I-90 - Completing the West

[Bighorn]

The supercharger page has one more SC between Billings where I90 heading east makes a right angle turn at Hardin and heads south toward Sheridan. Looks like it may be at about the intersection of I90 and US 212 heading east. Has either Bighorn or DrGuest detected any Tesla building activity in that "neck of the woods?" Anyone live around there??

I think it will probably be Hardin, but I'd be surprised if Hardin started a build before Sheridan. Hardin is not somewhere you'd typically visit unless you were low on gas, but I may cruise through there next time I go north after a little research of likely suspects. It's a pretty depressed little town just north of the Crow Reservation with little else around.

 

[JohnMc]

Bighorn The "red dot" of the Tesla SC map looks like it is south of that right angle turn on I90. (The detail is really great on the large map:wink There don't seem to be any hotels/lodging facilities in the Crow Agency but there is one "Shake & Burger Hut" listed there which (on the Google map) is just north of Crow Agency. Might be a setup sorta like Taco Johns in Sheridan?? Just wondering??

 

[Bighorn]

One of the regular speculators around here suggested Crow Agency as the spot. It's right by Little Big Horn, so there's a reasonable amount of traffic to the Custer Battlefield. There's a pretty big souvenir shop--the Custer Battlefield Trading Post and Cafe, that might be another option.

I think negotiating with the tribe, since it's on reservation land, might be out of the supercharger team's wheelhouse. I was talking to a patient recently about how they wouldn't pass their driver's license test because of their poor vision and they said that they lived on the reservation, so neither a license nor insurance were required. I haven't confirmed that, but it may be the state of affairs.

 

[Rockford Bay]

I stopped by Superior Mt on Sunday and found this Supercharger construction. If you are going north on 135 to Kalispell or Flathead lake this will add about 30 minutes to the trip. To bad they did now build in St Regis or Haugen, even Wallace Idaho. Now maybe we need to st

art a campaign to get one built in Kalispell area.

 

[Kevin Harney]

Wallace/Kellogg and Spokane would eliminate the need for CdA BTW Nice find !!

 

[Cottonwood]

Because there is only one Conoco in Superior, this seems to be the spot.

S & S Foods
205 E 4th Ave
Superior, Mt 59872

Google Maps

 

[Cottonwood]

For grins, I put Ritzville to Superior into EVTripPlanner. It's a nail biter, but with 0.9 speed, 68 in the cabin, 40 outside, in an 85 on 19's, it takes 241 rated miles. A stop for lunch, etc on a level 2 in Coeur d'Alene, and it should be pretty straight forward. Superior is 850 feet higher than Ritzville, so Superior to Ritzville takes 230 rated miles, net down hill.

Lunch or dinner at The Coeur d'Alene Resort with their 2, 80 Amp HPWC's is looking pretty attractive on this section of road...another good reason for dual chargers...

 

[Bighorn]

For grins, I put Ritzville to Superior into EVTripPlanner. It's a nail biter, but with 0.9 speed, 68 in the cabin, 40 outside, in an 85 on 19's, it takes 241 rated miles. A stop for lunch, etc on a level 2 in Coeur d'Alene, and it should be pretty straight forward. Superior is 850 feet higher than Ritzville, so Superior to Ritzville takes 230 rated miles, net down hill.

Lunch or dinner at The Coeur d'Alene Resort with their 2, 80 Amp HPWC's is looking pretty attractive on this section of road...another good reason for dual chargers...

I'm considering taking the route west from Sheridan Thanksgiving week and also recognized that it's doable in good conditions, possibly without a stop in Coeur D'Alene, which is why I consider SHR or GCC the golden spike now.

 

[Cottonwood]

I'm considering taking the route west from Sheridan Thanksgiving week and also recognized that it's doable in good conditions, possibly without a stop in Coeur D'Alene, which is why I consider SHR or GCC the golden spike now.

Looking good!

Has anyone tried charging at The Coeur d'Alene Resort? I would hope that they allow charging for restaurant guests. The Coeur d'Alene Resort is a great top up point until the Coeur d'Alene Supercharger is done, especially for those with dual chargers. I predict many Tesla Model S's using them. To everyone, be nice, give them some business, and tip well! We need to recognize and support locations like this that put in 80 Amp HPWC's.

 

[DrGuest]

I stopped by Superior Mt on Sunday and found this Supercharger construction. If you are going north on 135 to Kalispell or Flathead lake this will add about 30 minutes to the trip. To bad they did now build in St Regis or Haugen, even Wallace Idaho. Now maybe we need to stView attachment 62997View attachment 62998art a campaign to get one built in Kalispell area.

Fantastic Find! It's fun when a hunch pays off.
They have really come along on this one, now I can see that soon as Superior is done then breaking ground in Butte will follow. Wow, It looks like Montana will be done before Idaho even begins, who would have thought that would be the case.

 

[aja2460]

Until Coeur d'Alene opens, remember that my son FredA on plugshare has a HPWC in Spokane installed for the benefit of all Model S owners (and his father from Seattle, me). He's had a few owners stop by, but he'd enjoy more. Sixty miles from Ritzville, a little more than an hour top off and 140 miles to Superior...

 

[Bighorn]

Looking good!

Has anyone tried charging at The Coeur d'Alene Resort? I would hope that they allow charging for restaurant guests. The Coeur d'Alene Resort is a great top up point until the Coeur d'Alene Supercharger is done, especially for those with dual chargers. I predict many Tesla Model S's using them. To everyone, be nice, give them some business, and tip well! We need to recognize and support locations like this that put in 80 Amp HPWC's.

My driving style usually precludes hotel stops, but I thought I might actually stay there and take advantage of the HPWC, especially if weather will force a top up anyway. Looks to be about a 12 hour leg (636 miles) from here, so I could be conventional for once.

 

[Cottonwood]

I'm considering taking the route west from Sheridan Thanksgiving week and also recognized that it's doable in good conditions, possibly without a stop in Coeur D'Alene, which is why I consider SHR or GCC the golden spike now.

There are many of us brave hypermilers out there, but for normal, all-weather, normal driving speeds, and reasonable Supercharger charge time, COE, SHR, and GCC will all be needed. The last of those (probably COE), will be the Golden Spike.

At any rate, it wonderful to see all of these Superchargers go in, but it's still a Montana Island.

 

[Skyhawk]

Page 1 table updated

Thanks for the great feedback from the many followers of this thread. Collectively the knowledge gathered by the group assembled a good overview of the project.

This east west route is quickly being completed. For me Superior (and Missoula) is a big deal. Just two months ago, over Labor Day, I had to drive my ICE Acura to a family gathering in Salmon, ID because I could not get there and back in the time available with my Model S. Today I would still be dependent on getting to Missoula, but would definitely be doing the trip in the S85.

Based on the Ritzville buildout, Superior should be online soon, barring any issues with power company. I visited Ritzville several times during construction, if the the same time table can be applied, Superior is less than three weeks out making Thanksgiving plans possible.

I tend to agree with Cottonwood that Coeur d'Alene will likely be the Golden Spike location, because location planning had to be restarted.

 

[Bighorn]

So I went on a fact finding mission yesterday to Crow Agency and Hardin accompanied, ironically, by a land agent for the coal company that owns all the mineral rights in that territory. She knows the area very well and has an office in Crow Agency. The Trading Post in Crow Agency appears to be the only viable site in Crow Agency. We spoke with some workers there who didn't know anything, but one woman said she thought she'd heard talk. She was Crow, and there was no decipherable sub-text. My friend knows the owner and she will text him to get the best answer. Shake & Burger Hut is an absolute no.

We stopped at a few likely sites in Hardin and talked to store employees and nobody was aware of a supercharger. I was given the phone number of a Chamber leader to call to get a better answer. I suspect Hardin will be bid and built along with Sheridan and Gillette.

I suppose I could email my contact on the supercharger team. Maybe they're more open about their plans at this point.

 

[Cottonwood]

So I went on a fact finding mission yesterday to Crow Agency and Hardin accompanied, ironically, by a land agent for the coal company that owns all the mineral rights in that territory. She knows the area very well and has an office in Crow Agency. The Trading Post in Crow Agency appears to be the only viable site in Crow Agency. We spoke with some workers there who didn't know anything, but one woman said she thought shey'd heard talk. She was Crow, and there was no decipherable sub-text. My friend knows the owner and she will text him to get the best answer. Shake & Burger Hut is an absolute no.

We stopped at a few likely sites in Hardin and talked to store employees and nobody was aware of a supercharger. I was given the phone number of a Chamber leader to call to get a better answer. I suspect Hardin will be bid and built along with Sheridan and Gillette.

I suppose I could email my contact on the supercharger team. Maybe they're more open about their plans at this point.

I heard that Sheridan will be starting "soon..."

 

[Bighorn]

I heard that Sheridan will be starting "soon..."

I broke down and wrote to my contact, so we'll know "soon enough."

 

[KJD]

What ever happened to the idea of a SC in Coeur d'Alene, ID ?

 

[Skyhawk]

What ever happened to the idea of a SC in Coeur d'Alene, ID ?

Per KeithM on Sept 15th

Stopped by the SpringHill Suites Marriott in Coeur D'Alene to see if construction was underway. It was not. Spoke with Matt Hoffman, the Director of Sales at the hotel. He reported that the SC would not be at the SpringHill as planned due to zoning restrictions regarding the number of parking spaces on the property. He was disappointed because the SC would not be on the property. He knew the SC would be in CDA, but did not know where. He reported that he has been working with Tesla and planned to install two HPWC's at the hotel.p

This one has lots of attention, but there are two hotels with HPWCs.

 

[Cottonwood]

This one has lots of attention, but there are two hotels with HPWCs.

It's 198 miles from Ritzville to Superior. For those with dual chargers, the HPWC's in Coeur d'Alene make this a very easy gap to jump. A lunch or dinner stop in Coeur d'Alene, and this is a piece of cake until Tesla finds another Coeur d'Alene site.

In the uphill, R->S, direction, driving with traffic, 0˚F outside, and carrying 500 lb, EVTripPlanner says it's 306 rated miles in an 85. Slow down slightly, an hour+ stop in Coeur d'Alene, and this one is done. This is yet another example of how useful dual chargers can be...