mbp11
Member
We are on a trip to Springdale, at the entrance to Zion National Park to visit my girlfriend’s sister and husband. We got a late start at 7:30 am from Pleasanton, California with a 99% battery charge and headed east along highway 580 and then down Interstate 5 to our first stop at Firebaugh, California, for a bathroom break after 2 hours. Firebaugh superchargers are just off the freeway in a travel plaza and are easy to get to and there are 56 superchargers there (V3s) and lots of places to eat and free-standing bathrooms adjacent. We charged and had a breakfast burrito from Taco Bell and then we were on our way to the next stop, Bakersfield.
When we got closer, the destination screen announced that Bakersfield was full and rerouted us to Buttonwillow, where there are a limited number of superchargers (I think 10 or 12) and a few fast-food restaurants with 3 out of 4 toilets nearby plugged and staff not interested in dealing with them. It was very busy there, there are also a number of Rivian chargers, and sadly, the first I have seen of charger vandalism. A Mach-E Mustang owner stopped to charge at the 3 CCS chargers they have there and all of them had been hit with insulation foam and the electrical connections covered, rendering them useless. Even the level 2 Charge Point charger had been hit. We called in the vandalism to the support phone numbers but it will be a while before they can be fixed.
We charged as much as we needed to and then headed to the next stop which I really don’t like, Mojave. I used up more power than I thought and so I had to reduce speed and limp into Mojave with 12% SOC. So much for planning. Mojave is 3 miles off of the freeway- they have done a lot to add two other supercharging stations just turning off the road to highway 14. You have a choice at superchargers behind a fast-food restaurant (not easy to see, I missed it) or a little further there are chargers behind a Thai restaurant that just opened but not landscaped (we charged there and got 180 kW for a while), and then a little further down, the original charger station next to a Mexican restaurant. Bathroom facilities are limited and we had to drive around afterwards in downtown Mojave to find a market with a bathroom.
Next we made a run to Baker, since we wanted to have a late lunch at the Mad Greek Café. Baker is a busy charging station with Tesla and Electrify America chargers. We arrived with 26% SOC and charged enough to get us to Primm, our next stop. At Baker we found that there are 3 additional rows of chargers behind the front two double charger rows positioned perpendicular to the front charger rows. Some of the new rows have active chargers with cables running over the pavement, and the center row just has covered chargers not yet functional. In addition, there are two semi trucks in the back with chargers and batteries, but I did not test them out. Did not eat at the DQ or Jersey Mikes Subs, but drove a mile to the east and had a great meal at the Mad Greek cafe on the corner, easy to see.
It is starting to get dark early and we made a run to Primm superchargers to get enough to get us beyond Las Vegas and up to Saint George. The Primm Valley Casino was open but completely empty, no one was around! The bathrooms are clean but there was not much in the way of dining nearby. We stretched our legs and walked around a while and then started our last leg.
I wanted to get past Las Vegas, it is always busy and the freeway is always crowded and this trip we were not disappointed. There was an accident at the east end of the I-15 with traffic at a standstill, and we had to use Waze to get off the freeway and navigate through Las Vegas and get beyond the accident. I have to confess I made a few illegal turns to get back to the freeway. Now on to Saint George!
East of Las Vegas it seemed that most of the freeway was down to 1-2 lanes because of construction and going was slow, better for conserving energy, even though the speed limit was 75. We passed by Mesquite and headed up the Virgin Gorge to Saint George. Saint George now has two superchargers (two years ago only had one on Bluff Street). We hit the one just off the freeway at the Dixie Convention Center and found 12 250 kW chargers, mostly empty. This was at 9:30 at night and the nearby Cracker Barrel restaurant and store was closed but there was a nearby hotel that let us use the restrooms. We watched some amusing You Tube videos and had some snacks while we charged and then took off for Springdale and arrived at our destination with 65% battery left. We arrived at 11pm California time (12 am Utah time).
I guess we could have followed A Better Route Planner or the Tesla route planner but we had to take extra stops for bathroom breaks and a sit-down dinner, but it was still an adventure. In a few days we will then have to head back!
When we got closer, the destination screen announced that Bakersfield was full and rerouted us to Buttonwillow, where there are a limited number of superchargers (I think 10 or 12) and a few fast-food restaurants with 3 out of 4 toilets nearby plugged and staff not interested in dealing with them. It was very busy there, there are also a number of Rivian chargers, and sadly, the first I have seen of charger vandalism. A Mach-E Mustang owner stopped to charge at the 3 CCS chargers they have there and all of them had been hit with insulation foam and the electrical connections covered, rendering them useless. Even the level 2 Charge Point charger had been hit. We called in the vandalism to the support phone numbers but it will be a while before they can be fixed.
We charged as much as we needed to and then headed to the next stop which I really don’t like, Mojave. I used up more power than I thought and so I had to reduce speed and limp into Mojave with 12% SOC. So much for planning. Mojave is 3 miles off of the freeway- they have done a lot to add two other supercharging stations just turning off the road to highway 14. You have a choice at superchargers behind a fast-food restaurant (not easy to see, I missed it) or a little further there are chargers behind a Thai restaurant that just opened but not landscaped (we charged there and got 180 kW for a while), and then a little further down, the original charger station next to a Mexican restaurant. Bathroom facilities are limited and we had to drive around afterwards in downtown Mojave to find a market with a bathroom.
Next we made a run to Baker, since we wanted to have a late lunch at the Mad Greek Café. Baker is a busy charging station with Tesla and Electrify America chargers. We arrived with 26% SOC and charged enough to get us to Primm, our next stop. At Baker we found that there are 3 additional rows of chargers behind the front two double charger rows positioned perpendicular to the front charger rows. Some of the new rows have active chargers with cables running over the pavement, and the center row just has covered chargers not yet functional. In addition, there are two semi trucks in the back with chargers and batteries, but I did not test them out. Did not eat at the DQ or Jersey Mikes Subs, but drove a mile to the east and had a great meal at the Mad Greek cafe on the corner, easy to see.
It is starting to get dark early and we made a run to Primm superchargers to get enough to get us beyond Las Vegas and up to Saint George. The Primm Valley Casino was open but completely empty, no one was around! The bathrooms are clean but there was not much in the way of dining nearby. We stretched our legs and walked around a while and then started our last leg.
I wanted to get past Las Vegas, it is always busy and the freeway is always crowded and this trip we were not disappointed. There was an accident at the east end of the I-15 with traffic at a standstill, and we had to use Waze to get off the freeway and navigate through Las Vegas and get beyond the accident. I have to confess I made a few illegal turns to get back to the freeway. Now on to Saint George!
East of Las Vegas it seemed that most of the freeway was down to 1-2 lanes because of construction and going was slow, better for conserving energy, even though the speed limit was 75. We passed by Mesquite and headed up the Virgin Gorge to Saint George. Saint George now has two superchargers (two years ago only had one on Bluff Street). We hit the one just off the freeway at the Dixie Convention Center and found 12 250 kW chargers, mostly empty. This was at 9:30 at night and the nearby Cracker Barrel restaurant and store was closed but there was a nearby hotel that let us use the restrooms. We watched some amusing You Tube videos and had some snacks while we charged and then took off for Springdale and arrived at our destination with 65% battery left. We arrived at 11pm California time (12 am Utah time).
I guess we could have followed A Better Route Planner or the Tesla route planner but we had to take extra stops for bathroom breaks and a sit-down dinner, but it was still an adventure. In a few days we will then have to head back!
