Kinda Alaska road trip

[Riviot]

Put them onto my map and I'll take a look. Any reason you think they're in these two locations?

Looks like the Prudhoe Bay Hotel (and most of the overnight spots) have block heaters... it'd be pretty slow, but you might get 110v charge off that?

There's an Alaska EV group who did a run up there a little while back, listed those as charging stops.

Yep, I've seen those block heaters on a lot of buildings so it makes sense you could slowly trickle up. There's a lot of random welding shops in various remote areas with 240 readily available, so while not DCFC, it'll still get you full overnight!

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[Thedude]

Please stop at the following locations and let us know if there's an EV charger. Nothing comes up on PlugShare, but I'd love to have a way to get to the Beaufort Sea with the truck!

Pump Station #4
https://maps.app.goo.gl/sJ7tM9BipxiYqhRv6

Deadhorse Airport
https://maps.app.goo.gl/vG4TkadGdnztJ2to9

I doubt either of them do. You can’t drive up to the pump stations, they’re gated and guarded typically and there’s no reason either of those locations would have an actual charger. Every parking lot in Deadhorse has 120v outlets for block heaters but many of those are on a temperature based system so they aren’t powered at all above 20-30°F and scale down to 100% duty cycle by -30°F.

 

[Phatman113]

There's an Alaska EV group who did a run up there a little while back, listed those as charging stops.

Yep, I've seen those block heaters on a lot of buildings so it makes sense you could slowly trickle up. There's a lot of random welding shops in various remote areas with 240 readily available, so while not DCFC, it'll still get you full overnight!

I selected "wall" charger on PlugShare, and now I want to know the story of this one!

 

[Riviot]

I doubt either of them do. You can’t drive up to the pump stations, they’re gated and guarded typically and there’s no reason either of those locations would have an actual charger. Every parking lot in Deadhorse has 120v outlets for block heaters but many of those are on a temperature based system so they aren’t powered at all above 20-30°F and scale down to 100% duty cycle by -30°F.

You'd be surprised what folks will let you do, or you can learn, if you simply ask nicely.

There's a contractor in Stebbins with EVs, which I'm pretty sure you can't drive to, who has their charger listed. There are plenty of people with the resources, they just might not know about ways to share.

I selected "wall" charger on PlugShare, and now I want to know the story of this one!

More block warmer plugs. There's sure to be way more around the remote regions just not listed.

 

[schwartz83]

I knew what I was getting into, but man yesterday was a slog. Got off the ferry in Haines and our destination was a campground in Tok, AK with NEMA 14-50 outlets available (440 miles away). Along the way there was one 50kW charger and a few 20kW chargers. On the plus side they were free. Due to poor roads and road construction it was 2 am when we pulled into the campground... Rivian nav had it in the left side of the road but it's on the right, so I missed it on the first pass while Rivian is firmly telling me that I'm very low on charge...yeah, I'm aware. We had a nice headwind most of the day.

Found our new campsite and plugged in. The breaker says 50amp, but Rivian is sensing 40 and limiting us to 34. We didn't get what I was planning on overnight so we'll be in Tok longer than planned. Oh well - a learning experience and we're on vacation.

 

[Phatman113]

I knew what I was getting into, but man yesterday was a slog. Got off the ferry in Haines and our destination was a campground in Tok, AK with NEMA 14-50 outlets available (440 miles away). Along the way there was one 50kW charger and a few 20kW chargers. On the plus side they were free. Due to poor roads and road construction it was 2 am when we pulled into the campground... Rivian nav had it in the left side of the road but it's on the right, so I missed it on the first pass while Rivian is firmly telling me that I'm very low on charge...yeah, I'm aware. We had a nice headwind most of the day.

Found our new campsite and plugged in. The breaker says 50amp, but Rivian is sensing 40 and limiting us to 34. We didn't get what I was planning on overnight so we'll be in Tok longer than planned. Oh well - a learning experience and we're on vacation.

If you're using the Rivian mobile charger, they're only 32A chargers, even though they have a 14-50 plug. So, that's somewhat to be expected.

Also, if you're plugged into an RV pedestal, watch for overheating those plugs, even at 32A on a 50A breaker, they're not designed for continuous load usually. I've found that I needed to keep around 26A so the heat on the plug was manageable without worrying about melting the plug (or my charger...)

 

[Riviot]

I knew what I was getting into, but man yesterday was a slog. Got off the ferry in Haines and our destination was a campground in Tok, AK with NEMA 14-50 outlets available (440 miles away). Along the way there was one 50kW charger and a few 20kW chargers. On the plus side they were free. Due to poor roads and road construction it was 2 am when we pulled into the campground... Rivian nav had it in the left side of the road but it's on the right, so I missed it on the first pass while Rivian is firmly telling me that I'm very low on charge...yeah, I'm aware. We had a nice headwind most of the day.

Found our new campsite and plugged in. The breaker says 50amp, but Rivian is sensing 40 and limiting us to 34. We didn't get what I was planning on overnight so we'll be in Tok longer than planned. Oh well - a learning experience and we're on vacation.

You've got one hairy kid. No offense.

 

[CampfireWisdom]

Keep us posted! Thank you.

 

[Glembi2]

What an awesome trip!

I would like to suggest a name for your trip:

1. Long Way Up: Alaska Edition or

2. There and back again on 50kWh chargers

 

[CBRacerX]

Great Adventure! Keep those updates coming.

 

[schwartz83]

Good day fishing today. Limited out on halibut, salmon weren't biting though. Great weather too .

Better luck with charging today too. There is a business here (Exit Marine) that Installed 3 Tesla Destination chargers for public EV use. They ask for a donation through Venmo. It's a solid half hour walk to our hotel, but we'll have a full charge to start the day tomorrow.

I'll add pictures when I get a better connection. Hotel wifi is not great

 

[MountainBikeDude]

There's an Alaska EV group who did a run up there a little while back, listed those as charging stops.

Yep, I've seen those block heaters on a lot of buildings so it makes sense you could slowly trickle up. There's a lot of random welding shops in various remote areas with 240 readily available, so while not DCFC, it'll still get you full overnight!

That was how the pair of Cybertrucks ended up charging a few times doing an arctic circle trip.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

Good day fishing today. Limited out on halibut, salmon weren't biting though. Great weather too .

Better luck with charging today too. There is a business here (Exit Marine) that Installed 3 Tesla Destination chargers for public EV use. They ask for a donation through Venmo. It's a solid half hour walk to our hotel, but we'll have a full charge to start the day tomorrow.

I'll add pictures when I get a better connection. Hotel wifi is not great

I'm very interested in your journey. BCHydro and Flo have a robust network to the Alaska border throughout BC, but after that I've considered buying a small genset that can meet two criteria:

- fit under the closed tonneau
- deliver 7kW steady (240v @30A min. ) not peak.

The tricky part is something that fits under the tonneau.

One thing you could consider if there are any RV sites, those would at least give you the option of 30 or 50amp outlets and you could charge there overnight. Some RV sites are getting a bit restrictive on EV's because of the constant high power draw.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

What an awesome trip!

I would like to suggest a name for your trip:

1. Long Way Up: Alaska Edition or

2. There and back again on 50kWh chargers

Doing the trip, I would be totally content with reliable 50kW chargers, but if the entire trip was mostly reliant on L2 in Alaska... That would suck. Especially when most are 6kW or less.

 

[Phatman113]

I'm very interested in your journey. BCHydro and Flo have a robust network to the Alaska border throughout BC, but after that I've considered buying a small genset that can meet two criteria:

- fit under the closed tonneau
- deliver 7kW steady (240v @30A min. ) not peak.

The tricky part is something that fits under the tonneau.

One thing you could consider if there are any RV sites, those would at least give you the option of 30 or 50amp outlets and you could charge there overnight. Some RV sites are getting a bit restrictive on EV's because of the constant high power draw.

Most 50A RV chargers will melt if you try to pull a constant draw to charge your EV. Last time I used one I needed to ramp down to 24A before the plug felt cool enough that I wasn't concerned with ruining the equipment or starting a fire...

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