Abdication

Charging problems...

May 07, 2023

A view of the Palouse from Steptoe Butte, Washington

While many of you were watching the coronation, my friend Ross and I were wandering around eastern Washington state in my EV looking for a fast charger that works.

We were headed to the Palouse, a beautiful if somewhat mysteriously named agricultural area of fantastically rolling fields that borders Washington and Idaho, to take pictures.

Our journey from Victoria, B.C. started uneventfully enough. Our hotel, in a beautiful place called Gig Harbor, within sight of Mt. Ranier, had two level 2 EV chargers. All I had to do was to ask the nice lady at reception to chase away patrons from the bar next door who had parked where I needed to charge.

Can you make out the ghostly presence of Mt. Ranier hovering in the distance above Gig Harbor?

But after that, it was a challenge. In Yakima, it took me half an hour on the phone to Electrify America to get the charger at the Walmart to work for me. And that was the beginning of a pattern.

The next day, as we proceeded eastward, two chargers in a row, both owned by Shell Recharge, refused my credit card. At the first charger, I managed to get it to take my alternate card after a long conversation with customer service. At the second charger, it wouldn’t take either card, but after several attempts and another talk with customer service it accepted my buddy Ross’s.

But it got worse. When we got to Pullman, the home of Washington State University (Go Cougars!) the fast charger there, also a Shell Recharge, wasn’t working at all. We had to take a long, very leisurely dinner while I used a level 2 charger long enough to get to our ultimate destination: Lewiston, Idaho.

Lewiston is just across the Snake River from Clarkston. Geddit? Lewiston and Clarkston.

Anyway, there are supposed to be fast chargers near Lewiston, at an enormous new-looking casino run by the Nez Perce Tribe, with hundreds and hundreds of big pickup trucks in the parking lot. But the chargers aren’t set up.

The consequence was that Ross and I really had no hope of getting around this region in my EV to take the pictures we were after. I broke down and suggested renting a conventional gas guzzler for a couple of days.

Hence, the title of this post: Abdication.

I have dubbed our rented Nissan Altima “Edward VIII”.

Monday, when we leave this area and head back towards Seattle, we will abandon Edward VIII and resume our journey in my Leaf.

This has been a rough start to the American leg of my trip. I have learned my lesson. After this week in Washington state, I am going to try to stick to well-trafficked routes with multiple chargers along the way.

By the way, I have completely recovered from Covid—thanks to everyone who asked. I tested negative only five days after first testing positive, and I never got really sick. The only casualty was that I was unable to meet some friends along my way.

Here’s another picture of this astonishing Palouse region. Be back soon!