Help needed planning trip to Solitude, UT

[Rakieta]

Hello!
I'm calling for help all fellow Utah Tesla owners.
For February I plan a ski trip to Solitude, UT. I'm based in San Diego, and I own Tesla 3 Long Range.

I have no problems planning the trip from SD to SLC, but I'm not sure about the rest of the trip. We will be staying in our friend's apartment with no access to an electric socket. We plan to stay for a full week and perhaps make 3-4 trips to Brighton during the week.
So here's my question. Can I make this trip despite no access to charging for the week and likely low temps? I would charge to 100% at SLC Tesla Supercharger before driving to Solitude.

I know I could make a quick trip to SLC during the week to charge - but I'd rather not.
Thank you all in advance for your wisdom!

 

[Rocky_H]

I like these kinds of challenges of figuring out EV traveling and charging, but you've picked a really hard one. Normally Plugshare will show some options in most towns, but there's still not much. Solitude has nothing. Brighton has one lodge with one, but it's got terrible reviews because they have it locked up most of the time, and they probably wouldn't like a non-guest using that for a long time.

Even zooming out a little farther, I don't see much available nearby until it's starting to get into about Sandy, UT, and by then, you might as well just get into SLC for the easy Supercharger.

So unless you can find something very local that you can run a thick gauge extension cord to for some overnights, the SLC Supercharger is probably going to have to be your solution.

 

[Tectonic]

+1 for the extension cord and 120V charging - there must be an outlet around there somewhere.

There's also a private party plugshare listing with a Tesla charger just down the canyon a bit from Solitude (might not be close enough to be logistically useful): PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You

Barring those, you might make it for the week if you don't turn the heat on for your short drives to/from Brighton. Good luck!

 

[Rocky_H]

There's also a private party plugshare listing with a Tesla charger just down the canyon a bit from Solitude

Oooh, dang! I must not have been logged in on this computer when I was looking at Plugshare, because it wasn't showing home charger listings. I am a big fan of that in both directions. I got my 14-50 outlet in my garage listed right when I got my car back in early 2014, and back then, Idaho was very much a wasteland of charging. So for the first year or two, I had several Tesla drivers who were coming through Idaho on I-84, and my house was the best charging available in all of Boise, so I got to meet them and go for dinner or beers while their car charged at my house a few hours. And on the other end, I was going to a concert in Heber City, UT, and I contacted someone who had their outlet listed and got to charge at their garage for a few hours while I was at the concert. It's really cool getting help out other EV drivers.

It's not walking distance from Solitude, but you said you are staying with friends at their apartment, right? You might be able to have them drive over to drop your car off there to get some charge for a few hours or overnight on one of those days, depending on what you can arrange with the owner of that charger. I have a new favorite suggestion now.

 

[PLUS EV]

Wait a minute. What am I missing?

Solitude is 28 miles from the SLC supercharger. If Rakieta charges to near full before going up there, there shouldn't be any risk of running out of charge even parking outside. Maybe turn off Sentry Mode just to be safe.

I do agree that scavenging some type of 110V outlet is perfect for these type of situations but in this case it doesn't seem necessary. Honestly, I would probably just go straight to Solitude from the Nephi supercharger and then charge in SLC on the way home if necessary. Solitude to Brighton is just a mile or two, so it's not like those trips will drain the battery much.

 

[Rakieta]

Thank you all for your help. I contacted the owner of the Plugshare listing, and he's willing to help if the dire need arise.
I also have an option of getting for a day into underground parking of one of the lodges and connect to a regular 110V outlet which is better than nothing.
I think we will plan on saving as much charge as we can (we don't really need to use heating while having our ski jackets on anyway) and hope we can make it back to SLC on one charge.

You all rock! Thank you again!

 

[Rakieta]

Wait a minute. What am I missing?

Solitude is 28 miles from the SLC supercharger. If Rakieta charges to near full before going up there, there shouldn't be any risk of running out of charge even parking outside. Maybe turn off Sentry Mode just to be safe.

I do agree that scavenging some type of 110V outlet is perfect for these type of situations but in this case it doesn't seem necessary. Honestly, I would probably just go straight to Solitude from the Nephi supercharger and then charge in SLC on the way home if necessary. Solitude to Brighton is just a mile or two, so it's not like those trips will drain the battery much.

That's what I'm hoping for. But while in the mountains I'm always worried about blizzards and closed roads and such. Also, I live in California so I have very little experience with battery drain in very cold weather. So I like to have a backup plan!

 

[tharasix]

That's what I'm hoping for. But while in the mountains I'm always worried about blizzards and closed roads and such. Also, I live in California so I have very little experience with battery drain in very cold weather. So I like to have a backup plan!

My worst experience with this in my LR Model 3 was letting the car sit outside on a weekend where the highs were around -20F and the lows were around -35F. I had it on a 15 amp outlet the whole time and it used all the electricity to keep warm. I didn't gain any charge until the weather "warmed up" to closer to zero. So there's a bit of data for you. In those temperatures, I would have lost charge at the rate of 1.44 kW.

 

[Rakieta]

My worst experience with this in my LR Model 3 was letting the car sit outside on a weekend where the highs were around -20F and the lows were around -35F. I had it on a 15 amp outlet the whole time and it used all the electricity to keep warm. I didn't gain any charge until the weather "warmed up" to closer to zero. So there's a bit of data for you. In those temperatures, I would have lost charge at the rate of 1.44 kW.

Wow, that's quite a loss. Thanks for posting this, it's an excellent reference to have.
Obviously, I'm hoping for less severe weather but I'm still glad I could secure some charging options.

 

[Rocky_H]

My worst experience with this in my LR Model 3 was letting the car sit outside on a weekend where the highs were around -20F and the lows were around -35F. I had it on a 15 amp outlet the whole time and it used all the electricity to keep warm. I didn't gain any charge until the weather "warmed up" to closer to zero. So there's a bit of data for you. In those temperatures, I would have lost charge at the rate of 1.44 kW.

Now that's some more real data about being too cold for 1kW charging to add miles. But that's a way different case than people saying this who are talking about temperatures in the mid 20's positive degrees. If it's just barely below the 32 degrees "freezing" point, that's still not too bad.

 

[Tectonic]

My worst experience with this in my LR Model 3 was letting the car sit outside on a weekend where the highs were around -20F and the lows were around -35F. I had it on a 15 amp outlet the whole time and it used all the electricity to keep warm. I didn't gain any charge until the weather "warmed up" to closer to zero. So there's a bit of data for you. In those temperatures, I would have lost charge at the rate of 1.44 kW.

That's cold! But I think there's a misunderstanding here. The reason that your car consumed that power without gaining charge is not that it was inherently losing charge at 1.44 kW - it's that the battery can't be charged at -20 F, so the car used the power in a futile attempt to heat the battery to a temperature where it can be charged.

 

[tharasix]

That's cold! But I think there's a misunderstanding here. The reason that your car consumed that power without gaining charge is not that it was inherently losing charge at 1.44 kW - it's that the battery can't be charged at -20 F, so the car used the power in a futile attempt to heat the battery to a temperature where it can be charged.

That's fair. I made the assumption that the charger was replacing vampire drain. I didn't (for science!) unplug the car to measure the rate of vampire drain in the absence of charging. I was at 25% and pretty far from any decent charging options.

 

[Rakieta]

Here's an update on my trip to Solitude, UT.

Very long drive but so very comfortable! On my way back home I had to sit in +45 min traffic jam near Cajon Junction and it was so much easier with AP on!
In Solitude all major lodges have at least 3-4 regular 120V outlets in the underground garage. I was able to charge the car as needed and started my trip back with almost full battery.

 

[Rocky_H]

In Solitude all major lodges have at least 3-4 regular 120V outlets in the underground garage. I was able to charge the car as needed and started my trip back with almost full battery.

Oh. You said you were staying in a friend's apartment, so I didn't think lodge facilities would be an available option. But I guess when you go over to ski, you get to park there?

 

[Rakieta]

Oh. You said you were staying in a friend's apartment, so I didn't think lodge facilities would be an available option. But I guess when you go over to ski, you get to park there?

Friend's apartment turned out to be a condo in one of the lodges. I did not know that until the day before the trip. And even then my friend was sure there were no outlets in the garage. It does change your perspective significantly when you own EV!
And by no means this should be taken as complaining- it's great to have friends with condos in such fabulous ski places even if they ignore the presence of electric outlets in the garage!

 

[Rocky_H]

It does change your perspective significantly when you own EV!

Yes, it does. After I had gotten my Tesla, I was walking through our cafeteria at work, and I saw a weird looking outlet on the wall, so I stopped and took a picture of it so I could try to check online of what type it was. Like...WHY?! I'm never going to be charging my car inside the cafeteria! But I was kind of fascinated with outlet types and had an eye for spotting them then.