Destination Charger Anxiety

[FlyF4]

Every place does their own thing of course. I have heard of several hotels that keep a couple of orange traffic cones available, and if someone calls to ask to get one of the spots, they will put the cone out in one of the spaces to hold it for them. The one time I did stay at a hotel and used charging was before there was an official destination charging program, so it was just a 14-50 outlet the hotel had put in. That interstate didn't even have Superchargers on it yet, so I didn't bother to call to reserve, because it was really highly unlikely for anyone to coincidentally be wanting to use it the same day as we would be there, and it was empty.

Rocky, good to know

 

[TexasEV]

Every place does their own thing of course. I have heard of several hotels that keep a couple of orange traffic cones available, and if someone calls to ask to get one of the spots, they will put the cone out in one of the spaces to hold it for them.

The orange cones are a good idea, but they're usually used to prevent ICEing of the space in front of the HPWC when the hotel knows a guest with a Tesla is coming, not to reserve it for one Tesla owner over another. If I encountered one, I would just get out and move it, park, and plug in.

 

[EV-lutioin]

I didn't know you could do that, and that's somewhat helpful, but here's what's going on...

I am going to be in the southwest where it can be large stretches between SuperChargers. Lets say I book a hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas, at Lookout Point Lakeside Inn. I have a reservation. I'm staying there. But their Destination Charger is full already. You say "call ahead," but that doesn't mean that the clerk will say it's available. The clerk might just say that someone already reserved it. And it's a long way to the next SuperCharger (at the moment) and I don't want to spend 8 hours charging at some other hotel or grocery store because the Destination Charger was booked before me at the Lookout Point Lakeside Inn.

And let's say I intend to stay somewhere 100 miles from a SuperCharger and use the Destination Charger every night for 5 nights. What if YOU show up with the same plans?

And I guess the answer(s), from what I glean from above, are:

1. Know that these Destination Chargers tend to be open, and you can largely count on luck;
2. Make sure you have enough charge left when you get to your hotel that you could get to the next SuperCharger if possible;
3. Try to work it out if someone else needs the Destination Charger too.

I might leave a note on my car letting someone who really needs the charger get a hold of me if I'm taking up the spot. It would be great if others did that as well.

Bring an extension cord and plug into 110V if you have to.... most hotels are super helpful and even though 110V is slow, overnight it will generally give you enough juice to make your next destination. For example 12 hrs at the hotel will give you ~ 48 miles range. If nothing else you can use the 110V until the destination charger is available. We had to use 110V at a hotel when we visited Yosemite (before the Superchargers were installed) and it saved the trip.

 

[Rocky_H]

The orange cones are a good idea, but they're usually used to prevent ICEing of the space in front of the HPWC when the hotel knows a guest with a Tesla is coming, not to reserve it for one Tesla owner over another. If I encountered one, I would just get out and move it, park, and plug in.

Calling days ahead of time to reserve it for a particular night is where the "first" comes from in the saying "first come, first served".

 

[hiroshiy]

Tesla HPWC is pretty powerful so if it is listed as destination charger I would negotiate with the person who happens to charge on the same day. I would call the hotel in advance and ask to put a sign, saying "I plan to use this on xx/xx at night please text me if you are going to use: xxx-xxx-xxxx". Usually nobody uses, but if someone texted you, you can negotiate the charging time, basically who arrived first gets the charger until 10pm and the next person uses the charger from 10pm.

Edit:I usually don't do this. This advice is hypothetical case- I have to charge at night it the next quick charge location is 100 miles away, which never happens in Japan.

 

[Racerx22b]

Your best bet is to bring a heavy gauge 50' extension cord with you as a backup. You'd be surprised how many 120v outlets are out there to use (always ask for permission of course). Like others have advised this is usually enough to save your butt.

Calling to "reserve" a charger is total crap. First come, first serve is the rule of the land. And by first I mean who is first to plug in. Not first to call. I would be fuming if I went to plug in and a hotel employee refused my access because "Joe Tesla" called me last week and said he would be here tonight. Having said that, it would be courteous to advise the hotel front desk that you are charging and give them your cell # in case another Tesla (or EV if it's not a HPWC) showed up and needed a charge so you could work it out with each other. Not sure everyone wants to advertise their cell # to the world by leaving it on their dashboard.

I do think calling in advance to ensure the spot is not ICE'd is a good idea. Have them put out a cone or bucket to keep spot open. Some of these hotels don't really mark the spots well or even know they have this amenity. The one mentioned above about the Fairfield Inn at Key West could easily be ICE'd as the chargers aren't really visible and the spots are not marked. I didn't have an issue when I was there but it certainly could easily happen as the spots are close to the lobby.

 

[Rocky_H]

I guess hotels shouldn't let people book their rooms ahead of time either. Just let everybody show up and fight each other for it.

 

[Racerx22b]

I guess hotels shouldn't let people book their rooms ahead of time either. Just let everybody show up and fight each other for it.

Apples to oranges... If the hotel had 250 EV chargers available then this would be a fair comparison. When a hotel has 250 rooms and 1 or 2 chargers this is just not realistic (or fair).

In fact, I run 5-10 miles a day using hotel treadmills 2-4 times a week (I travel weekly for a living). Using your argument, I should be able to call all the hotels I currently have reservations at (about 20) and book treadmill time each morning and evening so I have no issue. BELIEVE ME! I wish that was an option but I am realistic to know that this is not reality. Many times I just have to sit and wait for a treadmill to open up.

 

[Rocky_H]

Apples to oranges... If the hotel had 250 EV chargers available then this would be a fair comparison. When a hotel has 250 rooms and 1 or 2 chargers this is just not realistic (or fair).

In fact, I run 5-10 miles a day using hotel treadmills 2-4 times a week (I travel weekly for a living). Using your argument, I should be able to call all the hotels I currently have reservations at (about 20) and book treadmill time each morning and evening so I have no issue. BELIEVE ME! I wish that was an option but I am realistic to know that this is not reality. Many times I just have to sit and wait for a treadmill to open up.

This is a serious legitimate question, and I'm glad you brought up treadmills as another example. Rooms, treadmills, charging stations, and seating at restaurants are all limited resources. Limited resources in some cases or industries are based on reservations and in other cases are based on who shows up first--kind of depends on the setting or business. Obviously McDonald's doesn't do reservations, but some restaurants do. With it being a hotel, I would think that would establish the context. Hotels do reservations for their limited resources such as their rooms and maybe tables at their restaurants. Why not treadmills and charging stations, since they are also a limited resource at the hotel? Your treadmill example could go into a different field. Most sports clubs let people place reservations for a racquetball court, and if someone shows up there before the person who reserved it, they don't get to just take it over and not let the reserver use it when they get there.

Really, go through the same thing you said earlier, but about a hotel room, where you would be fuming that the hotel wouldn't let you take over a room that someone else had reserved ahead of time.

 

[Racerx22b]

This is a serious legitimate question, and I'm glad you brought up treadmills as another example. Rooms, treadmills, charging stations, and seating at restaurants are all limited resources. Limited resources in some cases or industries are based on reservations and in other cases are based on who shows up first--kind of depends on the setting or business. Obviously McDonald's doesn't do reservations, but some restaurants do. With it being a hotel, I would think that would establish the context. Hotels do reservations for their limited resources such as their rooms and maybe tables at their restaurants. Why not treadmills and charging stations, since they are also a limited resource at the hotel? Your treadmill example could go into a different field. Most sports clubs let people place reservations for a racquetball court, and if someone shows up there before the person who reserved it, they don't get to just take it over and not let the reserver use it when they get there.

Really, go through the same thing you said earlier, but about a hotel room, where you would be fuming that the hotel wouldn't let you take over a room that someone else had reserved ahead of time.

p

The difference with a charger and a treadmill, racquetball court, and restaurant is that the charger is a absolute must have amenity. If I don't get to use the treadmill, racquetball court, or don't get a seat at the restaurant it won't have any affect on my travel. You don't really NEED any of those but you need the charger. And as far as the actual hotel room... again, you typically have another hotel across the street. I'd still be annoyed if I showed up to a booked hotel but I could likely (at least way more likely than finding a charger) go across the street or to the next exit or to the next town and I'd be just fine.

The better analogy is if you were staying at a hostel with 5 rooms and one bathroom. You must have a bathroom. From what I've heard (I have no personal experience) is that the bathroom is a first come first serve or you just work it out amongst all guests to come up with a schedule for use like what I previously suggested by advising the front desk that you're using the charger.

 

[dandelot]

At The Stanford Inn by-the-Sea (Mendocino, CA) the two Tesla charging spots can be ICE'd, but the front desk knows exactly who is in those spots and will get you charging before evening. Plus you can leave a cone (they provide!) in the spot if you know you need to charge the next day. It's an extraordinary place to stay and The Ravens restaurant is so awesome (vegan, organic, with extraordinary flavors, most of the produce grown on the grounds) we switched all our dinner meals to The Ravens.

Plus there are llamas to watch

Picking up S 100D March 29...

 

[Rocky_H]

The difference with a charger and a treadmill, racquetball court, and restaurant is that the charger is a absolute must have amenity. If I don't get to use the treadmill, racquetball court, or don't get a seat at the restaurant it won't have any affect on my travel. You don't really NEED any of those but you need the charger.

You realize you are building a very strong case for why it is so important for the hotel to let you reserve the charging station ahead of time, right?

 

[hiroshiy]

@Racerx22b and @Rocky_H , as we've shown in the discussion above, people have different ways to do things. I just showed what I would do if a person who is like the OP, having anxiety about destination charging. Advising him to just see what happens when you arrive there, was not satisfactory to him, I believed.

Eventually how to operate a charging facility depends on the venue owner. If the owner allows advance reservation of a charger, then that's the rule of that location I guess.

As I said above I personally wouldn't reserve it here in Japan.

 

[originalsalt]

Bought my X in December and have 10,000+ miles on it, taking road trips to Tahoe and San Diego from the SF Bay Area. I also had pre-trip range anxiety. Going down to San Diego, I decided to drive how I normally do in an ICE vehicle. I was down to 20 miles once I arrived at both Harris Ranch and Tejon Ranch. A bit of range anxiety, so I slowed down from my 85+ mph. It was also raining and cold, so perhaps my battery was affected by this. Today I'm more comfortable in my EV skin --- I made it home from work with 10 miles available --- and I wasn't stressing out. It's been a process!!

 

[Racerx22b]

You realize you are building a very strong case for why it is so important for the hotel to let you reserve the charging station ahead of time, right?

That's a separate argument. I 100% agree that reserving them is the ideal situation but it's just not realistic at this point nor would it be fair with how the current infrastructure is.

 

[FlyF4]

Apples to oranges... If the hotel had 250 EV chargers available then this would be a fair comparison. When a hotel has 250 rooms and 1 or 2 chargers this is just not realistic (or fair).

In fact, I run 5-10 miles a day using hotel treadmills 2-4 times a week (I travel weekly for a living). Using your argument, I should be able to call all the hotels I currently have reservations at (about 20) and book treadmill time each morning and evening so I have no issue. BELIEVE ME! I wish that was an option but I am realistic to know that this is not reality. Many times I just have to sit and wait for a treadmill to open up.

Hmmm. I got Rocky's joke. I think you took him literally