Has anyone LEAF'ed over the Grapevine?

[Randy3]

Trip Report
Friday, 10/14/11, arrived Ramada Inn at Lebec (Grapevine exit, 30 miles), . . . Rented a ground-floor room and ran my 120v cable out the door to the car in the lot right next to the room. Charged to 100% this way, taking several hours. Kind of funky set up, but it worked.

Did the motel have an A/C with 240V outlet? I am hoping to find such to hook up my upgraded EVSE. Quick220 might work, but the room's outlets might all be on the same phase.

I did check the hotel's A/C unit and it had an unfamiliar outlet/plug. It's a newer hotel (less than 10 years), so it's likely 240V, but I didn't have a matching plug in my arsenal. If anyone knows offhand what the NEMA number of those types of pugs is, please post it.

Running the cord through the window would have required removing the screen and it was pretty well installed, so I didn't want to mess with it. I hooked a chair under the room's door handle to give me some sense of security. And the hotel was quiet with few guests last weekend. Again, a funky setup.

 

[smkettner]

Probably 6-15 or 6-20

The world of 240v is actually quite simple. Most people are just not familiar with it.

Actually the 6-20 will have a T on the vertical hot so either 15 or 20 can be plugged in.

 

[Caracalover]

Trip Report (traveled with my sister):

While there, walked to the Crest Bar and Grill at the Crest RV Park (more on the RV park later). Had a great meal,
Total 498 miles.

DO tell, I am interested

 

[planet4ever]

Since you only needed a few hours of L1 charge, it sounds like you didn't have to risk leaving the door unlocked while you slept. I would not want to risk that either. Running a cable through a window would be better, but often there are screens difficult to remove.

I can't imagine running a cable through either a window or door, since in most cases it would then be crossing a sidewalk or external second story aisle. That sounds like a major tripping hazard to me. This is probably just a fantasy world, but I keep imagining a motel with a laundry room at the back, perhaps even in a separate building. The dryers are definitely going to be 240v, and the laundry facility might well have its own subpanel. Even if the dryers are hardwired you may be able to add a breaker in the subpanel. Or call ahead of time and offer to pay $50 toward the cost of getting a 240v outlet installed next to the subpanel. Think of what a boon that would be for EVers who follow you! The real point is that you will be well away from the customer pedestrian traffic.

Ray

 

[davewill]

I can't imagine running a cable through either a window or door, since in most cases it would then be crossing a sidewalk or external second story aisle. That sounds like a major tripping hazard to me. This is probably just a fantasy world, but I keep imagining a motel with a laundry room at the back, ...

The one time I did this was at a high rise hotel. The staff were happy to cone off a space near a plug. The cord did go across a sidewalk (near the employee entrance). I simply put the cones from the space on the cord and got a full charge that night.

 

[thejabrother]

Hi, I'm thinking of doing this. I'm flying out east at the end of the month from LAX and was thinking of LEAF'ing from Visalia to LAX. Would stop at Bakersfield Nissan for a full charge and then was thinking of trying to make it over the grapevine to Valencia Nissan? Is this even possible? Google says it's 74.8 miles from Bako Nissan to Valencia Nissan... http://g.co/maps/js9f2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Then from Valencia it should be a relatively easy cruise to LAX and the free parking for 10 days. Is this crazy???

Thanks everybody!

James

 

[thejabrother]

BTW, I do have EVSE upgrade along with a dryer outlet adapter (10-30R)

Hi, I'm thinking of doing this. I'm flying out east at the end of the month from LAX and was thinking of LEAF'ing from Visalia to LAX. Would stop at Bakersfield Nissan for a full charge and then was thinking of trying to make it over the grapevine to Valencia Nissan? Is this even possible? Google says it's 74.8 miles from Bako Nissan to Valencia Nissan... http://g.co/maps/js9f2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Then from Valencia it should be a relatively easy cruise to LAX and the free parking for 10 days. Is this crazy???

Thanks everybody!

James

 

[TonyWilliams]

Hi, I'm thinking of doing this. I'm flying out east at the end of the month from LAX and was thinking of LEAF'ing from Visalia to LAX. Would stop at Bakersfield Nissan for a full charge and then was thinking of trying to make it over the grapevine to Valencia Nissan? Is this even possible? Google says it's 74.8 miles from Bako Nissan to Valencia Nissan... http://g.co/maps/js9f2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Then from Valencia it should be a relatively easy cruise to LAX and the free parking for 10 days. Is this crazy???

Thanks everybody!

James

Maybe start reading this thread starting here.

 

[thejabrother]

Hi, I'm thinking of doing this. I'm flying out east at the end of the month from LAX and was thinking of LEAF'ing from Visalia to LAX. Would stop at Bakersfield Nissan for a full charge and then was thinking of trying to make it over the grapevine to Valencia Nissan? Is this even possible? Google says it's 74.8 miles from Bako Nissan to Valencia Nissan... http://g.co/maps/js9f2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Then from Valencia it should be a relatively easy cruise to LAX and the free parking for 10 days. Is this crazy???

Thanks everybody!

James

Maybe start reading this thread starting here.

Of course I've already read this thread. But he didn't drive straight from Bako to Valencia, he stopped at the Grapevine overnight. I'm basically wondering if anyone's done the Grapevine in one charge...

 

[hill]

How many bars did you pick up on the long down slope? What speed going down? Eco or D?
What an amazing trip, you are a brave pair.

I only saw one additional bar coming downhill on the Grapevine, but I believe that additional bar held more than the 7 miles one bar normally represents. I kept the speed at 53-55 going down and kept it in ECO.

Were you running the heater? I've come down from the Lytle creek / Mt Baldy area (4,000 feet) and even from that elevation, picked up 3 bars on the guess o meter. But I wasn't using any accessories.