Charging Down Route 66

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rkarl89203

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 15, 2014
Messages
405
Hello everyone!
We are establishing this topic to chronicle our imiev trip down the entire length of Route 66.
It appears we are the first to drive the entire route in an imiev.
We just wanted to thank everyone for the comments and suggestions on our previous "get your kicks on route 66" thread.
We will be concentrating on the technical aspects of charging as well as any unexpected problems
Or unusual imiev aspects of the trip.
Please let us know what you think....Please send us any suggestions and comments. We are hoping to meet some of our fellow imiev enthusiasts on the road!
----Rick and Selinda Karl

Moderator Edit: Here is the link to their trip preparations: Get Your Kicks on Route 66
 
We are going to be hard-copy logging information. Every evening we will be posting full accounts of whatever happened during the days trip. Special emphasis will be applied to regenerative braking success to extend range, and to types of (and duration of) charging. We solicit comments of all sorted and suggestions are welcome.
The one thing I haven't been able to figure out yet is how to post a picture here.
Please help!
We are leaving in 62 hours ...But who's counting? Looks like 51 degrees and rain when we leave!
 
I've been here pretty much since the beginning and I've never posted a picture on my own - It's surely not as easy as it could be or as easy as it actually is on most other forums I participate in

Basically, you have to 'host' your photos on some other site designed for photographs and then link here to where your picture is hosted. Since I don't have any of my photos hosted anywhere but on my own computer, I can't post a photo here . . . . unless someone else hosts that one photo for me and gives me the link to where they have it

Maybe one day it will be easier??

Don
 
Thanks for the reply!
Oh well. No pictures then lol.
Perhaps at the end of each week we can put them on a photo host site...
At the end of the trip we will provide photo CDs to anyone who wants one.
Mostly they will be photos at Charging locations and in front of famous route 66 attractions. I really want a photo of our imiev at the Continental Divide!
 
Looking to be through there about the 20th. Going to stop at O'brien Mitsubishi where we bought our imiev
 
Thanks Ed.
We leave late tomorrow, and start down the Route in Chicago on Saturday just before noon.
 
We left today at 1PM. Drove to McHenry County College in Woodstock Il. Topped up our charge at their Semaconnect L2 charger. Good Conversation, administrator said "I didnt know Mitsubishi made an Electric Car. " Drove to Algonquin IL , charged for 20 minutes at their Semaconnect L2. Then we drove to Palatine IL and charged at EVGO chademo at walgreens($8.00). We arrived at our days destination . Great Lakes Navy Lodge at 5 PM. So, 1/2 day of travel, 84 miles. 35 miles RR left(8 Bars).
Cool start. We should hit the start of route 66 at about noon tomorrow!
 
Day 2 on our trip began quietly. Breakfast at Navy Lodge and a 2 hour L2 charge at Knauz BMW at Lake Forest Illinois. They had 3 Chargepoint Chargers. Two were being used and the third wouldnt activate. Went inside and a truly nice supervisor came out and rebooted the inactive charger. It worked great. They really impressed us. The drive to Chicago was uneventful until we pulled into the Grant Avenue parking garage. Their level 2 charger was out of order. We had to use our EVSE upgraded L1 charger to get enough range to get to the Berwyn quickcharger. Took 3 hours. That got us 21 miles RR. With only 9 miles to Spare we got to Berwyn about 4PM. Quickcharged to 80%.
Evgo, altho pricey, really rocks! Stopped at White Fence Farm for an awesome Chicken dinner. Then topped up at Adventist Hospital at Bolingbrook. Great L2 chargepoint charger. Due to the L1 Chicago fiasco only did 85 miles today. Had a great time!. Tomorrow, on to Dwight and Bloomington/Normal. So much to see.
Imiev running flawlessly as usual.
 
Off to a good start! Yes, our experience with EVgo is that they are horribly expensive (if you don't sign up for their monthly plan), but I've found them to be very reliable.

Presumably this is the charging station in Berwyn: https://api.plugshare.com/view/location/5256

For those of you trying to track the trip, here is the link to their original itinerary:

http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2677&start=70#p30395

Here are EVgo's rates (for us here in the SF Bay Area) which would make sense for this trip:
(words from their website)

FOR FREQUENT FAST CHARGING
Monthly fee $14.95
DC fast 10¢ / min.*
Level 2 $1.00 / hr.*
Contract term 12 months
Setup fee None
Early termination $29

Compared to their non-contract rate:

GREAT FOR OCCASIONAL CHARGING
Monthly fee None
DC fast $4.95 session + 20¢ / min.*
Level 2 $1.50 / hr.*
Contract term Month-to-month
Setup fee $4.95
Early termination None
 
Yep. We really like EVGO. We have had a good day today. Lots of stops and all of the chargers work! Will post later tonite on the particulars. Charging right now at the Dwight Il rte 66 visitor center. Cool!
 
One MAIN bit of advice, 3 days into the 55 day round trip. GET YOUR EVSE UPGRADE!. This upgraded quicker charger is a massive improvement.
It has saved us twice on this trip already!

As far as today went, we charged at the Adventist Hospital in Bolingbrook. Crazy fast L2 Chargepoint!. Then we topped up at Joliet Junior College also L2 chargepoint. At the Dwight IL rte 66
Visitor center charged for 2.5 hours!
All the chargers worked well.
Currently staying at Quality Inn in Pontiac IL where i am charging L1 with my EVSE upgraded charger. Will charge enuf tonight to get to Obrien Mitsubishi in Bloomington/Normal in the morning. Thats where we bought our imiev 3 years ago!
 
Day 4 began with Thunderstorms big time. Still, they cleared out quickly enuf for us to Charge for 2 hours before we left for Bloomington. Drove to Obrien Mitsubishi where we charged at their L2 for an hour while we talked with our
Salesman, Jay Miller who sold us our imiev. Then, drove to the L3 DCQC 2 miles away and quickcharged for Free!
Topped off for free at the same parking garage at L2. Awesome. Drove to the Dixie Truck stop in McLean and had a HUGE meal! Then drove to Atlanta IL and charged to 75 miles on their L2. After all that drove to Lincoln IL and we are staying at the Econolodge. Charging at L1 with the plug virtually right outside our window
A good but very long day!
 
Rick, thanks for keeping us up-to-date. I started trying to keep track of your predicted vs. actual mileage and was wondering if you could post your odometer reading or actual mileage covered at the end of each day? Can you go back and post that for day #3 and day #4? It should result in an interesting metric for anyone contemplating a long trip in the future.
 
Hi all;
Day 5 was AWESOME!

First. A word to Joe S; i am sorry i forgot to post total miles for days 3 and 4.
On day 3 we drove 87 miles.
On day 4 we drove 76 miles.
Today, on Day 5 we drove 97 miles.

As i said, today Day 5 was great! We awoke at 7 oclock and charged L1 right outside our window at the Econolodge. After a great Breakfast we sww many historic sites on the way to Springfield IL. Of course we got lost in Springfield and just coincidentally found the Cozy Dog Drive in on Route 66. As we were eating Buzz Waldmire came over. He is Bobs surviving brother and we talked for at least 1 hour. This is a route 66 legend and we talked to him. We were in Awe. Afterwards we drove past the Illinois Capitol Building. We stopped to charge at Green Mitsubishi.
Plugged into their L2 charger. In 45 minutes we got TW0 miles. Horrible.
So we drove to the nearby Hyvee charger (L2 Chargepoint) and charged for 2 hours. I will post more in the next entry about Day 5
 
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