abasile
Well-known member
A couple days before Christmas, my wife and I had an opportunity to spend a night together in the desert, as "local snowbirds". We called a couple of hotels in the area to check whether they allow EV charging, and ended up booking a room at the Quality Inn in Cathedral City, CA. With the route I planned, this was to be 78 miles each way.
Driving down there from our home in the San Bernardino Mountains, we charged to seven full bars, to allow room for regen down the mountain. With a cold battery, which had been at four temperature bars continuously, our regenerative braking was still of course limited. We briefly stopped at the Walmart in Redlands, CA to verify that at least one of their Blink Chargers was working (which it was!), then continued on to Palm Springs with eight full bars of charge.
Rather than immediately hopping on the 10 Freeway eastbound, I decided to try to save energy by taking scenic San Timoteo Canyon Road, about the same distance as the freeway. In Beaumont, we hopped on the freeway and tried to keep our speed under 60 mph. Still, with significant headwinds from the east and a cold battery, our state of charge dropped quickly, even after topping out at 2600' in the San Gorgonio Pass area. We exited on CA-111 and drove as gently as possible, continuing through Palm Springs to Cathedral City. A few miles from our destination, we encountered a "Low Battery" warning.
At the hotel, we requested a ground-floor room and were able to plug our Quick220 into two 120 V outlets, and charged at 240 V (12 amps) through our modified EVSE, by running the cord through the window. We hiked quite a ways up Cathedral Canyon (beautiful rock/cliff formations deep in the canyon) while our car charged back up to four bars. Upon our return, we drove around for food/shopping, and enjoyed some of the local Christmas displays.
Overnight, the car charged up to 11 bars, and then as I later discovered, stopped when the EVSE reported a fault (no circuit breaker was tripped). Perhaps the room wiring was not up to the continuous load we were placing on it. (?) In any case, we headed out early for a few miles of early morning hiking/running on the popular Mirage Trail in Palm Desert, then drove back to the hotel for breakfast and showers, and more electrons for the car.
The hotel staff were very accommodating, and arranged for us to charge from a different, empty room until checkout. We were told that the owner of that hotel is considering installing a charging dock. Although that particular hotel is nothing fancy, we were happy with our stay and were impressed with their eagerness to accommodate EV drivers. I expect we will return.
We left the hotel with just a tad under 100% charge ("10 minutes" at 240 V to 100%), and headed back up CA-111 and then the 10 freeway, exiting on surface streets through Cabazon and Banning to conserve energy, then back on the 10 from Beaumont to Redlands. Driving below the speed limit and getting "stuck" behind trucks and a slower car, we kept our efficiency up. A tailwind helped as well, as did a somewhat higher battery temperature, allowing us to return to the Walmart in Redlands with four not-full bars of charge (dropped to three full bars after a power cycle).
While charging at Walmart for two hours, we did some shopping and had a bite at a nearby restaurant. With barely nine bars of charge, we took surface streets back to the base of our mountain, and returned home to 6100' elevation with one almost-full bar and no "low battery" warning. The trip odometer read 202 miles (with *lots* of elevation changes), and a 4.9 mile/kWh average.
Observations/thoughts:
- Be advised that there are no "official" charging stations between Redlands and Palm Springs, 50+ miles with significant elevation changes and possible high winds. We'll leave Redlands with a bit more charge next time.
- We did have another guest complain about the initial location of our charging cable, which was high in the air across a lightly used, non-essential walkway. The second room from which the hotel staff allowed us to charge was a better location, with the parking much closer to the room. Next time, I will try to be more clear and explicit as to how best to accommodate charging our EV. (Prior to our arrival, somebody mistakenly thought that we had an "RV".)
- One of the two 120 V circuits from which we charged was rated at 15 A. A "rev2" modified EVSE would have pulled 16 A, a no-go. You also have to watch out for appliances (microwave, fridge, hair dryer, iron) on the same circuit. Clearly, having a dedicated charging dock would be best.
- Note that we had a "backup" charging location, Palm Springs Nissan, 1.3 miles away from the hotel. I called ahead to verify that they'd allow me to charge if needed.
- Spending two nights in or near Palm Springs would allow time to explore more of the area using the LEAF, with the possibility of an excursion to Joshua Tree National Park or the San Jacinto Mountains.
- Given the need to charge upon arrival, finding a hotel adjacent to a nice area to walk or hike is a benefit.
Driving down there from our home in the San Bernardino Mountains, we charged to seven full bars, to allow room for regen down the mountain. With a cold battery, which had been at four temperature bars continuously, our regenerative braking was still of course limited. We briefly stopped at the Walmart in Redlands, CA to verify that at least one of their Blink Chargers was working (which it was!), then continued on to Palm Springs with eight full bars of charge.
Rather than immediately hopping on the 10 Freeway eastbound, I decided to try to save energy by taking scenic San Timoteo Canyon Road, about the same distance as the freeway. In Beaumont, we hopped on the freeway and tried to keep our speed under 60 mph. Still, with significant headwinds from the east and a cold battery, our state of charge dropped quickly, even after topping out at 2600' in the San Gorgonio Pass area. We exited on CA-111 and drove as gently as possible, continuing through Palm Springs to Cathedral City. A few miles from our destination, we encountered a "Low Battery" warning.
At the hotel, we requested a ground-floor room and were able to plug our Quick220 into two 120 V outlets, and charged at 240 V (12 amps) through our modified EVSE, by running the cord through the window. We hiked quite a ways up Cathedral Canyon (beautiful rock/cliff formations deep in the canyon) while our car charged back up to four bars. Upon our return, we drove around for food/shopping, and enjoyed some of the local Christmas displays.
Overnight, the car charged up to 11 bars, and then as I later discovered, stopped when the EVSE reported a fault (no circuit breaker was tripped). Perhaps the room wiring was not up to the continuous load we were placing on it. (?) In any case, we headed out early for a few miles of early morning hiking/running on the popular Mirage Trail in Palm Desert, then drove back to the hotel for breakfast and showers, and more electrons for the car.
The hotel staff were very accommodating, and arranged for us to charge from a different, empty room until checkout. We were told that the owner of that hotel is considering installing a charging dock. Although that particular hotel is nothing fancy, we were happy with our stay and were impressed with their eagerness to accommodate EV drivers. I expect we will return.
We left the hotel with just a tad under 100% charge ("10 minutes" at 240 V to 100%), and headed back up CA-111 and then the 10 freeway, exiting on surface streets through Cabazon and Banning to conserve energy, then back on the 10 from Beaumont to Redlands. Driving below the speed limit and getting "stuck" behind trucks and a slower car, we kept our efficiency up. A tailwind helped as well, as did a somewhat higher battery temperature, allowing us to return to the Walmart in Redlands with four not-full bars of charge (dropped to three full bars after a power cycle).
While charging at Walmart for two hours, we did some shopping and had a bite at a nearby restaurant. With barely nine bars of charge, we took surface streets back to the base of our mountain, and returned home to 6100' elevation with one almost-full bar and no "low battery" warning. The trip odometer read 202 miles (with *lots* of elevation changes), and a 4.9 mile/kWh average.
Observations/thoughts:
- Be advised that there are no "official" charging stations between Redlands and Palm Springs, 50+ miles with significant elevation changes and possible high winds. We'll leave Redlands with a bit more charge next time.
- We did have another guest complain about the initial location of our charging cable, which was high in the air across a lightly used, non-essential walkway. The second room from which the hotel staff allowed us to charge was a better location, with the parking much closer to the room. Next time, I will try to be more clear and explicit as to how best to accommodate charging our EV. (Prior to our arrival, somebody mistakenly thought that we had an "RV".)
- One of the two 120 V circuits from which we charged was rated at 15 A. A "rev2" modified EVSE would have pulled 16 A, a no-go. You also have to watch out for appliances (microwave, fridge, hair dryer, iron) on the same circuit. Clearly, having a dedicated charging dock would be best.
- Note that we had a "backup" charging location, Palm Springs Nissan, 1.3 miles away from the hotel. I called ahead to verify that they'd allow me to charge if needed.
- Spending two nights in or near Palm Springs would allow time to explore more of the area using the LEAF, with the possibility of an excursion to Joshua Tree National Park or the San Jacinto Mountains.
- Given the need to charge upon arrival, finding a hotel adjacent to a nice area to walk or hike is a benefit.
Enjoyed reading it!
