cwerdna
Well-known member
I drove my Bolt down to So Cal and used only free DC FCs on the way down. See https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/ea-chargers-going-up-the-5-la-to-sf.41816/#post-677352, I made a boo-boo and said I-99 when I meant highway 99. I DC FCed 4 times and battery thermal management AC compressor only sounded on my 1st DC FC, after I'd sucked down over 30 kWh. It was getting colder as the day progressed and most of my driving was in the dark. OAT was in the low 30's F when I DC FCed at Tejon Pass.
The Caltrans free DC FCs max out on my Bolt at about 42 or 43 kW, which is no surprise for BTC Fatboy chargers.
I did pay for a bit of EA DC FC juice ($4.34 for 14 kWh besides paying the $4 to join Pass+ this month) at a mall a few minutes away from my hotel. That was my 5th DC FC in a day.
The other day, while eating lunch (Lee's Sandwich from near my hotel), there was a business park w/EV Connect L2's for only $1/hr. I took my chances hoping that there wasn't a $1 min and that it had at least ~6 kW charging rate. Worked out fine. I paid 29 cents for 1.6 kWh which is very reasonable for public charging in CA. Was my first time using EV Connect and that biz park is within walking distance of my hotel...
Anyway, I went to Skirball Center (never heard of it until Star Trek Day a few months ago) for a Star Trek exhibit (http://www.skirball.org/exhibitions/star-trek-exploring-new-worlds). There was free L2 juice there and all the EVSEs were open. Highly recommend it if you're a Trek fan.
I later went to 3rd Street Promenade and w/the help of Plugshare, I went to a structure w/EV charging (https://www.plugshare.com/location/38624) and fortunately got some free juice, despite there being two EV holes (T_holes) who blocked 2 EV spots w/o plugging in. Score! I was also able to leave/"pay" for my parking at the 1 hour 29 min mark, so parking was free. If I'd gone 2 minutes over, it wouldn't have been free.
Today, I went to https://californiasciencecenter.org/ and parked in the Natural History Museum parking as it has more EVSEs than the other parking. Yes, parking is $15 at either place in that area but there were tons of L2 EVSEs open. Got to full (well, 80% is the max I can go to w/the 883 80% limiter temp patch applied). Score! The black L2 EVSEs (currently 1st pic at https://www.plugshare.com/location/18042) looked really new. The Powerflex app wasn't actually necessary to start charging but I could view some stats when near it.
I will likely be going back to the above place to park on Sunday to go to the Natural History Museum. Hope I can snag an L2 handle again.
On my return to Nor Cal, I will likely be utilizing the free Caltrans DC FCs again (https://dot.ca.gov/news-releases/news-release-2021-001) so that will minimize how much juice I have to pay for.
update: Edited to fix bad URL at the end.
The Caltrans free DC FCs max out on my Bolt at about 42 or 43 kW, which is no surprise for BTC Fatboy chargers.
I did pay for a bit of EA DC FC juice ($4.34 for 14 kWh besides paying the $4 to join Pass+ this month) at a mall a few minutes away from my hotel. That was my 5th DC FC in a day.
The other day, while eating lunch (Lee's Sandwich from near my hotel), there was a business park w/EV Connect L2's for only $1/hr. I took my chances hoping that there wasn't a $1 min and that it had at least ~6 kW charging rate. Worked out fine. I paid 29 cents for 1.6 kWh which is very reasonable for public charging in CA. Was my first time using EV Connect and that biz park is within walking distance of my hotel...
Anyway, I went to Skirball Center (never heard of it until Star Trek Day a few months ago) for a Star Trek exhibit (http://www.skirball.org/exhibitions/star-trek-exploring-new-worlds). There was free L2 juice there and all the EVSEs were open. Highly recommend it if you're a Trek fan.
I later went to 3rd Street Promenade and w/the help of Plugshare, I went to a structure w/EV charging (https://www.plugshare.com/location/38624) and fortunately got some free juice, despite there being two EV holes (T_holes) who blocked 2 EV spots w/o plugging in. Score! I was also able to leave/"pay" for my parking at the 1 hour 29 min mark, so parking was free. If I'd gone 2 minutes over, it wouldn't have been free.
Today, I went to https://californiasciencecenter.org/ and parked in the Natural History Museum parking as it has more EVSEs than the other parking. Yes, parking is $15 at either place in that area but there were tons of L2 EVSEs open. Got to full (well, 80% is the max I can go to w/the 883 80% limiter temp patch applied). Score! The black L2 EVSEs (currently 1st pic at https://www.plugshare.com/location/18042) looked really new. The Powerflex app wasn't actually necessary to start charging but I could view some stats when near it.
I will likely be going back to the above place to park on Sunday to go to the Natural History Museum. Hope I can snag an L2 handle again.
On my return to Nor Cal, I will likely be utilizing the free Caltrans DC FCs again (https://dot.ca.gov/news-releases/news-release-2021-001) so that will minimize how much juice I have to pay for.
update: Edited to fix bad URL at the end.