ICEless in Seattle : Official Pacific NorthWest thread

[Luft]

Burlington DC3 is coming along... But no power yet.
http://www.pbase.com/doug401/image/142309701" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I finally got to get my hands on a actual high speed connector.

I applied for the AV fob, and received an email reply saying as soon as the are online they will continue with the process.

Same thing here. It seems strange to me that they don't just complete the process. I mean why wait?

 

[ebill3]

I'm kind of day dreaming possible extended trips and ways of charging along the way. I would like to get more experienced peoples opinion on if a particular trip is possible / advisable.

I'm thinking of going from Tenino to the Rimrock Lake resort. The trip is 125 miles one way. And I assume that part of it will be climbing part way up a mountain.

I figure that I would stop in Morton and grab a charge using my modified Nissan trickle charger and a home made quick 240. (I think that the Morton Moose lodge may let me plug in.) From Morton it's 64 miles to the resort. Normally that would be a piece of cake but there is that mountain thing.

What do you guys think? Is this being overly ambitious?

Well, first off, I've never traveled that route in an EV, but several times in an ICE, and I'm rather conservative - a wimp?

There are some decent grades getting to Morton, so I suspect you will arrive there pretty close to empty. Rather than just grabbing a charge at the Moose Lodge, you are going to make a lot of new friends sipping cool ones, because you are going to want all the charge you can cram into the LEAF.

I think I would plan for at least a couple of L1 hours in Packwood at a gas station or restaurant before tackling the hills. I doubt that you would find anyone in Packwood to allow you to fool around with a quick 240.

Have fun!

Bill

 

[doug401]

Chargers coming to Haggen's and Top Foods...

Yesterday my "significant other", while working at Haggens Marysville, was approached by two men who asked to speak to a manager, and said they were from Ecotality. To their amazement, my wife said "Are we getting a charger?" and explained we were Leaf owners. She also was one who placed a call to Haggens corporate in October requesting charging stations so to "better compete with Fred Meyers" charging stations.

So... Hopefully Haggens in the north sound, and maybe Top Foods in central sound will soon be EV friendly.

Sub-plot...
She may not realize it, but she may have sealed the deal. I see a 2013 in my future , and a 2011 hand-me-down in the Marysville Haggens parking lot.

 

[Tagbert]

I recently sent an email inquiry to WSDOT about the status of "the electric highway". Yesterday, I got this response. This may already be known information but it was more specific than I have seen and I felt that it was encouraging.

Thanks for your interest in the Electric Highway and congratulations on your Leaf.

Eight charging stations opened along the southern Oregon segment of the West Coast Electric Highway on March 16.

The Washington Electric Highway charging stations are currently under construction and will likely be open for the public in June in Bellingham, Burlington, Tumwater, Centralia, Kelso and Ridgefield along I-5. Charging stations will open around the same time along US 2 out to Leavenworth. The two locations along I-90 are on hold until the snow melts and will likely open in July. Exact locations have not been announced.

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

a little hard to get excited about this... every time the previous date gets close, they push it out again. It was supposed to be last fall, then Feb 15th, then "this spring", then sometime in May and now "likely" in June. Why it is that the WA DOT references Oregon's success in installing their stations, as if they had something to do with it and knowing about it should make us feel better, is beyond me.

I recently sent an email inquiry to WSDOT about the status of "the electric highway". Yesterday, I got this response. This may already be known information but it was more specific than I have seen and I felt that it was encouraging.

Thanks for your interest in the Electric Highway and congratulations on your Leaf.

Eight charging stations opened along the southern Oregon segment of the West Coast Electric Highway on March 16.

The Washington Electric Highway charging stations are currently under construction and will likely be open for the public in June in Bellingham, Burlington, Tumwater, Centralia, Kelso and Ridgefield along I-5. Charging stations will open around the same time along US 2 out to Leavenworth. The two locations along I-90 are on hold until the snow melts and will likely open in July. Exact locations have not been announced.

 

[doug401]

Thanks for sharing the letter.
It's disappointing, but at least they are consistent, consistently disappointing. I stopped by the Burlington site again yesterday... wishful thinking hoping it might be energized, not. That's some very expensive hardware sitting idle. The concept of opening all stations at once, rather than one at a time, seem designed for public consumption and press releases, not for the actual users.

 

[saywatt]

I pretty much lost interest in the entire project to the north of Seattle. The Burlington QC is too far north for anyone on the east end of the eastside or the Kent valley. Living 7 miles south of Issaquah, I'll be able to get to Burlinton on a 100% charge ( in Summer) but can't get back home without a QC followed by a 1.5 hr top-off to 100%. A QC will have to be in Marysville or Stanwood before I make the trip. As kevin Klein said in "A Fish Called Wanda" ......DISAPPOINTED!!

Edit - the distance from the Burlington QC to the Bellingham QC is 23 miles?? What were they thinking?

a little hard to get excited about this... every time the previous date gets close, they push it out again. It was supposed to be last fall, then Feb 15th, then "this spring", then sometime in May and now "likely" in June. Why it is that the WA DOT references Oregon's success in installing their stations, as if they had something to do with it and knowing about it should make us feel better, is beyond me.

I recently sent an email inquiry to WSDOT about the status of "the electric highway". Yesterday, I got this response. This may already be known information but it was more specific than I have seen and I felt that it was encouraging.

Thanks for your interest in the Electric Highway and congratulations on your Leaf.

Eight charging stations opened along the southern Oregon segment of the West Coast Electric Highway on March 16.

The Washington Electric Highway charging stations are currently under construction and will likely be open for the public in June in Bellingham, Burlington, Tumwater, Centralia, Kelso and Ridgefield along I-5. Charging stations will open around the same time along US 2 out to Leavenworth. The two locations along I-90 are on hold until the snow melts and will likely open in July. Exact locations have not been announced.

 

[Reddy]

I pretty much lost interest in the entire project to the north of Seattle. The Burlington QC is too far north for anyone on the east end of the eastside or the Kent valley. Living 7 miles south of Issaquah, I'll be able to get to Burlinton on a 100% charge ( in Summer) but can't get back home without a QC followed by a 1.5 hr top-off to 100%. A QC will have to be in Marysville or Stanwood before I make the trip. As kevin Klein said in "A Fish Called Wanda" ......DISAPPOINTED!!

Edit - the distance from the Burlington QC to the Bellingham QC is 23 miles?? What were they thinking?

I'm guessing the owner wants people to stop there and shop. It's 80 miles from Vancouver BC. Perhaps they are trying to draw the Canadian shoppers south from Bellingham. Who knows, maybe the same owner also owns Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood (~50 miles). Also, Burlington might be a good place to pick up charge if heading to the San Juan islands. Just guesses. Sometimes it's hard to see patterns or reason with only a few data points. Then again, maybe there's no logic either. However, I'm pretty certain that I won't be driving my 2011 Leaf 285 miles for a charge in Burlington. :shock:

Reddy

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

....Edit - the distance from the Burlington QC to the Bellingham QC is 23 miles?? What were they thinking?

When they made the plans a while back, ecotality was going to pepper the metro area with some 50 QC's, that's what they were thinking.

My personal opinion is that ecotality put all their eggs in the residential basket, mass produced lots of home units with the hope that EV's would catch on a lot faster than they have. They've had to buy the farm on a bunch of faulty units, are probably sitting on a huge backstock of home units and have not made the pile of cash they were hoping to be able to turn around and fund the QC's with. all speculation of course, but my disappointment with the electric highway roll out is nothing compared to the anger that is building up for ecotality... it's looking like we are never going to see those quick chargers and all that public funding is just quietly getting eaten up by paper pushers.

 

[derekjsmith]

....Edit - the distance from the Burlington QC to the Bellingham QC is 23 miles?? What were they thinking?

When they made the plans a while back, ecotality was going to pepper the metro area with some 50 QC's, that's what they were thinking.

My personal opinion is that ecotality put all their eggs in the residential basket, mass produced lots of home units with the hope that EV's would catch on a lot faster than they have. They've had to buy the farm on a bunch of faulty units, are probably sitting on a huge backstock of home units and have not made the pile of cash they were hoping to be able to turn around and fund the QC's with. all speculation of course, but my disappointment with the electric highway roll out is nothing compared to the anger that is building up for ecotality... it's looking like we are never going to see those quick chargers and all that public funding is just quietly getting eaten up by paper pushers.

Not good news for ecotality:

Subpoena’d by the SEC.
http://blog.heritage.org/2012/04/02/ecotality-examined-sec-subpoena-for-stimulus-backed-company-revealed/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://blog.heritage.org/2012/04/03/ecotality-examined-for-electric-vehicle-company-politics-is-business/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Luft]

....Edit - the distance from the Burlington QC to the Bellingham QC is 23 miles?? What were they thinking?

When they made the plans a while back, ecotality was going to pepper the metro area with some 50 QC's, that's what they were thinking.

My personal opinion is that ecotality put all their eggs in the residential basket, mass produced lots of home units with the hope that EV's would catch on a lot faster than they have. They've had to buy the farm on a bunch of faulty units, are probably sitting on a huge backstock of home units and have not made the pile of cash they were hoping to be able to turn around and fund the QC's with. all speculation of course, but my disappointment with the electric highway roll out is nothing compared to the anger that is building up for ecotality... it's looking like we are never going to see those quick chargers and all that public funding is just quietly getting eaten up by paper pushers.

It seems like Oregon is doing a much better job.

I do think we need QC stations every 25 miles or so along I-5 like what Oregon did on its southern border. With an 80% charge we may not get much more than 50 miles at freeway speeds and that's without heat.

 

[UhClem]

Progress! A new sign on the QC in Bellingham :roll:

 

[klapauzius]

Progress! A new sign on the QC in Bellingham :roll:

Brilliant! I still cant get to Bellingham, but never mind. In just another year they will hopefully open another one, maybe in
Forks or some other useful and convenient location.

 

[saywatt]

Sure we can. The "other" QC will be in Burlington, 23 miles before Bellngham. We can use pure "Range Anxiety" to get to Burlington, then from there we got it made all rest of the way. . . .even in "D" mode!! :lol:

Brilliant! I still cant get to Bellingham, but never mind. In just another year they will hopefully open another one, maybe in
Forks or some other useful and convenient location.

 

[klapauzius]

Sure we can. The "other" QC will be in Burlington, 23 miles before Bellngham. We can use pure "Range Anxiety" to get to Burlington, then from there we got it made all rest of the way. . . .even in "D" mode!! :lol:

Brilliant! I still cant get to Bellingham, but never mind. In just another year they will hopefully open another one, maybe in
Forks or some other useful and convenient location.

Yes, i know. But when is the one in Burlington
coming online? Next year?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Sure we can. The "other" QC will be in Burlington, 23 miles before Bellngham. We can use pure "Range Anxiety" to get to Burlington, then from there we got it made all rest of the way. . . .even in "D" mode!! :lol:

Brilliant! I still cant get to Bellingham, but never mind. In just another year they will hopefully open another one, maybe in
Forks or some other useful and convenient location.

Yes, i know. But when is the one in Burlington
coming online? Next year?

all the chargepoint stations will be turned on the same day. predictions from Tonia;

earliest; mid may.
latest; end of June (hopefully)

 

[saywatt]

Burlingron, like Bellingham, is sitting there waiting to be turned on. Also, both are Aero-Vironment (sp?)EVSEs.

all the chargepoint stations will be turned on the same day. predictions from Tonia;

earliest; mid may.
latest; end of June (hopefully)

 

[klapauzius]

63.4 Miles from Seattle to Burlington. Do you think this is doable at 80% charge & 60 MPH?
Tony's range chart says 66 Miles at 70F,no elevation. Could be a fun trip....

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

63.4 Miles from Seattle to Burlington. Do you think this is doable at 80% charge & 60 MPH?
Tony's range chart says 66 Miles at 70F,no elevation. Could be a fun trip....

no way

 

[Levenkay]

63.4 Miles from Seattle to Burlington. Do you think this is doable at 80% charge & 60 MPH?
Tony's range chart says 66 Miles at 70F,no elevation. Could be a fun trip....

no way

It probably speaks well of all of us that nobody is suggesting drafting semi trucks...