BajaNomad

Baja EV Thread

Ateo - 9-5-2026 at 03:05 PM

Hello fellow Baja travelers,

JD Canuck was asking about EV’s in Baja so I figured I’d start a new discussion.

This is the first time I’ve taken an EV south of the border.

Only went as far as Ensenada.

There are known chargers at the Energy Gasolinera on the toll road in Rosarito and a Tesla Supercharger that I used this morning at Hotel Coral in Ensenada.

Anyone have any other favorites or upcoming installations?

The hotel in BOLA also had a few Tesla wall charger units when I was there last year.

Waves are big and very consistent today at K-38.

:thumbup:

AKgringo - 9-5-2026 at 03:09 PM

If you can let us know what EV you are driving, and how it works for you, that would be useful information.

I am jealously contributing from northern California. Have a great trip!

SFandH - 9-5-2026 at 04:51 PM

Ateo, does your EV have a spare tire? Most EVs don't, and I think driving Baja without a spare is risky. Also, EVs need special tires to handle the extra weight, right?

JDCanuck - 9-5-2026 at 05:07 PM

I don't know about the Tesla Y models like Ateo has but my Leaf comes with emergency repair and inflator kit like most newer cars do. Packing a separate spare might be worthwhile in Baja. I have never had to use the inflator kits, just added air without the sealant or plugs til I could get to the next tire repair shop.

And thanks for the info Ateo, i'm sure others will be interested in how it goes further south.

mtgoat666 - 9-5-2026 at 05:37 PM

I see chargers in most every bigger town up and down baja.
The burning question: given that gasoline pumps are all rigged to cheat you on volume, have the electric charger operators figured out how to scam EVs on amount of juice dispensed? I am interested if the onboard data matches the charge dispenser data…

JDCanuck - 9-5-2026 at 07:47 PM

There should be a lot more room to make profits on the power than on gasoline, so they should have no need to "adjust" it. People with EVs will gladly pay 2 times their cost of power without complaining. Gasoline profit margins are much tighter.

The one time we tried out a for profit charger, we paid 3 to 4 times what it costs us at home per kwh received and they had lots of people stopping there, buying food, taking a break and charging up a bit extra to be sure they had enough to get home.
They used a time based charge regardless of how fast your EV drew the power, and our charger type feeds to our vehicle slower than most will draw it. They would have been making at least 100% markup on the fastest charges.

[Edited on 9-6-2026 by JDCanuck]

Tioloco - 9-5-2026 at 08:18 PM

Quote: Originally posted by JDCanuck  
There should be a lot more room to make profits on the power than on gasoline, so they should have no need to "adjust" it. People with EVs will gladly pay 2 times their cost of power without complaining. Gasoline profit margins are much tighter.

The one time we tried out a for profit charger, we paid 3 to 4 times what it costs us at home per kwh received and they had lots of people stopping there, buying food, taking a break and charging up a bit extra to be sure they had enough to get home.
They used a time based charge regardless of how fast your EV drew the power, and our charger type feeds to our vehicle slower than most will draw it. They would have been making at least 100% markup on the fastest charges.

[Edited on 9-6-2026 by JDCanuck]


Why would people gladly pay double what they normally pay for a charge?

JDCanuck - 9-5-2026 at 09:47 PM

Convenience of charging away from home and taking a break at a convenient location and where the scenery and or good food is. When I charge at home(assuming I was still paying full residential power costs) it's less than 1/10 the cost of gas, so at a for profit place it would still be 1/5 the cost of gas. Once competition gets tighter they will find cheaper places as they do now for gas. For now, the few people that put in charging stations are making great profits and in addition drawing more customers to their primary businesses. Remember...we are talking 5 bucks extra to get an 80% of full charge on most vehicles with a 250 to 300 mile range. That's less than I'd be paying a server for a tip at a decent restaurant.

The previous free Level 2 chargers at hotels, etc. are disappearing as the charge speeds accelerate in the higher voltage ones. In our case as we only travel 250 miles on a round trip anyway, we get by with only charging at home from our newly installed solar system.


[Edited on 9-6-2026 by JDCanuck]

Tioloco - 9-5-2026 at 10:00 PM

I suppose that is an acquired taste. Taking a long break at a charging station seems VERY inconvenient. To each their own.

JDCanuck - 9-5-2026 at 10:08 PM

Every 4 or 5 hours of driving I take a long break anyway, generally for a meal. It really would not be that inconvenient to plug into a charger while I am there. Overnight, a level 2 charger (generally free) at a hotel like One La Paz where we usually stay anyway would be fine and would give me a full charge in 5-6 hours while I slept. It was just another cheap perk they added a few years back to get more customers than their competition.

[Edited on 9-6-2026 by JDCanuck]

Tioloco - 9-5-2026 at 10:28 PM

The F150 Powerboost with the 7.2kw inverter looks like a pretty interesting rig. It is capable of powering your house in case of power outages and seems like a cool option for backup power for a Baja house whether on or off grid.

JDCanuck - 9-5-2026 at 10:48 PM

I would have bought one of those F-150 Lightnings for the reasons you mentioned if I was an American. They were just under 40,000 with 12,500 rebates when they first came out. They sold for a lot more up here, and no rebates. As we could have left it charging on our 240v 50 amp outlet from solar in Baja it would have significantly reduced the number of storage batteries we needed to install. It's really too bad Ford stopped making them, as I see a lot up here in use by contractors.

[Edited on 9-6-2026 by JDCanuck]

Tioloco - 9-5-2026 at 10:53 PM

Powerboost has the advantage of gasoline power to recharge batteries and fire up the inverter. More flexible and practical for most people. And no waiting around at charging stations!

JDCanuck - 9-5-2026 at 11:10 PM

Is that the new extended range EV they are coming out with that has the small engine to recharge the battery but runs 100% on electric? Now that seems like the best way to go rather than either full diesel or gas with an installed inverter or a traditional hybrid. If the engine has issues it just becomes a regular EV, pull the engine and have it repaired without losing the availability of the truck.

I just looked it up and see I was wrong. This looks like a somewhat upsized version of the BYD Shark
.


[Edited on 9-6-2026 by JDCanuck]

JZ - 9-6-2026 at 12:51 AM

Rented an EV in Florida a couple months back. Cost $25 to charge it from 30% to 80%, and took 30 minutes to do it.

It would have taken another 30 minutes to charge to 100%.

EV's are the future, but the future isn't here yet and forcing people into something (vehicles/infrastructure) that is not ready needs to stop.





[Edited on 9-6-2026 by JZ]

Tioloco - 9-6-2026 at 06:46 AM

Quote: Originally posted by JZ  
Rented an EV in Florida a couple months back. Cost $25 to charge it from 30% to 80%, and took 30 minutes to do it.

It would have taken another 30 minutes to charge to 100%.

EV's are the future, but the future isn't here yet and forcing people into something (vehicles/infrastructure) that is not ready needs to stop.

[Edited on 9-6-2026 by JZ]


Those charge times are a real non-starter for those that aren't retired or just bored. And the impending road tax on EV's for their share of the street and highway maintenance is going to set back their viability even more.

With the current oil reserves of over 100 years, I think we will see IC vehicles in baja indefinitely. They are definitely easier and more practical to use.

JDCanuck - 9-6-2026 at 06:54 AM

That is an amazingly high cost to charge alright. sounds like you paid around 60 cents per kwh assuming that was a larger than normal 80kwh battery to take that long to charge on high voltage charger. That's about 6 to 8 times what my residential power costs, but then...it is Florida. The provider has found a new way to get rich fast. Sounds like a Tesla charger, perhaps with a huge surcharge to charge another brand of EV?

I'm more interested in how much they charged Ateo for the extra 2 minutes it took him to plug in his Model Y at the hotel he stayed at in Ensenada for a realistic trip to Baja and back. My experience after 2 1/2 years actually using my Leaf is it has been a huge time saver rather than spending extra time refueling on trips. I charge free at the mall when we are shopping or getting my hair cut and never have had to sit in lineups at the gas station to get my vehicle fueled. After we went through that inconvenience we would search out some place to get lunch, and finally get back on the road again. On extra cold days, the windows are defrosted, the vehicle warmed and ready to roll out the driveway in half the time of warming the gas vehicle with the motor running.


[Edited on 9-6-2026 by JDCanuck]

Ateo - 9-6-2026 at 08:10 AM

I’ll check in this evening when I’m home. Lots of common questions and concerns in this thread that I’ve realized over the last three years of driving my EV over 100k miles througout So Cal aren’t an issue.

I don’t have a spare. If I was traveling further south past Ensenada I’d bring a spare. There are llanteras and tow trucks everywhere in Baja though.

I have a Tesla Model Y

Tires may be unique sizes.

What I’ve noticed so far on my recent trips further in the mainland is there are electric vehicles all over the place and BYD dealers popping up everywhere.

I’m expecting that to continue in Baja.

I work in the gasoline industry. I really thought that transitioning to an electric vehicle was a long ways away from me.

After one of my kids bought one and I saw what a great design they were. I bought one for Work.

The overall driving experience in those last three years has been a huge upgrade from gasoline, powered vehicles over the rest of my life.

Almost all of my fears about electric vehicles were totally misplaced and not based in reality.

That’s what I’m realizing.

The cost of ownership has been minimal.

No oil changes.

All I’ve done in three years and 110k miles is buy two sets of tires. Current tires have another 30k on them probably.

Now for Baja, it’s not the vehicle you’re gonna go prerun in for the Baja 1000 but it’s pretty good for driving on roads where you know where to charge.

Yes a gas vehicle is currently better for those long desolate stretches.

I paid $8 pesos per kWh yesterday. Haven’t done the math but I think k it was like $10 to get it from 45% to 80%

And another thing is the charging at the newer chargers is very quick compared to what everybody thinks.

I am in a massive hurry when I’m at work and I leave home with a full tank every morning and if I need to charge if I’m going super far away usually a 10 minute stop is all that’s needed to get back home and charge for super cheap!!!

mtgoat666 - 9-6-2026 at 08:42 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Ateo  
I’ll check in this evening when I’m home. Lots of common questions and concerns in this thread that I’ve realized over the last three years of driving my EV over 100k miles througout So Cal aren’t an issue.


EVs are pretty slick :thumbup:

JDCanuck - 9-6-2026 at 08:48 AM

Thanks Ateo. I too found it very convenient and a time saver overall which was the exact opposite of what people who had never owned one kept telling me. My biggest expense in 2 1/2 years was one tire replacement which was a pinhole leak on the sidewall. Other than that, a cabin filter and 4 key fob batteries is all we have spent in maintenance. Tires for my car are the same ones as used on gas vehicles, but when they are finally replaced will be steel belted Michelins, also common to gas vehicles.














SFandH - 9-6-2026 at 09:10 AM

I researched charging stations on the Peninsula and determined EVs don't suit my usual Baja driving. I drive Hwy 1 through Ensenada and El Rosario. I did the San Felipe route once a few years ago, and not again.

During our last stay at the TerraSal motel in Guerrero Negro, I looked at the charger there. It was dirty and not being used. I wondered whether it worked and what I would do if other people were ahead of me waiting to use it. I doubt it's a high-speed DC charger, but I'm not sure.

Down the street was a gas station with multiple pumps. Ten minutes in the morning, and I was on my way with a full tank.

My research also said I could charge up in off-grid Catavina at the hotel. Yeah, sure thing. Maybe, I suppose, if they have their diesel generator running and the charger isn't broken.

In Baja, EVs are good for urban driving only.

JDCanuck - 9-6-2026 at 09:25 AM

It could be the only electric vehicles that make much sense at present in Baja are either extended range EVs, plug in hybrids like the Shark, or a Lightning EV with a cheap portable 7.8kv dual fuel generator in the frunk for backup power when you want to spend a week or more camping out. For more local trips, I don't see why one of the cheap AWD Hyundais wouldn't be sufficient, especially if you have 5kw of solar installed at your place and a 240v 50A outlet. That might cost an additional 7500 installed, but would give you free energy for decades. What most people don't realize is any 240v 30A dryer plug or 50amp plug will charge your EV, it will just take 3-6 hours at that output. The high voltage DC chargers are only needed if you are in a big hurry to get back on the road after stopping for a meal.
We charge ours overnite from our dryer plug so the personal recharge time expended is 2 minutes once or twice a week. The lower charge rate will extend the battery life as a bonus.

[Edited on 9-6-2026 by JDCanuck]

JDCanuck - 9-6-2026 at 11:05 AM

SFandH: I just looked at the reports for La Paz on Plugshare and it indeed is pretty dismal according to the users. Existing installed Tesla or J1772 chargers are commonly not in service far too often and there are limited numbers of people providing them. But based on the EVs that did attempt to use them, there are quite a few Teslas, a few BYD Dolphin Minis and Hyundais in the area. They must either be charging locally on their own systems or have found places like Maranatha campground with 240V amp RV outlets they are charging at. When I was at Maranatha last they stated they can charge EVs on a time based rate. Ensenada on the other hand had some popular restaurants that were more than happy to let people charge while they had lunch at the restaurant.

BornFisher - 9-6-2026 at 09:27 PM

So has anyone here actually driven to Cabo in an EV? And for extra credit, done it in a Tesla with Full Self-Driving for, say 99 percent of the trip that would include cities?

Ateo - 9-7-2026 at 06:43 AM

Quote: Originally posted by BornFisher  
So has anyone here actually driven to Cabo in an EV? And for extra credit, done it in a Tesla with Full Self-Driving for, say 99 percent of the trip that would include cities?


Odds of that are probably pretty low.......I'd be pretty scared to use FSD 99% in Baja......I didn't use it on my weekend pleasure cruise thru the tourist corridor in TJ-Ensenada either.....Oh wait I see you're mentioning "cities".....that would maybe be suicidal in place like TJ, or at least very stressful trying to use the Via Rapida trying to enter and exit crazy lane systems! Ha ha.

I'm not a fan of FSD yet.......