We did the opposite trip earlier in the year. I used ABRP and the EA app to plan.

NB many EA locations in SoCal we found had lines (some 14 cars long!) and hence restricted charging to 80%.

Plan accordingly, and have options (like a Tesla adapter).

 

Regardless of my previous experience or that of others, check on PlugShare and in the EA app to verify the stations you hope to use are up. I-5 through that part of California is pretty good as there are EV charging possibilities at nearly every exit that is large enough to have a gas station. Not all are EA though.

If going down US-101 through the Bay Area, the EA in Gilroy is usually a little busy but I've never had to wait very long. Fast food, etc. near there and its at the edge of an outlets so there is other shopping.

The EA at the Panoche exit is pretty grim. It is at an otherwise abandoned and derelict business. That said, chargers were available and worked when I needed to use it.

The EA at the Kettleman City exit is adjacent to a fairly decent Mexican restaurant. Has a canopy which can be nice in the Central Valley heat.

Once you are in the LA metro area expect the EA stations to be very busy. The northern most EA in the LA metro area is at a Walmart a couple miles off I-5 at the north end of Santa Clarita. A few years ago it wasn't too bad but last time I tried to charge there it was a mess with a fairly long wait time. Might have better luck with the Stevenson Ranch EA a few miles further south. Last I used them they were the old 150 kW units but at least I didn't have to wait.

If you don't mind waiting a while, maybe have a picnic lunch packed, the free CalTrans 50 (or maybe 60) kW charger at the southbound I-5 rest area in Lebec could be used. From there, between the 4,600 ft elevation loss and slower LA traffic should get you all the way to San Diego.

 

If it helps, there is a new 20 charger station on Santa Monica Boulevard at about 18th Street. I used it on a week day afternoon after a service visit to Hyundai and half the stations were open. Although, if you're heading to O.C., you may stay on the I15 and I can't offer any suggestions for that route.
We plan to make a trip like this, north to south for us, so I look forward to your updates.

 

Thanks for he tips thus far. I will likely travel I5.

 

I realized that my post was not clear about what travel route south of Gilroy. All the other locations in my post are along I-5.

Most of my trips from SoCal to the SF Bay Area end up in the South Bay (Sunnyvale, San Jose, etc.). From there south the fastest route is US 101 to Gilroy, then CA 152 to I-5 near Los Banos, then south on I-5. So that is what I wrote about.

Not sure how you want to get from Sonoma County down to the Los Banos area on I-5. Through San Francisco then down US-101 or I-280 both put your through San Francisco. East Bay via I-680 and I-580 maybe. Or avoid freeways and go through Fairfield and Rio Vista? Anyway, with 100% SOC leaving home you probably will not need to recharge until you are heading south on I-5.

 

I’m probably heading from home in far Eastern Santa Rosa down 12 to 37, 780 to 680 to 580 and then 5. Have done the trip numerous times before but had traveled from Oakland/SF in my GTI so just needled only needed 1 gas stop. Recently moved up to Sonoma County and got the Ioniq. Loving both.

 

We just moved to Santa Rosa too and love it! Also love my Ioniq 5🙂.

 

It's not really relevant to your question but, since you'll be in Orange County, you might be interested in trying out the Rove charging station that opened in Santa Ana last year.

ROVE opens first electric vehicle charging center in Santa Ana - City of Santa Ana​

Rove Opens First EV Charging Plaza in California, More to Come​

Full-service EV charging station opens in Santa Ana – NBC Los Angeles​

 

I drove TWICE from Orange County to South Bay / Bay Area. Assuming same run as me when I return for your Bay Area to So Cal run: 101 to 152 Cut across at Gilroy to I-5.

You will lose range climbing up the Grapevine, but you won't consume much on the down stretches if at all

2 Paths - I avoid 405 and go down 5

Path 1 - I go to 90% on stops if I can
1) EA At Gilroy Outlets, many chargers and always available right away or a one car wait
2) EA Harris Ranch (Wait can be bad)
3) EA Enos Lane
4) EA Anaheim Plaza

Path 2 - Avoiding EA Harris Ranch - since these are more stops - take it to 80% on all except on #4
1) EA At Gilroy Outlets, many chargers and always available right away or a one car wait
2) EA Panoche
3) EA Kettleman City
4) EA Enos Lane
5) EA Anaheim Plaza

 

Interesting on "Path 2”. . . And I guess on “Path 1” too.

I’ve had no issue getting from the Gilroy Outlets EA to the Kettleman City EA. Granted, I usually stick to the speed limit and as long as I’m at a charging stop I often take it to 90% SOC. Looking at my log book for the last time I came down that way, it was 135.4 miles from the Gilroy Outlets EA to the Kettleman City EA. I charged to 90% at Gilroy and rolled into Kettleman City with 33%. So I don’t see the need for charging at Panoche.

From Kettleman City EA to our cabin in the mountains above Lebec is 121 miles and we used 68% last time I did this. From experience, from Lebec to Santa Clarita uses just about 0% SOC as it is downhill. This leads me to believe that Kettleman City to Santa Clarita would be very doable without an additional charging stop at Enos Lane .

From the Castaic Junction exit for the Kelly Johnson Pkwy EA (north side of Santa Clarita) it is just over 100 miles to the San Diego county line. For reference, we typically use 45% SOC from our cabin to our home in far south OC. So a charging stop somewhere in Santa Clarita should get you anywhere in OC.

So, I’d suggest "Path 3":
1) EA at Gilroy Outlets
2) EA at Kettleman City
3) EA somewhere in Santa Clarita. The Walmart one (Kelly Johnson Pkwy EA) would be the northern most but not very nice nowadays (Plugshare score 4.8). The couple of times I tried to use it, I had to wait at the Westfield Valencia Town Center EA (Plugshare score 8.4), so I would consider the Stevenson Ranch Plaza EA (Plugshare score 10).

Maybe that is not the fastest way, but I generally prefer fewer but longer stops. Not that my stops have been all that long. The EA app tells me my last session at the Gilroy Outlets EA going from 18% to 90% took 23 minutes. And at Kettleman City EA going from 33% to 90% took me just under 20 minutes.

If you have a heavier load, worse weather, or drive above the speed limit this might not work for you. But to me three charging stops instead of five is a good thing.

 

I drive OC to LA often. My latest trick if I need to charge along the way is to bring up the neat by chargers and when I see one with more than one stall open for any length of time, I know there's no line. Also, a 150 with no line is a **** of a lot faster than a 350 with one. (duh!).

 

Thanks for the tip. I likely will not pass through Gilroy sine I am coming from Sonoma County and will take 5 and avoid San Jose. Panache is 190 miles fro my starting point so will probably need ro figure out a stopping point before that.

 

Are you using Plugshare? If not, you certainly should. Plugshare info is much more current than people's opinions here.

190 miles should be fine with a 100% charge, my first stop on trips is generally ~200 miles.

 

Thamks for all of the tips. You folks are great! I watched a video from the Ioniq guy and he indicated that he has rece used the in car navigation for a lengthy road trip in his pre-2025 ionicand after an earlier bad review found that it was particularly positive to use. Any feedback from folks, positive or negative, regarding using the in cat navigation with the charging stops identified?

 

I watched a video from the Ioniq guy and he indicated that he has rece used the in car navigation for a lengthy road trip in his pre-2025 ionicand after an earlier bad review found that it was particularly positive to use. Any feedback from folks, positive or negative, regarding using the in cat navigation with the charging stops identified?

I find the in-car nav's rage estimates very useful, although you do need to know its idiotsyncracies. (intentional misspelling)

We use it on all our trips, the most recent being an Aug-Sept trip of 8,690 miles. I use it to plot the next charger and determine how much to charge to get there. I NEVER use it to plot a whole trip or to find stations. That's what Plugshare is for. The main drawback is that it won't show a negative arrival state of charge so you're left to your own devices to anticipate how much longer you'll be charging at that stop. Once it knows you can get there, you have something to work with, but it's still not fully baked. It will almost certainly be very pessimistic. 97 times out of a hundred, it will initially want you to stop part way to your chosen charger and add maybe 20% so you can get there with 30% or some screwy thing. As long as I know that what it wants me to add is equal to or less than what it predicts for the final arrival, I ignore the nagging.

For example, on our way from Cedar City, UT to Kalispell, MT we stopped to charge at Beaver, UT. We departed the Beaver Superchargers at 59% because they are pretty slow and I set the EA in Spanish Fork, 147 miles up the road, as our next charging stop. The car complained bitterly as I passed charger after charger where it insisted we needed to stop along the way. Eventually, it relented and said we would get there at 0%. That's when I told my wife that we would get there at 5% and that's exactly what our SoC was when we got to the EA chargers in Spanish Fork. Right about what I'd expected when we left the Superchargers.

Now, had there been no chargers between Beaver and Spanish Fork, I would have charged at Beaver till the car said we could make it on that charge. But I knew there were several bailout places along the way, so I wasn't worried about having to slow down to reach Spanish Fork. There have been a couple times when the car's initial prediction has been spot on. I have never seen it predict more charge at the destination than what actually happened. So don't assume it's being pessimistic if you don't have any options along the way.

Most of the time, though, we go to the bathroom and maybe get a snack and/or something to drink and come back to the car. By the time I decide where to charge next, it usually already has more than enough charge to get us there.

As for needing to make your 1st stop before 190 miles, that would only be needed if you left home well under 100%, you were bucking strong headwinds, or it was uphill all the way. My 1st stop after leaving home is about 235 miles away and we still have a good 15% left when we get there. But if you have AWD, expect a little less.

 

I go back and forth on the in-car navigation, using a phone app, using paper maps, and just winging it. For the I-5 route, I have driven it countless times in my old ICE and several times in my Ioniq 5 so I know each exit between LA and CA-152 and I don’t normally use navigation on this route to actually know where I am going. So I might not be the best to answer.

I do remember that coming down I-5 last winter I did use the in-car navigation once: When about half an hour away from a charging stop I'd already planned to use, I pulled up the navigation. I searched for near by charging, selected the EA location I was going to and told it to navigate me there. As expected, the battery pre-condition indicator on the SOC display came on which is what I was going for. And if in unfamiliar terrain where the elevation gain and loss is unknown to me, I will sometimes use the built in navigation to monitor the miles to empty GOM and the miles to charger/destination to see how I am doing.

By the way, have you tried planning your trip using A Better Route Planner? Out of curiosity, I tried a couple of variations between Santa Rosa (near where I think you are) to San Onofre State Beach Park (just over the OC line in San Diego County). I told it to assume a 2022 Limited AWD. It suggested two stops were sufficient, one at Los Banos the other at Enos Lane. Then I told it to go 115% over the posted limit (about 80 MPH on I-5 instead of 70 MPH). Total trip time decreased by an hour but it needed three charging stops: Los Banos, Lost Hills, and Stevenson Ranch. In both cases, I told it I wanted to arrive at charging stops and at the destination with 20% SOC, so that should be pretty conservative. Especially as ABRP seems to be pretty conservative in its estimates to begin with.

 

You don't say how many people in the car or how much luggage. Those factors, plus how fast you drive, use of AC or heating all relevant to how many stops you'll need to make to power up. I (125#) drove '25 Limited RWD from Long Beach to Napa in late August. I had 1 small suitcase, no passengers; used AC most of the trip. Started at 100%, made 2 stops to power up (405 to I5 and then I5 all the way N until Livermore; 580-680-37, etc), had approx 130 miles left. Drive at+ speed limit, I used Tesla Superchargers because of speed and always available. Still took 10 hrs! I have heard musings about development of batteries that will charge faster: not holding my breath!

 

There are EA charging stations in several places on US 101 between SF and So California. Downtown SF on Harrison Street. In Gilroy at outlet mall. In Paso Robes at Bank of America (also a few miles further south in Atascadero at Del Rio Road.) Another at Pismo Beach outlets. A very large one (10 stations) at the Camarillo outlets complex. In Orange County at Mission Viejo mall. There’s also a large EA charging station at Costco in San Luis Obispo - but they don’t offer the free Hyundai plan - but the per KWH is about $.10 lower than the other EA stations I’ve used. If you’re traveling down I-5 I’m aware of EA stations at Harris Ranch (near Coalinga), in Kettleman City and in Valencia. I used all of these. Like most EA stations often one or two units may be out of service but I don’t think my wait ever exceeded 20 minutes.

 

I will be traveling solo, 15 pounds plus one suitcase. Probably will need to use the AC traveling through the Central Valley and in LA area. I recognize that going slower will yield better range but hard to imagine traveling under at least 75 mph on I 5. Likely will not go as fast through the uphill Grapevine. Hoping to just use Electrify America as I still have the free charging to take advantage of. I do have a Tesla adapter just in case.

 

That was me at 115 pounds. Long time since I weighed 15!

 

There are plenty of EA stations along that route (US101). I live in Silicon Valley and travel to Santa Maria and Santa Barbara regularly. I use the EA and ABRP apps to plan. I5 is a little trickier for EVs. If you have the NACS adapter it should provide some flexibility.

 

Likely will not go as fast through the uphill Grapevine

Actually, that is the one place you are likely to go faster than traffic.

The big trucks pretty much block the right two lanes crawling up at speeds as low as 25 MPH. Sometimes even encroaching into the #2 lane even though that is illegal. There is almost always someone going 10 MPH under the speed limit in the far left lane while climbing the grade. And there are others who will stay behind the slow poke even though it is okay to pass on the lane to the right. I have never figured that out, but every time I have gone up the Grapevine from the San Joaquin Valley at other than the dead of night that is what I have experienced.

So if you go up the hill at the posted 65 MPH you will be moving between the #1 & #2 lanes dodging the slower traffic. And you will be just about the fastest vehicle on that stretch between Grapevine exit and the Fort Tejon exit.

There are plenty of EA stations along that route (US101). I live in Silicon Valley and travel to Santa Maria and Santa Barbara regularly. I use the EA and ABRP apps to plan. I5 is a little trickier for EVs. If you have the NACS adapter it should provide some flexibility.

When we moved to Silicon Valley there was about 6 months when my spouse was still living and working on the north side of LA. Our house was just off US-101 (Ventura Freeway) nearly at the Ventura County line. So I had a regular commute each weekend between a place near US-101 in Santa Clara County and a place near US-101 in LA County. Going US-101 had better scenery but I-5 was a lot faster. Boring, but faster.

@ajfinca is heading toward Orange County with a long drive already. Going via US-101 would add at least one and probably more like two or three hours drive time.

Plenty of CCS DCFC along I-5 too. On my 2022 I often get up to 170 kW off from an EA 150 charger. I have not yet exceeded 97 kW on a Tesla Supercharger and from what I read that is all I’ll ever get from a V3 cabinet even if it feeds a V4 dispenser. The result is your charging sessions are likely to be longer if you are reduced to using a Tesla location. A lot more expensive for @ajfinca too as they still have free EA charging.

 

In September, we went from Colorado Springs to Lees Summit, MO, about 550 miles. This was our second time for a road trip with our 2024 Ionic 5 AWD. Second time expectations were about 2.2 miles per Kilowatt. Planned all stops at Electricfy America, most about 100 miles apart. Takes about an hour longer than an ICE car, due to the extra stops for charging. But entire trip was free. Don't think you will get city 3.9 MPK, because you wont.... Have fun and safe travels

 

Second time expectations were about 2.2 miles per Kilowatt.

I believe that if you look at the charger and your instrument cluster you will see the charging speed as kW and the amount as kWh added and the car will show mi/kWh for efficiency. (See picture below.) Kilowatts are how much power you are using as you drive, usually about 20 or so kW if you're going 70 mph. A steady 20 kW for one hour would come to 20 kWh. OK, sorry for sounding pedantic, but it actually does matter. The terms are not interchangeable any more than gallons and miles per gallon. On to efficiency now that we know how to express it.

How did you manage to get only 2.2 mi/kWh? I was getting 2.5 to 3.3 mi/kWh up in Montana and North Dakota at 80 mph. At 70 mph I usually get about 3.3 to 3.5 mi/kWh.