Grand Canyon charging

[DennisLevitt]

Update:

Thanks MikeC. My wife just found it, and it sounds really good. It's 179 miles from Grand Canyon Village, just off the 160.

Trailer Village is full, but we were able to make a reservation at a Nema 14-50 Seems they have some hookups just for charging. YAY them.

So, does Kingman SC to Grand Canyon Village seem OK? And Grand Canyon Village to Goulding seem OK?

 

[DennisLevitt]

Thanks for the suggestion @MikeC. Sounds like a cool place to see Monument Valley and do some charging.

Grand Canyon Trailer Village will accept a reservation JUST for EV charging. Seems they have some 14-50 hookups just for charging

Has anyone gone straight from the Kingman Supercharger up to Grand Canyon Village? Should be plenty of range, but I'm a little concerned about the elevation climb and potential winds.

 

[DennisLevitt]

We had a horrible experience charging at the Grand Canyon Village Trailer Park. Gouldings, on the other hand, was great.

I pulled into Trailer Village about 5:15pm. They had our reservation, assigned us a space, and I hooked up to a Nema 14-50 about 5:30pm, and we took a shuttle to view the Canyon. All good, except internet was poor and I couldn't reach the car. I returned the next morning about 6:30am expecting a full range charge, and found the cable was disconnected at the pole. Range miles were 61, i.e. someone unplugged me about 30 minutes after I arrived. UUUUGGGGHHHH. I spoke to the Ranger in the kiosk (an older woman) and she was very aggressive, and accused me of not having a reservation, "You can't just park anywhere". I assured her I had a reservation and was parking in the space they assigned. Later, two other rangers suggested it was probably elk walking by and knocking out the cable. I live in the city, I'm not familiar with the habits of elk, but I doubt they would wander through a full campground at 6pm when lots of people are milling about and making dinner. In any case, we hung around for half a day charging up so we could get to Gouldings.

Gouldings was great. The drive through Monument Valley is spectacular, and the people at Gouldings were very friendly and helpful. The RV campground assigned us a space with a Nema 14-50. We ate dinner at the restaurant and got enough juice to make it to the Blanding SC.

 

[ZBB]

It may have been someone staying in the park -- not realizing why you were plugged in... Probably worth making up a tag that can be tied to the UMC asking not to be unplugged for times you need to use the UMC at a RV park or other public outlet...

Depending on the assigned spot, the elk theory might have some truth to it -- especially if there was ~5 feet or more between the outlet and the car and the spot was towards the edges. Elk (like deer) are commonly seen around dusk/sunset -- so they could have been on a stroll and may have bumped the cable.

 

[DFibRL8R]

Would be nice to have the tesla app push notify you if an unplug occurs (of course that requires the car having a connection to the internet which I have found an issue especially in the depths of parking garages etc)

 

[thranx]

Was there any visible damage to the plug, or chipped paint around the inside of the charge port? Anything like that would suggest elk or deer pulling hard on the cord. No damage would suggest a mischievous kid, or ignorant adult.

 

[dsm363]

The Elk story almost has to be made up. In the more likely things happening more often line of thought, the upset park ranger who said you didn't have a reservation just unplugged you and made up the story to protect herself.

 

[Cottonwood]

The Elk story almost has to be made up. In the more likely things happening more often line of thought, the upset park ranger who said you didn't have a reservation just unplugged you and made up the story to protect herself.

I've charged there, and seen the elk and deer wandering around at will. However, having an elk unplug a 14-50 is pretty unlikely.

BTW, when I charged at a top-of-the-hill, very-back-of-the-trailer-park spot, I did have the car available on the app most of the time. I accessed the internet on my iPhone via the hotel WiFi. YMMV

 

[DennisLevitt]

@thranx there was no visible damage to the plug, the cable or the pole. The fact there were a lot of kids playing catch, tag, etc. makes me think the elk story is unlikely. My best guess is a mischievous kid or the ranger I spoke to. The lesson is to put your reservation on the dash.
@zbb I like the idea of a tag asking people to let you stay charging plus a cell phone to call if they have questions.

 

[FreqFlier]

I like the idea of a tag saying "This EV charging cable is under video surveillance." (Even if it isn't true!)

 

[SKS519]

Hi ... we are headed to the GC on Saturday. We'll stay overnight and charge in Flagstaff tomorrow but need more juice to poke around and make it back to Flag on Monday. I spoke with the Best Western Squire Inn in the Park and they said they allow non guests to use their chargers (they have 2 Tesla and 2 universal stations) when guests aren't using it. They ask you to leave your name and cell number to contact in case they need you to move but she said it rarely happens and people have been very nice and accommodating.

Not sure if this is helpful based on your routes but thought I'd share. And super picture Z!