Two DC Fast Chargers Coming This Summer to I-5 Grapevine Cor

EV owners who’ve tackled the Grapevine on I-5 with today’s consumer-oriented EVs know how difficult the route is, necessitating long layovers in Lebec and again in Valencia. That is about to change. This summer a contractor to the California Energy Commission (CEC) expects to have installed not one but two DC Fast Charging or Quick Charging stations on this route.

Lloyd Tran of the US Green Vehicle Council, a CEC contractor, says the stations should be operational this summer.

One station will be installed at the Laval Road exit at the base of the Grapevine, expediently across I-5 from Tesla’s Super Station the Petro Plaza truck stop. The DCFC station will be in the vicinity of the huge Tejon Outlet Mall complex on Del Sol Dr.

The nearest charging station to the north is in Bakersfield, 35 miles distant. The nearest station to the south is in Valencia, 50 miles away.

The new station will enable southbound drivers on Hwy. 99 to recharge within 30 minutes before climbing to the 4,000-foot summit of the Tejon Pass. For northbound drivers, the station allows them to recharge before crossing the flat floor of the San Joaquin Valley.



The second station will be installed at the junction of I-5 and Hwy. 126 near Valencia. Hwy 126 that connects I-5 with Ventura and points along the cost by following the scenic Santa Clara Valley.



The two quick charging stations are the missing link in EV travel from the San Joaquin Valley, the LA Basin, and Coastal California.

Currently drivers are forced to spend several hours charging at Level 2 stations in Valencia, and several more hours charging at the Shorepower.com terminals in Lebec using portable EVSEs. This has effectively prohibited most EV drivers, except the most adventuresome, from tackling the route.

The new fast chargers have been long awaited. Consumer-oriented EVs have been on the market for nearly four years. Both Washington and Oregon installed a string of fast chargers along the I-5 corridor several years ago. California has badly lagged its northern neighbors.

A good start! Now if we could just get more than one installed at each site. We need redundency as much as (if not more than) ICE drivers do. Can you imagine gas stations with only one pump each?

ahagge said:

A good start! Now if we could just get more than one installed at each site. We need redundency as much as (if not more than) ICE drivers do. Can you imagine gas stations with only one pump each?

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Agreed. I just spoke with Micheal Bernstein about this and for the life of me I can't remember how many stations were included at each stop. I may look it up. I know Tony Williams is putting in something like 10 at his Encinatas station!

Paul

Looks like it's just one station at each site. See page 13 of http://www.energy.ca.gov/2014publications/CEC-600-2014-002/CEC-600-2014-002.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .

The example used is the Residence Inn at San Juan Capistrano.

Paul

Dang! LADWP doing "100 L2 destination chargers for 100 vehicles"

plus the additional DCFC units going in everywhere!

NOICE!

paulgipe said:

Looks like it's just one station at each site. See page 13 of http://www.energy.ca.gov/2014publications/CEC-600-2014-002/CEC-600-2014-002.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .

The example used is the Residence Inn at San Juan Capistrano.

Paul

Click to expand...

You're right. That's a shame. Personally, I'd rather see them install 2 stations each at half as many sites. Too often one is out of order and if the next one is 50 miles away and you only have 5 miles of range left, it becomes rather problematic quickly.

Glad to see the 99 getting a little DCFC love, though! Maybe someday a trip to Yosemite will be feasible from the southland...

Do you know whether any/all of stations in the proposal have actually been approved for construction? And are they all public-access (I see that some are listed as "workplace chargers", so I'm thinking they may be restricted-access)? Looks like that document is about a year old now...hopefully some progress has been made.

Hate to be picky and I'm not even sure if the terminology is agreed upon "industry-wide", but I think what we want is multiple connectors at each station. Basically, EV station ~ gas station (=site=location), and connector ~ pump.

Anyone hear or know differently? Or am I being too picky? Just seems wise to be precise to avoid miscommunication.

ahagge said:

Personally, I'd rather see them install 2 stations each at half as many sites. Too often one is out of order and if the next one is 50 miles away and you only have 5 miles of range left, it becomes rather problematic quickly.

Click to expand...

+1 - not to mention including a couple L2 stations and even better a couple plain old outlets in case you get really stuck.

mbender said:

Hate to be picky and I'm not even sure if the terminology is agreed upon "industry-wide", but I think what we want is multiple connectors at each station. Basically, EV station ~ gas station (=site=location), and connector ~ pump.

Anyone hear or know differently? Or am I being too picky? Just seems wise to be precise to avoid miscommunication.

Click to expand...

You're correct - kind of. I've seen a number of L2 stations in the wild that have 2 connectors attached to a station - but - they share the circuit, so if a second vehicle connects, both vehicles charge at half of the normal rate.

This is probably a good thing for the site owner, but not so good for someone who's on the road and expecting to use a DCFC to "charge to 80% in roughly 30 minutes", as the common advertising goes.

The other drawback is that if something happens to the "station" (in your terminology), BOTH "connectors" are taken out of service, which is exactly what we DON'T want.

I'd think that the ideal would be to follow the "gas station" model that you mention, namely:

• Each site has 6+ "pumps" (ie. DCFC units)
• Each "pump" (DCFC unit) is capable of at 50+ kW
• Each "pump" has 2 connectors - one CHAdeMO and one "Frankenplug" (ie. SAE Combo)
• If a "pump" is "shared" (ie. splits the capacity when 2 vehicles are attached) it should be clearly marked as such
• Reasonable rates ($5.00 or less per 30 minute session) to roughly equal the cost of gas
• Get rid of all of these vendor-specific access cards - each "pump" should be activated by a credit card or a single, vendor-neutral "charge card" which would debit from an associated bank account.
• (optional) 2-4 L2 stations away from the DCFC units (the analogy might be the air/water area of today's gas station) which could be used as a "last resort" if all DCFC units were in use and/or out of service.
• (optional) One attendant on duty to assist with issues such as resetting tripped breakers, inability to plug in, calling in out-of-service units, etc.
• (optional) A convenience store to sell overpriced snacks to people waiting for a charge

In the end, what the long-distance traveler needs is to feel certain that he can easily locate an available, in-service station and get a charge at the expected, reasonable rate (both speed and $).

Frankly, I think Elon's Supercharger business model is the best one going, at least for the near term. Factor in the cost of the long-distance charging into the price of the vehicle and add it to the up-front cost as an option. Then all manufacturers would take the cash and pass it through to organizations (such as ChargePoint) who specialize in building out and maintaining the EVSE infrastructure (ie. the "gas station owners"). Drivers who pay up front like this would get a charge card that gives them free access for that vehicle only.

drees said:

ahagge said:

Personally, I'd rather see them install 2 stations each at half as many sites. Too often one is out of order and if the next one is 50 miles away and you only have 5 miles of range left, it becomes rather problematic quickly.

Click to expand...

+1 - not to mention including a couple L2 stations and even better a couple plain old outlets in case you get really stuck.

Click to expand...

Agree here..
At least make sure there's the L2 backups.
I've hit a situation where the AV.net QC was busy (once when it was broken, but a call to their office reset it and then it worked), but luckily I wasn't so empty and the L2 (and we ran to dinner for an hour-ish) was able to get me enough to get home. I've only got a 3.3kW charger, but with the 6kW or more on some cars, that should be much better.

Of course, multiple QCs would be even better, but I can imagine that the cost is tricky.
It's not like with Tesla's, where a few thousand or so from each car goes to help pay for these...
IMHO, I think this is where some of the Fed/State money should be going now, moreso than rebates/credits.
Something like, where a business is going to put in a QC, the gov will pay for (tax credit still?) the 2nd unit?
That should also increase the quantity of units sold, which should bring down the price...

Of course, it would be much nicer if someone was making a unit that could more easily be expanded into a DUAL, rather than 2 fully seperate units... (Might make the tax credit thing more complicated tho..)

er... what is the original topic here...
Oh yeah, YAY for the I5 Grapevine!! ;-)

desiv