Tesla Motors Club
We have a ski cabin in the middle of a PNW rainforest. It's in a river valley in the North Cascades and we can get a fair bit of snow. Last winter I charged with a 120V extension cord with a Mobile Connector sitting in the rain and snow. It worked fine with not a single fault and the Mobile Connector came out looking like new:
Yes, that's a Mobile Connector under the snowpack happily charging away.
But dealing with the wet equipment was not ideal and Tesla had shipped us a free HPWC as part of the Referral Program. Since we already had one mounted at our house, I decided to install the new one by the driveway of our ski cabin. Even though it's rated to be installed out in the weather, everything in a rain forest eventually turns green. There is a lot of moss, lichen, needles and leaves that fall from the surrounding trees. Even water dripping off the trees has a green color to it. And we get a lot of rain, followed by snow and hard freezes. The charge cable would turn into a "snow/ice rope" which would be difficult to uncoil.
This fall, urged on by the chill in the air, I designed and built this little charging kiosk:
Almost finished. I just need to finish backfilling the trench and install a copper ridge cap to keep the moss and fungus from growing on the cedar shingles. Copper slowly leaches over the roof as it ages and acts as a fungicide. It probably won't be too long before the brightness goes away and develops a nice aged patina.
Because this structure is not heated it was important to make sure the cedar roof breathes properly because it will be wet most of the year. So the horizontal nailers are also rot-resistant cedar and I stapled some leftover roofing breather material to the face of them so the back sides of the shingles can breathe.
All the rocks at the base came out of the trench I dug with a pick-axe and shovel so you can imagine the trenching was not fast or easy!
All of the materials (including the 9' pressure treated 6 x 6) were discarded scraps from other projects except for:
Cedar Shingles (under $90)
SS (916) roofing nails (under $50)
Copper flashing for the ridge cap ($110 as I had to buy enough for 2 1/2 roofs)
Wood sealer ($22)
bag of concrete ($5)
#6 Electrical wire, 1" sch. 80 conduit, fittings, 60 A breaker, caution tape, PVC glue ($165 as I ran an extra #6 conductor in case someone ever wanted to convert it to a NEMA 14-50)
Total: Under $440 before sales tax (thanks to Elon for the signed HPWC!)
I took the copper sheet to a local small heating and air conditioning shop and asked the secretary if she knew anyone with a sheet metal brake so I could get the ridge cap formed into a "V". The young installer who happened to be in the office overheard my question and immediately offered to bend it on the spot. He brought it back out in about 4 minutes and told me there was no charge. I still need a 5" sheet metal tool to properly form the ends into nice drip edges. Photo with the ridge cap installed but without the ends finished:
Eventually, these rocks will be covered in moss and I'll be planting some native sword ferns around the sides and back. This is a welcome addition to EV ownership in the mountains and means I can defrost the car on winter ski mornings without watching the battery meter go backward! Now, bring on the snow, please!
Yes, that's a Mobile Connector under the snowpack happily charging away.
But dealing with the wet equipment was not ideal and Tesla had shipped us a free HPWC as part of the Referral Program. Since we already had one mounted at our house, I decided to install the new one by the driveway of our ski cabin. Even though it's rated to be installed out in the weather, everything in a rain forest eventually turns green. There is a lot of moss, lichen, needles and leaves that fall from the surrounding trees. Even water dripping off the trees has a green color to it. And we get a lot of rain, followed by snow and hard freezes. The charge cable would turn into a "snow/ice rope" which would be difficult to uncoil.
This fall, urged on by the chill in the air, I designed and built this little charging kiosk:
Almost finished. I just need to finish backfilling the trench and install a copper ridge cap to keep the moss and fungus from growing on the cedar shingles. Copper slowly leaches over the roof as it ages and acts as a fungicide. It probably won't be too long before the brightness goes away and develops a nice aged patina.
Because this structure is not heated it was important to make sure the cedar roof breathes properly because it will be wet most of the year. So the horizontal nailers are also rot-resistant cedar and I stapled some leftover roofing breather material to the face of them so the back sides of the shingles can breathe.
All the rocks at the base came out of the trench I dug with a pick-axe and shovel so you can imagine the trenching was not fast or easy!
All of the materials (including the 9' pressure treated 6 x 6) were discarded scraps from other projects except for:
Cedar Shingles (under $90)
SS (916) roofing nails (under $50)
Copper flashing for the ridge cap ($110 as I had to buy enough for 2 1/2 roofs)
Wood sealer ($22)
bag of concrete ($5)
#6 Electrical wire, 1" sch. 80 conduit, fittings, 60 A breaker, caution tape, PVC glue ($165 as I ran an extra #6 conductor in case someone ever wanted to convert it to a NEMA 14-50)
Total: Under $440 before sales tax (thanks to Elon for the signed HPWC!)
I took the copper sheet to a local small heating and air conditioning shop and asked the secretary if she knew anyone with a sheet metal brake so I could get the ridge cap formed into a "V". The young installer who happened to be in the office overheard my question and immediately offered to bend it on the spot. He brought it back out in about 4 minutes and told me there was no charge. I still need a 5" sheet metal tool to properly form the ends into nice drip edges. Photo with the ridge cap installed but without the ends finished:
Eventually, these rocks will be covered in moss and I'll be planting some native sword ferns around the sides and back. This is a welcome addition to EV ownership in the mountains and means I can defrost the car on winter ski mornings without watching the battery meter go backward! Now, bring on the snow, please!