Just got back from a 2,450 mile round trip from Portland Oregon to San Diego California, plus a quick trip to TJ.
The NW people that live in Oregon and Washington don't know how lucky they are to live in a place that has such a great EV charging infrastructure (specially when it comes to interstate driving and the CHAdeMo standard). Thanks to the West Coast Electric Highway I was able to make the trip from Portland, OR to Ashland, OR in just over six hours, one more hour than it would take on an ICE vehicle; it took me almost 30 hours to go over the same distance in California.
For all the hype about California being an EV friendly state, what I can tell you from first hand experience is that this is only half true. Although there are definitely dense pockets of chargers and electric vehicles in California, particularly in the Bay Area (you would think that they are giving away the Model S over there!), there is a definite lack of fast chargers all over the State and of any type of charger in the north border and rural areas of that state. The I-5 corridor even south of the Bay Area has absolutely no chargers, with the exception of a few that can be found between LA and SD.
To those of you that think that the "West Coast Electric Highway" (http://www.westcoastgreenhighway.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false
extends all the way down to California in some way or another, be advised that it stops in Ashland, OR, and that during the first 135 miles between Ashland and Redding, CA there isn't a single J1772 charger, let alone a fast charger (there is one Tesla roadster charger at a Comfort Inn in Yreka). The "West Coast Electric Highway" should be renamed the Pacific Northwest Electric Highway.
To get through those first 135 miles of steep inclines be prepared to have a NEMA ready high amperage charger to charge in one of the many RV campsites on the way or be prepared to spend 16 hours freezing in your car while waiting to trickle charge (like I did on my first time through on my way down to CA). In my return trip I just pulled over with 10% left on the battery, found a Comfort Inn with a nice lobby area with complementary tea and coffee in Weed, CA, and called LEAF road side assistance and had them tow me to Ashland, OR.
My hopes are that California has so far not yet started an EV charging infrastructure program or joined the current West Coast Electric Highway project because they were waiting for the SAE fast charging standard to be ready for public use and that they will deploy a similar network with charging stations that will offer the CCS-CHAdeMO combo. Hopefully... Otherwise do NOT travel to California in an EV unless its a Model S or you have plenty of time.
As far as the Nissan dealerships go I'd say that probably only a quarter of all the dealerships if that, have any fast chargers I also found that the attitude of the Nissan dealership people in the smaller towns towards the Leaf was not very welcoming, at several dealerships I found myself trying to explain the the purpose of having a fast charger at the dealership was not only to serve the local clientele but to allow travel within the state, to what I usually got a bemused response saying that that wouldn't benefit the dealership, because "they would probably have to pay for part of the install and the electricity used". I really hope that other car companies successfully copy the Tesla Motors business model and do away with dealerships ASAP...
All in all, I had a fun trip and found that though my Leaf is an amazing car and a great piece of engineering, it is limited as long as there is not enough infrastructure to support it.
The NW people that live in Oregon and Washington don't know how lucky they are to live in a place that has such a great EV charging infrastructure (specially when it comes to interstate driving and the CHAdeMo standard). Thanks to the West Coast Electric Highway I was able to make the trip from Portland, OR to Ashland, OR in just over six hours, one more hour than it would take on an ICE vehicle; it took me almost 30 hours to go over the same distance in California.
For all the hype about California being an EV friendly state, what I can tell you from first hand experience is that this is only half true. Although there are definitely dense pockets of chargers and electric vehicles in California, particularly in the Bay Area (you would think that they are giving away the Model S over there!), there is a definite lack of fast chargers all over the State and of any type of charger in the north border and rural areas of that state. The I-5 corridor even south of the Bay Area has absolutely no chargers, with the exception of a few that can be found between LA and SD.
To those of you that think that the "West Coast Electric Highway" (http://www.westcoastgreenhighway.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false
extends all the way down to California in some way or another, be advised that it stops in Ashland, OR, and that during the first 135 miles between Ashland and Redding, CA there isn't a single J1772 charger, let alone a fast charger (there is one Tesla roadster charger at a Comfort Inn in Yreka). The "West Coast Electric Highway" should be renamed the Pacific Northwest Electric Highway. To get through those first 135 miles of steep inclines be prepared to have a NEMA ready high amperage charger to charge in one of the many RV campsites on the way or be prepared to spend 16 hours freezing in your car while waiting to trickle charge (like I did on my first time through on my way down to CA). In my return trip I just pulled over with 10% left on the battery, found a Comfort Inn with a nice lobby area with complementary tea and coffee in Weed, CA, and called LEAF road side assistance and had them tow me to Ashland, OR.
My hopes are that California has so far not yet started an EV charging infrastructure program or joined the current West Coast Electric Highway project because they were waiting for the SAE fast charging standard to be ready for public use and that they will deploy a similar network with charging stations that will offer the CCS-CHAdeMO combo. Hopefully... Otherwise do NOT travel to California in an EV unless its a Model S or you have plenty of time.
As far as the Nissan dealerships go I'd say that probably only a quarter of all the dealerships if that, have any fast chargers I also found that the attitude of the Nissan dealership people in the smaller towns towards the Leaf was not very welcoming, at several dealerships I found myself trying to explain the the purpose of having a fast charger at the dealership was not only to serve the local clientele but to allow travel within the state, to what I usually got a bemused response saying that that wouldn't benefit the dealership, because "they would probably have to pay for part of the install and the electricity used". I really hope that other car companies successfully copy the Tesla Motors business model and do away with dealerships ASAP...
All in all, I had a fun trip and found that though my Leaf is an amazing car and a great piece of engineering, it is limited as long as there is not enough infrastructure to support it.
