5000+ Mile Road trip: No charging OK>>AR on Rt40

[morrisdl]

I know this is hardly pioneering, but we excited and a little nervous about a couple long stretches between superchargers. Our extended family all think we are crazy - Most ask "how long of an extension cord are you going to need?" The supercharger network is an unfortunate secret. Thanks for all the great tips and suggestions I have found on this forum!! RECOMMENDATIONS: Looking for any destination charger hotels that unique/special? Route Planning is still a work-in-progress (Link).

QUESTION: Oklahoma City OK >> Russellville, AR (AF>>AH) is 269 mile leg on Rt.40 and I still need to find a charging location along the way to avoid going all the way to Dallas to make the direct route work. Any suggestions? Any super chargers under construction here?

Thank you!

 

[365gtb4]

The three cross country trips we've taken were on route 40 thru MO. It's not a bad drive and pretty fast. The road from Rolla MO to Miner is also a nice two lane drive which breaks up the interstate boredom. One option is to stop at an RV park and charge for a couple of hours. Do call ahead and confirm availability with the RV park. The last, and I don't recommend, is drive really slow, like 50 miles an hour.

 

[animorph]

We ended up going through Dallas (Phoenix AZ to Charlotte NC) early last year. That should work fine for you, we probably used some of the same NM Superchargers. However Dallas was the worst driving for us. Just about rush hour, driving a month old giant size Model X on a twisty raised freeway. Might have been better with reliable Autosteer but it was not up to the challenge at that time.

 

[purplewalt]

QUESTION: Oklahoma City OK >> Russellville, AR (AF>>AH) is 269 mile leg on Rt.40 and I still need to find a charging location along the way to avoid going all the way to Dallas to make the direct route work. Any suggestions? Any super chargers under construction here?

Thank you!

Hi,
I think there is a valid way to traverse up-state Arkansas, and see a bit of that part of the Universe.

My driving/route strategy:
You can drive from OKC to Catoosa (Tulsa).
Have a small stack of single dollar bills and handfulls of change for paying various tolls in Oklahoma.
You can then drive from Catoosa to Bentonville, Arkansas.

Plan to spend an overnight at the 21 C Hotel (get reservations), charge using their two HPWCs or J-1772 outlets in their parking garage.
Visit and explore the adjacent Crystal Bridges Museum and woodlands, waterways, ponds, paths and forests.
There is a recently relocated Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian Type house (from New Jersey) open for tours on the grounds.
Not a Supercharger, but it is a great hotel, much better than average food and accommodations.
Nearby downtown is interesting too.

Leave with a fresh charge, head towards Little Rock, Arkansas and Supercharge.
Back on the Road to Memphis.
Supercharge.
Gotta stop and have some great Memphis style Bar-B-Que. May at least one or two Bar-B-Que venues, so many great ones to choose from....

 

[pdxrajiv]

Sallisaw / Fort Smith West KOA seems like the best bet on that leg of the route.
A Tesla owner charged there on March 2nd.

 

[morrisdl]

All GREAT suggestions. I had not found Sallisaw or considered Catoosa (Tulsa). Thanks.

 

[PLUS EV]

If you want to do all superchargers, you could also continue past Catoosa to Springfield, MO, then go south through Branson to Little Rock. This would probably be at least a little faster than going through Dallas and would be way faster if you hit Dallas at rush hour. The downside of this route would be that Springfield to Little Rock is a 220 leg so you would have to drive carefully to be sure you make it in a P85. None of that leg is interstate so driving somewhat slow is an option.

Another option would be to go all the way up to Rolla, then to Nashville via Miner.

 

[Rocky_H]

Ooh, interesting. I just did a 5,000+ mile road trip in February that covered a lot of this same ground.
I'm curious why you mentioned Russelville Arkansas, instead of Little Rock. Do you have a need to stop in Russelville anyway for some other reason, where that can be a charging destination for a few hours? If so, this becomes really easy, because if you don't go straight East from Oklahoma City, but go one farther to Tulsa first, then it's about 193 rated miles from Tulsa to Russelville, which is pretty easy.

Otherwise, I like the alternate route suggestions of Springfield to Little Rock or Rolla to Miner.

 

[Rocky_H]

And the Supercharger in Tulsa is in the parking lot of the Hard Rock Casino Hotel, which is incredibly cool. They have a sports bar inside with lots of TVs and wi-fi. And of course it's Hard Rock, so lots of cool pictures and memorabilia of musicians.

 

[Saghost]

Do you have a timeframe for this trip yet? (or did I miss it in your post?)

It looks like a pretty sparse area right now - from what I can tell the KOA mentioned above seems to be the only really good option shown on Plugshare.

Tesla is planning three Superchargers to fill that gap, all "by the end of 2018" - but no one has found a permit or construction for any of them (sometimes completed stations aren't added to any of the maps until they come on line, if no one digs deep enough or lives nearby.

Find Us | Tesla,

edit: Oh, I just saw on the Tesla map, there's a Super 8 (yay?) well over on the Arkansas side of the gap with a destination charger.

 

[morrisdl]

I am not tied to Russellville, AR so will try to Tusla. We are doing this May/June.

@Rocky_H Have you shared any trip experience online somewhere? I would love to hear more about it.

 

[Rocky_H]

I am not tied to Russellville, AR so will try to Tusla. We are doing this May/June.

@Rocky_H Have you shared any trip experience online somewhere? I would love to hear more about it.

I haven't gotten around to writing it up anywhere yet, but I wouldn't do it here. It will be on the other forum at Tesla's website.

 

[tmoz]

Fort Smith doesn't even have a permit yet - jeeze. What gives there?

 

[Buddy’s pal]

I'm in a similar predicament. Planning to visit NW Ark this summer, like Eureka Springs and down to Ft. Smith in a 75D. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rocky_H]

I'm in a similar predicament. Planning to visit NW Ark this summer, like Eureka Springs and down to Ft. Smith in a 75D. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Ooh, from Coeur d'Alene--cool. The one suggestion I would mention for that type of area is this. Of course first off, plan from where the nearest Superchargers are to get you close to and from where you're going. Plugshare next, probably, to find something to bridge a gap in between.
But, sometimes even Plugshare doesn't have the best fit. There may just not be much listed, or they are just a couple of slow 30A J1772 stations, especially in an area like Arkansas, where electric cars are still very uncommon.
So, finding good 14-50 outlets are still a pretty good choice to plan for an hour or two lunch or dinner stop to get you through to somewhere. There are good maps of all of the campgrounds and RV parks that probably haven't been added to Plugshare. www.allstays.com or www.rvparky.com have those. So even if they haven't been used for car charging before, you can usually call them and set something up.

 

[purplewalt]

I'm in a similar predicament. Planning to visit NW Ark this summer, like Eureka Springs and down to Ft. Smith in a 75D. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

If you plan to visit NW Arkansas, please consider stopping at 21C Hotel in Bentonville: they have two HPWC chargers, and a J1772.
Nice Hotel with lots of artwork and lime green plastic penguins, interesting Cadillac out front.
Plenty of charging available so that you are full in the morning.

You will have a host of restaurant options, museum and outdoor park/garden experiences at nearby (walking distance) Crystal Bridges Museum.

North of Bentonville in Belle Vista, AR is Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel.
Traveling just a bit further East toward Eureka Springs, there is Thorncrown Chapel.
Both were designed by E. Fay Jones.

Beaver Lake area on your way to Eureka Springs is beautiful.

There are several caves in Northwest Arkansas worthy of exploration.

A couple of days spent exploring in Eureka Springs wandering through the shops, galleries and various buildings from another era can be interesting.

 

[Buddy’s pal]

Ooh, from Coeur d'Alene--cool. The one suggestion I would mention for that type of area is this. Of course first off, plan from where the nearest Superchargers are to get you close to and from where you're going. Plugshare next, probably, to find something to bridge a gap in between.
But, sometimes even Plugshare doesn't have the best fit. There may just not be much listed, or they are just a couple of slow 30A J1772 stations, especially in an area like Arkansas, where electric cars are still very uncommon.
So, finding good 14-50 outlets are still a pretty good choice to plan for an hour or two lunch or dinner stop to get you through to somewhere. There are good maps of all of the campgrounds and RV parks that probably haven't been added to Plugshare. www.allstays.com or www.rvparky.com have those. So even if they haven't been used for car charging before, you can usually call them and set something up.

Thanks, I'll look into those. I was thinking of getting an adapter for the RV outlet too. Know it's not real fast, but better than the regular 120V.

 

[Buddy’s pal]

If you plan to visit NW Arkansas, please consider stopping at 21C Hotel in Bentonville: they have two HPWC chargers, and a J1772.
Nice Hotel with lots of artwork and lime green plastic penguins, interesting Cadillac out front.
Plenty of charging available so that you are full in the morning.

You will have a host of restaurant options, museum and outdoor park/garden experiences at nearby (walking distance) Crystal Bridges Museum.

North of Bentonville in Belle Vista, AR is Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel.
Traveling just a bit further East toward Eureka Springs, there is Thorncrown Chapel.
Both were designed by E. Fay Jones.

Beaver Lake area on your way to Eureka Springs is beautiful.

There are several caves in Northwest Arkansas worthy of exploration.

A couple of days spent exploring in Eureka Springs wandering through the shops, galleries and various buildings from another era can be interesting.

Thanks! I am looking forward to exploring the area. Except for the humidity. Hopefully the AC won't zap my milage too much.

 

[PLUS EV]

A/C doesn't hurt mileage too bad in a Tesla.

Also, RV parks and campgrounds won't know what you're talking about if you use the terms "NEMA" and "14-50" or "14-30." When you call just ask for a 50 amp hookup and explain that you are plugging in a car. They may have some experience with this or they may not, but reserving a 50 amp for the NEMA 14-50 is key.

 

[Saghost]

A/C doesn't hurt mileage too bad in a Tesla.

Also, RV parks and campgrounds won't know what you're talking about if you use the terms "NEMA" and "14-50" or "14-30." When you call just ask for a 50 amp hookup and explain that you are plugging in a car. They may have some experience with this or they may not, but reserving a 50 amp for the NEMA 14-50 is key.

This. You also need to realize that if they tell you they have 30 Amp service available, they aren't offering you a 14-30 - it'll be a TT-30 connection, which is 120V at up to 30A, ~3.6 kW of charging power if you carry the right adapters.