Can an EV Make the Trip to Yakima?

For my grandfather's 91st birthday, I thought it would be nice to take Sabrina and Charlie to see Great Grandpa in Yakima this past weekend.  Tanya and I haven't visited Grandpa since owning an EV, and frankly I was always concerned with the feasibility of the trip with our kids.  With the successful BC2BC trip under my belt, I figured that if a LEAF can cover the "EV Badlands" of California, where there isn't a J1772 or CHAdeMO for hundreds of miles in much of the state, then visiting my grandfather in Yakima ought to be doable.

Before leaving, it looked like we would be okay to CHAdeMO quick charge all the way to Cle Elum. However, successfully traversing I-82 from Ellensburg to Yakima seemingly would require some Level 2 time in Ellensburg.  When asking for route options from fellow LEAF owners on the Seattle owner's Facebook site, there were suggestions to travel along the Canyon Road instead of I-82.  Avoiding the steep terrain of I-82 sounded good--the Canyon Road was the way to go!

The Canyon Road from Ellensburg to Selah is such a beautiful drive!

This trip was also the first time that I would use the data logging feature from the LEAF Battery application.  This Android app was developed by "Turbo3" from the My Nissan Leaf forum. Using this app was a critical part of the successful BC2BC drive, and having it for the drive to Yakima would be important so that I would not end up stranded on the side of the road with a two and five-year-old.

Not only did we successfully make the trip from Lake Stevens to Yakima, but it was downright easy! We utilized only CHAdeMO quick charging--Level 2 charging in Ellensburg was not necessary at all.

Here is how it looked:

Bellevue College DCQC to Snoqualmie DCQC

We did a long charge at Bellevue College, leaving with 267 GIDs @ 92% State of Charge ("SOC" hereafter).  I wasn't sure if we could make it to the Summit at Snoqualmie with a more typical 80% charge.

We arrived at the Snoqualmie summit with 70 GIDs @ 33% SOC remaining.  Driving at 60 m.p.h., this is an easy leg in the summer, and can probably be driven in the winter too.

Snoqualmie DCQC to Suncadia Lodge DCQC

Even with a quick charge to just 199 GIDs/71% SOC at Snoqualmie Pass, it was way more than what was needed to drive to Suncadia Lodge at 60 mph.  I could've made up some time by driving this leg at 70 mph or charging less at the Summit.  We arrived at Suncadia with 70 GIDs/33% SOC.

Suncadia Lodge DCQC to Yakima via Canyon Road

It is a good thing that Tony Williams amended the rules of the "100 Mile Club" because, with an elevation profile like this, I could've driven all the way to Goldendale on a single charge.  Note that the ~800 foot uptick at the end of this leg was due to Grandpa's home being actually outside of town, up in the Naches Heights area.

Back at the Suncadia Lodge, we did an hour-long charge and departed with 280 GIDs/96% SOC. Pulling into Grandpa's place, the battery was at 111 GIDs/45% SOC.  When we arrived into Yakima, there was still more than half of the battery charge remaining--charging to 80% at Suncadia would be more than enough to make the summer time drive into Yakima possible.

The return trip was even easier--we only quick charged twice.  Driving from Yakima to Suncadia is no problem, again driving the Canyon Road.  We arrived at the Suncadia Lodge with 47 GIDs/24% SOC. In the winter time, I recommend driving on WA-10 from Ellensburg to Cle Elum to avoid the freeway speeds of I-90.

The CHAdeMO at the Summit is proving to be a great location.  We made it back home to Lake Stevens (~75 miles) with just an 80% charge, driving 65 mph from the Summit to Issaquah, then 60 mph on I-90/I-405/I-5 the rest of the way home.

Taking our gas car to Grandpa's house used to take four hours, with a couple of stops along the way for our kids.  On this trip with the LEAF, it took five and a half hours to get to Yakima, and five hours for the return.  If we were to take advantage of doing the minimal charging needed at the CHAdeMO stations, the trip to my grandfather's house could be done in just about the same time that it took us to drive using our gas-powered vehicle.  Now, that is amazing!

BC2BC: B4N!

Today, Sabrina and I took my wife, Tanya, and son, Charlie, up to Blaine, WA.  While we have been officially done with the BC2BC All Electric Vehicle Rally for some time, we've only been home from our trip a few days.  Today's 85 mile trip north completed our BC2BC...2BC rally.  Driving this last leg today with our whole family provided some closure for the trip.  I was not expecting to feel this sense of "closure" however, and as such, I am trying to sort through why today's experience of driving back to Blaine has me thinking more introspectively.

British Columbia to Baja California to British Columbia: BC2BC2BC

The memories that I seem to perpetuate nowadays are those that involve my family unit.  Creating memories with Sabrina was certainly a major, if not the, determining factor in deciding to drive an electric vehicle more than 3500 miles in just over two weeks time.  Not only was I hoping to have memorable daddy/daughter experiences on the road, but I also hoped to create an event that would become part of the Coram narrative.  Our family can look back on this trip in the years to come and say, "Wow!  That was nuts!"

Yes, driving a Nissan LEAF that far is nuts.  But it is not as outlandish as one may presume.  Driving a quick charge-capable EV, like the LEAF, from state to state is actually a fairly painless experience.  Of course, with the current state of the CHAdeMO (the particular quick charge supply equipment for the LEAF) infrastructure, long-distance travel is only easy in Washington and Oregon.  If these two states can be traversed in a day each, then one may ask why it took us another week to travel the length of California.

 West Coast CHAdeMO Quick Charger Locations

Looking at the map, it is evident why driving a Nissan LEAF the north-south length of California is tough.  It will only be a matter of time, however, until the CHAdeMO infrastructure is completed enough that families will be driving their respective EVs from Seattle to Disneyland.

It is remarkable what Washington and Oregon have done to make intra and interstate travel possible.  Why California, which has more CHAdeMO stations by number than either of its neighbors to the north, chose to focus so heavily on the the Bay Area and L.A. is remarkable.  A remarkably big mistake.  In the Puget Sound region, people who do not own an EV are surprised when they hear that our family does not own a gas-powered car.  In California, it was the Nissan LEAF drivers who were in complete disbelief that we owned two LEAFs and no gas vehicles.  For them, a LEAF is an in-town proposition only.

That brings me back to today's experience of returning to Blaine.  Easily driving our LEAF to the Peace Arch Park today made me think that perhaps the more enduring memory that Sabrina and I will look back on is that it took us so long to drive to Southern California back in 2013, and how ridiculously nuts that was!

With our trip being over, I do hope that we have the opportunity to stay in contact with folks both from the rally and of those who we met along the way.  And just maybe, we will have a chance to meet up again and share some stories of the fun and frustrations of the drive...or perhaps race for the border again!

Memorable Moments