Souther California to Northern California Trip

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k2msmith

Active member
Joined
Jul 19, 2011
Messages
30
I need to move my car from Ventura area in SoCal up to San Jose. I'm not gonna ship. I want to drive it ! Does anyone have any suggestions on charge stop locations ? Here is the route I am thinking:

1) Camarillo to Goleta Nissan (charge) 58. miles
2) Goleta to Nissan Santa Maria (66 miles)
3) Santa Maria to SLO (30 miles) - Lunch !

so that gets me about half way there...any suggestions for the rest. ? Salinas is too far (128 miles ). King City is 80 miles but I worry about range/mountains after SLO. i don't know if there is an L2 in King City.

K
 
Tony Williams did the Mexico to Canada trip. Here was his projected trip route:

http://www.quickchargepower.com/#!timeline" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(sorry Tony, but the website is awful ;) )
 
EricBayArea said:
Tony Williamson did the Mexico to Canada trip. Here was his projected trip route:

http://www.quickchargepower.com/#!timeline" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(sorry Tony, but the website is awful ;) )

I'm sorry, too. The guy who could update it is no longer available.
 
k2msmith said:
I need to move my car from Ventura area in SoCal up to San Jose. I'm not gonna ship. I want to drive it ! Does anyone have any suggestions on charge stop locations ? Here is the route I am thinking:

1) Camarillo to Goleta Nissan (charge) 58. miles
2) Goleta to Nissan Santa Maria (66 miles)
3) Santa Maria to SLO (30 miles) - Lunch !

so that gets me about half way there...any suggestions for the rest. ? Salinas is too far (128 miles ). King City is 80 miles but I worry about range/mountains after SLO. i don't know if there is an L2 in King City.

K

You need a modified EVSE and then hit the RV park in Paso Robles and King City. On my trip, I went up highway 1 (PCH), but I don't recommend that route of almost 100 miles from Morro Bay to Big Sur (RV park).

You can click on my signature line, "Mexico 2 Canada" to find out more.
 
A year ago we bought our LEAF at Santa Barbara Nissan in Goleta and drove it back to SF.
The charging infrastructure is still not great yet, but, the #s of L2s might have tripled, so there are probably more options available. It was our first drive, so we relied on Nissan dealerships primarily as we only had the L1 charging cord! We called ahead to the dealerships for their "ok" to charge, out of courtesy. All the dealerships were nice about us staying to charge. Hung out with trucks alot in slow lane. Before this, we had hardly driven with the truckers, and always felt sorry for the slow moving vehicles. But, surprisingly, it was quite relaxing vs. barreling down the highway with everyone else. 345 mile trip.

This is what we did to San Jose:

Santa Barbara Nissan (w/almost 100% charge) to Santa Maria Nissan. Distance almost 67 miles, 1hr.25 min. drive. Charged at SM Nissan for almost 5 hrs. (not 100%, but near).

SM Nissan to San Luis Obispo Coast Nissan. Distance approx 31 miles, 40 min drive. Topped off at L2 for 3 hrs.
A stop was not required in SLO, but we were meeting a friend for dinner.
We just stopped by SLO last week and Target has some L2 chargers. That area will give you some shopping choices if preferable than hanging out at another dealership area.

SLO to Holiday Inn Express, Atascadero. 18.4 miles. L1 charge for 10-11 hrs. Called hotel ahead . They said no problem plugging in with our Panasonic L1 cord. Placed a carpet over our cord to prevent tripping hazard on a less frequented walkway that had outdoor plugs.
Original plan was to stay at a Paso Robles hotel or RV park. Paso Robles hotels all booked due to armed forces being deployed. RV parks had limited entry/exit hours and no car/tent camping allowed.

Holiday Inn Exp, Atascadero to San Lorenzo Park, King City. 65.1 miles. 20 hr. charge on L1 at water and electricity car/tent camping spot ($35 then). This was our "camping" day. Had lunch before we arrived, got minimal supplies for dinner and breakfast (no cooler). SL Park also has RV sites. Not sure if RV sites would have ability to plug in a modified EVSE for L2 charging. We only had L1 then! Give them a call for up-to-date info. We stayed in August and very low-key and empty then, so no reservations required.
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/parks/sanlorenzo_camping.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.yelp.com/biz/san-lorenzo-county-park-king-city" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

San Lorenzo Park, King City to My Salinas Nissan. 50.5 miles. Approx 1 hr. drive. 3 1/2 hr charge.

My Salinas Nissan to San Jose! 62 mile drive. Approx. 1 hr. 15mins drive for us.

Best of wishes for a safe and fun trip!
 
TonyWilliams said:
k2msmith said:
I need to move my car from Ventura area in SoCal up to San Jose. I'm not gonna ship. I want to drive it ! Does anyone have any suggestions on charge stop locations ? Here is the route I am thinking:

1) Camarillo to Goleta Nissan (charge) 58. miles
2) Goleta to Nissan Santa Maria (66 miles)
3) Santa Maria to SLO (30 miles) - Lunch !

so that gets me about half way there...any suggestions for the rest. ? Salinas is too far (128 miles ). King City is 80 miles but I worry about range/mountains after SLO. i don't know if there is an L2 in King City.

K

> You need a modified EVSE and then hit the RV park in Paso Robles and King City. On my trip, I went up highway 1 (PCH), but I don't recommend that route of almost 100 miles from Morro Bay to Big Sur (RV park).

Can you point me to any info on a the "modified EVSE" charger. that sounds interesting..





You can click on my signature line, "Mexico 2 Canada" to find out more.
 
Can you point me to any info on a the "modified EVSE" charger. that sounds interesting..

http://www.evseupgrade.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I got one and it works great.
 
GoingGreener said:
A year ago we bought our LEAF at Santa Barbara Nissan in Goleta and drove it back to SF.
The charging infrastructure is still not great yet, but, the #s of L2s might have tripled, so there are probably more options available. It was our first drive, so we relied on Nissan dealerships primarily as we only had the L1 charging cord! We called ahead to the dealerships for their "ok" to charge, out of courtesy. All the dealerships were nice about us staying to charge. Hung out with trucks alot in slow lane. Before this, we had hardly driven with the truckers, and always felt sorry for the slow moving vehicles. But, surprisingly, it was quite relaxing vs. barreling down the highway with everyone else. 345 mile trip.

This is what we did to San Jose:

Santa Barbara Nissan (w/almost 100% charge) to Santa Maria Nissan. Distance almost 67 miles, 1hr.25 min. drive. Charged at SM Nissan for almost 5 hrs. (not 100%, but near).

SM Nissan to San Luis Obispo Coast Nissan. Distance approx 31 miles, 40 min drive. Topped off at L2 for 3 hrs.
A stop was not required in SLO, but we were meeting a friend for dinner.
We just stopped by SLO last week and Target has some L2 chargers. That area will give you some shopping choices if preferable than hanging out at another dealership area.

SLO to Holiday Inn Express, Atascadero. 18.4 miles. L1 charge for 10-11 hrs. Called hotel ahead . They said no problem plugging in with our Panasonic L1 cord. Placed a carpet over our cord to prevent tripping hazard on a less frequented walkway that had outdoor plugs.
Original plan was to stay at a Paso Robles hotel or RV park. Paso Robles hotels all booked due to armed forces being deployed. RV parks had limited entry/exit hours and no car/tent camping allowed.

Holiday Inn Exp, Atascadero to San Lorenzo Park, King City. 65.1 miles. 20 hr. charge on L1 at water and electricity car/tent camping spot ($35 then). This was our "camping" day. Had lunch before we arrived, got minimal supplies for dinner and breakfast (no cooler). SL Park also has RV sites. Not sure if RV sites would have ability to plug in a modified EVSE for L2 charging. We only had L1 then! Give them a call for up-to-date info. We stayed in August and very low-key and empty then, so no reservations required.
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/parks/sanlorenzo_camping.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.yelp.com/biz/san-lorenzo-county-park-king-city" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

San Lorenzo Park, King City to My Salinas Nissan. 50.5 miles. Approx 1 hr. drive. 3 1/2 hr charge.

My Salinas Nissan to San Jose! 62 mile drive. Approx. 1 hr. 15mins drive for us.

Best of wishes for a safe and fun trip!
Per Plugshare, the Tesla EVSEs at the Rabobank in Atascadero have all been modified to J1772, and are apparently still free. And once you get to Salinas, there are now lots (relatively) of places to charge. From there on you're good to go.
 
You should see the blog of the guy who's going in the opposite direction in September in an ActiveE. He's going to try and do it in 24hrs.

http://bay2lainaday.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cord
 
k2msmith said:
TonyWilliams said:
You need a modified EVSE and then hit the RV park in Paso Robles and King City.
Can you point me to any info on a the "modified EVSE" charger. that sounds interesting..
KJD pointed you to evseupgrade.com, and I second his recommendation. In fact you will find many enthusiasts here for that product. One more thing you need to know, though, is that in the RV world they don't talk voltage. The parks will tell you they have "30 amp plugins" and "50 amp plugins". The 30 amps are 120v, and the LEAF can only use 12 amps out of that (and you need a TT-30 adapter to even get that). What you want is 50 amps, which are 240v. They use a 14-50R outlet, so you will need an adapter with 14-50P on one end and the L6-20R on the other end that mates with the modified EVSE plug. You can make that yourself with a part from Home Depot and "pigtail" from EVSEupgrade, or you can get someone to make it for you. See Adapters for Ingineer's L1 to L2 EVSE mod NOW AVAILABLE (assuming GeekEV still does this; haven't seen any posts about it for quite a while). Here's a general writeup on how to do it yourself: EVSE Plug Adaptors, Cords and Modifications Info

Ray
 
cnuoffer said:
You should see the blog of the guy who's going in the opposite direction in September in an ActiveE. He's going to try and do it in 24hrs.

http://bay2lainaday.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cord

LOL, he can do it! His BMW ActiveE has a 6.6 kW charger on board! ;) I'm assuming he'll be napping/sleeping in/near his car while charging. Driving 5-10 mph slower is better to extend range vs. getting thru a segment faster, but needing to charge more. Didn't read his whole blog... is he worried about stressing his batteries?! Oh yea, BMWs are leased!

Yea, charging at one of the RV parks did cost $25 a year ago too. At the second one, it was $10. But between not being able to charge very quickly with our 3.3 kW charger on board and the unmodified L1 then, rules re entry and exit times for RV parks, plus, no tent camping allowed, it made better sense for us (whole family) to chill at the King City San Lorenzo Campground for $35. But, we weren't racing against time... would have been torturous for those in tow.
 
k2msmith said:
I need to move my car from Ventura area in SoCal up to San Jose. I'm not gonna ship. I want to drive it ! Does anyone have any suggestions on charge stop locations ? Here is the route I am thinking:

1) Camarillo to Goleta Nissan (charge) 58. miles
2) Goleta to Nissan Santa Maria (66 miles)
3) Santa Maria to SLO (30 miles) - Lunch !

so that gets me about half way there...any suggestions for the rest. ? Salinas is too far (128 miles ). King City is 80 miles but I worry about range/mountains after SLO. i don't know if there is an L2 in King City.

K

Goleta
Rabobank, Goleta
or
County of Santa Barbara, Calle Real Campus

Santa Maria
Rabobank, Santa Maria
or
Santa Barbara County, Lot 10

San Luis Obispo
Target
or
Marsh Street Garage

Atascadero
Rabobank, Atascadero

Paso Robles - $10 + NEMA 14-50 adapter. Call to reserve and request "50 amp"
Paso Robles RV Ranch

King City - $25 + NEMA 14-50 adapter. Call to reserve and request "50 amp"
Ciudad del Rey Motel and Trailer Park

Salinas
Rabobank, Salinas
or
Salinas City Hall

Gilroy
Gilroy Outlet Mall

San Jose
Santa Clara Valley Water District
or
Fourth & St. John Garage garage

Don't try to skip King City. Prevailing winds are from the Northwest.
 
Go the Plugshare website (http://www.plugshare.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) and you should be able to see the charging locations along the route. It definitely helps to have the modified EVSE and an adapter (female NEMA L6-20 to male NEMA 14-50). If you don't have these, you might be able to borrow one from one of our fellow LEAF owners here at MNL Forum, then ship it back after your arrival.
 
gascant said:
Go the Plugshare website (http://www.plugshare.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) and you should be able to see the charging locations along the route. It definitely helps to have the modified EVSE and an adapter (female NEMA L6-20 to male NEMA 14-50). If you don't have these, you might be able to borrow one from one of our fellow LEAF owners here at MNL Forum, then ship it back after your arrival.
Just in case anyone missed it in the blog, there's now a Chargepoint L2 in King City, closing the last major EVSE hole in the route along 101. No more need to get ripped off at the RV park.
 
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