SF to Yosemite advice?

[gsqrd]

After 10 mos. of ownership I'm going to road trip! R1S. Will drive from south bay (Saratoga) to Yosemite and back, 210 mi. each way One long day.
There is a RAN in Manteca at 100mi or so. An EA in Bucks Meadow at 150mi, and Rivian L2 at park. Inclination is to hit RAN to 80% then hope L2s available at park.
Could charge to near full and get home without another charge stop. Too adventuresome? If park chargers full or unavailable It is 50+ miles back to EA. Curious what seasoned Riviots would do. Thanks

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[frogblast]

That trip is easy, just charge at Buck's Meadow on the way there, and then drive back, and don't worry about charging in the valley, and stop if you run low once you return to the central valley or bay area (so many options, don't need to plan ahead).

I do that round trip frequently in my Niro EV, which has much less range. I actually usually charge in Groveland while inbound, which is even more of a stretch. The charger there is slow for a Rivian (62kw) but it has food nearby, so I prefer it (and its fast enough for my Niro).

 

[Ingo B]

When we drove the Redwood National Forests (way up north), I planned the drive around the RANs since they're free and extremely reliable. From hearsay, EAs can be hit or miss, and most of the Chargepoints are Level 2s. Use Plugshare to check the stations en route. It's a good way to know ahead of time if stations are working, broken, slow, etc.

I would hit the RANs just for the experience of it, but agree with frogblast - the trip is pretty easy, so you should have zero issues.

 

[A Land Rover Forever]

easy Manteca to Manteca.

 

[Mathme]

As others have said, charge at the EA close to Yosemite as you have to climb 6,000-7,000 or more feet on the way up to the valley. I drive to the Lake Tahoe Area quite a bit and the 100 mile drive from Sac to the lake can easily take 50% of the battery (1/kWh going up the pass).

I've heard those RAN Destination chargers are always choked with Tesla's in the Village.

I'd charge back to 80ish percent on the way back in Manteca. I live in the Palo Alto area the last time I came over that stretch, it took about 50% of battery to get back to the Bay Area as there's always a strong headwind once you get to Tracy, over the Altimont Pass, and all the way over to 680.

 

[azbill]

I was in Yosemite in August and was able to use a Waypoint charger there. But all of them were full of Teslas when I Ieft. I planned my visit so that I could get to the EA chargers in Bridgeport from the park. I was staying in Tahoe when I made a day trip there.

 

[nothinglimited]

I would charge at Manteca both ways because it's such a good experience on RAN. I would probably charge again at Buck Meadows on the way into the valley to be comfortable and not depend on the slower, crowded chargers inside the park, unless you do a lot of driving while there.

 

[mikehmb]

As others have said, the Manteca RAN is great. I’d use it as your base to charge there and back. You’ll lose a lot of range on the climb up depending how far you go. If I was hitting Tioga, I’d definitely feel better topping off closer to the park.

For reference, I hit Manteca, got to 100% (while having lunch), then got to Utica reservoir with about 52% remaining. That’s about a 7k’ climb.

 

[paariv]

I did this trip over Labor Day, starting in SF itself. Charged at Manteca on the way there, camped 3 nights in the Valley, and drove back.

Valley chargers were choked with people (it was Labor Day, after all) and very slow. Probably better to charge up at a fast charger close to the Valley than to fight the crowds for a charger at Yosemite Valley Lodge given that this is a day trip. Even if you find one in the Valley - which is iffy - you won't get a lot of charge unless you're there and charging all day.

There may be more chargers now - there were some new ones at the day use parking lot across from Camp 4 that were not yet fully installed a month ago, but looked close and may be online now or soon.

I didn't have to stop to charge on the way back at all once I was fully charged. Car was great the whole time!

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