gnelson
Member
Thanks for relating your actual experience. Your options for charging if range becomes a problem are quite helpful also. I will borrow a CHAdeMO adapter before I take the trip.
Greg
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Supercharger - The Dalles, OR (LIVE Aug 2014, 5 V2 stalls)
- Thread starter emupilot
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- Northwest oregon Supercharging USA
Thanks for relating your actual experience. Your options for charging if range becomes a problem are quite helpful also. I will borrow a CHAdeMO adapter before I take the trip.
Greg
We just got back last night from a trip to Portland. We used the Baker City, Pendleton, and The Dalles Superchargers. Interesting thing with Baker City, when we came back last night, they had orange traffic cones in front of the Supercharger stalls, when they were not there on the evening of the 8th when we went out there. That was pretty cool. They have plenty of parking, and we didn't find any of the spots ICEd on the way out there anyway, but they could desperately use cones like that at The Dalles. We had an almost panic attack on the way to Portland when we got to The Dalles one and we saw this line of trucks parked in the Supercharger spots. When we got a little closer, we did find that two of the five spots were open. There is not a lot of parking there, and it's a hotel, so people just park in those spots for the night. Cones would be pretty handy.
Ritzville to The Dalles7
We just recently made the non stop run from Ritzsville to The Dalles. We left Ritzville (85-D) and started out with 265 miles charge and went the speed limit. The yellow warning triangle appeared then as we climbed a hill the red warning triangle appeared. We slowed to 60 and the red went out. The yellow went out shortly thereafter and we arrived at The Dalles SC wit 27 miles remaining. Very strong headwinds once we started along the Columbia.
On the northern run we were not as brave and stopped at Ellensburg before going to Ritzville !!!
We just recently made the non stop run from Ritzsville to The Dalles. We left Ritzville (85-D) and started out with 265 miles charge and went the speed limit. The yellow warning triangle appeared then as we climbed a hill the red warning triangle appeared. We slowed to 60 and the red went out. The yellow went out shortly thereafter and we arrived at The Dalles SC wit 27 miles remaining. Very strong headwinds once we started along the Columbia.
On the northern run we were not as brave and stopped at Ellensburg before going to Ritzville !!!
Just did Ritzville to The Dalles in a 70D - left with 235 miles range and arrived with 40 left. Since I hadn't seen this done in a 70D before I played it very safe and did 5mph under the speed limit nearly the entire way (65 in a 70 and 60 in a 65 zone). It actually worked out fine since trucks have speed limits of 60mph and 55mph in each of these zones on the way so we were actually passing a bunch.
I guess this is all moot now that the Kennewick charger is about to be completed...but a data point nonetheless.
I guess this is all moot now that the Kennewick charger is about to be completed...but a data point nonetheless.
FYI, a couple of years later, many more Tesla’s on the road, and this is STILL a major problem, just like Ellensburg, only worse because of the Cousins restaurant combined with the hotel. This thing has been constantly ICED every time I’ve been there. My experience last weekend was so bad that my return trip from Portland to Kennewick was over White Pass. I’m almost ready to buy property anywhere else in The Dalles and subcontract the land to Tesla for a new SC. If anyone has Elon’s ear (when he’s not too busy battling the shorts), please get this SC moved to a Tesla-friendly location with at least 12 stalls, preferably with pull-in stalls to reduce ICEing.
I've been there 3 times and been lucky enough not to be ICE'd. Probably time of day related -- closer to mealtimes or in the non-daylight hours being worse.
McManX
Member
Wow, just wow. OK, that solves my dilemma of whether to try going that way again. I'm going around or using the Chademo adapter until Tesla gets another SC in either Boardman, Hood River or The Dalles.
McManX
Member
By the time I arrived someone figured out the issue and I waited less than 5 min for a stall to open up (hint: use 2A as it will be unpaired due to broken charger). I waited with the car to make sure nobody used 2B, flagged one Tesla to a different open stall as they were about to pull into 2B.
Since I needed a lot of charging, staying here was faster although I briefly considered using a nearby Chademo.
Interesting, I was there Friday and Sunday and only noticed the post it on Sunday. "Fortunately" the 2B stall was ICE'd when I was there Friday! LOL I've been lucky so far when I use it a few times a year with no wait, but I do agree that 5 stalls are not enough for I-84 going forward. Hopefully they get another location up and going soon. It needs to be in The Dalles or further east. I went though a large amount of charge Sunday from the Tri-Cities due to the headwind. If I was still driving a MS60, it would have been scary if I had charged to 90% or less before heading there!
I don't see how this could be possible, that a fault in one stall could affect all the others. I can see 2B affecting 2A, but not the other stalls. I see now that YOU did not come up with this diagnosis, but it was passed on to you by another person charging. There is a LOT of separation electrically between pairs of charging stanchions.
Hood River has been on the coming soon list for a while. I think Hood River is a better choice if they place it near the existing Chademo charger. That's a short walk to a lot of things in downtown.
⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️
Village Idiot
Technical difficulties: charger 1A doesn’t work at all. Map shows 4 out of 5 in use. Reality is there’s only two of us plugged in right now. Good news is I’m charging at 94kW on 2A.
Now it shows 4 out of 5 in use and I’m the only one plugged in.
More good news, when I called to report it, there was no wait time. I wasn’t even put on hold for a second. I was very surprised. When she looked it up, she said it hadn’t been reported and that also 1B was down too.
Now it shows 4 out of 5 in use and I’m the only one plugged in.
More good news, when I called to report it, there was no wait time. I wasn’t even put on hold for a second. I was very surprised. When she looked it up, she said it hadn’t been reported and that also 1B was down too.
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This one really needs some reinforcement, either from new chargers at good river and Boardman (though I still think Biggs junction is a better choice), or from expansion (not going to happen, the space is very tight). Pulled in today, got on the single solo circuit and couldn’t pull more than 100 kw off of it. Very unstable for a while, bouncing up and down. Seen this, and ones not working, at this spot several times over the last year and a half. Without this one, the gap between western and eastern Oregon is just not rational for most folks.
Agreed! A ten stall V3 at Biggs Junction would be ideal, covering N/S travel from Ellensburg to Bend. In-fill with Hood River, Boardman, and let The Dalles SC languish.
Ya, this location stresses me out a little. If it's down for whatever reason (power issue, etc) than Tri Cities (or Kennewick/Pendleton Supercharger) to Portland isn't do able for SR/SR+ (at a highway speed) and many older S/X and any car towing. This is a single point failure and having Biggs Junction would provide a backup that should make that doable for just about anyone. (roughly 100 to 120 miles between Portland and Biggs, and between Biggs and East side superchargers).
I still would prefer Boardman since it allows East bound cars to reach the charger at a lower SOC and thus max out the charge rate more... but Biggs would make sense more as a strong backup for crowding or downtime at Dalles. (Boardman to Portland without the Dalles is ~160 miles which could be very rough for SR/SR+, older S/X, and anyone towing if the weather is bad; water on the roadway, low temps, etc)
I still would prefer Boardman since it allows East bound cars to reach the charger at a lower SOC and thus max out the charge rate more... but Biggs would make sense more as a strong backup for crowding or downtime at Dalles. (Boardman to Portland without the Dalles is ~160 miles which could be very rough for SR/SR+, older S/X, and anyone towing if the weather is bad; water on the roadway, low temps, etc)
PDX Tesla does an apple trip to the Hood River Valley as a group drive every year and the only supercharger being a bit down the road from Hood River is a hassle for those driving short ranged cars. One guy who lives a bit west of Portland and has a SR Model 3 barely made it home last year. Though he was an electrician and had a temporary power box in the trunk.
Eastern Oregon in general could use some supercharger attention. There is a big swath of the state with no superchargers at all. Though there are few people out there either.
Eastern Oregon in general could use some supercharger attention. There is a big swath of the state with no superchargers at all. Though there are few people out there either.
lnsh
Member
As excited as I am to get into an EV, this (plus the stretch to Ellensburg another seemingly problematic SC?) from the far southeast corner of WA is causing typical range anxiety even before purchase (Y reservation).
Judging by everything I read - the trip to Portland is quite doable in a LR, but if any variable isn’t perfect this SC is *crucial* to a successful trip.
Being relatively new to this corner of the state (Walla Walla) - I do know that weather/wind can be an issue along the river —especially headed west towards Portland. Any insight from others in this general area about whether my worry is just ’newbie range anxiety’ or grounded in reality?
It was VERY tight for me getting home from Vancouver, WA to the Tri Cities in my SR+ just a couple weeks ago. There was heavy rain and standing water from Vancouver to The Dalles for me and I averaged over 330 wh/mi at 65 mph. (was running the heat at 68F and seat heater on level 2). From the Dalles to the Kennewick supercharger is 129 miles. At 330 wh/mi 100% of my SR+ battery (50kWh) would be a range of 151 miles. That's a buffer of 22 miles. Charging above 80% is extremely slow and above 90% is basically level 2 speed (6 to 10kW/hr). I ended up spending almost an hour in the Dalles to charge to 94% and then left to go home. This gave me a range of approx 142 miles which was JUST enough to get to my door (a few miles further than the Kennewick supercharger). I felt safe leaving because I checked the weather on my iphone and saw that the radar showed dry skies from the Dalles to Pendleton, which I figured meant a dry road surface too. Thankfully I was right and my wh/mi edge just below 300... but even then I hit HEAVY snow from the 84/82 junction all the way up to the Tri Cities which caused me to turn off the heat and heated seat a couple times to try and extend out the range. I ended up having about 6 or 7% when I got home, so I probably could have used a little more heat, but you do get into this mindset of not being able to just pull over anywhere for gas...
I would highly recommend the LR Model Y if you're able to afford it. That will drastically reduce stuff like this from happening. You MIGHT be able to limp from Portland to Kennewick without a supercharger stop at the Dalles in bad weather (standing water on the roadway and low temps) but even then it would be tight.
90% of the time though, you'll be fine, even with the SR+ Model 3, unless a supercharger goes down (like the Dalles).
Ellensberg isn't such a big deal because you have Cle Elem and Kennewick.
Kennewick to Ellensberg is 118 miles and to Cle Elem is 142 miles. That should be doable even if bad weather in a SR+ Model 3. It's just the pain of if you have to stop to charge again in Kennewick because you know Ellensberg is offline or something. Walla Walla to Kennewick is less than 50 miles, so you'll be at a fairly high SOC and charge slower... but it does give you the ability to spend 50 miles driving and seeing actually how much energy you're using to then decide if you need to top off again to make Cle Elem or if you can just do it without the stop.
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