ICEless in Seattle : Official Pacific NorthWest thread

As one of the troglodytes who have successfully resisted FB, I want you all to know that I appreciate your efforts to make our information sharing more localized.

Speaking of which ;-) the wife and I are planning a trip to SAM for the Robert Davidson exhibit. Plug share lists 4EV J1772 spaces at the Washington Mutual Tower (now apparently the Russell Investment Center) the last plug share checkin was seven months ago. It looks to me like we'd have to spend $25 or $30 to park there.

Anyone got insights into that spot or one that's less expensive but close? We'll plan on three or four hours of charge. We'll need enough to get back to Olympia, although there are plenty of spots to full up on the way, it would be nice to just drive home.

Hey Everyone,

I'm on the FB group. Just wanted to say hi over here as well since it looks like we haven't had much action around here in a few months.

I live on the eastside (Woodinville) and work in Kirkland so my 20 mile round trip commute is pretty easy on my Leaf.

I was going to head up to Burlington (wife wanted to outlet shopping) but I chickened out and drove the ICE car instead. Next time I'll take the Leaf now that I'm more comfortable about it. She only wanted to shop for about an hour and there is a QC up there but I was scared that I might get there only to find it broken...then I'd be stuck with an angry wife while we charge for 3 hours...

Anyway, maybe I'll get adventurous and head down past Tumwater and use the QC over there.

We've had the car three years, but haven't done adventure trips. This weekend (Aug 8 - 10) we through caution to the winds and went on a visit to friends in Ocean Shores. The car is three years old, but still has all the battery bars (probably because we've only gone 14,500 mi). I always wondered if we could make the 72 mile trip. Answer is probably not. We did anxiety stops at RV parks. One on the way over and one on the way back. The Hoquiam River RV going over and the Elma RV going back. We've a moded charger and adapter so we used the RV 50 amp/240v plugs at both places. We called ahead, and both places were welcoming and interested. They each asked for a minimum payment "something like $5) which we gladly gave. Actually, we gave $10 going over and $5 coming back. Charged for about an hour both places and had 25 mi or so on the GOM when we arrived. We were as careful of range as we knew how to be. Stayed at 50 mph (limit is 60) and didn't use air or open the windows.

All in all, a good trip since we saved ourselves a car rental (the normal way we visit those folks). I've added the RV parks to Plug Share for the good of the order.

rdhauser said:

We've had the car three years, but haven't done adventure trips. This weekend (Aug 8 - 10) we through caution to the winds and went on a visit to friends in Ocean Shores. The car is three years old, but still has all the battery bars (probably because we've only gone 14,500 mi). I always wondered if we could make the 72 mile trip. Answer is probably not. We did anxiety stops at RV parks. One on the way over and one on the way back. The Hoquiam River RV going over and the Elma RV going back. We've a moded charger and adapter so we used the RV 50 amp/240v plugs at both places. We called ahead, and both places were welcoming and interested. They each asked for a minimum payment "something like $5) which we gladly gave. Actually, we gave $10 going over and $5 coming back. Charged for about an hour both places and had 25 mi or so on the GOM when we arrived. We were as careful of range as we knew how to be. Stayed at 50 mph (limit is 60) and didn't use air or open the windows.

All in all, a good trip since we saved ourselves a car rental (the normal way we visit those folks). I've added the RV parks to Plug Share for the good of the order.

Click to expand...

Well Dick glad you made it but since you had some much on the GOM leftover, looks like charging stops were not needed. I have also done the Ocean Shores from Lacey (so slightly farther?) run without stopping and yes, I keep it at 60 mph or less which is easy to do and play the hills to maximize efficiency as much as possible. I have never come close to running out always having close to 5-10 miles of range left. We normally stay at Ocean City State Park so recharge overnight.

But the lack of public charging in the area has been a sore point for me and one that I hope to change. As always, trying to gain some traction in getting some sort of momentum to expand the WCGH to Grays Harbor. i think it would be a bit of a boom to their economy since it would allow much easier EV travel to the area and if you know us WA EVers, if there is a plug, we will come!

Thanks, Dave.

Yes we may have made it, but since we haven't done it before, the stops eliminated any worry - which is a good thing. I think we need a confidence building trip that's about 35 miles away so we can rack up 70 miles and see how the SOC looks.

I'm the same way. I'm okay with hitting Low Battery Charge when I'm in the city and on my way home, but if I hear it on the freeway I truly lose my ****, even if I'm just a mile from my destination or the next charger. There's something about being on the freeway that makes it more serious for me. I probably just need some immersion therapy.

I appreciated your entries on PlugShare. Sounds like you did a good job of managing your efficiently. My experience is that those who say you have about 12 miles left after you get the Low Battery Warning are correct. Unless you have some steep terrain or Columbian Gorge type headwinds you can count that towards your range (along with your list of RV parks) and ease a little of that anxiety .

Just got back from a trip to the Oregon coast where there was a surprising surplus of L2 and QC chargers along with an equally surprising dearth of EVs making use of them (actually, we didn't see a single one in Oregon, not even around Portland). Makes me wonder why we couldn't get just a few QCs installed out near Aberdeen or Long Beach or, well, pretty much anywhere near the coast...

The QC situation in Oregon is excellent compared to Washington. Most of them are AV and either work well or will work after a quick call. Retired we often travel during the week and rarely run into standing in line problems like you do in Washington. I think the Hood River charger is rated as being the most used in Oregon. Even there a wait is rare.

Oregon's state government is EV and public facility friendly, in contrast to the tight wads we elect in Clark County who are or the type will let a roof leak for years before they will fix it... or propose selling our state parks before paying to staff them...

I've already taken 3 round trips to spokane in my leaf. Charge stops over are snoqualmie pass, ellensburg supercharger, moses lake downtown, an rv park in Ritzville or in sprague (they want 10 bucks in ritzville). Coming home is sprague, moses lake, wenatchee, Leavenworth, Skykomish, sultan. The trip home is the quick charge route. If you leave moses lake with 7 temp bars, go home by way of vantage (rv park) ellensburg, cle elum, and snoqualmie pass. It will take longer but put less heat stress on your battery. I just learned this the hard way driving home in the 100 degree heat. The rv park in ritzville and sprague are kind of hard. Sometimes a 14-50 is not available. I have a box that combines 2 30 amp outlets to make 240.. There is a rv park in Tokio right off the freeway (templins country corner) but the owner doesn't seem to be very ev friendly. Too bad because that location is perfect. Right in between moses and spokane, and right off the freeway. Plus lots of 14-50 spots that are usually empty. Some times there is no place on plugshare. You have to find your own. Then you have to convince them to let you plug in. Some have no idea what the charge is costing them, and they dont trust you when you tell them.
.

One more place that's really cool to visit is wild horse wind farm in the hills above vantage. You can make it there from the av in cle elum, look around while you charge (free tours plus a couple good hikes there), then either head back the way you came or go on highway 2 stopping at the av chargers on the way back. It's quite a climb there. You need to leave cle elum at 85 to 90 percent, or stop at ellensburg to top it off for an hour, dont go from ellensburg to vantage and then go back up. Thats a huge hill and would eat 50 percent.

Hi Y'all,

Just wanted to share with you that a Mt. Baker camping trip is totally possible with a Leaf! Surely a 2013+ one, but even a 2011-2.

We did it a few weeks ago. We set out of Seattle in a 2014 Leaf that has a QC. Going to Bellingham via Chuckanut drive (stopped for a hike, Fragrance Lake I think it's called), we arrived at the Bellingham Starbucks QC after 84 miles - nicely enough, that's the 2014's official EPA range - except that we still had 14 miles showing on the GOM. I'd maintained strict 55 MPH discipline on the I-5 (with ECO, B-mode and cruise on), except ambling up to ~60 for some of the 70-speed-limit stretch. Much of that stretch, though, the highway was crawling along anyway due to construction. We really weren't traveling that much slowly than the average car overall.

But I digress. Our night destination was Silver Lake County Park. That's some 36 miles and 800 feet up from Bellingham, so easily reachable after the QC, we were nearly half full when we got there. We slept at an RV spot (well, my sister came there with an RV, long story), and it was totally a breeze to refill to 100% by morning on trickle. And the park is nice, too; Ron Judd's Mountaineers book gives it 4 stars for good reason. The only downside is the showers are cold (yes, you put in coins and it spits cold water at you ).

Next day we drove up the mountain, all the way to Artist Ridge. The campground is 38 miles from Artist Ridge, and you need to climb from 500 feet (you do some downhill from Silver Lake) to 5200 feet or so. We made it up there with 32% remaining; at the base of the 10-mile steep switchback part we were still at 65% or so. Coming back down, we regen'ed up to 48% after those 10 miles, and arrived back at Silver Lake with 34%! So the entire trip back was "free"! In fact, it seems we were consuming energy at a 110-mile range pace or so over that day trip.

On our drive back to Seattle, we charged at Burlington QC while eating lunch there, there's a small semi-gourmet American restaurant right there in the outlet store complex. In fact, both our QC stops were totally delay-free except the time to hook up, b/c at Bellingham going north we went grocery shopping at the supermarket there.

I was toying with the idea of trying to stretch it all the way home without any charging, it's 100-110 miles from Silver Lake to NE depending on how you go. But with kids and a couple of nieces, and a swim stop we made at Whatcom Lake adding some 10 miles to our trip, it wasn't the right time to play dare challenges.

Anyway - again - an easily enjoyable camping trip for any Leaf with a QC, all the way out to one of Washington's premier destination. The two USFS campgrounds further uphill from Silver Lake have no power AFAIK, but if there are any private RV parks on the Mt. Baker Road, they are an option too. Somehow though, the Silver Lake Park seems perfectly situated, both for approach in and for the mountain drive.

Cheers, Assaf

Hi,

I am new to this forum and looking for some help.

I recently bought 2015 leaf and have a 250v 20amp outlet in garage.

Can you pls suggest a good Level 2 charger and any reasonable electricians who you have worked to install the charger in Seattle area? Also what should I expect the quote range?

Thanks in advance.

Blue

ResidentKirkland said:

Hi,

I am new to this forum and looking for some help.

I recently bought 2015 leaf and have a 250v 20amp outlet in garage.

Can you pls suggest a good Level 2 charger and any reasonable electricians who you have worked to install the charger in Seattle area? Also what should I expect the quote range?

Thanks in advance.

Blue

Click to expand...

Check out our group on FaceBook too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/seattlenissanleaf/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Are you planning on reusing your 240 volt 20 amp receptacle? What model LEAF did you get? If you have the 6kw charger option reusing that receptacle will allow you to only charge at 3.3kw which for most people is more than fast enough for home charging.

If you would like to install a new receptacle and EVSE to accommodate the full speed of the 6kw charger I'd recommend the Clipper Creek HCS-40 which is about $600 or $650 for the plug in model.

Electrician is probably in the neighborhood of $300 depending on if there are any difficult runs/etc.

PSE currently has a $500 rebate for installing an EVSE.

No sales tax for EVSEs in WA.

If you plan to reuse the receptacle that you have you can get the EVSE that came with the car upgraded for about $300 at EVSEUpgrade.

QueenBee said:

ResidentKirkland said:

Hi,

I am new to this forum and looking for some help.

I recently bought 2015 leaf and have a 250v 20amp outlet in garage.

Can you pls suggest a good Level 2 charger and any reasonable electricians who you have worked to install the charger in Seattle area? Also what should I expect the quote range?

Thanks in advance.

Blue

Click to expand...

Check out our group on FaceBook too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/seattlenissanleaf/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Are you planning on reusing your 240 volt 20 amp receptacle? What model LEAF did you get? If you have the 6kw charger option reusing that receptacle will allow you to only charge at 3.3kw which for most people is more than fast enough for home charging.

If you would like to install a new receptacle and EVSE to accommodate the full speed of the 6kw charger I'd recommend the Clipper Creek HCS-40 which is about $600 or $650 for the plug in model.

Electrician is probably in the neighborhood of $300 depending on if there are any difficult runs/etc.

PSE currently has a $500 rebate for installing an EVSE.

No sales tax for EVSEs in WA.

If you plan to reuse the receptacle that you have you can get the EVSE that came with the car upgraded for about $300 at EVSEUpgrade.

Click to expand...

Do you know if PSE has that rebate for people who have leased their Leafs? I looked up their website and it doesn't mention their rebate policy on leased vehicles.

EV13 said:

QueenBee said:

ResidentKirkland said:

Hi,

I am new to this forum and looking for some help.

I recently bought 2015 leaf and have a 250v 20amp outlet in garage.

Can you pls suggest a good Level 2 charger and any reasonable electricians who you have worked to install the charger in Seattle area? Also what should I expect the quote range?

Thanks in advance.

Blue

Click to expand...

Check out our group on FaceBook too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/seattlenissanleaf/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Are you planning on reusing your 240 volt 20 amp receptacle? What model LEAF did you get? If you have the 6kw charger option reusing that receptacle will allow you to only charge at 3.3kw which for most people is more than fast enough for home charging.

If you would like to install a new receptacle and EVSE to accommodate the full speed of the 6kw charger I'd recommend the Clipper Creek HCS-40 which is about $600 or $650 for the plug in model.

Electrician is probably in the neighborhood of $300 depending on if there are any difficult runs/etc.

PSE currently has a $500 rebate for installing an EVSE.

No sales tax for EVSEs in WA.

If you plan to reuse the receptacle that you have you can get the EVSE that came with the car upgraded for about $300 at EVSEUpgrade.

Click to expand...

Do you know if PSE has that rebate for people who have leased their Leafs? I looked up their website and it doesn't mention their rebate policy on leased vehicles.

Click to expand...

Yes, leased is fine. You just have to be the registered owner which you are.

Hey all! Having a surprisingly hard time figuring out how to get from portland to seattle. It appears I need an aerovironment membership to use the quick chargers?

I'm going on an adventure, picking up one of these new grid tied spin bikes from Sportsart:http://gosportsart.com/international/cardio/eco-powr-series/bikes/g510/

I'm aware it's probably a 6 hour+ trip, which is ok. I've had a leaf for a couple years, just don't go on long trips with it, so I only own a Blink fob that I haven't used in a year.

If anyone could give insight on how to plan the trip most efficiently, make sure I can use the quick chargers, etc., I'd appreciate it.

Adamboesel said:

Hey all! Having a surprisingly hard time figuring out how to get from portland to seattle. It appears I need an aerovironment membership to use the quick chargers?

I'm going on an adventure, picking up one of these new grid tied spin bikes from Sportsart:http://gosportsart.com/international/cardio/eco-powr-series/bikes/g510/

I'm aware it's probably a 6 hour+ trip, which is ok. I've had a leaf for a couple years, just don't go on long trips with it, so I only own a Blink fob that I haven't used in a year.

If anyone could give insight on how to plan the trip most efficiently, make sure I can use the quick chargers, etc., I'd appreciate it.

Click to expand...

Here is a trip report from someone who has done that: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=9323" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you don't get the AV monthly pass you'll have to rely on calling them to activate each West Coast highway DCQC. It likely makes sense to get the monthly pass for this trip as it will be much more reliable and convenient.

Adamboesel said:

Hey all! Having a surprisingly hard time figuring out how to get from portland to seattle. It appears I need an aerovironment membership to use the quick chargers?...If anyone could give insight on how to plan the trip most efficiently, make sure I can use the quick chargers, etc., I'd appreciate it.

Click to expand...

Here is my trip report from Portland to Centralia, Wa.. One more hop and we would have been in Seattle. You can read more details here (link).

Adamboesel said:

Hey all! Having a surprisingly hard time figuring out how to get from portland to seattle. It appears I need an aerovironment membership to use the quick chargers?

I'm going on an adventure, picking up one of these new grid tied spin bikes from Sportsart:http://gosportsart.com/international/cardio/eco-powr-series/bikes/g510/

I'm aware it's probably a 6 hour+ trip, which is ok. I've had a leaf for a couple years, just don't go on long trips with it, so I only own a Blink fob that I haven't used in a year.

If anyone could give insight on how to plan the trip most efficiently, make sure I can use the quick chargers, etc., I'd appreciate it.

Click to expand...

That'll be no problem. Just start an AV membership for 20 bucks (you can kill it when you get home) and stop at every AV station on the way there and back. You'll probably have to find a Blink in Seattle; which will be the only tricky part. Just find one that's actually up on PlugShare.