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Hi everyone, I crossed the "desert" a little more than a week ago going from Vancouver to Toronto. Montana and Wyoming were of course the challenging spots. Lincoln's charger worked fine and fortunately no-one was using it when I got there. The RV parks are good for charging and if not staying overnight the market rate to charge for a few hours is about $15. Well worth the price when there aren't other options! Somewhere there was a post that the Bozeman Motel 6 had a 14-50 outlet available but I've called there twice and they say they don't have one. South of Sheridan, in Gillette, there is a standard EV charger at Tower Communications and it's a real trip saver!
Well, I am at it again! A visit to old and new friends in Colorado is the latest motivation for Tesla road tripping!
Encouraged by comments here and on PlugShare, I reserved a room at Lincoln's Siver Dollar and expected to be able to charge overnight at one of the two 14-50's described. Alas, when I arrived at about 10pm last night, the place was packed and crawling with camo-clad ATV enthusiasts who were apparently having some big annual rally! Best laid plans... the 14-50's were both blocked and used by giant RV's and only TT-30's remained to be sought out, with the help of the very kind and patient motel clerk, Margaret. So instead of getting about 200 miles RR overnight, I only got about 50. As soon as it was a decent hour to call around, I located the Campground at St. Regis, 15 miles east of The Silver Dollar. This is a very nice park a couple miles off the highway in a pine grove. It is spotless, well-run and well-equipped. They charged me $15 for a daytime charge. I am now on a solid 242V, 40A circuit getting the usual 28 mph RR.
I am hoping to connect with DrGuest later today for a charge to make it to the Billings supercharger by evening, and then into northern Wyoming tonight.
Any recommendations for RV Park/motels near Sheridan or Buffalo? I am not going east to Gillette so the charge station there does not help me; I will proceed south to Caper, then divert to Lusk for the SC, then Cheyenne and on to my friends in Louisville, CO.
Encouraged by comments here and on PlugShare, I reserved a room at Lincoln's Siver Dollar and expected to be able to charge overnight at one of the two 14-50's described. Alas, when I arrived at about 10pm last night, the place was packed and crawling with camo-clad ATV enthusiasts who were apparently having some big annual rally! Best laid plans... the 14-50's were both blocked and used by giant RV's and only TT-30's remained to be sought out, with the help of the very kind and patient motel clerk, Margaret. So instead of getting about 200 miles RR overnight, I only got about 50. As soon as it was a decent hour to call around, I located the Campground at St. Regis, 15 miles east of The Silver Dollar. This is a very nice park a couple miles off the highway in a pine grove. It is spotless, well-run and well-equipped. They charged me $15 for a daytime charge. I am now on a solid 242V, 40A circuit getting the usual 28 mph RR.
I am hoping to connect with DrGuest later today for a charge to make it to the Billings supercharger by evening, and then into northern Wyoming tonight.
Any recommendations for RV Park/motels near Sheridan or Buffalo? I am not going east to Gillette so the charge station there does not help me; I will proceed south to Caper, then divert to Lusk for the SC, then Cheyenne and on to my friends in Louisville, CO.
Bighorn
Top Supercharger
There's a KOA at Exit 20 off I-90 in Sheridan that has been very good to travelers with issues in the past. I suspect they they will treat you well, though I've never talked with them. I'm currently at the Jersey shore in my MS, otherwise I'd check in for you. I sent SteveZ a bunch of info about charging in Casper on your behalf. Sorry I won't be around to greet you.
Lusk is a good plan despite the extra mileage given the 70A charging in Casper. I've done both Lusk and Cheyenne from there and Lusk is a lot more relaxed, especially since they raised the speed limit to 80 in July.
Lusk is a good plan despite the extra mileage given the 70A charging in Casper. I've done both Lusk and Cheyenne from there and Lusk is a lot more relaxed, especially since they raised the speed limit to 80 in July.
Cottonwood
Roadster#433, Model S#S37
Keep up the reports. I am hoping to do that trip from Colorado to the NW in late October. Have you tried doing the calculation of the direct route across Montana with the one Supercharger in Billings, versus the end run via Southern California with all Superchargers? Maybe I will try both and make it a loop trip. By October, I am hoping that at least Coeur d'Alene and/or Bozeman will be live. Maybe there is one more out there that will surprise us. Probably wishful thinking, but I can hope.
Happy travels!
Hi BigHorn, yes, sorry to miss you. Stevezzzz let me know you were out on your own adventure. He also passed on the info for Casper, and I am all set there.
As for Sheridan, I am going to leave that territory for tomorrow. I always forget how slow progress is when on all 14-50's, and my loss of six hours effective charging time last night really put a hole in my plan. So I have taken RBFrost's tip above of the Motel 6 in Bozeman, since DrGuest also seems to be out and about enjoying (no reply to PM's and voicemail full!).
Cottonwood, are you in the Boulder area? If so perhaps we could meet for a coffee or something while I am there this week. In any case, I will keep posting!
BTW, I am planning to go back via the superchargers as far as Nephi, UT, but then cut directly north through Boise and to my father-in-law's in Clarkston, where I will converge with my wife. I discovered at least one HPWC outside of Ogden on PlugShare, so crossing some of that I-84 route Tesla has deferred until 2015 will not be too bad. I will let you know how that piece goes. I leave CO going west next weekend.
PS: My first post mentioning FOUR other members! My TMC network is expanding! :smile:
Please keep an eye out for supercharger construction while in Sheridan - one is likely in process (permitting or construction) and there aren't exactly alot of Tesla owners in the area to do scouting.
Bighorn
Top Supercharger
Sheridan has one of the highest per capita ownership of MS. We've got people on this
Ha! It appears I have underestimated the clout of the Sheridan Tesla Owners Club. ;-) Hopefully the local planning department will expedite the permitting process in deference to your overwhelming numbers!
Bighorn
Top Supercharger
We got our Travel and Tourism board and our mayor on board over a year ago--they've been lobbying Tesla ever since. I've been out to lunch with the Tesla supercharger team and in email contact as a go-between/cheerleader with the owners of the leased property and Tesla central. I doubt there are many places pushing as hard for a SC.
I called them and they were downright rude and refused me! So cross that one off the map, people!
I was able to get into the KOA instead, despite them being almost fully booked. I was only there 3 hours-- just enough to get to my next stop in Casper. Thanks to BigHorn for the recommendation to try KOA!
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I will supply a few more notes later, but for now, just letting folks here know that I did eventually make it to CO, despite TWO busted overnight charging opportunities. The 14-50 outlet at the Motel 6 in Bozeman is BROKEN!!! I had to charge at 120V 12A there, since it was too late (10pm) to find an alternative. In the morning I got into the Sunrise RV Park at the east edge of town. Charging for 3.5 hours there got me up to just sufficient charge to make it to the Billings SC.
After the stops in Sheridan and Casper, I arrived at the Lusk SC at 4:30am yesterday morning, then Cheyenne at about 7am and finally into Louisville, CO at 9:30am. Whew! That was a tough one-- 24 hours in the saddle!
I have found that quite a few RV park owners are quite rude, and once they hear Electric Vehicle, they either hang up, or get much ruder. In instances where there are few charge options, I usually just book a 50A RV spot for the night, and not ever mention anything about charging a car. It's only a few bucks more, less hassle, and a sure full charge.
I must just be lucky. I have only had good experiences in RV parks. On my last 5500 mile roadtrip I mostly used super chargers but stopped by RV parks three times. One in Williams AZ for a couple hours of charging just because I could, not really needed. Was free. In Sheridan at Peter D's where I stayed overnight and paid a full fee so maybe that helped. They even offered to drive me back to the hotel but after a days driving I actually wanted the short walk. And at the KOA in Missoula MT where I booked a deluxe cabin and they charged me $5 to use a 50 AMP circuit in another spot (the cabin only had a 30 AMP circuit that I did not have an adapter for).
I usually call ahead to make sure they will have a 50A spot available. Maybe people are not afraid to be rude over the phone vs. in person? I don't know. One RV park in Washington has a rate of $35 per night for an RV, but wanted to charge $50 per hour for a car. Needless to say, I said no thanks.
Sometimes there is a red minus sign in the comments when people have trouble getting a charge.
Bighorn
Top Supercharger
bollar
Disgruntled Member
IMO, until there's a better way, I would check-in to Plugshare with an unable to charge and note the experience in the comments section.
