Boise to Reno Just Got Easy

[jackbowers]

The Say When Casino on highway 95 in McDermitt, NV just installed a 15 kW J1772 charger, so with a 60-90 minute lunch break you can now get between the Boise and Winnemucca Superchargers (253 miles) without resorting to hypermiling techniques. Oregon just raised the speed limit on 95 to 70 mph, and there is very little traffic on that route. The only issue is that Autopilot still thinks the speed limit is 55, so 5 miles past each 70 mph sign you get limited to 60 mph.

 

[aesculus]

I sent a note off the the Jackpot, NV chamber over on 93 between Wells, NV and Twin Falls, ID to hopefully get the same type of solution.

During the winter I expect my Model X to strain to get from the Elko supercharger to the Twin Falls Supercharger. It's only 201 miles but lots of climbing. I would prefer not to freeze to death trying to squeeze miles out of the car.

Any tips others have to convince these businesses to install chargers? I sent them the link to the Tesla destination charger program.

 

[cpa]

The Say When Casino on highway 95 in McDermitt, NV just installed a 15 kW J1772 charger, so with a 60-90 minute lunch break you can now get between the Boise and Winnemucca Superchargers (253 miles) without resorting to hypermiling techniques. Oregon just raised the speed limit on 95 to 70 mph, and there is very little traffic on that route. The only issue is that Autopilot still thinks the speed limit is 55, so 5 miles past each 70 mph sign you get limited to 60 mph.

Jack, last night I saw this listed on PlugShare! I am planning to drive that route in about two weeks, so you and Tim have my hearty thanks and appreciation for your efforts. I have dual chargers in my S, so the 72A are great!

I just hope there isn't a queue at the casino when I arrive . . .

 

[Rocky_H]

I just tried this route and thought I would share my thoughts with a single charger, so 40A limit. It was still not bad. I tend to keep it a little slow anyway, when I’m trying to preserve miles, so I was taking it easy. For the charging stop at Say When, I used the restroom and then got lunch at the café (philly steak sandwich was pretty good) and used their wi-fi to browse Facebook. Once I was done eating and paid the bill, then I got a latte to go. It took a little over an hour, and I didn’t really end up waiting for the car at all. Granted, I’m pretty used to making a tight distance work sometimes, so an hour and a half would have been more comfortable margin, but it was OK.

 

[Rocky_H]

I open up Plugshare every once in a while to scan the routes near me to see if some new charging resource has been added, and a new Big Deal finally got added to this Winnemucca to Boise route on US highway 95, so I’m digging up a few of these old threads to add a comment to them. There is finally a CHAdeMO station available!


PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You


It’s in McDermitt, NV, and the stations are from Greenlots. They have two cabinets that are the dual-cable CCS + CHAdeMO ports. It looks like it just opened up in the past week or two, and the only checkins and pictures are from Chevy Bolts, so I don’t know if any Teslas have been there yet. It says it’s 50kW power level, so hopefully the 125A CHAdeMO version, rather than 100A limited.

 

[floatplane]

This is good news. I have a trip planned for Seattle to Vegas via Boise and wanted to take either 95 or 93, but wasn’t confident about getting stuck somewhere remote like this, especially as there’s terrain. Even in a “300-mile” M3LR, I never get near the rated mileage, maybe 260 miles on the flat. Both of these options will help bridge the gap and avoid having to take the interstate via SLC.

Does anyone have a Chademo adapter they would rent for a week, or know of a business that would do so?

 

[Rocky_H]

This is good news. I have a trip planned for Seattle to Vegas via Boise and wanted to take either 95 or 93, but wasn’t confident about getting stuck somewhere remote like this, especially as there’s terrain. Even in a “300-mile” M3LR, I never get near the rated mileage, maybe 260 miles on the flat. Both of these options will help bridge the gap and avoid having to take the interstate via SLC.

Does anyone have a Chademo adapter they would rent for a week, or know of a business that would do so?

Well sure, if you're coming through Boise. It might as well get some use. Message me, and I can give you my phone number to get in touch.

 

[floatplane]

Well sure, if you're coming through Boise. It might as well get some use. Message me, and I can give you my phone number to get in touch.

Wow. You are too kind. I may need to mail it back to you, as my return route is via Reno, Klamath Falls and Bend OR.

While on the road to Reno from Vegas I notice that Gigafactory 1 is just a few miles away. Any knowledge/recommendations about a visit there? I think just seeing it from the hills would be worth it, but how close can anyone get without trespassing? Do they have a secret supercharger that you can ask to use?

I have held off buying a Chademo adapter myself as I don’t make many long distance trips, plus I’d prefer a CCS adapter. Maybe if I wait long enough, Tesla will fill in all the gaps with superchargers in a few more years.

 

[PLUS EV]

This is good news. I have a trip planned for Seattle to Vegas via Boise and wanted to take either 95 or 93, but wasn’t confident about getting stuck somewhere remote like this, especially as there’s terrain. Even in a “300-mile” M3LR, I never get near the rated mileage, maybe 260 miles on the flat. Both of these options will help bridge the gap and avoid having to take the interstate via SLC.

Does anyone have a Chademo adapter they would rent for a week, or know of a business that would do so?

Unless you are looking for a real adventure, there's no way you would want to route through McDermitt if you are going from Boise to Vegas. Due to the charging infrastructure, the fastest (and easiest) way to get there is to stay on the interstates and go through Salt Lake City. The most direct route is taking US93 through Wells, NV, but unfortunately the superchargers are in Elko and Wendover, not Wells, so you would then most likely want to detour to Wendover to hit the supercharger. Once you do that, this route becomes only slightly shorter than the interstate route through SLC, but when you consider that Wendover to Vegas is longer than your car's range and there are few, if any, decent charging options along the route, you will see why I recommend going through SLC.

Boise to Vegas via Winnemucca would be slower than going through SLC even without the massive difference in charging infrastructure. Anyways, I have driven Seattle to Vegas more times than I can count, and there are many different routing options so feel free to ask me any other questions you might have.


BTW there is a supercharger at the Gigafactory, but it's past the security gate. You will need some type of clearance/reason to get past that. I have tried just driving up and you get turned away. Also you can't get to any location where you can even see the Gigafactory as it is well-situated in a valley. I was able to catch a glimpse of it from I-80 at night but it was a very brief glimpse and only aided by the lights on a dark horizon. Driving by during the day, I could never spot it.

 

[jimbomij]

Hi - I saw on Yelp that the Say When Casino is "permanently closed". Is the charging station there offline now?

 

[PLUS EV]

Hi - I saw on Yelp that the Say When Casino is "permanently closed". Is the charging station there offline now?

I checked Plugshare back in the summer and according to comments it was inoperable while the casino was shut down (likely due to no electricity being provided). Now I look at Plugshare and it looks like it's been delisted. There is a Chademo charger down the road but of course you would need the appropriate adapter for that.

 

[Rocky_H]

Hi - I saw on Yelp that the Say When Casino is "permanently closed". Is the charging station there offline now?

Yes, they couldn't hold up with the lack of business during the shutdown and had to close, so those J1772 stations are no longer available.
As @PLUS EV was mentioning, there are two options for CHAdeMO from Greenlots, in McDermitt and in Orovada. But awkwardly, there is no J1772 unit co-located with either of those, so you need to have the CHAdeMO adapter, or you're out of luck. It's funny how people gripe about how it's expensive, but it's still very necessary in some places.
I see you're in Coeur D'Alene, so if you are wanting to come down this way, you can get in touch with me in Boise and borrow my CHAdeMO adapter for the trip.

 

[jimbomij]

Hey Rocky - I just ordered a CHADeMO adapter but I don't know if it will arrive in time by Friday. Would love to get in touch with you to rent yours if needed...I'm a new member so not sure if I can DM you yet...my email is this user name + gmail dot com.

 

[Rocky_H]

I just sent you an email to connect.

 

[PLUS EV]

Hey Rocky - I just ordered a CHADeMO adapter but I don't know if it will arrive in time by Friday. Would love to get in touch with you to rent yours if needed...I'm a new member so not sure if I can DM you yet...my email is this user name + gmail dot com.

Curious where you are headed? If you are in CDA, the only reason you would want to go through McDermitt in a Tesla is if you are headed to Reno or some other place in NW Nevada. If you are going to CA or Vegas, there are better, faster routes.

 

[ZippyDC]

PLUS EV,

I used to drive Vegas to Seattle every year on an ICE car. I take 93 from Vegas to Twin Falls then turn west on I-84. I am not confident that my MY can do that part of the trip. From Twin Falls to Seattle should be no problem. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[PLUS EV]

PLUS EV,

I used to drive Vegas to Seattle every year on an ICE car. I take 93 from Vegas to Twin Falls then turn west on I-84. I am not confident that my MY can do that part of the trip. From Twin Falls to Seattle should be no problem. Any suggestions? Thanks.

I've done this one quite a few times in both an ICE and a Tesla. Used to live in Vegas and still have some business interests there.

The route you mention is the one that is always recommended by Google as the fastest path (except using the 318 cutoff through Lund of course), but there isn't much in the way of reliable EV charging along this route, and you would still have to detour to the West Wendover supercharger instead of going through Wells unless you want to spend even longer on a slower charger, so that makes it about 45 minutes slower.

Only an hour slower than that is to just stay on the interstate and go up through SLC. The huge benefit here is that there are superchargers all along the way. You'll never have to slow charge and you'll never have to charge to anywhere near 100%. This ends up saving you at least as much time as taking the route through Ely would have and has the added benefit of not leaving you dependent upon 1 or 2 Chademo stations in Alamo or Ely. Also, you don't need to buy the Chademo adapter if you haven't already.

So until they build a supercharger in Ely (or maybe also Wells), I recommend staying on I-15 unless you are looking for an adventure or don't mind overnighting some place that has an L2 charger.

There are also other options such as going through Reno/Susanville/Klamath Falls. This might be more scenic, but it is a little slower and I wouldn't attempt it in winter. If the weather looks real bad, you might want to just drive over to Bakersfield and then up I-5 to Seattle from there. This route is 2-3 hours slower, but rarely suffers from winter weather.

 

[ZippyDC]

I've done this one quite a few times in both an ICE and a Tesla. Used to live in Vegas and still have some business interests there.

Thank you.