Citations for charging our car at Yellowstone

[abasile]

Not long ago, we were at a different national park (to remain nameless) where some of the staff go out of their way to help EV owners. We saw a blue Model S with its UMC cord routed through an open window in a small campground office building. I chatted with the ranger in charge and thanked him for assisting another Tesla owner. He thanked me for driving an EV to the park. He did confirm that they aren't really supposed to let EV owners use park electricity, but it appears that some rangers allow this semi-regularly and that they don't get in trouble for it. Of course, I would certainly get permission before using any electrical outlet.

At 120V, we are talking about a fairly small amount of energy. Still, it might have been critical for that blue Model S owner. I reluctantly considered asking for permission to charge our Model S, but we ended up being able to drive to the nearest Supercharger with about 8% remaining. Driving around a large park can really take a toll on range, and sanctioned places to charge can be few and far between. I don't think the rangers want to see Teslas getting flatbedded out of the park on high-emitting, diesel-powered tow trucks!

In my opinion, all national park concessionaire-operated gas stations, hotels, and campgrounds (where electrical infrastructure exists) should be required to install and maintain multiple charging stations (at least 240V 30A) as a condition of being allowed to continue conducting business on public land.

 

[outdoors]

In my opinion, all national park concessionaire-operated gas stations, hotels, and campgrounds (where electrical infrastructure exists) should be required to install and maintain multiple charging stations (at least 240V 30A) as a condition of being allowed to continue conducting business on public land.

100% agree. Some conflicting interests might be present however.......

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[Rusty1]

When are national parks going to start limiting ICE vehicle use during busy times?

 

[mknox]

In my opinion, all national park concessionaire-operated gas stations, hotels, and campgrounds (where electrical infrastructure exists) should be required to install and maintain multiple charging stations (at least 240V 30A) as a condition of being allowed to continue conducting business on public land.

Yes, that's a great idea and the way to go about it.

 

[dhanson865]

I was there last summer and there is a supercharger just outside the gates, marked "Yellowstone supercharger" This was more than enough to see the whole park and come back for an "leaving:" charge.

You write that as though there is only 1 entrance to the park.

There are five entrances ⎯ North Entrance, Northeast Entrance, South Entrance, East Entrance and West Entrance.

Only the "west entrance" has a supercharger near it.

 

[RAM_Eh]

You write that as though there is only 1 entrance to the park.

There are five entrances ⎯ North Entrance, Northeast Entrance, South Entrance, East Entrance and West Entrance.

Only the "west entrance" has a supercharger near it.

You write this like you are not driving around the park anyways in your Tesla...... Spend an hour outside of it and charge. Once you pay for admission you can go in and out with a receipt.

 

[teethdood]

@RAM_Eh It is at least half an hour drive from any entrance to the loop, and if you have a 1-hour bearjam which is a daily occurrence in Yellowstone, well... let's just say there should be more charging options.

 

[dhanson865]

You write this like you are not driving around the park anyways in your Tesla...... Spend an hour outside of it and charge. Once you pay for admission you can go in and out with a receipt.

Do you drive from Eastern Canada all the way to California and then turn back to hit the supercharger by the west entrance?

I live South and East of the park and see no reason why I should drive way out of my way to hit that one entrance that has a supercharger near it.

Google maps has me coming in the "south entrance" after cutting through Teton National Forest.

To make it to the west entrance instead without going through the park I have to add over 300 miles to the trip.

I can charge in Jackson WY to get charge nearer the south entrance but it's not right next to Yellowstone like the West Yellowstone, MT supercharger is. Still it only adds 50 or so miles to the trip vs taking the route that assumes I don't need to charge. That's the way I'd go if I was coming from home.

Are you saying everyone that lives North or East of the park should drive the extra 300-500 miles to sidetrack around the park to the West entrance?

GETTING TO YELLOWSTONE - WHICH ENTRANCE SHOULD I TAKE?
Direction You're Coming From/Heading
Obviously, where you are coming from and heading to make a difference. The entrances aren’t close together, so if you’re coming from the east and want to enter from the west, you have to drive ALL THE WAY AROUND THE PARK via the available roads, which would take a long time. It would be faster to get to the West entrance driving thru the park.

 

[rush6410]

You mean lie on the affidavit?? I don't know about you, but I don't check to make sure the cable is locked to the car every time I charge.

The process of it grabbing the cable in with a loud thunk is it locking. So, yes, you do know it locked into place. Also the car doesn't have to be locked for the cable to be locked in while charging. You have to push the button for it to unlock the hold on the cable even with the car unlocked. With the car locked, the pushing then unlock of the cable will not occur. I have had instances when it doesn't lock; Thunk doesn't occur. So, it is reasonable to say the officer broke the locking mechanism. If you state those facts or provide details from Tesla on how it works, any reasonable judge will agree with your testimony. Thunk no longer occurs. And, please don't tell me you wouldn't notice that. It is very loud.
The officer has no right to damage your vehicle and is in fact liable for his actions. One infraction does not allow for a larger one by the officer.

 

[neroden]

Going rate for non-warranty charge port repair is $700-1100.

That is one expensive 'ticket'.

And you should sue the guy for damages. Did you get his name? He had no cause to damage your charge port (unplugging from the wall socket and leaving a ticket on your window would have been sufficient), so you have a civil case against him. Personally, I'd press it: you pay your $5 fine, he pays his $700 in damages, he learns a lesson...

In court, as you stated here, state that you had been told the charging was in a particular place and had gotten confused -- you thought that this was that place. Be contrite about making the mistake, and say you understand being unplugged and told to get off the dirt, but you don't understand why the cop vandalized your car.

 

[RAM_Eh]

Do you drive from Eastern Canada all the way to California and then turn back to hit the supercharger by the west entrance?

I live South and East of the park and see no reason why I should drive way out of my way to hit that one entrance that has a supercharger near it.

Google maps has me coming in the "south entrance" after cutting through Teton National Forest.

To make it to the west entrance instead without going through the park I have to add over 300 miles to the trip.

I can charge in Jackson WY to get charge nearer the south entrance but it's not right next to Yellowstone like the West Yellowstone, MT supercharger is. Still it only adds 50 or so miles to the trip vs taking the route that assumes I don't need to charge. That's the way I'd go if I was coming from home.

Are you saying everyone that lives North or East of the park should drive the extra 300-500 miles to sidetrack around the park to the West entrance?

I am not saying that at all!
Actually I came from the north from Butte. I charged almost full at the west entrance toured the whole park and left through the north entrance having plenty of charge left to get to the Big Timber, MT supercharger. I was driving a S85 with 21" wheels and 4 adults.

What I was saying is even if you enter any entrance you can always go to the Yellowstone supercharger. Your pass lets you leave the park and re-enter. The park is not that big that a full charge on an 85 will not be sufficient. The west entrance also has shopping and tourist sites.

Please get off your horse as it is a little high.

 

[David99]

This is an excellent example how messed we are.
Nothing really bad happened in the first place, yet because of big heads and egos things get bad. So he took $1 worth of electricity. Who cares. The cop gets his ego hurt by rich Tesla owners so he gets all worked up and writes the maximum amount of tickets he can and yanks out the cable breaking part of the car. Is that what we pay police for to protect us? Was justice served? Are we now safer because of that? Has anyone benefited from this? No! The car has $750 worth of damage, the court system’s time is wasted over stealing $1 worth or electricity.

Here is what should have happened.

Officer finds car plugged in. Guy comes. Officer tells him, ‘dude, not cool. You can’t drive your car over the grass and plug in here’. Guy says he asked for permission and explains that it’s really difficult to find charging stations and he took $1 worth of electricity.
Cop, ‘ok. I’ll give you a warning for parking like that. don’t do this again. $1 isn’t worth wasting our legal system with so let’s forget about the electricity. The courts have their hands full with real criminals.’

Maybe they would have talked a little more and learned more from each other.

And look at the discussion here. It’s all about who is right or wrong or that he deserved it or he should sue the cop. What in the world?! We are talking about $1! The time everyone spent here reading and writing on their computers probably used more electricity

 

[dmsail]

Here's an update on my violation notice in Yellowstone. I called the US Attorney's office on Monday and they said they would review my case and get back to me within a couple of days. He just called back this morning and said that they are dismissing my case. He said it didn't seem like I caused any damage and the ticket was "kind of silly." But he said if it happens again he can't guarantee it would be dismissed again. I assured him it wouldn't be happening again. So no travel to Yellowstone for me at this time.

Per our phone conversation, your case has been dismissed by the United States and there is no need for further action from you regarding this matter. This means that you do not need to appear in court nor follow up with us on the status of your charges. I will follow up with a copy of your dismissal after the judge signs it and the court processes our request.

 

[rush6410]

Here's an update on my violation notice in Yellowstone. I called the US Attorney's office on Monday and they said they would review my case and get back to me within a couple of days. He just called back this morning and said that they are dismissing my case. He said it didn't seem like I caused any damage and the ticket was "kind of silly." But he said if it happens again he can't guarantee it would be dismissed again. I assured him it wouldn't be happening again. So no travel to Yellowstone for me at this time.

Per our phone conversation, your case has been dismissed by the United States and there is no need for further action from you regarding this matter. This means that you do not need to appear in court nor follow up with us on the status of your charges. I will follow up with a copy of your dismissal after the judge signs it and the court processes our request.

What happened with the damage to your car?

 

[Peteybabes]

Here's an update on my violation notice in Yellowstone. I called the US Attorney's office on Monday and they said they would review my case and get back to me within a couple of days. He just called back this morning and said that they are dismissing my case. He said it didn't seem like I caused any damage and the ticket was "kind of silly." But he said if it happens again he can't guarantee it would be dismissed again. I assured him it wouldn't be happening again. So no travel to Yellowstone for me at this time.

Per our phone conversation, your case has been dismissed by the United States and there is no need for further action from you regarding this matter. This means that you do not need to appear in court nor follow up with us on the status of your charges. I will follow up with a copy of your dismissal after the judge signs it and the court processes our request.

excellent, and they dismissed it to skate away from a suit for damage on your car...smooth.

 

[mswlogo]

Oops

 

[rush6410]

If that 14-50 plug was an (unlabeled) fuel pump for say the service vehicles and you had a half tank of gas. Would you just drive over and top it off?

Don’t go giving EV drivers a bad reputation. That was steeling and it was blantantly wrong.

You might want to read the whole thread. OP was given permission.

 

[mswlogo]

You might want to read the whole thread. OP was given permission.

Thanks for the correction. I thought I read in the first few posts that he didn't. I corrected my post.

 

[abasile]

So no travel to Yellowstone for me at this time.

I’m glad to know that your ticket was dismissed and that you won’t have to travel to fight it! However, please don’t let this incident spoil your appreciation for a truly awesome park, and don’t give up on driving your Tesla there.

 

[PJFW8]

excellent, and they dismissed it to skate away from a suit for damage on your car...smooth.

Let's clear this up. There is no link between dismissal of 2 citations and the owner's right to file a lawsuit in federal court. Go ahead and sue! No sane lawyer would take this case. You would need to prove that the ranger knew that pulling the charge cable would damage the vehicle and that this was unreasonable. The officer likely thought it was sticking and used the end to lever it out. Even if done knowingly, retaining the cable connecting the trespassing vehicle to the unauthorized use of public property was arguably reasonable, given the mobility of the offending vehicle and the need to preserve the evidence. Appropriating public property for personal use is theft although very petty. True, the ranger overreacted. Two citations were probably sufficient. Taking the cable was overkill, but not the basis for a lawsuit. Imagine telling a judge or jury, " I parked my Tesla illegally on the lawn at the post office and plugged into an outlet to get 'free' power. That ranger unplugged my car and broke my charging port. Please give me money!" When they stop laughing they will dump your claim and send you back where you came from. They may check your car for toilet paper taken from the public restroom and other "free" souvenirs. (As a retired judge, overeager police are irritating, but petty lawsuits from the entitled are a waste of expensive court resources.) Looks to me like the result was more than fair.