Other Owners in Wyoming?

[PLUS EV]

Longtime Tesla Fan, stock owner, Model 3 deposit holder-switched to P100D owner. I live in Powell. It will be interesting making the trip to Denver to the nearest Tesla service center. It wants me to drive to the Gillette Supercharger and then down to the Wheatland Supercharger for the yearly service. That only about 3 hours out of my way. HA! There has to be a better option.

In winter I don't see a much better option. If it were summer, you could probably go Powell to Sheridan to Wheatland to Denver, but that Sheridan to Wheatland stretch is 255 miles so that is pretty tough in winter unless you want to arrange some type of L2 charging in Casper.

By the way, detouring to Gillette only looks like it adds 1.5 hours, not 3. Detouring to Sheridan adds an hour anyway so it isn't much better.

The only other option would be overnighting in Casper in each direction, but that adds even more time and you still have a 236 mile leg to contend with from Powell to Casper so you'd have to drive slow and be careful. Probably best not to chance that type of drive in winter if you are a new owner.


EDIT: Just noticed another route and I think it is your best option. Powell to the Rawlins supercharger is a 283 mile leg which is too long to attempt in one shot in winter. But there is a high amperage L2 charger at the Breadboard in Riverton that will get you about 60 Rated Miles of range in an hour. If for some reason it is occupied, there are a couple slower L2 backup options in Riverton (see Plugshare).

This route through Rawlins is barely shorter than the route through Casper and Cheyenne. And once you get to Rawlins you are on the "Supercharger Highway" as there are plenty of superchargers between there and Denver. You'll want to drive slowly on the Powell to Rawlins leg as this will help reduce the amount of time you need to stop and L2 charge in Riverton. Something like 10mph under the speed limit is probably optimal.

Lastly you may want to thank TMC forum member @pox for the Breadboard L2 charger!

 

[sdoorex]

Do the P100Ds still come with 72A of onboard charging?

 

[Zxlr88]

Thanks PLUS EV for your excellent response. I believe you are correct. The three hours out of my way is including charge times. New EV owner here
I am probably going to make the trip one way or the other based on weather. Gillette makes more sense time-wise and I can avoid South Pass(notorious for bad winter crossings). Going over the Big Horn Mountains is not a peach either but a lot better situation overall.

 

[rhumbliner]

Why not SLC? You can head to Riverton and then Rock Springs. Shorter and quicker.

 

[Zxlr88]

Very true. South Pass in winter though.

 

[rhumbliner]

Very true. South Pass in winter though.

I routinely drive Teton Pass in winter without much concern. I run on all-season radials (i.e. pretty much useless) so if you’ve got snow tires South Pass shouldn’t be a problem. In heavy snow my biggest challenge is not traction, but trying to see where the pavement ends and the ditch begins.

 

[Zxlr88]

I routinely drive Teton Pass in winter without much concern. I run on all-season radials (i.e. pretty much useless) so if you’ve got snow tires South Pass shouldn’t be a problem. In heavy snow my biggest challenge is not traction, but trying to see where the pavement ends and the ditch begins.

I made that call badly with a Lexus GS400 I had on summer tires back in the day. It was a white-knuckle experience I would not ever forget. I play safer nowadays is all. Like I said, depending on the weather situation, South Pass is a viable option. I go across South Pass for my line of work fairly regularly.

 

[rhumbliner]

I made that call badly ...

I call that “gaining experience”. I crossed Salt River Pass one winter (pre-Tesla) thinking “Hey, it’s only 7600’, how bad can it be?”. Answer, really bad. I barely made it up one side and then slid down the other side. Worst white-knuckle ride of my life. I’m much more respectful of winter driving conditions now.

 

[PLUS EV]

Why not SLC? You can head to Riverton and then Rock Springs. Shorter and quicker.

This is an interesting idea. Weather aside, it looks like it's about a wash. Powell to SLC via Rock Springs is about 30 minutes faster than Powell to Denver via Rawlins, but the Powell to Rock Springs leg (the part without superchargers) is 17 miles longer than the Powell to Rawlins leg so you'd have to stop at the Breadboard in Riverton for about a half hour longer on the Powell to Rock Springs leg.

I'm not as familiar with the area as you guys, but if the Powell to Rawlins leg has cell service the entire way while the Powell to Rock Springs route does not, I would go with the route with cell service. That way if you do wipe out on the winter roads, you don't find yourself in a survival situation.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Model 3P in Riverton, delivered in early October. I have used the breadboard charger in Riverton and can confirm they work great. I doubt you would run into a conflict with them being occupied for long.

 

[rhumbliner]

I would go with the route with cell service.

Excellent point! But I have T-Mobile so I’m used to driving around Wyoming without cell service. Granted many roads here are pretty desolate but I’ve never worried about being caught in a life-threatening situation since there is usually someone coming by every hour or so. Besides, around here it’s always a good idea to carry enough survival gear in the car to last thru the night — just in case.

 

[pears]

Two bills affecting Teslas have come up this WY legislative session:
https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2019/HB0226 regulating Automated Motor Vehicles (I think this would even cover any car with cruise control, honestly)

https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2019/HB0166 increases the fee for ev and create a fee for hybrid vehicles

I don't particularly like either of these bills

 

[pox]

What don't you like about HB0226? at a glance they are are approving Full Self Driving! Only catch is the owner is liable not the car manufacturer if there is an accident or it breaks the law.

HB0166 is way too high of a jump, $50 to $200 is crazy. Hybrids $100 fee is also just stupid, they aren't using any different fuel, just fining you for be more efficient? With so few EV's and Hybrids they are better of just putting a $1 extra fee on all cars. At some point they may need to a tax on Tires or odometer readings if they feel they are losing out on gas taxes.

Right now long range EV's cost so much more than ICE counterparts we are already paying way more in extra sales tax that what they are losing in gas tax revenue.

Also, I just renewed my Model X tags $1,226 for the year and they didn't show it was an EV, I had to ask them to pay the $50 EV fee.

245 electric vehicles and 919 hybrid vehicles, I'm sure there are more Hybrids than that and possibly a lot more EV's that they just haven't identified them as such when buying plates.

 

[pox]

in ttps://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2019/HB0226 This line really stands out to me: An automated motor vehicle may operate in this state with the automated driving system engaged, regardless of whether a human driver is physically present in the vehicle.

 

[tmoz]

What don't you like about HB0226? at a glance they are are approving Full Self Driving! Only catch is the owner is liable not the car manufacturer if there is an accident or it breaks the law.

HB0166 is way too high of a jump, $50 to $200 is crazy. Hybrids $100 fee is also just stupid, they aren't using any different fuel, just fining you for be more efficient? With so few EV's and Hybrids they are better of just putting a $1 extra fee on all cars. At some point they may need to a tax on Tires or odometer readings if they feel they are losing out on gas taxes.

Right now long range EV's cost so much more than ICE counterparts we are already paying way more in extra sales tax that what they are losing in gas tax revenue.

Also, I just renewed my Model X tags $1,226 for the year and they didn't show it was an EV, I had to ask them to pay the $50 EV fee.

245 electric vehicles and 919 hybrid vehicles, I'm sure there are more Hybrids than that and possibly a lot more EV's that they just haven't identified them as such when buying plates.

Wow - that is steep for tags. Anyone have a state by state listing? In Az, we don't get rebates, but we get 5 yrs of registration for a nominal fee - $100 or something silly like that.

 

[Wyomingtim]

https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2019/HB0166 increases the fee for ev and create a fee for hybrid vehicles

The decal fee for EV is ridiculous, even more so by making it apply to hybrids.

On the other hand, the same sponsor (Brown), has put forth this legislation...
https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2019/HB0141 aka "Front License Plate Freedom". Perhaps he doesn't want to put a plate on the front of his Tesla either?

 

[pears]

I looked at HB226 again, and I'm pretty okay with it. I might want to make it reference NHTSA levels instead of its own definitions.

If HB166 passes first reading, I'd like to amend it to do it by odometer readings when renewing tags. The flat fee makes no sense if we're replacing fuel taxes. If anyone knows of other states that do odometer readings, that'd be great so I can lookup language.

 

[DrZoidberg]

I feel that weight and miles driven is a truly fair system for road tax. However I don't see the legislature working on much with fairness truly in mind.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

I feel that weight and miles driven is a truly fair system for road tax. However I don't see the legislature working on much with fairness truly in mind.

The problem I see with taxing on miles driven is that they most likely won't limit it to miles actually driven in their taxation jurisdiction. There are many metro areas near state lines where people could live in one state but work or drive a majority of their miles in another state. Imagine living in Vancouver, Washington but working and doing a majority of your driving in Portland, Oregon. If Washington started charging by miles driven but 90% of the miles were actually driven in Oregon, it wouldn't be fair to tax on miles driven. If cars kept a database of miles driven per state, then each state could tax owners fairly but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

[Wyomingtim]

The problem I see with taxing on miles driven is that they most likely won't limit it to miles actually driven in their taxation jurisdiction. There are many metro areas near state lines where people could live in one state but work or drive a majority of their miles in another state.

I think it all works out in the end. In your scenario, who's to say where the gas was purchased? Not necessarily in the state where most of the miles were driven...