Trip to Yosemite in new Rav4 EV

[solarjackpv]

Last weekend in loaded the bikes on the trailer hitch bike rack, and left from Fresno to Yosemite village. It's a 89 mile trip up to 5500 feet and down to around 4000 feet in the valley.

I stopped off in oakhurst to check out the Chargepoint in town. That unit was not functioning. I didn't need to charge but just wanted to check it out for future EV drivers.

At the crest of the summit I reaches Fish Camp where there is a charging station at the Tenya lodge. I had lunch and enjoyed my time there while I got a little juice, picked up 15 miles of range in 45 mins. When I got to Yosemite village instill had 35 miles of range left. There is a 32amp clipper creek station near the store in Yosemite village. Great spot to part, unload te bikes and explore the park for the day. End of day the Rav was charged and I was good to drive home. On the way home I started off with 110 miles range and drove 89 miles and still had 61 miles range left.

Highly recommend taking your rav to Yosemite. Had tons of people asking and checking out the car. Also I spoke to all the hotels and asked them to add more chargers. Currently there is only one in the whole part. Yet there are no gas stations in the park

 

[Ziggygreybeard]

Sounds great!
Wonder how I might do that from San Francisco?
City driving is GREAT in 'Elektra' (my new blue Rav4EV...
but I'm tempted to stretch it out for a modest Road Trip.
Guess I have some research to do.
Zig

 

[khaliss]

Solarjack, I'm in Clovis... I also did a little pleasure drive on our Rav4-EV up to Shaver Lake just this weekend. When/where did you get yours?

Got a bike rack installed too... thanks for posting your trip, I might swing by Yosemite soon! Thinking of going to China Peak, want to try out mountain biking (I'm currently a roadie)

 

[khaliss]

Also, my wife wants to try a trip to Gilroy Factory Outlet Stores... it's a 127 mile trip. If it was purely flat, I'd be confident... but Pacheco Pass might be a roadblock. You think we can make it? =) Wish there's an L2 charger in Los Banos. Plugshare says that KOA RV campground has a 240V outlet but no L2 charger(?)

 

[TonyWilliams]

Also, my wife wants to try a trip to Gilroy Factory Outlet Stores... it's a 127 mile trip. If it was purely flat, I'd be confident... but Pacheco Pass might be a roadblock. You think we can make it? =) Wish there's an L2 charger in Los Banos. Plugshare says that KOA RV campground has a 240V outlet but no L2 charger(?)

I'd go for it!!

Drive 55mph until the peak of the pass (heater / ac off, just fan) and then you'll have a great idea of what you need to go downhill (not much).

 

[Dsinned]

I'd love to drive to Yosemite in my RAV4 EV with my wife and two small dogs. I could probably make it 2/3rds of the way from San Jose, but would need a place to stay in-route to charge to make it the rest of the way. I doubt if there are many places to charge in and around Mariposa about 35 miles from El Portal park entrance.

Last trip, I stayed in an El Portal motel situated right along the Merced River. It was a perfect spot to spend the night after driving up in a rented 2010 RAV4. However, I did not see any place there or in the park itself to charge an EV except from 120V outlets back at the motel.

Was the charger you found near the store in Yosemite Valley an EVSE L2 freebie? Chargepoint?

I'd really like to go up again this time of year when all the waterfalls are in full plume. They were totally dried up last October, but the view from Glacier Pt was fantastic. I now have a lifetime pass to visit the park (only cost me $10 last visit as a "senior citizen), so I plan to go to Yosemite again this year, and hopefully every year from now on.

 

[Bassman]

I'll have to try the trip to Yosemite from Angels Camp. Good to hear they have an EVSE in Yosemite. Did a quick afternoon trip to Bear Valley from my place. A 6500 foot climb and ran the car to turtle at 148 miles total. The Bear Valley portion was only 110 miles, so I drove around for an additional 38 miles just to see how far I could go.

 

[GRA]

I'd love to drive to Yosemite in my RAV4 EV with my wife and two small dogs. I could probably make it 2/3rds of the way from San Jose, but would need a place to stay in-route to charge to make it the rest of the way. I doubt if there are many places to charge in and around Mariposa about 35 miles from El Portal park entrance.

Last trip, I stayed in an El Portal motel situated right along the Merced River. It was a perfect spot to spend the night after driving up in a rented 2010 RAV4. However, I did not see any place there or in the park itself to charge an EV except from 120V outlets back at the motel.

Was the charger you found near the store in Yosemite Valley an EVSE L2 freebie? Chargepoint?

I'd really like to go up again this time of year when all the waterfalls are in full plume. They were totally dried up last October, but the view from Glacier Pt was fantastic. I now have a lifetime pass to visit the park (only cost me $10 last visit as a "senior citizen), so I plan to go to Yosemite again this year, and hopefully every year from now on.

You can do it. Assuming a weekend trip and you leave Friday after work, drive to Patterson via 680/580/5, 101/152/5, or if you're feeling adventurous and want to take the slow scenic route, over Mt. Hamilton, and stay in the Best Western Villa Del Lago which has 4 free Chargepoint L2s and allows pets.

The next morning, although you _might_ be able to make it non-stop from Patterson, I think it would be better to drive 21 miles to Turlock via J17 (Las Palmas/Main St.) to the Monte Vista Small Animal Hospital, 901 E. Monte Vista Ave, and charge on their L2. I'd call before your trip, 209-634-0023 to see if they're okay with that, whether you need a card, whether the power is on in the morning outside of normal business hours etc. Unfortunately, Google lists the nearest motel in Turlock as 2.6 miles away, so unless you're up for a long walk Friday evening and Saturday morning, or you bring a bike, staying in Turlock overnight isn't an option. And the nearest place to get something like breakfast appears to be the Starbucks on Geer Rd. 1.2 miles away, although I suppose you could walk the dogs there and back while you're charging.

From there, you can either take SR 99 to Merced and then SR 140 all the way to the Valley (107 miles), or else take E. Monte Vista to Montpellier Rd./Oakdale Rd., turn right and drive to J17 (Turlock Rd.), make a left onto it and continue past Hopeton until you meet SR 59. Continue east on that to Snelling, where you get on Merced Falls Rd. (J16), still going east. Make a right onto Hornitos Rd. (J16) and follow that well past Hornitos until you make a left onto Old Toll Rd., which you follow to SR 49. Right there and follow it through Mt. Bullion to Mariposa, where you join SR 140 and follow that to Yosemite Valley. This route is shorter (99 miles) and also should be easier to drive slower if you need to. It also never goes over 4,000 ft., unlike SR 41 which makes you climb to over 6,000 at Chinquapin before descending to the Valley.

The Clipper Creek charger in the valley is free, but they would like you to let the people in the garage know you're using it, if they're there. And wherever you stay in the valley, it wouldn't hurt if you were to mention that it would be very helpful if they were to install L2s at accommodations throughout the park (at a minimum in the Valley, at Wawona and Tuolumne Meadows), instead of just the one in the Village parking lot.

Coming back, with a full charge and a late morning or early afternoon start on Sunday, you should be able to make Patterson non-stop and hang out there long enough to get you the 80 freeway miles or so (via 5/580/680) of charge you need to get you back to San Jose. It's a crying shame that Toyota didn't include QC capability in the RAV4, because once there are QCs in say Manteca or Oakdale and Merced, anyone in the Bay Area could get to the park with a single QC to 100%.