Today, August 2, 2018, I sent an email to my US Congressman, the Honorable Col. (ret.) Paul Cook, serving California’s 8th District, regarding the lack and unavailability of EV charging stations at the Grand Canyon National Park.
My wife and I are visiting the Park next week and staying at a hotel managed by one of the two Park’s concessionaires, Xanterra. However, my issue is with the other concessionaire, Delaware North and the National Park Service overseen by the Dept. of Interior. Delaware North operates the Trailer Village concession, the RV park within the NP that supplies RV’ers with power, water, possibly septic and more. It’s been reported by electric car owners, including owners of Teslas, that “dry spots” are available for EV charging. I’m led to believe that a “dry spot” is one, where an EV can only charge, either for free (if you’re a guest staying at a Xanterra concession hotel or for a fee of $10. It would appear that practice has ended or is unavailable during “busy” periods, discriminating and depriving EV owners of the ability to reliably access the Park and return to Flagstaff or Williams, Arizona with enough power to recharge their vehicles.
The information I refer to was placed up on the Plugshare website (www.plugshare.com) by EV owners and subscribers of the site. So, before taking your Tesla (or any EV) to the Grand Canyon, make sure you know where you are going to charge. There is a destination charger located at the Best Western Premier Hotel in Tusayan but not much else except for a wall outlet at McDonald’s or on an exterior wall outlet at the El Tovar Lodge, which are both dubious in my mind for availability and access. (Perhaps consider the cost of a flatbed to take your powerless EV from GC NP to Flagstaff or Williams, AZ.) Good job I’ve got AAA Premier towing. Oh yeah, you’ll have to pay $200 - $300/night at the Best Western to charge there. Hotel guests only!
So while the NPS outlaws hobbyists from flying their drones in national parks for taking beautiful videos and pictures due to “noise pollution”, amongst other reasons, the main gate at the southern entrance to the GC NP has a one-hour backup of ICE vehicles, including 9-mile per gallon RVs, all polluting! After all, carbon monoxide poisoning isn’t nearly as bad as “noise” pollution! We need the Dept. of Interior and the National Park Service to pull their heads out of their collective asses, irrespective of political affiliation. We have 535 members of Congress. Surely some of them, or their relatives, or their friends must own EVs, not as if they were too poor to buy a Tesla.
I encourage everyone, in all 50 states, to email your senator or congressman to protest this discrimination of a class of citizens to fully access their national parks and procure the equivalent fuel for their EVs! The NPS promised us EV charging stations years ago, and little to nothing has been done to address the issue. Any concession that manages hotels or RV camping/parking in our National Parks should be mandated by law to provide adequate and accessible EV chargers, and these charging slots should be monitored for Ice’ing and subsequent towing. Alternatively, the Dept. of Interior and the NPS can remove all the ICE refueling stations from the Parks, all Parks! They can start with the Grand Canyon. We’ll see how that works out for visitors but we’ll have a whole lot less pollution. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
My wife and I are visiting the Park next week and staying at a hotel managed by one of the two Park’s concessionaires, Xanterra. However, my issue is with the other concessionaire, Delaware North and the National Park Service overseen by the Dept. of Interior. Delaware North operates the Trailer Village concession, the RV park within the NP that supplies RV’ers with power, water, possibly septic and more. It’s been reported by electric car owners, including owners of Teslas, that “dry spots” are available for EV charging. I’m led to believe that a “dry spot” is one, where an EV can only charge, either for free (if you’re a guest staying at a Xanterra concession hotel or for a fee of $10. It would appear that practice has ended or is unavailable during “busy” periods, discriminating and depriving EV owners of the ability to reliably access the Park and return to Flagstaff or Williams, Arizona with enough power to recharge their vehicles.
The information I refer to was placed up on the Plugshare website (www.plugshare.com) by EV owners and subscribers of the site. So, before taking your Tesla (or any EV) to the Grand Canyon, make sure you know where you are going to charge. There is a destination charger located at the Best Western Premier Hotel in Tusayan but not much else except for a wall outlet at McDonald’s or on an exterior wall outlet at the El Tovar Lodge, which are both dubious in my mind for availability and access. (Perhaps consider the cost of a flatbed to take your powerless EV from GC NP to Flagstaff or Williams, AZ.) Good job I’ve got AAA Premier towing. Oh yeah, you’ll have to pay $200 - $300/night at the Best Western to charge there. Hotel guests only!
So while the NPS outlaws hobbyists from flying their drones in national parks for taking beautiful videos and pictures due to “noise pollution”, amongst other reasons, the main gate at the southern entrance to the GC NP has a one-hour backup of ICE vehicles, including 9-mile per gallon RVs, all polluting! After all, carbon monoxide poisoning isn’t nearly as bad as “noise” pollution! We need the Dept. of Interior and the National Park Service to pull their heads out of their collective asses, irrespective of political affiliation. We have 535 members of Congress. Surely some of them, or their relatives, or their friends must own EVs, not as if they were too poor to buy a Tesla.
I encourage everyone, in all 50 states, to email your senator or congressman to protest this discrimination of a class of citizens to fully access their national parks and procure the equivalent fuel for their EVs! The NPS promised us EV charging stations years ago, and little to nothing has been done to address the issue. Any concession that manages hotels or RV camping/parking in our National Parks should be mandated by law to provide adequate and accessible EV chargers, and these charging slots should be monitored for Ice’ing and subsequent towing. Alternatively, the Dept. of Interior and the NPS can remove all the ICE refueling stations from the Parks, all Parks! They can start with the Grand Canyon. We’ll see how that works out for visitors but we’ll have a whole lot less pollution. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
