700mi weekend roundtrip to LA

[RedStallion]

I was visiting relatives this weekend in LA. The charging on I-5 was quite uneventful, every EA charger worked without a hitch. Just one charger turned to be slow pumping at 50kW, so I stopped the session and connected to another charger and instantly got above 110kW.
There was also one EA location that Ford navigation brought me to where there was a single charger installed. I was lucky it was working and there was nobody else charging there. I wish Ford provided more information rather than just scheduling charging sessions along the way.
Charging in LA is a different story. I never needed to do that before because I always made a charging stop before entering the city, but this time I was in a hurry and decided to charge later. It was an unpleasant surprise that at every location (I had time to visit three), there were lines of cars waiting to be charged, and few chargers were not working. I tried calling EA to find out if it was possible to reset those, but they put you on indefinite hold, so I never had a chance to talk to a person. At one location I noticed a car still sitting at the charger at 85%, I was able to convince the driver that he had enough. He agreed to leave, but before I was able to take his place while he was backing up another young lady jumped ahead of me and grabbed the charger.
Note to self for the future trips, don't plan on fast charging in LA.
I was able to use ChargePoint L2 overnight at the apartment building, where I stopped. Though in total agreement with Murphy's law, my credit card which was saved in CP account has expired just at the right time. CP has an autofill, so there was about $15 I was able to use. Trying to add to CP account another card also failed for unknown reason. I didn't have the original CC with me. Fortunately, I was able to connect to my home cloud and pull the updated information about the card that CP had on record and then update the CC information on account.
No need to mention I didn't tell any of that to my family members to avoid that "I told you so". They all think it was dumb of me buying EV in the first place. ?

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[dmastro]

Interesting report, because my wife is having almost the opposite experience. On the trip down I-5, she encountered more broken chargers than working chargers. Once in LA though, she's found a few sets of reliable chargers that she used over the last week - although at times there have been waits from 5-15 min. She had pretty good success at the Walmart down the street from Burbank airport (EA), the Citadel outlets (EA), and UCLA (EVGo). And yes, she also experienced people jumping the line.

Which chargers did you use along I-5? She's driving back tonight and some recon would be helpful. At this point, planning to stop at Kettleman City to use the EA chargers, and then top off in Firebaugh (yes, a short stop but the last large set of chargers on the way home).

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I was visiting relatives this weekend in LA. The charging on I-5 was quite uneventful, every EA charger worked without a hitch. Just one charger turned to be slow pumping at 50kW, so I stopped the session and connected to another charger and instantly got above 110kW.
There was also one EA location that Ford navigation brought me to where there was a single charger installed. I was lucky it was working and there was nobody else charging there. I wish Ford provided more information rather than just scheduling charging sessions along the way.
Charging in LA is a different story. I never needed to do that before because I always made a charging stop before entering the city, but this time I was in a hurry and decided to charge later. It was an unpleasant surprise that at every location (I had time to visit three), there were lines of cars waiting to be charged, and few chargers were not working. I tried calling EA to find out if it was possible to reset those, but they put you on indefinite hold, so I never had a chance to talk to a person. At one location I noticed a car still sitting at the charger at 85%, I was able to convince the driver that he had enough. He agreed to leave, but before I was able to take his place while he was backing up another young lady jumped ahead of me and grabbed the charger.
Note to self for the future trips, don't plan on fast charging in LA.
I was able to use ChargePoint L2 overnight at the apartment building, where I stopped. Though in total agreement with Murphy's law, my credit card which was saved in CP account has expired just at the right time. CP has an autofill, so there was about $15 I was able to use. Trying to add to CP account another card also failed for unknown reason. I didn't have the original CC with me. Fortunately, I was able to connect to my home cloud and pull the updated information about the card that CP had on record and then update the CC information on account.
No need to mention I didn't tell any of that to my family members to avoid that "I told you so". They all think it was dumb of me buying EV in the first place. ?

On my trips to LA, I bring my L1 charger and since I usually stay for a week or so, I don't really need to worry about DCFC while in town. Sometimes I'll get an L2 charge at my work location, but L1 is usually sufficient. That, quite obviously, only works when there's time to recover from the driving. That's not possible with a short visit.

The few times I've tried DCFC within the larger metro area (mostly near Pasadena and east along the 210), I've had similar experiences to yours. The density of chargers is low enough to be make them very busy. I can't wait for more vehicles to move over to the SC chargers so I can have my CCS chargers back.

Of course, the last time I drove my ICE there, I encountered very long lines at every gas station I tried to refuel at...

 

[Bayviews88]

Interesting report, because my wife is having almost the opposite experience. On the trip down I-5, she encountered more broken chargers than working chargers. Once in LA though, she's found a few sets of reliable chargers that she used over the last week - although at times there have been waits from 5-15 min. She had pretty good success at the Walmart down the street from Burbank airport (EA), the Citadel outlets (EA), and UCLA (EVGo). And yes, she also experienced people jumping the line.

Which chargers did you use along I-5? She's driving back tonight and some recon would be helpful. At this point, planning to stop at Kettleman City to use the EA chargers, and then top off in Firebaugh (yes, a short stop but the last large set of chargers on the way home).

I have used the new 350 kWh EA Chargers in Kettleman City a few times when driving on I-5 and they have been great When starting at the bottom of the battery I even got 160 kWh for a couple of minutes before dropping down to 150. I thought the Firebaugh chargers are EVGo ones? Your wife may want to head over to Patterson to use the EA Chargers at the Walmart, especially if you have complementary EA charging credits left.

 

[VegStang]

If the EA chargers are full at the Kettleman City stop there are about 4 EV Range ones behind the Quality Inn across the street, same side of the main road as the EA ones. I have used them and they worked well. It didn't seem like many people knew about them as there were at least 5 people in line at EA (holiday weekend.) The drive down 5 to LA is much better than it was 3 years ago as far as working chargers etc.

 

[devmach-e]

If the EA chargers are full at the Kettleman City stop there are about 4 EV Range ones behind the Quality Inn across the street, same side of the main road as the EA ones. I have used them and they worked well. It didn't seem like many people knew about them as there were at least 5 people in line at EA (holiday weekend.) The drive down 5 to LA is much better than it was 3 years ago as far as working chargers etc.

I just use the Tesla chargers now. Harris Ranch and Frazier Mtn Park are the ones we have used. Might have to top off in Gilroy/South San Jose on the way back to SF.

 

[joebruin77]

The first 4 posts of this thread were originally published back in July 2023. Today, my experience is that the DCFC situation has vastly improved. Not only has EA and EVgo improved their chargers, but we now have access to a lot of Tesla superchargers. This includes the world's largest Tesla supercharger in Lost Hills, CA, with 168 stalls. Plus, there are a few Rivian Adventure Network charging stations as well. Although the Rivian stations are more expensive, they are a great option if nearby EA stations are full.

 

[jmcbrew]

On my trips to LA, I bring my L1 charger…

Not a bad idea. I actually bring along a 16 amp L2/L2 charger so that I can charge up faster if a 208/240V outlet is available. I also bring a handful of adapters. My portable charger is a Webasto TurboCord Dual, which has a NEMA 6-20 plug and an adapter to 5-15. I also carry adapters that will allow me to use 14-50, 10-30 (dryer), 14-30 (newer dryer), L14-30 (twist lock/generator), etc. On trips, I also carry a 25 foot NEMA 6-20 extension cord, which I can also adapt to use with a 120V outlet. This all sounds like a lot, but honestly it would all fit in the glove box. I have a small tool bag I use to keep it organized.

 

[dan_meh]

The first 4 posts of this thread were originally published back in July 2023. Today, my experience is that the DCFC situation has vastly improved. Not only has EA and EVgo improved their chargers, but we now have access to a lot of Tesla superchargers. This includes the world's largest Tesla supercharger in Lost Hills, CA, with 168 stalls. Plus, there are a few Rivian Adventure Network charging stations as well. Although the Rivian stations are more expensive, they are a great option if nearby EA stations are full.

Great point. It’s good to look back just three years ago and consider the changes.

I love that DCFC threads sometimes feel like The Californians SNL skit. I have typed a few and hear Fred Armisen in my mind when I type something like: “I took I5 to EA at the St Elmo exit and then got on the 101 to the San Luis Supercharger…”

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