pool, spa, breakfast, etc. i.e. getting what I pay for and this method keeps us safe by not traveling in the night where the knuckleheads are out and services are limited.
Feel free to ask me your questions of my trip experiences ...
I made it a two-day trip since each way was approximately 1200 miles. Starting off with a full charge, my first day took me to Medford, OR, totaling three stops; stopping approximately every two hours; two at reststops and one stop to charge. The second day took us to Union City, CA, the destination with two stops, one to charge and one rest stop. Our return was the same when it came to our midway stop in Medford and the number of stops. While at the destinations, in Medford, Union City, and Medford, I also charged to 90%, 80% and 80% respectively, before resuming on those travel days; therefore, I charged a total of eight times for the entire trip; four each way. I had concern about having enough chargers at each charging station because I had notice that there were only four chargers at most of the charger stations that happen not be a problem for us on our trip to Cali; however, on our return trip, we did run into an availability issue. Our first stop on our return trip in Cali, we stopped at the recommended stop location which happened to be a station with four charging points where two of which were out of order. As I pulled into one of the charging points, a guy charging up informed me that the two point at the island that I parked was out of order and showed me the line where two other cars were waiting. After thanking him for the info, I got in line. While in line, I looked for other chargers online; no other super charges were in range; therefore, I had to wait thirty-five or so minutes. I changed about 20 minutes getting enough charge to take me to Medford.
Summery: Other than having to wait over a half hour at a charging station, I had a great trip; the charging stations worked a lot better than I experienced a year ago; the lower the charge in my battery, the faster it charged. I got up to 250+ per KW/Hr although it throttled down during the charge based on the battery level. My concerns, that may resolve itself when we are able to use the Tesla charging stations, are the availability of chargers on the interstate. I notice that more charger per station are in WA and OR, not so much in my home state of CA. For my home state that is putting pressure on its citizens to go electric, it should ensure that enough chargers are available to use in regards to their mandate; concerning. The good news, based on better technology, our Air charges faster than other EVs. As I watch other vehicles rotate through the two available chargers at the station where only two chargers were available as they rotated off and on based on who was next; the rotation changed as I started my charge. A Rivian started its charge about fifteen minutes before I connected; when I connected, I notice that Rivian only had a 20 percent state of charge after being connected for over 15 minutes; I started at 20 percert and charged to 65 percent in 20 minutes before disconnecting and the Rivian only had 40 percent at that time. I would assume, he had to charge about an hour before he could proceed.
Additional Info: when I was younger, I would stop at a hotel/motel late at night and leave early in the morning barely getting enough rest and not enjoying the benefits of the venue that I was staying. Now that I am a little older and wiser, I only travel long distances in an automobile during daylight hours where I can enjoy myself and benefit from the venue services. I like to take advantage of using the pool, spa, breakfast, etc. i.e. getting what I pay for and this method keeps us safe by not traveling in the night where the knuckleheads are out and services are limited.
Feel free to ask me your questions of my trip experiences ...
