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Bolt EV Trip between Salinas and San Diego

11K views 47 replies 16 participants last post by  Sean Nelson 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
A friend of mine wanted to know the viability of owning a Chevy Bolt EV. He and his wife visit their kids once every two weeks in San Diego, some 443 miles away from where they live in Salinas. So they would leave home fully charge, go to San Diego, driving with the flow of traffic via 101 and then I-5. They will also return home from San Diego to Salinas starting with a full charge.

So where does one strategically charge the Chevy Bolt EV along the way and how long would the charging take? It would be nice to have the best option that minimizes total travel time and enjoying a meal or coffee break during charging.

Thanks!
 
#3 · (Edited)
Ditto.

There are websites specifically made for Teslas that will create optimized long-distance route plans including charging stops (for example: https://evtripplanner.com/planner/2-7/), but I don't know of any equivalent for a Bolt or other EVs with CCS DCFC ports.

For someone that makes trips that long and that frequently, I would think the Bolt would not be a very good option. A Volt would be a better choice, or even a Tesla, given that it has faster DC charging than the Bolt.

And for any BEV, having an L2 charger available at/near the destination would be a big plus.
 
#4 ·
IMHO the Bolt wouldn't be the best choice for your friend. If they are doing a drive like that every 2 weeks EVs (with maybe the exception of Tesla) just aren't quite there yet. A high mpg vehicle would probably be better. If between the long trips they only do "normal" driving of less than 50 miles a day a Volt would be a great choice. They could EV most of the time and then use gas on the trips. Prius could also be a good choice as it gets better highway mpgs than the Volt and depending on what they do between trips it might make the most sense.
 
#6 · (Edited)
As long as you stay off I-5 north of Grapevine, there is a HUGE amount of CCS stations between Salinas and San Diego on all routes. Over 100 easy.

I think you'd stop at Marigold Center near San Luis Obispo then anywhere in Orange County so you don't have to stop in LA County.

However, many are 24kWh, so it pays to do a little research and Google Earth. Read the reviews on Plugshare.com.


Me, I'd stretch the first stop to Santa Barbara (220mi) by keeping the speed down if 101 traffic doesn't do it for you, but if it looked like I was going to be short, Buellton and Goleta have chargers as a safety net. When they did the Press Release, this was basically the route they used and hit 240mi of range with room to spare.

Then? If you make Santa Barbara, you might as well make San Diego. There are lots of safety nets stops if you get too close for comfort.
 
#7 ·
One issue that I think is underappreciated with the existing CCS infrastructure is that most of the charger locations have only 1-2 CCS plugs. Having so few plugs per location significantly increases the risk of having problems, such as waiting for an extended period of time for a charge if it's already in use, or an out-of-order station meaning you can't charge at all.

As long as you stay off I-5 north of Grapevine, there is a HUGE amount of CCS stations between Salinas and San Diego on all routes. Over 100 easy.
True, but the VAST majority of those are concentrated in and around LA, and to a lesser extent around San Diego.

According to PlugShare, there are currently only CCS 7 working locations between Salinas and Santa Barbara. That doesn't sound too bad, but then dig into the details...

  • Of those 7 locations, only 2 are NOT at a hotel or office park.
  • Those 7 locations include only 10 total CCS plugs/stalls, and only 3 CCS plugs/stalls NOT at a hotel/office.
So you're left with 2 realistic locations and only 3 total plugs. And one of those locations doesn't mention if it's 50kW or 24kW on PlugShare, so who knows.

I guess I just wanna hammer home that citing the total number of locations for CCS chargers or glancing at a the number of dots on a PlugShare map does not come anywhere close to giving the full picture for their usability and practicality.
 
#14 ·
Very good analysis and the same conclusion I came for my Spark EV - Los Angeles DCFC CCS cannot be relied upon; Bolt driver may end up wasting an hour to find a functional CCS fast charger (in Los Angeles one hour sometimes means 15 miles traveled...)

The answer is Chevy Volt - ~430 total miles when fully charged and fueled. Cannot go wrong with that...

One issue that I think is underappreciated with the existing CCS infrastructure is that most of the charger locations have only 1-2 CCS plugs. Having so few plugs per location significantly increases the risk of having problems, such as waiting for an extended period of time for a charge if it's already in use, or an out-of-order station meaning you can't charge at all.



True, but the VAST majority of those are concentrated in and around LA, and to a lesser extent around San Diego.

According to PlugShare, there are currently only CCS 7 working locations between Salinas and Santa Barbara. That doesn't sound too bad, but then dig into the details...

  • Of those 7 locations, only 2 are NOT at a hotel or office park.
  • Those 7 locations include only 10 total CCS plugs/stalls, and only 3 CCS plugs/stalls NOT at a hotel/office.
So you're left with 2 realistic locations and only 3 total plugs. And one of those locations doesn't mention if it's 50kW or 24kW on PlugShare, so who knows.

I guess I just wanna hammer home that citing the total number of locations for CCS chargers or glancing at a the number of dots on a PlugShare map does not come anywhere close to giving the full picture for their usability and practicality.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I wish there were certain charging stations that could be reserved in advance of arrival. For a reasonable and non-refundable fee, one would reserve a time window of 30 minutes during which the charging station would only activate via a code given at the time of reservation. Charging costs would be additional. Charging time would begin when plugged in and last up to an hour. To prevent the station being tied up, plug would have to be removed and returned to charger within one hour and 15 minutes after plug-in beyond which late fees would be added and accumulate.

This would greatly reduce any anxiety with long distance travel.
 
#12 ·
I wish there were certain charging stations that could be reserved in advance of arrival. For a reasonable and non-refundable fee, one would reserve a time window of 30 minutes during which the charging station would only activate via a code given at the time of reservation. Charging costs would be additional. Charging time would begin when plugged in and last an hour. To prevent the station being tied up, plug would have to be removed and returned to charger within one hour and 15 minutes beyond which late fees would be added and accumulate.

This would greatly reduce any anxiety with long distance travel.
I haven't tried it, but it seems that either Chargepoint or EVgo (or both) allow you to reserve a time. If you blow it, you lose the right?
 
#15 ·
It's not that bad of a trip in the Bolt EV, and it's very similar to the trip I try to make once a month or so. Salinas is actually a very good starting point because it gets you to San Luis Obispo on a single charge. From San Luis Obispo, they would likely want to stop at the charger in Camarillo or the one in Thousand Oaks (if they have enough charge to get over the grade). If they are running low, they could stop in Ventura instead. From there, they should be able to get most of the way to San Diego (maybe a 30 minute stop along the way). All told, I would expect it to add about two hours to the trip longer than an ICE vehicle unless they typically stop for a meal (in that case, only about an hour extra). Two one-hour stops and (maybe) one half hour stop.

Going north might only take two stops if they are leaving San Diego fully charged. Stop for an hour in Ventura and an hour in San Luis Obispo.

Of course, YMMV, but that has been my experiences so far.
 
#18 ·
Someday we'll have the choice of an electric with enough range to make that trip on a charge, but it's been about 90 yrs between the Baker and the Bolt, so it might be a while yet unless gas gets really expensive sparking more interest.

I have a bi-monthly trip between L.A. and Santa Maria. I didn't want 2 plug ins, so when I turned in my TDI Passat due to dieselgate, I picked up a 17 Malibu Hybrid for our distance car.
Very nice sedan that so far averages 42.5. Temperature really affects the efficiency of these cars (even when under 60f) so I'm fairly certain the mileage will get better with warmer weather.

The Voltec technology really shines the way GM applies it. The car actually has considerably more useable power than the turbodiesel on the highway since it is able to use one or both of the motors together with the engine to provide maximum power. It doesn't get the highway mileage of the TDI, but being a hybrid, it gets better city mileage. Our use is mostly highway, so someone who drives more in the city should average 45 easy.

While we have taken our 15 Volt on that route a couple times, and the car handles hills and cross winds better than other small cars, it's a little out of it's element on straight highway. The Gen II might be less so, but I'm not convinced the Volt is the best choice for a lot of highway travel. For trips that can be done in all electric mode it's a very nice car. Can't beat the satisfaction of not using gas.
 
#19 ·
Someday we'll have the choice of an electric with enough range to make that trip on a charge, but it's been about 90 yrs between the Baker and the Bolt, so it might be a while yet unless gas gets really expensive sparking more interest.
Those 90 years have to do with a lot more than just technology advances. Economics, convenience, and ignorance has kept petrol as the go-to fuel of choice, even when it is not the best choice.

Batteries have gotten a lot more attention in the last thirty years, and look at what the results have been. Even the Bolt EV's technology scaled up to a full-size sedan would result in a vehicle that can travel well over 300 miles for less than $50,000. We won't be waiting decades for cars with a 400 mile single-charge range; we will only need to wait a few years.
 
#35 · (Edited)
What I've learned over the years is people drinking the Tesla/Elon Kool Aid will not adjust their (biased) views one bit, even when presented with facts countering their claims. They believe Elon can do no wrong, and everything he touches turns to gold.

Hmmm....sounds like supporters of someone in the White House too.
 
#38 · (Edited)
From an innovation standpoint, I'm going to give the trophy to North American Rockwell for their Space Shuttle reusable spacecraft.

However, one of the saddest days in memory was when they announced over the PA system that the Challenger was lost. Everybody was walking around like zombies and the lights even seemed dimmer. Up to that point, the USA was invincible, everything we touched was gold.
 
#46 ·
#47 ·
Speaking about REAL innovation, article about GM's "Research & Development Innovation Challenge":

http://www.autonews.com/article/20160229/OEM06/302299967/gms-sharks-hunt-for-innovations

Hmmm....sounds like supporters of someone in the White House too.
You win again! A bunch of people talking about what to innovate sure beats the hell out actually sending a civilian rocket ship to outer space and returning it to a pad in the middle of the ocean. Or any of the other hundreds of innovations that have actually come out of Tesla.

With such a broad generalization I will make one too. You must be one of those special snowflakes that needs a safe space to hide anytime someone mentions anything you don't agree with. That is until you get enough snowflakes together and then you can gang up on those that you don't agree with and beat that pesky free speech right out of them.
 
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