SF to Palm Springs

[Flying ace]

Next week I'll be driving SF to Palm Springs with family (2 kids)

Currently using app planner and avoiding Bakersfield location has me stopping at these locations.


The first one, I've always stopped at regardless of the type of vehicle I was driving, bc it was a good stop for food and a break. I'll use the EA (Rivian and Tesla also available). I may end up charging to 90% or so bc of the food stop.

The Raju Countryside is necessary bc I'm avoiding Bakersfield Country Mart due to seemingly persistent maintenance (1 unit down as of today) and crowding issues. There's also a Wendy's there so after 2 hours stretch the kids will probably enjoy getting some Frosties. I need to charge to 90%.

The Burbank stop is a TBD. I'd like to make it to Santa Anita Mall for another snack/meal. Pasadena EA or Durate BP Pulse is also an option.

Anyone else take this route and have a suggestion on stops in North LA or I-5?

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[Mr.Smith]

Watch the Burbank stations, long lines. Try and charge to 85% (limit at that charger).

Santa Anita is mess too. Always a line

There are a lot of EA chargers down recently and not being repaired fast

The charger at Harris Ranch is pretty good an lets you charge to 100%, 6 chargers

 

[Flying ace]

Watch the Burbank stations, long lines. Try and charge to 85% (limit at that charger).

Santa Anita is mess too. Always a line

There are a lot of EA chargers down recently and not being repaired fast

The charger at Harris Ranch is pretty good an lets you charge to 100%, 6 chargers

Damn. Thanks for the report. Harris Ranch may be an option on the return.

I think I'm going to try for Santa Anita, mostly for the amenities. Heck some of the restaurants there have a 45 minute wait time too, so it may all align and work out. I recall two years ago (I didn't have an EV), Santa Anita was jammed.

If the family isn't hungry at that time, I may just pay to charge at Durate BP Pulse. It's only 150 kw, but when you factor in no queues, it's probably faster. https://www.plugshare.com/location/711369

 

[Mr.Smith]

Damn. Thanks for the report. Harris Ranch may be an option on the return.

I think I'm going to try for Santa Anita, mostly for the amenities. Heck some of the restaurants there have a 45 minute wait time too, so it may all align and work out. I recall two years ago (I didn't have an EV), Santa Anita was jammed.

If the family isn't hungry at that time, I may just pay to charge at Durate BP Pulse. It's only 150 kw, but when you factor in no queues, it's probably faster. https://www.plugshare.com/location/711369

If you like Asian food, its the place to be.

The time you are going to be in Socal will be the worst for traffic. This will help your range, but will make it a longer trip

 

[Flying ace]

If you like Asian food, its the place to be.

The time you are going to be in Socal will be the worst for traffic. This will help your range, but will make it a longer trip

Yeah, I'm monitoring the traffic situation throughout the day. I'll be traveling on a Tuesday

 

[Zcd1]

ABRP suggests the Tesla Supercharger on Rinaldi Street in San Fernando:

https://www.tesla.com/findus/location/supercharger/26976

24 stalls, which should mean less chance of a queue... OTOH, the reviews for that particular site aren't great...

OTOOH, if your car doesn't have the 400V/150KW option, that might not be the best choice.

FWIW, there's also a Supercharger in LQ that's open to your car, but only 8 stalls:

https://www.tesla.com/findus/location/supercharger/18381

 

[Flying ace]

ABRP suggests the Tesla Supercharger on Rinaldi Street in San Fernando:

https://www.tesla.com/findus/location/supercharger/26976

24 stalls, which should mean less chance of a queue... OTOH, the reviews for that particular site aren't great...

OTOOH, if your car doesn't have the 400V/150KW option, that might not be the best choice.

FWIW, there's also a Supercharger in LQ that's open to your car, but only 8 stalls:

https://www.tesla.com/findus/location/supercharger/18381

No 400v booster, so if I charge at Tesla it'll need to overlap with a meal or something that will occupy an hr or so of time

 

[Flying ace]

My method for monitoring semi-real time availability

 

[Flying ace]

On Saturday April 4th, there is a Cars and Coffee event at Porsche Palm Springs. I have never been to a C&C event on vacation, I think I'll check it out with family in tow!

 

[Mr.Smith]

On Saturday April 4th, there is a Cars and Coffee event at Porsche Palm Springs. I have never been to a C&C event on vacation, I think I'll check it out with family in tow!

You will love it. It's a beautiful dealership used for training and events by Porsche.
Spend more time on the second floor to explore

 

[Zcd1]

My method for monitoring semi-real time availability

How accurate is the information in that screen, in general?

 

[Flying ace]

How accurate is the information in that screen, in general?

About 2-3 mins delayed for EA data. Remember for EA if it says 1/6 available, it's actually full. That 1 free one is someone leaving or maneuvering in

 

[Zcd1]

About 2-3 mins delayed for EA data. Remember for EA if it says 1/6 available, it's actually full. That 1 free one is someone leaving or maneuvering in

That’s better than I’d have expected…

And yep, EA still sucks, though at least it’s now less an issue of broken chargers and more an issue of not enough chargers!

 

[Flying ace]

SF --> Palm Springs

We elected to leave 1 day earlier bc we learned our friends happened to have rented a house the same week and they invited us to stay for 1 day. We left SF at noon on Monday.

There was no traffic and I-5 was even clear of trucks half way through I-5.

This was the time in a multiple stop trip whereby I changed the charging stops mid-trip and did not use the planner.

First stop: Harris Ranch, 5 minutes wait.

Charged 70.34 in 39 minutes. (15% to 90%). These were balanced units so maxed out at 176 kw. Charged to 90% bc planner estimated that I didn't have to stop until Valencia, making it a possible two stop trip.

 

[Flying ace]

Stop 2: Raju Country Mart EA Lost Hills

Because we were constantly changing our planned dinner stop, we initially elected to have dinner at Santa Anita mall, and the estimate had us arriving with a 12 mile buffer (5% arrival), and given unknown traffic and mountain conditions, it was too tight for comfort.

So I elected to stop at Lost Hills for a 10 minutes top off. This stop was at a Taco Bell (and Wendy's), and I couldn't resist buying some items, so we stayed longer than anticipated to finish the food.

17.92 kw in 11 mins.

The one thing I noticed with these highway chargers is that at any time it can queue up very quickly. This site had 4 dispensers, when I arrived I was the only one, and when I left it was full.

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