public / paid charging

[Gregkeys]

After I placed an order for our 60D MX tesla was kind enough to let us barrow a 90D for the day, so we did what anyone close to a coast would do, we went to the beach

The total trip was about 200 miles, which in the 90D was no problem, however there were no superchargers on the route we took (granted there was one on a 20 mile detour which the nav chose as our initial route, but we forced it to take a better route so we wouldn't have to charge at all)

I wanted to know where I would charge in the event we needed to, but the pickings were slim; there was an RV Park, a restaurant and a couple public chargers that seem to cost $$

I am a frugal person, when we get our MX we will likely route via superchargers, however I know that won't always work, can we talk a little bit about charging experiences?

When you have to use an RV Park what is the typical scenario, do you talk with someone first or just pull and plug in?

When you use a restaurant or destination charger do you have to eat or sleep there? or is it acceptable to charge and dash (I'm assuming it's not but wanted to say charge and dash for fun )

When you use the public chargers are they usually free or is there a cost, if so how much.

Is charging ever awkward, inconvenient or expensive?

Id also love to talk about funny and unusual experiences, I'm expecting that our MX will get us out of the house more often and would love to hear about your fun charging stops

(in case you're wondering, we didn't leave a single grain of sand in the loaner, that would have been pretty rude. We treated the tesla like a quarantined zone, there were bags, body suites and even scary biohazard stickers involved )

 

[kort677]

once you get your car and you want to go on extended road trips you'd be wise to always plan your routes and places to charge. at this point you can never be certain of a charger being conveniently located. sometimes you'll need to go 20 miles out of the way for that charge.
supercharge.info
www.plugshare.com
www.rvparky.com
EV Trip Planner
are a few resources that I rely on as is the nav/trip planner in the car.
as more and more SpCs, chademos and L2s have been installed over the years, RVparky has become less and less of a viable option.
as for your other questions, yes, in an RV park you'll need to pay for the spot to charge in and for restaurants and hotels it would be proper etiquette to be a customer of that location, or at least secure permission to use their equipment.

 

[TexasEV]

Yes when you use a Tesla destination charger you're expected to make that your destination (I.e. sleeping there if it's a hotel or eating there if it's a restaurant). That's why the business has them, to attract customers. They're not in the business of giving away or even selling electricity, they're in the lodging or restaurant business.

Don't be a cheapskate.

 

[CHG-ON]

It's like going into a bar to use the restroom and not buying a beer. Kinda rude.

Reminds me of the time I got drunk in Amsterdam just going to the can....Over and over again.

 

[Rocky_H]

Having had my Tesla for over 2 years, there were no Superchargers within driving range when I got it. So I did get to experience finding places to charge. Here is some of the type of process:

First source is Plugshare, definitely. But on that first trip three weeks after I got the car, I wanted something in a slightly different place where there wasn’t anything listed on Plugshare. I checked Allstays (same type of resource as RVParky) and found an RV campground place called Anderson Campground right by Interstate 84 just East of Twin Falls Idaho. I called them ahead and explained that I would stay overnight on the way down to Logan Utah, so I would go ahead and just pay an overnight rental fee, but on the way back, I only wanted to charge for a few hours in the afternoon, so wanted to see about a lesser fee. She suggested that they could set it up as a 4 hour time for $12. I said that would be great, and it ended up working really well.

So, since I had arranged it and tried it out, I added the location and the details to Plugshare so other Tesla travelers could find and use it on this non-Supercharged travel route. Since then several other people have used it. So we definitely recommend that if you have to dig a little bit to arrange some charging, go ahead and add it to Plugshare so others can find it.

As far as paid stuff, I got the RFID cards for the Chargepoint and Blink and have never used them. Most of the time I have not needed them, and I don’t generally trust how often they are broken and out of order. However, I have used the Aerovironment network in Oregon extensively on a trip. That mostly went well, except for one CHAdeMO that was out of order and did cause me quite a bit of grief trying to get back home. That taught me that the reliability of Superchargers is trustworthy but other stuff, not so much.

About the destination chargers, every place has their own policy about use, so call and check. If it’s a hotel, most will consider you a customer if you eat at their restaurant, so see if they would be OK with letting you use the charger while you take your dinner break there. Or, the Blue Lakes Inn in Twin Falls Idaho, for example, got so used to being one of the rare charging resources along that highway, that they have a pre-printed form at the front desk for paying a $10 fee to use their charging without being a guest. I know of a couple of other hotels that have similar policies as well. So some places are glad to collect a little bit of money for use if their chargers aren’t being used much anyway.

 

[Gregkeys]

@Rocky_H Wow, excellent information, that is very helpful, Thank you.

I was thinking it might be awkward calling an RV park or campground but I imagine its not much different than if you were planning to stay there anyways.

Also Regarding the paying a fee to use a place without using their services, that's helpful to know, I wont write them off now if it doesn't happen to be supper time or if I'm not planning to stay at their hotel.

 

[aesculus]

I was thinking it might be awkward calling an RV park or campground but I imagine its not much different than if you were planning to stay there anyways.

I asked a few we were staying at when not in the Tesla and their opinion was if you pay you can play. They actually would prefer it over an RV because it's less impact. All you are doing is charging and maybe using their restroom.

My next MO is to actually seek out nice RV parks and find an isolated place to plug my car in overnight and sleep in the tent. Then next day get a shower and be off fully charged. Many of them also include light breakfasts for part of the fee.

 

[Electric700]

Yes when you use a Tesla destination charger you're expected to make that your destination (I.e. sleeping there if it's a hotel or eating there if it's a restaurant). That's why the business has them, to attract customers. They're not in the business of giving away or even selling electricity, they're in the lodging or restaurant business.

Don't be a cheapskate.

Once I went to a hotel to charge but since I didn't need to stay there, I offered them a few dollars in compensation for the use of their Tesla Wall Connector. They gladly accepted.

To find Tesla destination chargers, you can go here: Find Us | Tesla. I recommend calling ahead.