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UPDATE: One year later, Electrify America comes to this part of Orange County. Still no Superchargers in this zone. Not much change on the L2 charger front. See update post.
Original Post:
So I spent this past weekend on the Orange County coast in Southern California on a short family vacation. I have a Mach-E and my sister has a Model X. Both of our vehicles came along for the trip. I wasnāt thinking of comparing charging for these two vehicles, but we ended up having different experiences, and perhaps surprisingly (surprising because of conventional EV wisdom), I had the better experience being on Team J-Plug/CCS with the Mach-E vs Team Tesla/Supercharger for the Model X.
The trouble started for the Model X at our hotel - the J-Plug to Tesla adapter had been forgotten at home, so the Model X could not use any of the hotelās several J-1772 chargers for a L2 charge. My Mach-E didn't have this issue because, to state what is plain, we are native to the J-Plug. I charged once for a few hours while we spent the day at the pool and it was problem solved for me for the remainder of the trip.
You could say this was a fluke, that our hotel could easily have only had Tesla destination chargers, and I could have been the one without the adapter. But this is less likely than it would seem. According to PlugShare, many more hotels seem to have J-Plug chargers as opposed to Tesla destination chargers. In fact, I have two screenshots from PlugShare showing this to be the case.
This first image shows all the L2 and L3 J-Plug/CCS chargers in the area we were hanging out in - Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and between these two cities (Newport Coast). Basically, the area I am talking about is bound in the northwest by the 55 freeway, the 73 freeway in the north, and the 133 freeway in the southeast. The L3 CCS chargers are in orange on the PlugShare image.
The same map frame set to a Tesla destination charger/Supercharger shows no supercharger and noticeably fewer Tesla destination chargers compared to J-Plugs.
But even if we rule out charging at the hotel, the Mach-E is on surer ground with finding a charger on the OC coast. I have three examples for this, all based on places we went to during our trip.
First, the Fashion Island outdoor mall, a big attraction for Newport Beach visitors. There are L2 J-Plug chargers at the mall, there are even some L3 CCS chargers directly at the mall and nearby at the Newport Beach Civic Center.
There are no L2 Tesla destination chargers at Fashion Island. There are also no L3 Superchargers nearby. Best option would be the L2 Tesla destination charger at the Newport Beach Civic Center if not using a J-Plug adapter at the mall for the Model X.
Further down the coast at the Newport Coastās Crystal Cove Shopping Center where there are a number of restaurants, stores, and a Trader Joes, the story is the much the same. There are L2 and L3 chargers available for the Mach-E to use at this location.
But there is nothing for the Model X. As a result, just like with Fashion Island, the Model X canāt use Tesla charging tech to get an energy boost while shopping/eating at this commercial development between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. In fact, the closest Tesla destination charger not at a hotel is at a restaurant in Corona Del Mar far away from Crystal Cove and close to the Fashion Island mall. You can see where the Crystal Cove Shopping Center is on the below image, looking to see where the name āJavierāsā appears.
Iām a little bit surprised at Laguna Beach, it had very few public charging options. No L3 charging for the Mach-E and only a couple of locations for L2 charging on a J-Plug in the heart of its commercial center (where the 133 meets PCH on the beach).
However, that was still better than what was available for the Model X, with only a single location (though a hotel) having a Tesla destination charger if you were coming to the main part of Laguna Beach, where the 133 and PCH meet.
So in summary, I was surprised to learn that even somewhere like the Orange County coast (Teslas everywhere, prime plaid territory), you are much more likely to encounter a J-Plug as opposed to a Tesla destination charger at a hotel, and then encounter a J-Plug or even a L3 charger at a place you might be visiting if coming to these beach communities.
Ultimately, the Model X ended up going a bit inland to charge at a supercharger in Irvine during the trip (charging on the way home would not have been realistic/pleasant due to young kids in the car). If my hotel didnāt have a L2 J-Plug charger, my plan B would have been to use a L3 CCS charger while at Fashion Island or the Crystal Cove Shopping Center, which I didn't have to do. I would also have had an easier time finding a L2 charger in Laguna Beach if I had needed the charge there.
Even though this was Mach-E vs Model X, in the end, this post would really apply to any non-Tesla vehicle (J-Plug/CCS) versus Tesla (destination charger/supercharger).
Original Post:
So I spent this past weekend on the Orange County coast in Southern California on a short family vacation. I have a Mach-E and my sister has a Model X. Both of our vehicles came along for the trip. I wasnāt thinking of comparing charging for these two vehicles, but we ended up having different experiences, and perhaps surprisingly (surprising because of conventional EV wisdom), I had the better experience being on Team J-Plug/CCS with the Mach-E vs Team Tesla/Supercharger for the Model X.
The trouble started for the Model X at our hotel - the J-Plug to Tesla adapter had been forgotten at home, so the Model X could not use any of the hotelās several J-1772 chargers for a L2 charge. My Mach-E didn't have this issue because, to state what is plain, we are native to the J-Plug. I charged once for a few hours while we spent the day at the pool and it was problem solved for me for the remainder of the trip.
You could say this was a fluke, that our hotel could easily have only had Tesla destination chargers, and I could have been the one without the adapter. But this is less likely than it would seem. According to PlugShare, many more hotels seem to have J-Plug chargers as opposed to Tesla destination chargers. In fact, I have two screenshots from PlugShare showing this to be the case.
This first image shows all the L2 and L3 J-Plug/CCS chargers in the area we were hanging out in - Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and between these two cities (Newport Coast). Basically, the area I am talking about is bound in the northwest by the 55 freeway, the 73 freeway in the north, and the 133 freeway in the southeast. The L3 CCS chargers are in orange on the PlugShare image.
The same map frame set to a Tesla destination charger/Supercharger shows no supercharger and noticeably fewer Tesla destination chargers compared to J-Plugs.
But even if we rule out charging at the hotel, the Mach-E is on surer ground with finding a charger on the OC coast. I have three examples for this, all based on places we went to during our trip.
First, the Fashion Island outdoor mall, a big attraction for Newport Beach visitors. There are L2 J-Plug chargers at the mall, there are even some L3 CCS chargers directly at the mall and nearby at the Newport Beach Civic Center.
There are no L2 Tesla destination chargers at Fashion Island. There are also no L3 Superchargers nearby. Best option would be the L2 Tesla destination charger at the Newport Beach Civic Center if not using a J-Plug adapter at the mall for the Model X.
Further down the coast at the Newport Coastās Crystal Cove Shopping Center where there are a number of restaurants, stores, and a Trader Joes, the story is the much the same. There are L2 and L3 chargers available for the Mach-E to use at this location.
But there is nothing for the Model X. As a result, just like with Fashion Island, the Model X canāt use Tesla charging tech to get an energy boost while shopping/eating at this commercial development between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. In fact, the closest Tesla destination charger not at a hotel is at a restaurant in Corona Del Mar far away from Crystal Cove and close to the Fashion Island mall. You can see where the Crystal Cove Shopping Center is on the below image, looking to see where the name āJavierāsā appears.
Iām a little bit surprised at Laguna Beach, it had very few public charging options. No L3 charging for the Mach-E and only a couple of locations for L2 charging on a J-Plug in the heart of its commercial center (where the 133 meets PCH on the beach).
However, that was still better than what was available for the Model X, with only a single location (though a hotel) having a Tesla destination charger if you were coming to the main part of Laguna Beach, where the 133 and PCH meet.
So in summary, I was surprised to learn that even somewhere like the Orange County coast (Teslas everywhere, prime plaid territory), you are much more likely to encounter a J-Plug as opposed to a Tesla destination charger at a hotel, and then encounter a J-Plug or even a L3 charger at a place you might be visiting if coming to these beach communities.
Ultimately, the Model X ended up going a bit inland to charge at a supercharger in Irvine during the trip (charging on the way home would not have been realistic/pleasant due to young kids in the car). If my hotel didnāt have a L2 J-Plug charger, my plan B would have been to use a L3 CCS charger while at Fashion Island or the Crystal Cove Shopping Center, which I didn't have to do. I would also have had an easier time finding a L2 charger in Laguna Beach if I had needed the charge there.
Even though this was Mach-E vs Model X, in the end, this post would really apply to any non-Tesla vehicle (J-Plug/CCS) versus Tesla (destination charger/supercharger).
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