Nissan LEAF Crosses Mountains, and Journeys Through Life

Tipsoo Lake at the summit of Chinook Pass.

Five years ago, my family drove to Yakima to celebrate the marriage between my, then 85 year-old, grandfather to his beloved gal, Lorraine.

Grandpa and Lorraine make a remarkable story; somehow the two of them found each other after laying to rest their lifelong spouses years and years before. And they, the spunky, full of life folks that they are, decided to get married!

We wanted to forego the doldrum of driving Interstate 90 to get to their wedding. This was before EV Life, so the adventure of covering long distances in an electric vehicle hadn't presented itself yet. In the forefront of our minds, then, was a desire to drive over the fantastically beautiful Chinook Pass. It was an early July trip, with snow still on the ground in spots at the 5,430ft. crossing. That drive, in the summer of 2009, really stuck with us...

Chinook Pass is a mountain road like few others. From Enumclaw (750ft.), the elevation climbs steadily for 35 miles. Then, over the next 10 miles, the drive is equal parts white-knuckled and jaw-dropping. The altitude increases so rapidly over this last section before the summit that the ear popping seems like Pop-Its being dropped incessantly inside the car. And the view? Well, Mt. Rainer, the most glaciated mountain in the lower-48, looms less than 12 miles away. Yes, Chinook Pass is bucket list worthy.

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Now in their 90s, and both with deteriorating health, I knew that time was waning in seeing Grandpa and Lorraine. We would be heading over to celebrate life, similarly like we had celebrated love with them on the trip in 2009. The symbolism of driving across Chinook Pass to see Grandpa and Lorraine for possibly a last time seemed so fitting. I just had to figure out how to make a successful trip in my all-electric Nissan LEAF.

I've heard rumors of somebody driving their LEAF in the Mt. Rainer region, but had not talked with anybody who had successfully driven the 100 mile west-to-east trip from Enumclaw to Naches (both on their respective ends of Chinook Pass). 

The trip was surprisingly simple! We charged to 100%, via a combination of DC quick charging and Level 2, at a Blink charging station in Auburn, WA. Then, drove 15 miles to the last EVSE (electric vehicle supply equipment) in Enumclaw for a "top-off." 

Ford to the Nissan rescue!

There are two documented public EVSE in Enumclaw, but only one being user-reviewed on the ubiquitous PlugShare app. That EVSE, located at Art Gamlin Motors, is a 15 amp unit. Even though I only had to recover about 20% of the battery charge, doing so at 15 amps sounded dreadful in my 30 amp capable LEAF. So I gambled and headed to Fugate Ford in Enumclaw, and was pleasantly surprised to find a great 30 amp Level 2 charging solution!

From Enumclaw, we had that magnificent 45 mile drive to the summit of Chinook Pass, then another 32 mile drive east of the pass before arriving at Squaw Rock Resort & RV Park (which, itself, is about 20 miles from Naches). I had fortunately reached out to the management at Squaw Rock before leaving, and they were very much open to the idea of an EV charging at a vacant RV plug-in site. 

Squaw Rock Resort & RV Park

At Squaw Rock, our kids played with some other children at a small playground there in the campground while I walked around a bit to take in the scenery. The flora of Washington state east of the Cascade Range is noticeably different than that seen on the western slopes where we live. Take the ponderosa pine needles seen in the above picture; those needles must have been at least 10 times the size of the Douglas-fir needles that we are accustomed to!

And after about an hour of charging, when a wicked storm started blowing through, it was those pine needles that started becoming tribal blow darts whizzing by with every gust. We quickly took refuge in the car, and ended up departing soon thereafter with a 40% charge.

We drove into Yakima without trouble, and soon went to visit Grandpa and Lorraine at their assisted living home. They just loved seeing the kids, and it was a very special moment for us all. I am so grateful for having those moments with Grandpa, Lorraine, and our family. 

Best burgers in the west: Miner's!

After our visit with Grandpa and Lorraine, we decided to eat dinner at Yakima's finest eatery--Miner's. Miner's is an interesting story. There is seemingly only two kinds of folks who know of the burger joint. Those people from Yakima, and those who travel to Yakima for sporting events. Yes, with its unbelievable capability of serving voluminous servings of food to voluminous numbers of costumers, Miner's has carved itself a niche market for feeding every single soccer, baseball, basketball, and marching band group that passes through town. The spectacle of watching so many people herded through the burger joint is only second to how delicious those MASSIVE hamburgers are.

Canyon Road, Connecting Selah and Ellensburg, WA

The next day, I decided to take a more leisurely drive home via Ellensburg and Snoqualmie Pass on Interstate 90. We've driven this route several times, and frankly, it is a rather easy drive in an electric car, as it can be driven with the sole use of DC quick charging stations the entire trip. 

From Yakima, a Nissan LEAF driver would have to be suicidal to drive along I-82 into Ellensburg. The high speeds of desert travel, coupled with range killing hills that also serve as speed ramps for the largest of tractor trailers--wherein it is a sport for them to gather as much speed as possible on the downhill sections to provide the big rigs momentum to make it easily over the next large hill--make this roadway quite dangerous. Seeing that the hill cycle repeats, again and again, over 30-plus miles, makes I-82 completely out of the question for current technology EVs. Actually, it would be suicide-by-EV to drive I-82. 

The alternative was to drive the splendid Canyon Road connecting Selah (Yakima) and Ellensburg. It is an awesome drive, that just so happens to be easy on the battery pack charge too. 

Once in Ellensburg, though, the driving plan changed for us. Instead of cruising along I-90 to the DC quick charging station at Suncadia Lodge in Cle Elum, the pull of The Drive directed me to take State Route 10 that parallels the interstate highway. A first for us, driving WA-10 became one of the highlights of the entire driving weekend. With a forest of deciduous trees on both sides of the road, the fall colors illuminated our afternoon drive with a multitude of oranges, yellows, and gold.

While cruising along in beautiful silence on the 16 mile stretch of WA-10, it hit me. I was intentionally driving slower than the freeway speed option over on I-90. I was intentionally prolonging our return home. I was intentionally driving like EV driver! 

Driving like an EV driver? EV driving will, for some time, carry a negative connotation that is (was) associated with driving a first generation modern electric vehicle. That view, believing that driving the byways and side streets of America is a recipe for driving insanity is simply one perspective of the experience. And to further explain why I have grown to love the EV driving experience, our next destination on the trip demonstrated that pleasure perfectly.

Roslyn: A Northern Exposure Oasis

When we arrived in Cle Elum, I again decided to take a different path. Instead of driving right to the charging station at Suncadia Lodge, we diverged to Roslyn. Roslyn is a great destination in of itself, gaining rise in popularity with the loyal viewers of the early-90s T.V. show Northern Exposure. After cruising the town, I put in Suncadia Lodge into the car's navigation. Surprisingly, the "Shortest Route" directed us through uncharted roadway. The LEAF's battery charge was getting low, but not to the point that I had to navigate the off-map areas. However, the adventurer in me was all in!

I seem to always end up on "primitive roads!"

When the pavement ended, I stopped the car to have a moment of reflection. With a low battery charge, I could not afford to drive too far on the primitive road if we had to eventually back track to make our destination. With a snapped picture and high-fives to the kids, we set out on the gravel roadway.

Harvest Festival Extravaganza!

In a complete surprise, we came upon a field full of festivities for families. Who needs to charge a car when such fun can be had?!? So, we pulled over and played. It was awesome! 

With the EV Driving Experience, stumbling onto an event like this is not as rare as one may expect. We have come across many cool activities such as the one found on this particular day. Which leads me to the "True Life: I drive electric vehicles" reality. Driving current-technology EVs affords drivers the experience of living the life of a traveler, not the "mileage hero" road warrior. 

Life is being lived by people everywhere, and there certainly are visual wonders of nature that are off the beaten path. When one is traveling, there is an intense appreciation in experiencing those moments, those cultures, those wonders along the way. That is the EV Experience for the time being. Going all-EV means to go all in. The EV Experience is not about making time, it is about experiencing life in all of its wonderful beauty and differences. 

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Nuts & Bolts: Chinook Pass Data

Slow Speed is Key to Mountain Driving

The above graph is a rough visual showing the elevation, speed, and GIDs (1 "GID" equals 80Wh) between charging stops in Enumclaw and Naches (Squaw Rock). 

The driving plan was quite simple: Drive no more than 35mph from Enumclaw to the summit. 

Once the steep downhill started on the eastern slope of Chinook Pass, I would shift into neutral to build speed. Then, at about 10mph over the speed limit, shift into either Drive or Brake mode, depending on how steep the gradient was. When the brake regeneration slowed the car down to about 5mph below the speed limit, shift once again into neutral and do the cycle again. Once the elevation flattened out, rendering the "shift neutral" technique useless, cruise control was set to 50mph to finish out the leg to Squaw Rock. 

The 45 mile trip from Enumclaw to the summit consumed about 17kWh of charge, and the 32 miles from the summit to Squaw Rock consumed about 1.4kWh of charge.