4 Corners EV Charging

[Cottonwood]

Salida, CO - After a very long wait, the electrician called this morning and said that he will be doing the install next week. We will see, but there is hope it will be up and running soon.

Well, I got a text today that the the Salida, 70A, J1772 is up and running at Wood's High Mountain Distillery. Tomorrow, I will stop by and give it a test.

With the circuitous Elon road trip route, it will be a close race to use the Supercharger route between Farmington, NM and Silverthorne, CO or the 4-Corners J1772 route. Compare Farmington, NM to Silverthorne, CO via J1772 - Google Maps with Farmington, NM to Silverthorne, CO via Superchargers - Google Maps.

I'd argue that the Hot Springs, etc in Pagosa and the river front in Salida with a craft Distillery are more interesting than Blanding, Moab, and Grand Junction, but I am biased. If you do this route in the near future, try one path each direction and see what you think... :wink:

 

[stevezzzz]

Excellent news, Cottonwood; and good work getting this set up, it is much appreciated.

Folks, the route outlined here (using the Pagosa Springs and Salida chargers that Cottonwood has personally financed and championed) is one of the great summer mountain drives anywhere. Well, it's one of the great winter drives, too, but Mother Nature can make parts of it challenging, at times.

 

[Cottonwood]

Salida is up and running!

The electrician finished the install of the 70 Amp J1772 at Wood's High Mountain Distillery yesterday. Today, I stopped by and gave it a test with my Sig37. PT (chief alchemist) rolled up the door that has been in the location since before it was a service station on 1st street in the 1950's. He handed me the cable, I put in the adapter, connected the J1772, and the charging started, for a minute or so, until PT rolled down the door (temps were in the low 30's) and the charging stopped.

After 15-20 minutes of investigation including calls to Tesla, we discovered that the strain relief was not tightened. When the door was lowered, the J1772 cable was pulled down and the pilot wire connector in the EVSE was disconnected. After finding a Torex driver, opening the EVSE, reconnecting the pilot connector, and tightening the strain relief, we got charging started again. PT started the steam generator, and we demonstrated that there was enough power in the main panel to power the 70 Amp EVSE and operate the steam powered still.

Charging an MS and making Rye Whiskey; what could be more fun for an hour or so... :biggrin: We think that Wood's High Mountain Distillery may be the first craft distillery to host an EVSE.

We are working on access for when PT is not there, but for now, you will need to coordinate with PT. Give Salida a try. Call or message PT Wood, chief alchemist of Woods Distillery, at 719-239-0222 to coordinate a charge. He is there most days, making Gin or Whiskey, or pouring samples at the tasting room. The barrel-rested Gin is pretty special, give it a try.

See the maps below. It will be a toss up in total time to take Superchargers from Farmington to Silverthorne on the longer route or J1772's in Pagosa and Salida, CO from Farmington to Silverthorne. If you go both ways, give each route a try. In Pagosa, the J1772 is hosted by Incredible Pagosa where you can soak in the hot springs and/or spend the night.

 

[Beavis]

Cottonwood, great work (and great locations too).

- - - Updated - - -

See you guys next Summer.

 

[wycolo]

Looking at that charger cable lying across the sidewalk, methinks some protective conduit/over-wrap might be something to consider. If not mostly for some bright orange with contrasting black stripes to warn pedestrians. My CS-60 charger has the thicker cable that is bright orange instead of the black on the CS-40.

4 inch wide segmented with just enough inside room so the cable moves freely. A speed bump for perambulators.
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[Cottonwood]

Looking at that charger cable lying across the sidewalk, methinks some protective conduit/over-wrap might be something to consider. If not mostly for some bright orange with contrasting black stripes to warn pedestrians. My CS-60 charger has the thicker cable that is bright orange instead of the black on the CS-40.

4 inch wide segmented with just enough inside room so the cable moves freely. A speed bump for perambulators.

I was thinking the same thing. Perhaps something like this, Temporary cable cover for protecting cables.

What do you think?

 

[GlennAlanBerry]

Great job on this, Cottonwood! Its nice to have some other options besides RV Campgrounds in that area.

 

[wycolo]

Cable Cover - Bingo!! Looks like it could handle a forklift as well as the occasional Harley.

Great job on all of this, Cottonwood!!
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[stevezzzz]

Our hats are off to you, Cottonwood! Cable cover seems like a good idea; is the standard size large enough to accept the charger cable?

Did you set up a payment system for the chargers, like you were talking about earlier?

------

Update: I just noticed that a) this is my 1000th TMC post, and b) I nosed out Wycolo for the honor. :biggrin:

 

[Cottonwood]

Our hats are off to you, Cottonwood! Cable cover seems like a good idea; is the standard size large enough to accept the charger cable?

Did you set up a payment system for the chargers, like you were talking about earlier?

It looks like the standard size cable cover will work.

I talked with both owners who are paying the electricity. We are offering free charging as an introductory special for a while, probably until the Elon Route Superchargers are in place or somewhat longer. Stop by Salida, text or call PT first at 719-239-0222, and give Pagosa a try, text or call Steve first at 970-946-4694. Both respond to Texts better than calls, and both are hoping to see some more EV's stop by soon. Be sure to thank them, and if it works for you, give them some business. Neither of these guys own EVs, but just want to support a cleaner environment!

These are single charger sites, so its always good to verify all is well before counting them. Remember to bring your J1772 adapter.

 

[wycolo]

> a) this is my 1000th TMC post, and b) I nosed out Wycolo for the honor. [stevezzzz]

Congrats! Doug owes you a TMC Club decal for your rear window.
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[Cottonwood]

See my post at Farmington, NM Supercharger - Page 5. I think that I may have found a good contact in Taos!

I think I will be taking a trip to Taos in January to see Francisco with the last 70-Amp, J1772 that I have in inventory. He said that he has a couple of spots in Taos with 200 Amp service where we could probably add a 100-Amp circuit!

If you look at my addition of Salida, Pagosa, and Taos in blue below to Tesla's 2015 plans in this area, these J1772's become a nice addition to the Supercharger network, especially if you look at the dearth of roads in some places because of mountains.

 

[cpa]

A testimonial to Cottonwood's heroic efforts: Ten days after receiving our S85, my son and I took off from Central California to Denver via the Supercharger network (Barstow, Vegas, then east on I70 across the Great Basin and the Rockies.) I then returned solo taking advantage of the hospitality at Wood's High Mountain Distillery and Incredible Pagosa before bunking for the night in Durango. My data from my driving style indicated that from Salida to Durango uses about 200 rated miles, so drivers can allocate their charging times for one or both charging locations accordingly. Obviously, winter driving will be much different. This was a fabulous drive through the mountains, across a high plateau, and over Wolf Creek Pass. (I gave the Salida still a plug on PlugShare.)

Here are some additional options for charging in Utah and Colorado. Until the St. George SC is up and running, the Town and Country Motel in downtown Cedar City has a small RV parking area behind their north property. We spent the night there, so when I made the reservation for a room, I also reserved a 14-50 plug at the RV site for overnight charging. This allowed us to skip Beaver and stop for our first Supercharge at Richfield. The drive north on I15 gains a lot of elevation north of St. George, but we made it using 210 rated miles. I drove 62MPH up the grades until about 30 miles from Cedar City, when I figured it was safe to go the 80MPH speed limit.

Another good charging spot is in Telluride at the Auberge 51 resort. This is an upscale resort (out of my price range!) but Tesla installed a HPWC there in October 2013 as part of a promotion/demonstration of their cars for the swells who stayed at the resort. I was the first to charge there! The staff is friendly and accommodating, and did not charge me. I did hand over a handsome tip to the concierge who showed me the way to the charger.

(Now if we could get some souped-up charging stations here in California along US395 and through the Sierra!)

 

[tbleakne]

Charging along US 395 on the Eastern Sierra.

(Now if we could get some souped-up charging stations here in California along US395 and through the Sierra!)

I just returned a few weeks ago from a trip through CA in which the last few days was a drive down the portion from US395 from Susanville to Cramer Junction.
I had charged up while staying with friends at Lake Almanor.

I first stopped at the Susanville RV park, just to evaluate the place. They were not crowded and accepted $5 for one hour of 14-50.
I stayed my first night at Cedar House Sport Hotel in Truckee. This is on I80, not 395, but it is a very nice hotel. They have a HPWC set to deliver 65A, and two 30A Clippercreek J1772. They have been getting several Tesla guests per week. This location will soon have competition from the Tesla SC at Donner Summit.

Next day I drove down the W. side of Lake Tahoe and charged on J1772 at the Casino at South Lake Tahoe while having lunch. I drove back down to 395 and
that night I stayed and charged at Meadowcliff Lodge & RV Resort, about 10 miles south of Topaz Lake back in CA. I rented both the room and the RV spot with 14-50, which was 75 yards from my motel room.

The next night I stayed and charged on a 14-50 recently installed at Independence Inn in Independence, CA. This is a very modest motel, with small rooms, but the owner had done a nice job of remodeling it. His 14-50 fills a very significant gap, because there is no motel charging at Bridgeport or Lee Vining and the RV park at Lee Vining was completely full.
I made it to Independence with 40+ rated miles, but going the other way would be tough with the elevation gain.

I had lunch in Lee Vining at the well-known Whoa Nellie Deli at the Mobile Gas Station. The manager said they were thinking about installing EV charging. I took her card and after I returned home I sent her an email with links to all the information about EV charging, including Tesla's initiative to subsidize the installation of HPWCs at good public locations. I am hopeful they will go for it, as their location would provide a gateway into Yosemite from the East.

On my last day, while I stopping for lunch in Ridgecrest, I stopped at the Mariott Springhills Suites. This location had been rumored as a future site of a SC, but the manager knew nothing. I did my last charge of the trip at the Barstow SC.

 

[detlefo]

Good post with useful information. One correction. The Supercharger is behind the Safeway in Truckee, not on Donner Summit. I hope that Whoa Nellies follows up and installs a charger.

 

[miimura]

Good post with useful information. One correction. The Supercharger is behind the Safeway in Truckee, not on Donner Summit. I hope that Whoa Nellies follows up and installs a charger.

The Safeway address in Truckee is 11290 Donner Pass Road. Maybe that is part of the confusion.

 

[AndyHSoCa]

Folks, the route outlined here (using the Pagosa Springs and Salida chargers that Cottonwood has personally financed and championed) is one of the great summer mountain drives anywhere. Well, it's one of the great winter drives, too, but Mother Nature can make parts of it challenging, at times.

This looks like a spectacular alternative to the supercharger route. I'd love to explore these scenic towns. Will I be risking the snowy wrath of Mother Nature if I plan a trip through this way in mid to late October?

 

[Cottonwood]

This looks like a spectacular alternative to the supercharger route. I'd love to explore these scenic towns. Will I be risking the snowy wrath of Mother Nature if I plan a trip through this way in mid to late October?

Very small risk of Snow that time of year. Also, mid October is usually near the peak of the Aspen Color season in Southern Colorado.

- - - Updated - - -

Just had a text Chat with the owners of Incredible Pagosa Vacation Rentals serving downtown Pagosa Springs, Colorado where the 70 Amp J-Plug is hosted. Because they want see more Teslas stay there and visit the area, they are offering a September and October Tesla discount.

Disclaimer: I make no money off of this; I am just trying to send a little business to people who have gone out of their way in time and energy to provide High Amp Level 2 (HAL2) charging for Teslas and other EVs. I did pay for the Clipper Creek J-1772's in both Pagosa and Salida and would like to see them used.

If you stay at Incredible Pagosa Vacation Rentals serving downtown Pagosa Springs, Colorado in September or October this year, drive your Tesla there, and use the code "Tesla Motors Club", they will give you a 10% discount on your stay. The J-Plug is right there!

Driving west to east, it's an easy drive from Farmington to Pagosa; stay in Pagosa, and do a 100% charge before heading east. In an 85, with that, you can hypermile to Silverthorne, or have lunch in Salida, grab some charge at Wood's High Mountain Distillery in Salida, CO and you can drive almost without care of range. Going the other way, you can charge at Silverthorne, add some miles at Salida, then on to Pagosa and Farmington.

I can provide more details on planning this route if people want it.

Also, the $5/hr charging fee is waived even if you don't do any business at these locations, but please give them a shout out and say thanks if you can.

 

[AndyHSoCa]

Wow, peak of Aspen color, and a discount on a stay in Pagosa Springs. What a deal. I am in. Lunch and perhaps a sample of gin at Wood's Mountain High distillery on our way to Boulder sounds fun too. I didn't get a P85 to hypermile.

We would like to see Mesa Verde NP on our way. Am I being overly optimistic to leave Farmington with a full range charge, to Mesa Verde overnight, then to Pagosa? Maybe stop in Durango for lunch and a bit of a charge on the way to Pagosa? Please excuse my newbie questions. We pick up our P85 at the factory on 9/27, and this will be our first road trip. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. May I PM you if I have more questions?

 

[ZBB]

Hmm. Might be an idea for my daughter's "fall break" at the end of Sept...