~2000 Mile EV trip from So. Cal to Canada

Last night I embarked on the start of my very long road trip in my Spark. My starting location was Victorville, CA and my final destination is Edmonton, AB, Canada. This is my intended route: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Victorville,+CA/Edmonton,+AB,+Canada/@49.2989309,-115.3976147,7z/data=!4m29!4m28!1m20!1m1!1s0x80c3645a63ddd279:0xd95115925f43476!2m2!1d-117.2911565!2d34.5361067!3m4!1m2!1d-122.781011!2d42.295753!3s0x54cf705600c4fe11:0x52b0c0a04251c752!3m4!1m2!1d-122.6951437!2d45.529146!3s0x549509fa78e95cdf:0x6dd4ea3822dd323e!3m4!1m2!1d-113.5549809!2d49.9682599!3s0x536e38e2db328ca1:0x7aa281cd031db13f!1m5!1m1!1s0x53a0224580deff23:0x411fa00c4af6155d!2m2!1d-113.4909267!2d53.544389!3e0


I'll post updates as I go along, but so far my stops have been:

Day 1 (short day, left Victorville about 4PM)
Mojave, CA (residential charger)
Bakersfield, CA (Hampton Inn)
140 miles total

Day 2
Visalia, CA (BMW dealer)
EZ-truck stop outside of Fresno (shorepower connect, using a NEMA 14-30 outlet + LCS 25).
Atwater, CA (Applegate plaza EVgo, DC fast charger)
Elk Grove, CA (BMW Elk Grove)
Sacramento, CA (SMUD HQ DC fast charger)
Willows, CA (Motel 6)
360 miles total

Day 3
Near Redding, CA (Mountain View RV park)
Shasta City, CA (Shasta City KOA)
Ashland, CA (West Coast Electric Highway Texaco)
210 miles total

Day 4
Wolf Creek, OR (Wolf Creek Inn)
Roseburg, OR (Walgreens)
Cottage Grove, OR (Vintage Inn)
164 miles total

Day 5
Salem, OR (Salem Motor Pool Quick Charge)
Portland, OR (University of Portland Electric Ave. Quick Charge)
The Dalles, OR (West Coast Electric Highway @ Fred Meyers)
Arlington, OR (Quick charge at Bank of Eastern Oregon)
Richland, WA (BMW Tricities)
351 Miles Total

Day 6
Connell, WA (Coyote Run RV Park)
10 miles North of Ritzville, WA (Timplin's Country Corner, RV Park)
I then made a couple of short stops, because the conditions were terrible this night, howling winds, heavy rain and cool temps: Spokane, WA (Shorepower charging station in Steamplant Alley). Idaho border crossing rest stop (120volt outlet).
Coeur d'Alene, ID (Springhill Suites)
176 Miles Total

Day 7
Naples, ID (Blue Lake RV Resort)
Yahk, BC (Grouse Valley Gas Station, a couple of hours stop at a 120volt outlet).
Cranbrook, BC (Curling / Rec center, J1772)
158 Miles Total

Day 8
Fernie, BC (Sun Country charger at City Hall)
Pincher Creek, AB (120volt outlet at a Super 8)
132 Miles

Day 9
Pincher Creek, AB
Calgary, AB
137 miles

Day 10
Calgary, AB
Red Deer, AB (Sun Country charger @ red deer lodge)
Leduc, AB (quick stop at a Sun Country station at a Peavy Mart)
Edmonton, AB
189 miles



I've already learned that (as I suspected), NEMA tt-30 is different from NEMA 10-30 (I have an adapter for the latter), but fortunately I was bailed out by a friendly Plugshare user and his residential charger.

My range has been slightly impacted by installing winter tires (Michelin Ice X-i3, low rolling resistance), plus the added weight of all my cargo. However, driving 55mph through the central valley, my efficiency isn't bad at all, and I'm sure I can get 95 miles on a single charge as long as it isn't too stormy. If your along the route and want to hang out a bit, let me know, I may soon be visiting a town near you!

GOOD LUCK !!!

Wish I was along your route I would have met at a place with an EV charger and had coffee while you waited

Wow, that's a very ambitious (and impressive) trip! That it's even possible says a lot about how far EVs and infrastructure has come in the last few years. Are you planning a return trip or just going one way?

I'm looking forward to reading your updates along the way, particularly how the Spark handles the cold/snowy mountain passes. Maybe you could post a summary when you get to your destination with any observations and tips you have for other EV drivers.

Good luck. Hope you have a safe and uneventful adventure!

caddyzig said:

Are you planning a return trip or just going one way?

Click to expand...

I don't plan on a return trip, but who knows. By the time I'm finished with my program in Canada, I'll see how well developed the fast charging infrastructure is, I wouldn't want to do the return journey using the same limited charging network.

Best of luck to you, you're more adventurous than I. Please keep posting your progress.

I'm curious as to how you do going over the Siskiyou summit. Plugshare doesn't show anything between Yreka and Ashland and it's a serious climb (of course once you make it to the top there's scads of regen available coming back down).

xylhim, good luck on the trip! Please keep us posted on your progress. It will also be very interesting reading how the Spark EV does in the Edmonton cold. I am curious as to what project you are embarking upon up there.

As for emv's concern about Siskiyou Pass, I looked up the elevations and kwh data for that area:

Yreka: 2800'
Klamath R: 2200'
Siskiyou: 4200'
Ashland: 2200'

From this page (Predicting Energy Use), the net kwh to climb and descend will only require an extra 1 kwh over the usual .25 kwh per mile. Google Maps says that stretch is 38 miles, so 10 kwh will get you there.


As for the trouble with plugs and adapters, I found this on the Wikipedia page for NEMA connector. From the image, it appears NEMA 10-30 is supposed to be 120 volt, while the NEMA 10-30 is 240 volt. If I were taking this trip, I think I would take along a supply of plugs and wire so I could make an adapter on-site. I hope you don't have any more of those issues.

I'm probably going to miss you due to my own travels, but I'll PM my contact info just in case. You'll find SAE combo chargers along your route in Salem, Portland, and Arlington, Oregon. The one in downtown Portland is free, while the others around town are not. The drive along the river gorge can be windy, so be conservative if you have a strong headwind.

Sounds like an adventure, good luck!

Bryce

emv said:

Best of luck to you, you're more adventurous than I. Please keep posting your progress.

I'm curious as to how you do going over the Siskiyou summit. Plugshare doesn't show anything between Yreka and Ashland and it's a serious climb (of course once you make it to the top there's scads of regen available coming back down).

Click to expand...

HA!

I just got to reading this, but I seriously underestimated this pass and I needed a tow to Ashland. I was charging at a KOA in Shasta City, and after accumulating 7 bars I decided to go for it. I made the big mistake of not reviewing the topography prior to leaving Shasta City and paid for it. I thought I had cleared the high point already, but come to find out Siskiyou summit was at the very end of the trip. I ran out of juice about two miles from the summit, I probably would have made it if I would have charged another 30 mins or so, instead I had to wait 90 mins for a tow truck Conditions weren't on my side either, rain and gusty winds made it so on slight downhills I was still having to use ~10kW of energy.

Only two miles from the top? Bummer! Fortunately that's the worst climb you'll see in Oregon and, if I'm not mistaken, in Washington too.

I believe On-Star's roadside assistnace will tow you to home or the nearest public charger. Did you try that or did you have to pay for a tow?

Drive on, Oh Pioneer!

It seems like you're "learning by fire' on your trip. Good luck!

When do you cut inland and cross the Rocky Mountains for Canada? If you decide to go through Pasco/Kennewick/Tri-Cities, Washington (east of Portland), I will give you a Quick Charge Power "JLong" for your trip.

It looks like you should take the route from Portland:


I-84 E toward The Dalles 176.5 mi
I-82 W/Hermiston/Umatilla onto McNary Hwy (I-82 W) 30.7 mi/
US-395 N/I-182/Kennewick/Pasco onto US-395 N 7.4 mi/
US-12/US-395/Spokane/Walla Walla exit onto I-182 E 1.8 mi/
US-395 N/WA-397 S/Spokane/Finley onto US-395 N toward Spokane 73.6 mi/
I-90 E 90.7 mi/
US-95 N/Sandpoint/Moscow/Canada toward US-95 N/Sandpoint/Canada 0.2 mi/
US-95 106.6 mi/
HWY-95 N 55.0 mi/
HWY-3 110.6 mi/
HWY-22 79.2 mi/
HWY-7 15.7 mi/
HWY-7 0.6 mi/
HWY-2 N toward Calgary 206.7 mi

So I just typed a pretty big summary of my thoughts regarding my trip, but the message board screwed me by having me login, and it lost everything, DOH! I'll post some more later.

So a few thoughts I had during my trip about cross country electric vehicle travel:

-RV parks are your friend and bridge the gap between permanently installed level 2 charging stations. It's important however to call ahead (even if the park is listed on Plugshare) to make sure it is ok to charge. One Plugshare listed RV park I went to had the owner very uncomfortable when I told her what I was doing there. The problem is, many owners don't know how much to charge. I tried to explain the electricity I would be using to any RV park owners who asked. I paid anywhere from $6-$10 per charge at the places I visited. I was thinking it would be good to make a flyer of different electric vehicles and how much energy they use to help the owners decide how much to charge. Most parks where great to stay at because of nice rec centers with a full kitchen and WiFi. Another one had no rec center and I had to wait in the cold and rain inside the Spark for 5 hours. Call ahead to check the accommodations!

-Almost the entire way up, I used level 2 or 3 charging stations. However, once in Canada, I needed to use some 120volt outlets. Good thing is, that many parking lots have 120volt outlets for plugging in radiator heaters. However, I found that many of these circuits are on low amperage breakers, so if I kicked up the current to 12amps, I would trip the breaker. Unless in a hurry, or you know the breaker situation, it is best to just leave it at the default 8amps.

-Overall I was impressed with the charging infrastructure along the way. Sure, fast charging has a lot of catching up to do, but level 2 charging is adequate for city or inter-city driving. Road trips like mine are very extreme with the limited rural options, but with RV parks or camping with 240 volt outlets, it is achievable.

Too bad on losing your original summary. There's another forum I use that has a Post Reply button that erases what I've written and opens a new reply window. I hate that!

It sounds like you made it... Congratulations!! Did it take you two weeks?

Also, I am curious what took you to Edmonton.

Please keep posting on the Spark's performance in the cold. BTW, how cold does it get there?

So it took 9 days of traveling time. I spent a week in Calgary with some friends. I'm going to school at the University of Alberta to study plant physiology (PhD).

Right now it's -23 degrees celsius (-9.4 Fahrenheit). Definitely a drop in performance, but consider I made a trip with a loaded down car from Calgary to Red Deer, which is about 93 miles away. I might have been able to make it from Red Deer to Edmonton, which is about 95 miles, but conditions coming into the city where pretty rough, winds out of north, several degrees below zero and snow. But because of the snow, you get to drive slower, so that makes up for some loss in efficiency. Once in Calgary, it got so cold that the car was in limited performance mode until the batteries warmed up enough. I think its best to just keep plugged in all the time so the batteries stay conditioned.

I'm glad to hear you made with relatively little trouble. Did you update plugshare with tips and/or feedback for the places you stopped? Once you get to eastern Washington and head north up the way you did, there's very little coverage even for RV plugs along the way, so that info on plugshare would be very valuable to the next adventurous EV drivers heading that way.

I also wanted to point out that xylhim (aka Electrobyte) has bumped the "distance in a day" record up significantly. I think having some good access to fast chargers from Salem, through Portland, and headed east along I-84 in Oregon probably helped him do it, too!

The record now stands at 351 miles.



That's a challenge I might have some fun beating. :twisted:

Bryce