CCS chargers between Portland and Seattle

[lafish]

I'm seriously thinking about placing my order for an e-Golf soon, but as I live in Washington, that means buying in Portland and driving home. Are there enough CCS fast chargers along I-5 to get from Portland to Seattle without heroic measures? Otherwise I guess I'd need the dealer to deliver, which isn't out of the question, but somehow less satisfying than driving home.

 

[cove3]

https://na.chargepoint.com/charge_point

I think VW is part of the chargepoint network with a smart phone application for finding stations. I think Level 3 CCS are just starting to go in so you may not finf any.

All the VW and BMW dealers have Level 2 I believe

Ron

 

[jess300ztt]

I'm seriously thinking about placing my order for an e-Golf soon, but as I live in Washington, that means buying in Portland and driving home. Are there enough CCS fast chargers along I-5 to get from Portland to Seattle without heroic measures? Otherwise I guess I'd need the dealer to deliver, which isn't out of the question, but somehow less satisfying than driving home.

The e-Golf I just preordered yesterday is ready for me to claim. I was given the option of having the paperwork FedEx'd to me and the car loaded up on a truck and shipped out to Vegas from Santa Monica (250 miles). Definitely not satisfying, but better than driving 4 hours one way to L.A. just to tow the car back; or trying to drive the car back and turning a 4 hour trip into 24+ hour waiting extravaganza.

 

[lafish]

How much did the charge you to truck it?

 

[EvilSpock]

There are no CCS fast chargers between Portland and Seattle, there are very few in the US. I don't see how it would be practical. There a plenty of places to charge at lvl2 in 4 hours, but you would need to charge up twice.

 

[jess300ztt]

How much did the charge you to truck it?

I'm going to be towing it after all. I just got word that VW is not doing the $299 leasing deal for people purchasing out of state so the car needs to be registered in CA...lucky I have a home in California I can register it to.

The one I've pre-ordered is only the 2nd one they have received and waiting for me....and technically will be the 2nd one sold in the U.S.. Sounds like each dealership is only getting one or two right now.

 

[GRA]

I'm seriously thinking about placing my order for an e-Golf soon, but as I live in Washington, that means buying in Portland and driving home. Are there enough CCS fast chargers along I-5 to get from Portland to Seattle without heroic measures? Otherwise I guess I'd need the dealer to deliver, which isn't out of the question, but somehow less satisfying than driving home.

The best source for finding charging stations is Plugshare: http://www.plugshare.com/

On the page, to find CCS stations uncheck all but the 'High Power Stations" box in the drop down 'Legend' menu in the upper right, then click on "More Options" at the bottom of that box (or the gear wheel icon in the center of the tool bar) which brings up the 'Settings' menu, and uncheck "CHAdeMO DCFC" and "Tesla SuperCharger" in the "Outlets (Local)" section.

As it happens, you're currently SoL; there aren't any CCS chargers between Portland and Seattle, so you'll need to go back to the 'Legend' menu and re-check "Public stations", then uncheck everything except "EV Plug (J1772)" and if you want, "Wall Outlet (120V)" to see your L2 and L1 options. Note that I'm assuming that you won't have an EVSE that can handle NEMA 14-50 or some of the other more exotic receptacles right when you purchase the car. Provided that you already have the appropriate charging network cards or else you only use free chargers which don't require a card, you have plenty of L2 options along I-5. If you take it slow (55), you can probably make Portland - Seattle with just a single ca. 4 hour en route stop for charging, but since this will be your first time, plan on making at least two stops. Note that the car will charge fastest up to about 80% of full, then the charge rate tapers - the last 20% may take almost as long as the first 60-80%, so it's generally not worth waiting for that last 20% if you have enough range (plus a reserve) to get to the next charging station.