[Vertiformed]

These are the EA sites we're still waiting for on major routes that are leaving some awkward gaps:

• I5
  • Coalinga (Harris Ranch)
• US-101
  • Eureka
  • Garberville
  • Willits
  • Salinas
  • Greenfield
  • Camarillo (Premium Outlets)
• I15
  • Barstow
• CA-395
  • Olancha, CA
• I10
  • Quartzsite, AZ (route to Phoenix)

 

[nautilus]

Really wish that Barstow one would open up.

 

[greendave]

These are the EA sites we're still waiting for on major routes that are leaving some awkward gaps:

• I5
  • Coalinga (Harris Ranch)
• US-101
  • Eureka
  • Garberville
  • Willits
  • Salinas
  • Greenfield
  • Camarillo (Premium Outlets)
• I15
  • Barstow
• CA-395
  • Olancha, CA
• I10
  • Quartzsite, AZ (route to Phoenix)

Eureka EA DCFC is reportedly up now. Progress!

 

[greendave]

FWIW, currently DCFC stats for California (as of March 8, 2020):

EvGo: 292 locations (585 chargers), and 2 locations 'coming soon'
EA: 101 locations (418 chargers). 53 locations 'coming soon'
ChargePoint: 194 locations (296 chargers) open, 11 locations 'coming soon'
Other: 84 locations (225 chargers) open, 7 locations 'coming soon' (6 are the Caltrans district 9 expansion).

I'm a little surprised that EA's Q4 report to CARB is not yet available.

 

[greendave]

Precious little in the way of good news these days, but apparently the Salinas EA station is up now. If Greenfield or Soledad come, we are pretty well set for Santa Rosa -> Santa Barbara.

 

[greendave]

More good news: EA in Barstow (CA-58 + I-15) is now online.

Also EA has a station in El Cajon off I-8 (there's a ChargePoint there too).

Really just need Coso Junction to fill in the last big DCFC gap.

Less significant, but a few more EvGo stations in the Sacramento Valley are also up now - Orland on I-5 and Yuba City on CA99.

If things calm down by the summer, 2020 will be a good year for EV traveling in California.

 

[greendave]

April 15 (Tax day) update:

697 DCFC locations with CCS units currently active in the Golden State.

EvGo: 297 locations (597 chargers), and 0 locations 'coming soon'
EA: 107 locations (446 chargers). 51 locations 'coming soon'
ChargePoint: 202 locations (308 chargers) open, 8 locations 'coming soon'
Other: 91 locations (248 chargers) open, 7 locations 'coming soon' (all 7 are the Caltrans district 9 expansion).

 

[SparkE]

Precious little in the way of good news these days, but apparently the Salinas EA station is up now. If Greenfield or Soledad come, we are pretty well set for Santa Rosa -> Santa Barbara.

Actually, you are already well set for that trip (on US-101). Even if you don't leave Santa Rosa full. There are oodles of DCFCs all along the route between Santa Rosa and south San Jose, multiple sites into Salinas (If you don't have a EA pay subscription, I'd charge at the Prunedale shopping center, Recargo), and then after Salinas there's Paso Roble (multiple), San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach, Buelton, and several in and around Santa Barbara.

 

[greendave]

Actually, you are already well set for that trip (on US-101). Even if you don't leave Santa Rosa full. There are oodles of DCFCs all along the route between Santa Rosa and south San Jose, multiple sites into Salinas (If you don't have a EA pay subscription, I'd charge at the Prunedale shopping center, Recargo), and then after Salinas there's Paso Roble (multiple), San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach, Buelton, and several in and around Santa Barbara.

Right. It's certainly possible (I did much of that trip last year before most of these were in place) - I just meant that those last 2 give pretty much continuous coverage (every <= 60 miles).

More minor news: there's a ChargePoint station now open in Barstow. After EA's installation, it's not that critical (only 1x 62.5kW unit) but it seems cheap ($0.25/kWh) so it could be a good backup.

 

[SparkE]

If you travel in your EV (or just use DCFC at least 2 times a month), it is worth getting EA's " Pass+ " subscription for $4/mo. It eliminates the "$1 per session" fee, and drops the price from $0.25/min to $0.18/min. So 50 minutes (about 40-45 kWh) cost $3.50 less in electricity charges, AND less the connection fees.

The ChargePoint charger is a good one to use for "charging the Bolt past 55%", since you pay by kWh and not by the minute. So once you drop down to around 100A (~ 38 kW rate) the ChargePoint unit will be less expensive than the EA site - useful for going from 50-> 75% SoC.

 

[greendave]

Not a lot going on with new stations, but EA did release their 2019 annual report for CARB. Not quite sure why it took 4 months, but it has some amount of interesting info. As we know they made quite a bit of progress:

• 1/1/2019 - 3 sites in California
• 4/1/2019 - 5 sites in California
• 7/1/2019 - 16 sites in California
• 10/1/2019 - 32 sites in California
• 1/1/2020 - 78 sites in California
• 4/1/2020 - 109 sites in California
• 7/1/2020 - 114 sites in California

Note that they have 165 sites permitted, so that means 51 are still pending at this point. Most seem to be in suburban regions (LA area, SF area, San Diego area) but there are 10 along major travel corridors (US-101, US-395, I-5, I-8, I-10, CA-99).

 

[p7wang]

Little off topic, but I plotted a drive across country via Utah and Colorado on ABRP and it was pretty nice, typically 1.5 hr drive with an hour of charging break. Only one segment 225 miles long that requires either slow driving or stopping at a L2 charger in between (Green River is getting a fast charger, per EA and PlugShare)!

 

[greendave]

Camarillo EA has just opened. 135 miles to Pismo Beach EA is a bit of a gap, but not manageable I guess. Looking forward to more openings on the east side (hopefully) soon.

 

[NewsCoulomb]

Camarillo EA has just opened. 135 miles to Pismo Beach EA is a bit of a gap, but not manageable I guess. Looking forward to more openings on the east side (hopefully) soon.

Thanks for the heads up! A couple of things to note is that there are quite a few chargers along that route between Camarillo and San Luis Obispo, and it's actually shorter both in distance and in time to cut across Highway 154 (San Marcos Pass), which brings the distance down to 123 miles.

 

[greendave]

Thanks for the heads up! A couple of things to note is that there are quite a few chargers along that route between Camarillo and San Luis Obispo, and it's actually shorter both in distance and in time to cut across Highway 154 (San Marcos Pass), which brings the distance down to 123 miles.

You're right (and my comment above should say 'not' unmanageable - whoops). My point was more that if you want to stick to EA (for charging speed/cost), it's a decent stretch, but by no means impractical. Last year I used EvGo in Ventura and SLO. This year I'm looking forward to a faster trip.

 

[NewsCoulomb]

You're right (and my comment above should say 'not' unmanageable - whoops). My point was more that if you want to stick to EA (for charging speed/cost), it's a decent stretch, but by no means impractical. Last year I used EvGo in Ventura and SLO. This year I'm looking forward to a faster trip.

Yeah, I drive that route a decent amount. The San Marcos Pass road is a nice shortcut, but with the ChargePoints in Buellton, it's pretty easy to go either way. Yeah, those Tritiums are only 50 kW, but that's better than charging past 65% on an Electrify America charger just to bridge the gap.

 

[cwerdna]

Looks like the Drive the ARC app is linking up with EVGO. So you can get some type of discount via the Drive the ARC app based on the time of day in which you charge. Inside the Drive the ARC app you can link this app to your EVGO account. Home Page - DRIVEtheARC

Got an email about some changes Drive the ARC is making so I haven't used this app yet since it's mainly been, up to this point, intended for Leaf Owners and I3 owners for free charging on the Drive the ARC chargers (Monterey to Tahoe) . Looks like new pricing structure is in the works with them now and you can also possible use this on other EVGO chargers (but without the discount?). I'll check this out once the EVGO charger is turned up in my town which should be a couple of months from now. (waiting on PG&E). But just want to let everyone know in the mean time if you haven't received an email from Drive the ARC yet.

Thanks to some chatter on a Bolt FB group, I learned that Drive The Arc is apparently extending their "promo tickets" to SAE Combo users too. It doesn't say so on their web site but I contacted them via form (probably from Charging Station FAQs - DRIVEtheARC) about whether the free promo ticket is actually valid for SAE Combo.

Their reply in part was:
"Thank you for contacting EVgo.

I can confirm that Drive the Arc is offering this to both CHAdeMO and CCS EVs. You will need to enroll and link your DTA account to EVgo within the app. And be sure to activate your session within the DTA app on a DTA charger. "

I signed up for an account with Drive The Arc, linked to my EVgo account and used a charger (unfortunately, not that close to home) to charge my Bolt. I noticed the stickers below on both DC FCs. I was worried that I'd be charged $ given the emails and push alerts I received from EVgo with dollar amounts but when I check EVgo's app under My Account > Billing transactions, I can see the charges along with "Courtesy Adjustments" to cover them. Yay!

On their web site, you can see the "misc. credit" via EVgo - sign in.

I picked up almost 30 kWh. My 1st session ended abruptly as my Bolt's thermal management kicked on. Apparently, I hit the 45 minute session limit and had to get another promo ticket to continue. There was an older woman in an identically colored Bolt (silver) as mine who was sucessfully charging using the other EVgo DC FC at the site I went to. No idea if she was paying or charging for free.

Also, recently, it looked like they were going to end free charging but COVID-19 update: 100% discount PromoTicket services - DRIVEtheARC
indicates it's been extended.

I have to say, their app and web site seem rather complex. Oddly, I couldn't check my charging session status from the DriveTheArc app. But, one thing that was quite interesting and helpful is that their app would actually show the latest 50 sessions on a station with their dates, times and whether they were success or fail along w/totals per day.

 

[greendave]

EA's January-March 2020 CARB report is now out.

Highlights (as of March 31, 2020):

• 109 sites active
• 182 sites with permits submitted
• Costs 24% more on average to build in California than elsewhere
• Permitting takes 73(!) days on average
• Battery storage planned for 100 of the sites (not clear how many have been delivered yet)

Nice to see that there are a good many more sites still planned, although based on their maps, only a handful are outside suburban areas (namely the ones Vertiformed noted above).

 

[cwerdna]

Last night, I stumbled across Download App - DRIVEtheARC which has the same verbiage and style as the sticker.

 

[cwerdna]

I used DriveTheArc app again to get free charges but this time at a different location: Walmart in Milpitas. Unfortunately, charger DC1 would fail to charge 2/2 times. Would hit some sort of communications failure and charging wouldn't start.

i ended up getting promo tickets on DC2 and I charged fine on that. Unfortunately, the DriveTheArc app shows my 2 failed sessions as "successful" on DC1 which is definitely wrong.

From Plugshare, it seems like others have had similar problems w/DC1. This is more of a heads up that despite sessions showing as "success" in their app, they may not be, esp. if you see at least two within minutes of each other as "success".