Test drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas

[paulgipe]

Hi I'm completely new to this forum and EV driving. I'm hoping to get my bolt in the next month or so. I am totally interested in driving from Apple valley to Vegas. It's slightly closer than Victorville. I've been on a few sites that say the cars range won't make it due to the mountains. I have seen that several have made it no problem. My worry is on the way back. Has anyone made it with a full charge from Vegas to Victorville??? Their is plenty of places to charge at the hotels in Vegas so I'm thinking I can have a full charge at least above 90% for sure. Any tips or advice would be appreciated. (I usually get above average gas mileage in all my cars so I don't expect to do to bad)

Abe, check out News Coulomb's video on youtube.com. He's done this trip from Rancho Cucamonga (sp).

There are several estimators you can use, including Chevy's app--assuming it's working when you load it.

PlugShare is your friend. Use it.

There are a number of trip reports on this forum and on its companion forum about trips of this length.

Paul

 

[SparkE]

Hi I'm completely new to this forum and EV driving. I'm hoping to get my bolt in the next month or so. I am totally interested in driving from Apple valley to Vegas. It's slightly closer than Victorville. I've been on a few sites that say the cars range won't make it due to the mountains. I have seen that several have made it no problem. My worry is on the way back. Has anyone made it with a full charge from Vegas to Victorville??? Their is plenty of places to charge at the hotels in Vegas so I'm thinking I can have a full charge at least above 90% for sure. Any tips or advice would be appreciated. (I usually get above average gas mileage in all my cars so I don't expect to do to bad)

I suggest using plugshare.com (or the smartphone app) to find fast charging along the route (and several emergency backups, even level-2) before setting out on any trip.

For Apple Valley <-> Las Vegas, there's a fast charging station almost exactly halfway (Baker, CA). It's EVgo. You can get their "I don't want a subscription with a monthly charge, I'll pay as I go even though it's slightly more expensive" plan, and a card. Since their newer plans (?since May?) no longer have a connection fee, you just plug in for whatever you need (say, 15 or 25 minutes) to get enough juice so that you feel comfortable you have enough power to get home. In terms of "backups", if you are worried that you will not be able to finish the trip, there is FREE J-1772/6kW charging in Jean, NV and Barstow, CA (sort of near the endpoints of your trips - Jean is about 30 mi from LV, and I'm sure you know where Barstow is). A 30-minute stop (3 kWh) might be all you need to finish the trip. They are on the ChargePoint network. But personally, I'd just stop at the EVgo DCFCs in Baker and get 10-15 minutes of juice (8-12 kWh) just to be sure I could make it.

If you just want to drive it without stopping, drive at 55 instead of 70 mph - you'll be able to drive much further.

Hopefully, "soon" there will be multiple DCFCs all along I-15 and CA-58, making the trip worry-free ...

 

[BoltyMcBoltFace]

Hi I'm completely new to this forum and EV driving. I'm hoping to get my bolt in the next month or so. I am totally interested in driving from Apple valley to Vegas. It's slightly closer than Victorville. I've been on a few sites that say the cars range won't make it due to the mountains. I have seen that several have made it no problem. My worry is on the way back. Has anyone made it with a full charge from Vegas to Victorville??? Their is plenty of places to charge at the hotels in Vegas so I'm thinking I can have a full charge at least above 90% for sure. Any tips or advice would be appreciated. (I usually get above average gas mileage in all my cars so I don't expect to do to bad)

It should be no problem. I just got back from my third trip to Las Vegas in the Bolt, and made it all the way from center-strip (Aria) to San Bernardino with no stops. I was at about 35% battery at Apple Valley, so you could drive a lot less conservatively than I did and still make it just fine.

My driving procedure for trips like this is semi-hypermiling. When there is a large truck (or even large SUV) available traveling at a reasonable speed (65-75), I will follow at a respectful distance. By that I mean far enough back that cars sometimes move into the space in between, but close enough to still get some drafting effect. Knowing that some drivers won't like me hanging out back there, I spend 10-15 minutes and then move on and set the cruise at 70-72 until I find another vehicle to follow. It's usually about half the time on my own and half following.

The only time I could see any problem getting to Apple Valley would be if you had a strong headwind. But if you have any doubts that you can make it, you can slow down and/or follow somebody or stop in Baker or Barstow for a while to get a bit more juice.

 

[SeanNelson]

Knowing that some drivers won't like me hanging out back there...

Really? That's news to me - if you maintain a safe distance then what's the objection?

I'm not trying to dispute you, but I hang out behind trucks from time to time and if I'm unwittingly pissing them off then I'd like to understand why...

 

[BoltyMcBoltFace]

Knowing that some drivers won't like me hanging out back there...

Really? That's news to me - if you maintain a safe distance then what's the objection?

I'm not trying to dispute you, but I hang out behind trucks from time to time and if I'm unwittingly pissing them off then I'd like to understand why...

Some people just don't like being followed. Most either won't care or will just wonder why that same car is still back there, but I've had a few that slowed down, sped up, or changed lanes for no reason, so my assumption is that they didn't want me behind them.

 

[SeanNelson]

Knowing that some drivers won't like me hanging out back there...

Really? That's news to me - if you maintain a safe distance then what's the objection?

I'm not trying to dispute you, but I hang out behind trucks from time to time and if I'm unwittingly pissing them off then I'd like to understand why...

Some people just don't like being followed. Most either won't care or will just wonder why that same car is still back there, but I've had a few that slowed down, sped up, or changed lanes for no reason, so my assumption is that they didn't want me behind them.

Hmm. I can understand that if you're following someone as he takes off ramps, turns at intersections, etc. so that it looks like you're actually tailing the guy. But on a freeway? The default there is to just keep going in the same direction as everyone else anyway...

 

[BoltEV]

Abe: I second BoltyMcBoltface’s advice.

Drive inthe right lane. Trucks have a speed limit onthe I-15 in California of 55 but consistently drive at 60 MPH.

Drive at a safe distance behind a Semi . Use Cruise Control and drive in “L” to get automatic regeneration when it is activated.

If the Semi turns off the Interstate, avoid the temptation to drive faster than 60 and continue to drive with Cruise Control in the right lane until you approach a new Semi.

Autos wanting to drive faster than 60 will gladly pass you in the left lane and that’s where the faster traffic belongs.

Coming into Victorville is uphill but this approach works to the DCFC’s at the Mall of Victor Valley shopping Center, so Apple Valley should be closer.

The DCFC’s of EVgo at Baker are unavailable until further notice, but you do not need to stop in Baker.

Be sure you are “topped” off as you leave Las Vegas.

I had my air conditioning onthe whole time.

Report back to us.

 

[BoltyMcBoltFace]

Abe: I second BoltyMcBoltface’s advice.

Drive inthe right lane. Trucks have a speed limit onthe I-15 in California of 55 but consistently drive at 60 MPH.

Drive at a safe distance behind a Semi . Use Cruise Control and drive in “L” to get automatic regeneration when it is activated.

If the Semi turns off the Interstate, avoid the temptation to drive faster than 60 and continue to drive with Cruise Control in the right lane until you approach a new Semi.

Autos wanting to drive faster than 60 will gladly pass you in the left lane and that’s where the faster traffic belongs.

Coming into Victorville is uphill but this approach works to the DCFC’s at the Mall of Victor Valley shopping Center, so Apple Valley should be closer.

The DCFC’s of EVgo at Baker are unavailable until further notice, but you do not need to stop in Baker.

Be sure you are “topped” off as you leave Las Vegas.

I had my air conditioning onthe whole time.

Report back to us.

This is great hypermiling behavior and might get you 300 miles from a full battery. You don't need to be this extreme to get between Apple Valley and Las Vegas on a full charge. I set the cruise at 72 when I wasn't following a truck and I made it from Vegas to San Bernardino.

As for the Baker station, here's a post from the "Manager" on plugshare on 10/14: "Station renovations from 10/15 to 10/26 will cause intermittent downtime - 1 charger should be operational during this period but we will be sure to give notice if the location becomes unavailable. Thank you for understanding while we upgrade this popular station for our drivers." Hopefully this upgrade means they'll be turning on the high-power stations in addition to the 50kW stations that have been working.

 

[SparkE]

And EVgo just (in the past few weeks) added another CCS/Combo (dual CCS/CHAdeMO) charger in Victorville, making that drive a lot less stressful anyhow (although one of them seems to be limited to 100A).

 

[JoeS]

BoltEV, very good advice, especially following large vehicles as aerodynamic drag is, by far, the largest contributor to highway-speed range reduction. I do have a minor quibble, unless one is following a large vehicle that is also using cruise control -

...Use Cruise Control and drive in “L” to get automatic regeneration when it is activated...

Of course, we always prefer to use regen instead of brakes when needing to slow down, but from a highway hypermiling perspective we want to avoid regen, because the minor loss in velocity due to regen must now be made up when getting back up to speed, which consumes more than if the vehicle had merely coasted. I find cruise control to be less efficient than a constant-power setting (i.e., think of a steady foot as an old-fashioned manual throttle) recognizing the vehicle slows down a bit going up an overpass, although I do ease up a hair going back down that overpass. It's the repetitive cruise control blips into regen or power that I prefer to avoid.

 

[keijidosha]

And EVgo just (in the past few weeks) added another CCS/Combo (dual CCS/CHAdeMO) charger in Victorville, making that drive a lot less stressful anyhow (although one of them seems to be limited to 100A).

Good to know as this is a very busy site https://www.plugshare.com/location/53655

and Baker site is off-line at the moment. https://www.plugshare.com/location/157532