Mt Airy, MD needs a Supercharger

[gnuarm]

Between Baltimore and Frederick, MD there are no chargers. The Washington area is filthy with superchargers. They form a V going up the highway to Baltimore or to Frederick with no more than 15 miles between chargers. But from Baltimore to Frederick it is 45 miles without a charger. Given all the traffic along Rt 70, this seems rather a large omission.

Woodbine would not be a bad stop. Or Mt Airy has a lot more going on. It just seems like a long stretch without a charger given the number of cars on that highway.

 

[LoudMusic]

Dude that's less than 50 miles.

 

[gnuarm]

Dude that's less than 50 miles.

You mean 45 is less than 50? Yes, that's true.

The point is many people get on and off the highway on this stretch without going by a local Supercharger (because there isn't one). In particular, I am often headed to BWI airport and there's no convenient charging along the way. Even more so, a return flight may have you on the highway at 1 am. I'm not excited about going out of my way to access a more remote charger like Urbana, Gaithersburg or Frederick.

I try to hit a charger before parking at the airport. The only two that are remotely close are either at a crappy gas station or are urban chargers with slow charging. A Mt Airy or Woodbine charger seems appropriate, compared to the many chargers on the other two sides of the triangle.

I hope people realize that we are going to ultimately need chargers at every exit off the highway if BEVs are going to be practical. My car is down to 270 miles of range. Knock off 20% because you don't charge up to 100% while traveling. Knock off 50 miles because of the distance between chargers. You are left with 165 miles. Some places still have 100 miles between chargers. That would make my effective range 115 miles. Yeah, that's real.

 

[Mockingbird]

There are in fact, many fast chargers between Baltimore and Frederick.

 

[LoudMusic]

You mean 45 is less than 50? Yes, that's true.

The point is many people get on and off the highway on this stretch without going by a local Supercharger (because there isn't one). In particular, I am often headed to BWI airport and there's no convenient charging along the way. Even more so, a return flight may have you on the highway at 1 am. I'm not excited about going out of my way to access a more remote charger like Urbana, Gaithersburg or Frederick.

I try to hit a charger before parking at the airport. The only two that are remotely close are either at a crappy gas station or are urban chargers with slow charging. A Mt Airy or Woodbine charger seems appropriate, compared to the many chargers on the other two sides of the triangle.

I hope people realize that we are going to ultimately need chargers at every exit off the highway if BEVs are going to be practical. My car is down to 270 miles of range. Knock off 20% because you don't charge up to 100% while traveling. Knock off 50 miles because of the distance between chargers. You are left with 165 miles. Some places still have 100 miles between chargers. That would make my effective range 115 miles. Yeah, that's real.

I guess my frustration is people complaining about lack of chargers in an area where you can probably see one Supercharger site from another Supercharger site while I can still get out of range of Superchargers.

It sounds more like you need chargers at the airport. Even 15A would probably be plenty adequate. I can appreciate not wanting to go out of your way for a quick top up - I dealt with that driving through Memphis for two years. But some very basic planning should take care of that problem and not cost Tesla hundreds of thousands of dollars to install another site in a fairly densely covered area.

 

[CapsEngineer]

I'm not excited about going out of my way to access a more remote charger like Urbana, Gaithersburg or Frederick.

I try to hit a charger before parking at the airport. The only two that are remotely close are either at a crappy gas station or are urban chargers with slow charging. A Mt Airy or Woodbine charger seems appropriate, compared to the many chargers on the other two sides of the triangle.

How are you getting to BWI from 70?

If you are taking 70 to 695 to either 95 or the BW Parkway (SR 295), there is a 250 kW charger at the Royal Farms (Caton Ave) just off 695 and 95 in Baltimore.

If you are coming down 70 to SR 32 to 95 or the BW Parkway, there are 2 chargers in Laurel with easy access to either. Off 95 it is in Konterra at a Royal Farm and off the Parkway at a WaWa. Both of these are 250 kW. There is also a 150kW in Laurel near the movie theater and surrounded by lots of restaurants. From Laurel it is 15-22 minutes to BWI.

If you are coming down US 29 to SR 100, there is a 72 Kw at a hotel in Hanover.

If you have the CCS adapter, there are stations at Walmarts in Ellicott City and Columbia. Both of these are off US 29 on the way to BWI. The Ellicott City Walmart is before you get to 100.

There are also 4 150 kW CCS stalls at the BWI cell phone lot

 

[gnuarm]

I guess my frustration is people complaining about lack of chargers in an area where you can probably see one Supercharger site from another Supercharger site while I can still get out of range of Superchargers.

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It sounds more like you need chargers at the airport. Even 15A would probably be plenty adequate. I can appreciate not wanting to go out of your way for a quick top up - I dealt with that driving through Memphis for two years. But some very basic planning should take care of that problem and not cost Tesla hundreds of thousands of dollars to install another site in a fairly densely covered area.

I contacted BWI once about level 1 charging in the long term lots. They literally had no concept of what I was talking about. They replied about the new level 3 charging they've installed with federal grants. They just don't understand that no one wants to sit and wait for charging after they've spent hours dealing with getting to another airport, the flight, this airport (the busses are nothing to brag about), the last thing they want to do is sit and wait for charging, even if it's fast. Level 1 charging would be very inexpensive to install and provide electricity to. Meanwhile, it can top off the car for the really long trips that would have some impact on the state of charge.

I don't know what you've circled on the map, but Rt 70 between Frederick and Balt gets lots of traffic and like I mentioned, significant portions of it turn off before reaching Frederick. Instead of comparing that to Arkansas, compare it to other populated areas where a lot of people own BEVs.

 

[gnuarm]

How are you getting to BWI from 70?

If you are taking 70 to 695 to either 95 or the BW Parkway (SR 295), there is a 250 kW charger at the Royal Farms (Caton Ave) just off 695 and 95 in Baltimore.

Yes, I've used that when I had to. It's actually not very convenient. I always end up driving through residential areas with low speed limits.

If you are coming down 70 to SR 32 to 95 or the BW Parkway, there are 2 chargers in Laurel with easy access to either. Off 95 it is in Konterra at a Royal Farm and off the Parkway at a WaWa. Both of these are 250 kW. There is also a 150kW in Laurel near the movie theater and surrounded by lots of restaurants. From Laurel it is 15-22 minutes to BWI.

Laurel is not very much along the way. If I want to go that far out of the way I can back track to Urbana or Frederick.

If you are coming down US 29 to SR 100, there is a 72 Kw at a hotel in Hanover.

The key there is "75 kW". I have used that charger and gotten something to eat while I wait. But this is not good when you are in a hurry. I'll never understand the concept of the urban chargers. Maybe the intent was to prolong charging rather than getting it over and done with.

If you have the CCS adapter, there are stations at Walmarts in Ellicott City and Columbia. Both of these are off US 29 on the way to BWI. The Ellicott City Walmart is before you get to 100.

There are also 4 150 kW CCS stalls at the BWI cell phone lot

Are they selling CCS adapters yet? I've heard I may need an upgrade for the car. I'm pretty tired of spending money on this thing.

 

[CapsEngineer]

Yes, I've used that when I had to. It's actually not very convenient. I always end up driving through residential areas with low speed limits.

The nav must be taking you that way. Probably using Rolling Road.

Go past that exit to 95N. It's the first exit on 95N and then one or two lights up.

BTW, I was thinking about Laurel for when you leave BWI instead of when you arrive.

 

[gnuarm]

The nav must be taking you that way. Probably using Rolling Road.

Go past that exit to 95N. It's the first exit on 95N and then one or two lights up.

BTW, I was thinking about Laurel for when you leave BWI instead of when you arrive.

The point of charging on the trip to BWI is so I don't have to charge on the return. I'm always tired then and just want to get home. I'll try to remember the 95N exit next time I need to hit that charger. I think that's the way it takes me from the Royal Farms to BWI.