EV travel charging

  • Thread starter Thread starter Danks
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Danks

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I'm lining up my EV ducks so I can hit the road when our Clarity arrives. In looking at Plugshare, I see 3 travel charging options - J1772, NEMA 14-50, and what Plugshare calls "Wall" which looks to me like NEMA 6-50. So I'm thinking that getting a plug-in ChargePoint Home which uses the NEMA 6-50 to use at home and travel, a NEMA 14-50 to 6-50 adapter, and I'm good to plug in at any of the 3 types on the road. Perhaps a 6-50 extension cord, maybe even a J1772 extension cord to avoid some of the cord limit issues.

Does this sound reasonable according to what you have experienced? Am I missing anything?
 
The few times I considered charging away from home I found it was less expensive to just use gas. Our electricity rate is $0.15/kWh and the charge stations I looked into were well above that cost. Gas is cheap right now. So all of our long trips have been done in HV mode with no charging along the way. We've only ever charged at home (26K miles on the car). This is what makes the Clarity such a perfect car for us. EV around town and HV on the road. No long charge wait times.
 
I'm thinking free charging at motels, state parks, and the occasional eating establishment where we would be there a while anyway.
 
I'm not going to say I'm sure, but I think that with plugshare that wall usually means 120V. I'd agree that 14-50 is somewhat common, especially at campgrounds (RV connection).
 
Danks said:
I'm thinking free charging at motels, state parks, and the occasional eating establishment where we would be there a while anyway.
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You didn't mention where you are traveling. Our experiences have been really poor with any kind of "free" charging. So I wouldn't get too excited about any of those possibilities… the infrastructure just isn't out there yet. Give it another 3-5 years, and it'll be better. Tesla has the only robust infrastructure for road travel right now, but it's horrible inside the city. And level 2 charging on a Tesla - what they call destination chargers - is like watching paint dry … At least with the Clarity, as mentioned, there's no real need for charging on road trips unless you happen on to something. Even then, if it's any kind of commercial charger like Blink or ChargePoint, EVgo, etc., the cost will be greater than the gasoline equivalent. And for the one gallon (appx) of electricity you gain… really not worth all the effort that might go into it. If you've got the BEV Clarity, then ignore this, you'll have to deal with barely 90 miles of range - which would not be conducive to travel, in my opinion.
 
Danks said:
I'm thinking free charging at motels, state parks, and the occasional eating establishment where we would be there a while anyway.
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Good luck...

Maybe occasionally at hotels you'll get a free charge overnight if they happen to have an outdoor outlet and you're willing to let your expensive charger sit unattended outside.

For road trips with Clarity I simply recommend gasoline. Works great.
 
You can find some places to charge if you want. Over the years, I've had pretty good luck at hotels charging. Just ask at the front desk. Sometimes they will get a maintenance employee to help you find a plug (120V). A couple of places I have stayed had boat hookups (for charging trolling motors). They like to charge extra for these parking spaces, but I have been able to talk them out of that or I didn't use them. More and more hotels now have J1772 chargers, so you can plan those in advance. Some restaurants also have chargers (and some actually good restaurants), again you just have to do a little planning. A lot of the J1772 chargers are 30A, so you pick up 20 miles/hour of time at a location. Most helpful of course if you are at a long meal or overnight. If you want to do the 120V charging overnight, I'd take a good extension cord that is rated for 16A (the charger pulls 12A). You might consider also picking up a cheap spare 120V charger on ebay, just so that if someone lifts yours, it's not that big a deal. They can be found for about $100 if you are patient. Some are 16A, which is fine, but it makes it more likely you will trip a breaker at a random charging location, causing more issues. I usually use the extension cord even if I don't need it so that I can tuck the charging unit behind the front left tire and somewhat hide it from view (and somewhat protect it from rain). The PlugShare App is the best source of info I have found. Also keep in mind that all of my experience with this has been in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Georgia.
 
110v or NEMA 14-50 outlets are going to be the most common. The problem I've seen with NEMA 14-50 is that most of those are found at RV parks. Most RV park owners expect you to pay a full night's use of a camping spot just to charge for a few hours. Paying $30 for less than 15 KWh of eletricity is crazy expensive (.50 cents per KWh).

I did purchase a 16amp Level 2 EVSE that will charge using 220/240v or 110/120v for under $200 from Amazon. It has a NEMA 6-20 plug on the end, and I bought a NEMA 14-50 adapter so I could plug it in to those outlets. I'll bring that along on road trips instead of the OEM charger.

For road trips, I'm going to stick with gas unless I find a free (or less than .20 cents per KWh) charge.
 
My posture on charging away from home is that I will take what I can get but not expect to find anything. As others have said, gas is a fine alternative on trips, and the ability to have that choice is a big reason that I bought the car. I am not going on a guilt trip about burning gasoline when most of the vehicles passing me on the highway are getting much worse mileage than I am.

Occasionally you get a pleasant surprise. For example, I discovered that one of the locations that I visit regularly for meetings and classes just happens to be next door to the local utility company, and there's a charging station available there. I can park beside the charger, hook up, and when the HondaLink app pings me that charging is done I excuse myself briefly and move the car to the building's parking lot. This gives me an excuse to get away from the meeting for a few minutes . . .
 
Wait a little while before investing. You may find you actually don’t need to buy additional chargers. The Clarity gets very good gas mileage. If you have to pay for electric on the road it will cost you more than the gas. If you find an available, working, and free charge somewhere consider it a bonus.
 
Danks said:
I'm lining up my EV ducks so I can hit the road when our Clarity arrives. In looking at Plugshare, I see 3 travel charging options - J1772, NEMA 14-50, and what Plugshare calls "Wall" which looks to me like NEMA 6-50. So I'm thinking that getting a plug-in ChargePoint Home which uses the NEMA 6-50 to use at home and travel, a NEMA 14-50 to 6-50 adapter, and I'm good to plug in at any of the 3 types on the road. Perhaps a 6-50 extension cord, maybe even a J1772 extension cord to avoid some of the cord limit issues.

Does this sound reasonable according to what you have experienced? Am I missing anything?
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Your best bet is a dual voltage 110/240 charger (most are 6-20 for 240 v) and an a 14-50 to 6-20 extension cord. Something like aerovironment charger that is sold with different OEMs.
 
craze1cars said:
Good luck...

Maybe occasionally at hotels you'll get a free charge overnight if they happen to have an outdoor outlet and you're willing to let your expensive charger sit unattended outside.

For road trips with Clarity I simply recommend gasoline. Works great.
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I'm replying to all the posts so far on your post. I appreciate all the responses. As mosts posts on the forum, they have been helpful.

Will be driving the Clarity PHEV. I'm figuring on using Plugshare to plan ahead for motels with J1772 or 14-50 charge options. From the responses it looks the the Plugshare "Wall" connection won't be useful. My first big trip will be SW MI to Lancaster, PA. Plugshare says there are a couple of motels in Altoona with free J1772 chargers. Our hotel in Lancaster has a connected parking garage with free J1772 chargers.

My trip plans will be drive HV with overnight stays at motels with J1772 or 14-50 chargers. Possible stops at malls, restaurants, parks with J1772 or 14-50 chargers - if the stops make sense for more than just charging.
 
Danks said:
My trip plans will be drive HV...
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A New Member--another opportunity to foist my HV mnemonic. It's so disappointing to realize 20 miles down the road after a rest stop that you forgot to re-activate HV Mode and you inadvertently burned through half of your EV range. I tape this paper button over the D button to remind me to engage HV. By taping just the top edge, you can easily flip it up to press the D button.

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insightman - I appreciate your helpfulness. If I forget I'll know what to do to keep from forgetting. Part of the joy for me driving a Clarity is being able to switch driving modes.
 
Danks said:
I'm thinking free charging at motels, state parks, and the occasional eating establishment where we would be there a while anyway.
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99% of those will be either a J1772 or 120v receptacle; either can be handled with what came with the car (EVSE and J1772 port). You might want to look into security too. The loss of one EVSE can wipe out untold miles of EV savings.

Many public charging options are very expensive and at current fuel prices, it makes more sense/cents to drive HV.
 
I agree with all the comments about great to have gas available so that charging isn't a big deal, but I generally take advantage of free charging whenever it is available. I agree that the loss of the 120V EVSE would suck, but that's why I keep a cheap one (so that it won't suck so badly if it happens). So far no problems with using it in public places where I have stayed overnight. I do always ask permission before plugging in anywhere, but if it is given, I take advantage of it. I also agree that paying for charging is generally just a bad economic choice. Hardly ever is the price low enough to be worth it.
 
Realize that finding a “free” charge for the Clarity meager EV range has a true fuel value of somewhere in the $1.50 to $2.00 range. Pocket change.

So to plan a trip around finding hotels with chargers that might charge $10 or $20 more per night is a big negative financial incentive.

So I strongly propose and encourage ignoring charging opportunities fully, for the entire trip, and choosing destinations based on your desire to go there. If you get lucky on occasion, absolutely plug it in. Otherwise just drive where you want to go, chargers be damned.

Let the Tesla folks play the game of planning a trip around charging locations. IMO it’s a logistical headache I have no interest in while on a relaxing vacation. Clarities are able to take the road less travelled. That’s why we purchase them. It’s far more interesting to go there, than just driving between chargers.
 
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@craze1cars , If I find $1.50 to $2.00 laying on the ground, I'm going to pick it up, pocket change or not (call me cheap). I agree with you on most of the other stuff, although I will take the time to see if any free chargers are available in locations where I am traveling, and I'd let free charging sway my pick of hotel or restaurant, all other things being the same...
 
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