Commuting from Los Angeles to Phoenix Az.

[kellybill52]

Does any Leaf owner ever done traveling from Los Angeles to Phoenix? Or is it ever been done before? Or how would someone plan a trip like that using the 10 frwy?

 

[GregH]

About 14 years ago we set out to have a caravan of EV1s travel from SoCal to meet a caravan of EV1s from Phoenix ("Blythe or Bust"). None of the Phoenix folks made it but we had 6 EV1s from SoCal travel to Blythe then turn around and go back. Aside from Blythe there was an RV park just north of Desert Center off the 10 that we used.. I have done the trip all the way to Phoenix (actually to Florida) but don't recall the RV parks used on the AZ side.

 

[rcyoder]

Check out Kris Trexler's trip across America in his EV1.

http://www.kingoftheroad.net/charge_across_america/charge_html/chargehome.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you look at the Daily Diary he details all of his charging stops.

Those were the days Greg!

 

[kellybill52]

That is a very old story only for EV1! Done, I guess in today's Leaf we just CAN'T!

 

[wsbsteven]

I recognize Kris's car from 'Who killed the electric car?'. I ranted and raved in my house for hours after watching that documentary.

 

[derkraut]

re: the title of your post----get a Prius, average 50+ mpg @ 65-70mph, and do it non-stop.

 

[RonDawg]

According to PlugShare, there are NO L2 stations of any kind, whether J1772 or campground/RV park, nor any residences listed as available for charging anywhere along the 100 or so miles between Indio and Blythe.

Your only bet is to find an available 120 volt outlet somewhere near the halfway point (like Desert Center), and be willing to stay about 12 hours. There appears to be a gas station/repair shop, cafe, and an RV or mobile home park in Desert Center but none are listed in PlugShare.

You'll run into the same issue in the 135 miles between Blythe, CA and Avondale, AZ. Although there is a listed RV park north of I-10 in Salome, AZ, on US 60 60 miles east of Blythe, it's another 81 miles from there to Avondale. There appears to be absolutely nothing along I-10 between exit 45 and exit 94 (Tonopah, AZ) where you should top off on L1 if you can. Otherwise it's 70 miles from Salome to Buckeye, AZ via Salome Road.

A longer but perhaps less risky route is to charge at Salome, thrn continue northeast on US 60 to Wickenburg (54 miles northeast of Salome) for another charge, and then come into Phoenix on US 60 from the northwest.

 

[KLS]

Many...not all...campgrounds and RV parks have 240 volt 50 amp power available. If you carry your own L2 EVSE charging station you can plug into the NEMA 14-50R 50 amp receptacle if one is available. The RV 30 amp service is only 120 volt. (And many RV folks don't know the voltages, they just know 30 amp or 50 amp.)

 

[GregH]

Ok.. This is going to sound really strange, but today I got a call from Mary at Desert Center RV.. Just out of the blue. She mentioned the 1999 "Blythe or Bust" trip and that she had my old business card and one of the stickers we made for the trip. She says feel free to use her Nema 14-50 at the RV park just 3 miles north of the 10 at Desert Center.. She's at 760-227-3109. Mary is 92 years old.

I dug up some photos from the trip..

 

[RonDawg]

Cool. Perhaps we can add that RV park to PlugShare and other similar services for the benefit of all EVers? I only know about the park because I saw it while checking out the area on Google Maps.