San Gabriel Valley to Las Vegas by Bolt EV

[Alex67Pasadena]

On the spur of the moment, me and the wife headed to Vegas from SGV on our 2017 Bolt during the second weekend of June 2019. It was definitely doable as long as a driver does not mind:

* cruising on the slow lane 95% of the time (I'm usually the one who zooms pass other vehicles doing 80-90 mph with a non-ev car. )
* waiting around for the EV to be charged (no much to do besides eating, mall shopping, napping, etc...)
* having no AC under the Vegas heat
* turning radio off while on the road
* driving without headline (in daytime of course)

Below was our itinerary:
Heading to Vegas
* From Pasadena, started with full charge, 237-mile MAX,
* Reached Baker with 20-mile MIN remaining, charged to up to 80% at EVgo station located near the large thermometer in the world
* From Baker, with 80% charge, 160-mile MAX
* Reached Las Vegas with 50-mile MIN remaining
* Charged at EVgo station located at various Terrible Herbst location (EVgo) around Las Vegas

Leaving Vegas
* From Vegas, started with full charge, 237-mile MAX,
* Reached Mall of Victory Valley at Victorville with 20-mile MIN remaining, charged to up to 80% at EVgo station located behind JC Penny store
* From Victorville, with 80% charge, 160-mile MAX
* Reached SGV with 80-mile MIN remaining

Total Cost of charging: under $50.00 for the entire trip.

Note that from Vegas to Victorville it is a long stretch of climbing elevation (as high as 4K). It's important to turn off radio, headlight and AC to save battery life as long as possible.

As I said before, the trip is possible using Bolt to get to Vegas from SGV as long as you have a plan.

Thanks for reading and please comment.

 

[Bolt2019]

Thanks for sharing. A little sparse for fast chargers on that stretch . I'm quite surprised at the range aspect though. Seems to me you ought to have made it to Baker no problem and then the other way to Victorville no problem. And in both cases not needing to be sparing. Surprising.
But yeah...I've certainly learned that elevation gain is killer. Sure is nice to make some of it back going down though.

 

[BoltyMcBoltFace]

I've done the same drive three times so far. In the ICE car I'd usually drive 75-80, while in the Bolt I'll go slower. I set the cruise to 72 and look for trucks, vans and SUVs that are going a similar speed and let them break the wind for me. Following a Suburban at 75 at a reasonable distance is more efficient than driving on my own at 72. I'll use air conditioning, but keep it at 78 or so. Turning off the radio, in my opinion, doesn't save enough power to matter. If range looks tight, I cut the speed.

Beyond that, my general practice has been that I'll drive to Baker and arrive with an estimated 40-60 miles remaining. I charge for about 20 minutes and get just enough to get into Vegas and park. A fair number of casinos have free L2 charging, so I take advantage of that and make sure I'm full before leaving Vegas. Usually I drive straight to Victorville and charge for 20 minutes, just enough to get home, but last time I stopped at Baker for 10 minutes, then Victorville for 15. I'm usually under $15 in charging costs for the round trip.

New charging stations under construction in Yermo and Barstow will give more options.

 

[theothertom]

* cruising on the slow lane 95% of the time (I'm usually the one who zooms pass other vehicles doing 80-90 mph with a non-ev car. )

So how fast did you drive in the slow lane? Any comments on what your mi/kWh were ?

 

[BoltEV]

As posted on this forum pne year ago, I made a similar trip to Las Vegas from the San Fernando Valley (just west of Burbank) and recharged in Victorville both times.

My differences:

I used air conditioning and my radio.

To Vegas: I drove inthe right lane mostly behind trucks at cruise control of 60 MPH and arrived in Summerlin (northwest Vegas) with 50 miles remaing onthe GOM.

From Vegas: i drove the flow of traffic in either lane but not greater than 65, and arrived in Victorville with 3% battery capacity remaining.

Watching the KWh used and the mileage remaining to the Victorville Mall EVGo on my Nav, I was never in doubt that I would make it to the recharge station. If I had doubts, I would have moved over behind a truck at flow of traffic.