I am looking to purchase a model y for use in Scottsbluff Nebraska. There are No tesla chargers within 100 miles of my location. We frequently drive to Laramie via Cheyenne which is a 150 mile trip. Charging on this route is not an issue. We frequently need to drive 200+ miles in areas with no teska or other chargers. Any suggestions?
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Charging in western Nebraska
- Thread starter WallyRandall
- Start date
Ostrichsak
Well-Known Member
You are correct in saying that there are no Tesla-specific chargers as in Superchargers in that area. Closest is going to be Cheyenne and then Sydney and one in Wheatland. That's it for Superchargers. That said, there's a couple of things to consider here: 1) you can charge at many, many other places than just a Supercharger and 2) Tesla is building out the Supercharger network at a pretty decent rate. Nowhere near as decent as they promised us back in 2018 but still a pretty good rate. In the last couple of years the # of Superchargers in Colorado has doubled.
That coupled with the fact that Loveland will soon have a Tesla Sales & Service center means that the growth is expanding North of the Denver area which is good news for Wyoming and Nebraska.
Out of curiosity, what prompted you to want to buy a Tesla? I know there's not a lot of them back there to see so I'm just wondering what motivated you to look into them.
I know what you mean about some of those areas, where I-80 is covered straight through, but anything above or below that can be 100-200 mile round trips into areas that are kind of empty of charging resources. But I do have some suggestions:
First off, www.plugshare.com (or the mobile app) is the most comprehensive and up-to-date map of ALL charging resources that I think there is. Look around that a lot and see what is already out there. There probably is more than you realize. Also, people can add things to that Plugshare map, either their own home charging outlets (must be logged in to see those), or if they have found and worked out some arrangement of a business offering an outlet, that can be added as a public site.
The other thing is, Teslas can charge from almost any 120V or 240V electricity source or outlet with an appropriate adapter. When Tesla first started selling their cars, before there were Superchargers, they offered the 14-50 plug with their charging cable. Why? Because that was already an ad-hoc traveling charging network by the hundreds all across the country in the form of RV parks and campgrounds that use those outlets for the big mobile homes. I've used some of those. And early on, when I first got my car, I wanted to go on a trip that didn't have Supercharger coverage, so I contacted an RV park place along the way and worked out $12 for a 4 hour window in the afternoon to charge, and so I added that to Plugshare. And then over the next year, a few other Tesla owners found it and used it for that route.
For finding RV park kinds of places that aren't listed on Plugshare yet, camping websites have good maps of those, where you can filter by the electrical hookup types. Those are named in the camping world as "30 amp", which is a TT-30 outlet, or "50 amp", which is a 14-50 outlet.
www.allstays.com
www.rvparky.com
So that may turn up more options in Nebraska than the nothing that it appeared to be.
Scottsbluff doesn't have much, but it shouldn't be a problem since you can do most of your charging at home. You've got Superchargers to the north, south, and west of you so travel shouldn't be a problem. I know of at least one Model S owner in your area and they drive to Lincoln all the time. Look at Plugshare.com for non-Tesla sources, @Rocky_H is completely correct. I just updated a lot of places last week.
Last week, I drove from Wheatland, WY, through Scottsbluff, to Alliance, where I charged overnight at an RV park. The next day, I did a crazy drive to Grand Island along Hwy 2. I made short RV park stops in Mullen and Broken Bow (mostly just checking them out) but had plenty of charge. I stopped in Thedford too but, at 120v/24a, that would only be an emergency stop since 10 mph charging is so slow. If you're really going somewhere to the east, just drop south to the Sydney or Ogallala Superchargers and proceed along I-80 where there are plenty of Superchargers. If to the west, go to Cheyenne, then I-80. To the North, you can Supercharge in Lusk, Wy, or Custer, SD. The only place where going will be slow is to north-central NE since you'll probably have to head north to I-90, use Superchargers, then drop south into NE.
You are probably in one of the sparsest places in the US so I do recommend getting the long range - it will come in handy, especially in winter. The good news is that you are in the middle of the sparse area so you only have half the distance to get out and you can always start your trips full.
I know folks who drove from the Gothenburg Supercharger to Mullen and back without charging in Mullen. That was stretching it but they managed by driving slowly. You should have no problem.
Last week, I drove from Wheatland, WY, through Scottsbluff, to Alliance, where I charged overnight at an RV park. The next day, I did a crazy drive to Grand Island along Hwy 2. I made short RV park stops in Mullen and Broken Bow (mostly just checking them out) but had plenty of charge. I stopped in Thedford too but, at 120v/24a, that would only be an emergency stop since 10 mph charging is so slow. If you're really going somewhere to the east, just drop south to the Sydney or Ogallala Superchargers and proceed along I-80 where there are plenty of Superchargers. If to the west, go to Cheyenne, then I-80. To the North, you can Supercharge in Lusk, Wy, or Custer, SD. The only place where going will be slow is to north-central NE since you'll probably have to head north to I-90, use Superchargers, then drop south into NE.
You are probably in one of the sparsest places in the US so I do recommend getting the long range - it will come in handy, especially in winter. The good news is that you are in the middle of the sparse area so you only have half the distance to get out and you can always start your trips full.
I know folks who drove from the Gothenburg Supercharger to Mullen and back without charging in Mullen. That was stretching it but they managed by driving slowly. You should have no problem.
Ostrichsak
Well-Known Member
In Scottsbluff I know if a pre-fresh white Model S (85D I believe) owned by a nice couple who owns the Quality Inn off of Highway 26 and 1st Ave on the East side of Scottsbluff not far from the Sugar Factory. They've got a NEMA 14-50 on PlugShare that I've used and told me they even have the one in their home I believe in the West side of town... can't remember for sure. Both are listed on PlugShare and they said they're more than happy to help fellow EV owners out as they travel through at either location listed on PlugShare. There's also a blue Model 3 (LR I believe) that's in Terrytown in Monument View. As of a week ago there's also a super clean white/white refresh Model S 100D owned by a farmer North of town near Lake Minatare. But yeah... not too many if you can list all of them when you don't even live there. lol
