Status of Blink EVSE's at the Lodge at Torrey Pines

[DaveEV]

Have you tried El Camino Real from Del Mar Heights Rd to Enicintas Blvd?
Great drive, little traffic, and it avoids all those large hills on I-5.

I'm not seeing any benefit. Even starting from El Camino/Encinitas and plotting the route to I5/Del Mar Heights, taking El Camino the back route is 15% farther and has the same hills - if anything, I5 is a bit flatter! (Try plotting the elevation using veloroutes.org or mapmyride.com) Only benefit will be the lower speeds, but if you hit a couple lights wrong that will kill the benefit enough to make it easier to just do 60-65 mph on I5.

 

[gbarry42]

So,
1. Blink is always plug-then-tap (or swipe) for L2?

I'm pretty sure you can do it in either order. We're 0 for 2 in our limited experience with off-site charging (due to not hitting "timer off" first) but the Blinks didn't seem to care about the order. But with all that screen real estate, the Blink likes to tell you what to do next.

 

[davewill]

So,
1. Blink is always plug-then-tap (or swipe) for L2?

2. ChargePoint is tap-then-plug for 120v (L1),
but plug-then-tap for 240v (L2)?

No, it's tap then plug for both of them. Chargepoint won't let you open the L1 door or remove the J1772 plug until you tap. Blink asks you to tap first, but doesn't lock up the plug and will probably work either way. These TP units seem to be an exception and required me to plug then tap... and they never did prompt for the card.

 

[lonndoggie]

Have you tried El Camino Real from Del Mar Heights Rd to Enicintas Blvd?
Great drive, little traffic, and it avoids all those large hills on I-5.

I'm not seeing any benefit. Even starting from El Camino/Encinitas and plotting the route to I5/Del Mar Heights, taking El Camino the back route is 15% farther and has the same hills - if anything, I5 is a bit flatter! (Try plotting the elevation using veloroutes.org or mapmyride.com) Only benefit will be the lower speeds, but if you hit a couple lights wrong that will kill the benefit enough to make it easier to just do 60-65 mph on I5.

I used to use that route now and then, but sometimes things get very backed up just trying to get to Villa de la Valle (or even San Dieguito, to go that way, another very scenic route by Chino's stand), making it another time-killer instead of a time-saver (or even break even).

With the ICE car--e.g., when I didn't think about elevation gain and such, or playing the "how efficiently can you drive?" video game--I used to like that drive a lot--it's a FUN drive, once you get on the part of El Camino Real that goes through RSF. It's not like I need to conserve juice to make it home daily...I suppose I owe it to myself to take that route a few times just to give Lil' Bleu a spin on those twisty country roads.

 

[z0ner]

Thanks to JPVLeaf and davewill, my second trip to San Diego was another success.

Started down the 5 from Orange, did some quick shopping with DW at the Carlsbad outlets, then drove down the coast to Torrey Pines. As mentioned before, you must have an RFID card, but maybe you can get a temp from valet.

We had a long lunch and charged about 90 minutes. That was enough to get us to the Hotel Del with about 10 miles to spare. I was only slightly nervous going over the bridge . 4.5kW average.

On our return trip, I decided to skip Weseloh in SJC and go straight for OC Nissan in Irvine. This leg was much more stressful because I was really pushing her. We averaged 58-62 on the trip up the 5 (no AC) with 4.6kW. I was coasting on the downhills quite a bit. Once we were a couple miles away from SJC and riding the hills of the 5 we got the low battery warning. I dropped it down to 55 and was hyper-cautious. Cresting over the last hill to Lake Forest we breathed a sigh of relief when we still had 4 miles, just losing the last bar as we were getting off the ramp. A quick mile to the dealership and we parked it for about 90 minutes. Total miles from Coronado Island to OC Nissan in Irvine? 83.7. Almost the whole trip done with freeway miles. All in all, almost 200 smog/oil/gasoline free miles (and marriage still intact - sorta).

 

[jcesare]

Have you tried El Camino Real from Del Mar Heights Rd to Enicintas Blvd?
Great drive, little traffic, and it avoids all those large hills on I-5.

I'm not seeing any benefit. Even starting from El Camino/Encinitas and plotting the route to I5/Del Mar Heights, taking El Camino the back route is 15% farther and has the same hills - if anything, I5 is a bit flatter! (Try plotting the elevation using veloroutes.org or mapmyride.com) Only benefit will be the lower speeds, but if you hit a couple lights wrong that will kill the benefit enough to make it easier to just do 60-65 mph on I5.

FYI Over the last month I've done compraisons on the El Camino Real route vs. I-5. I'm saving a full bar using the the El Camino route. I think the reduced speed (40 mph) is the key factor.

 

[wsbca]

We had a long lunch and charged about 90 minutes. That was enough to get us to the Hotel Del with about 10 miles to spare.

At Torrey Pines which charger did you use? We stopped in there a week ago, not desperate for a charge but wanting to check it out - verify Blink card while we went for a walk in the park. Took us a minute to figure out we could go through the automated gate without paying, but then the lower level unit just inside the gate was ICE'd by a big SUV backed in to the space. We found our way to the second level, and saw another unit, but it was (just) behind a row of cones and a sign that said Valet parking only. I assume the second of that pair was also behind that barrier - if it was adjacent then it was ICE'd - the parking space for the one Blink right next to the ramp was open. I was tempted to make a gap and swing behind the cones into the space and hook up, but my wife was not keen to make waves. We had plenty of charge so we left and parked outside. I guess my question is what's the trick to accessing these chargers? Should I have just asked at the valet station downstairs if it was OK to go behind the cones on the second level, and/or complained about the ICEing of the lower unit? Is one expected to patronize the hotel/restaurant or can you just be going to the golf course/park?

Second question - sounds like maybe you got an L1 charge at the Del over the course of your stay? How was that experience?

 

[davewill]

...I guess my question is what's the trick to accessing these chargers? Should I have just asked at the valet station downstairs if it was OK to go behind the cones on the second level, and/or complained about the ICEing of the lower unit? Is one expected to patronize the hotel/restaurant or can you just be going to the golf course/park? ...

I've just been going ahead and parking inside the cones. One may be expected to patronize the hotel, and I did go to the restaurant the last time, but I've also just parked and gone for a hike in the state park. If they care, I presume they'll post signs saying so.

 

[wsbca]

The "BlinkMap" now shows 6 units at Torrey Pines ("4 available, one in use, one offline")...used to be 3 units, in the parking garage (one just inside the entrance, 2 one level up). Anybody been there recently? Are there really 6 EVSEs now?

 

[lonndoggie]

The "BlinkMap" now shows 6 units at Torrey Pines ("4 available, one in use, one offline")...used to be 3 units, in the parking garage (one just inside the entrance, 2 one level up). Anybody been there recently? Are there really 6 EVSEs now?

I noticed that, too, on the Blink map in the Android app, and wondered as well.

They also have the location wrong--the spot on the map shows it on N Torrey Pines south of where it splits off to the right (when going south), where if you go straight you're on Genesee, so down by the glider port.

You wouldn't think it'd be that hard to get the info right about such a small number of installations.