Questions for Colorado Tesla owners

[Brister13]

Hello all

I am close to pulling the trigger on a MS order for delivery in a couple of months. I live in Boulder, CO and travel extensively across the state pretty regularly. I was wondering if any of you with experience of Tesla driving/ownership in this area might kindly chime in on a couple of nagging questions/concerns that I have:

• We seem to have good Super Charger locations on the major routes in Colorado but i often travel via backroads across the state. What is your experience of making trips to locations such as Crested Butte for en-route charging. Is it a difficult thing to do?
• Generally, is it easy and quick to get issues with the car (whatever might come up due to general maintenance) resolved in and around Denver/Boulder? seems like there are few places that might handle Teslas and I'm concerned that wait times to resolve small things might be very long?

Apologies if these are dumb questions - I'm sure they are similar concerns that you had prior to purchase and i would welcome real life experiences that I'm sure you have had.

Thanks, and I'm looking forward to going the ranks of the owners group in the region

Brian

 

[MrClown]

You can check plugshare to see what options are available in and on the way to the destinations you frequent. For example, you can get to Crested Butte after hitting a supercharger in Silverthorne or Glenwood Springs, depending which route you're taking. There's a public charger in the heart of town so you can stay topped up during your visit. At a glance it looks like there are many places to charge on the way and there's pretty good coverage all around CO. evtripplanner.com is also a good resource to estimate how much charge you need to get to a particular location. Hopefully @Cottonwood can chime in here as he seems to do a lot of backroads travel in CO too.

I've found service to be reasonable. If you have something critical they find ways to get you in quickly. If you have things that can wait it can take longer to get you in, sometimes a few weeks or a month. In theory there shouldn't be much in the way of maintenance, no oil changes every three months or anything like that, just an (optional?) yearly service. Mostly people find little things and they wait until there are a few so it's worthwhile to take it in and have them resolved in one shot. Mine has gone in twice in the last year for non-critical things. I haven't taken it anywhere but the Tesla service center yet and don't plan to until the warranty expires.

I think there are only two Tesla-approved body shops in case you need to repair accident damage and I hear they are pretty backed up. Get a good rental car plan from your insurance.

I have no regrets on getting the 85D myself. It has been a great car in both winter (we ski a lot) and summer here. While it does require a little more planning before trips and some patience on the service side, everything else about it makes up for it and then some.

 

[Brister13]

You can check plugshare to see what options are available in and on the way to the destinations you frequent. For example, you can get to Crested Butte after hitting a supercharger in Silverthorne or Glenwood Springs, depending which route you're taking. There's a public charger in the heart of town so you can stay topped up during your visit. At a glance it looks like there are many places to charge on the way and there's pretty good coverage all around CO. evtripplanner.com is also a good resource to estimate how much charge you need to get to a particular location. Hopefully @Cottonwood can chime in here as he seems to do a lot of backroads travel in CO too.

I've found service to be reasonable. If you have something critical they find ways to get you in quickly. If you have things that can wait it can take longer to get you in, sometimes a few weeks or a month. In theory there shouldn't be much in the way of maintenance, no oil changes every three months or anything like that, just an (optional?) yearly service. Mostly people find little things and they wait until there are a few so it's worthwhile to take it in and have them resolved in one shot. Mine has gone in twice in the last year for non-critical things. I haven't taken it anywhere but the Tesla service center yet and don't plan to until the warranty expires.

I think there are only two Tesla-approved body shops in case you need to repair accident damage and I hear they are pretty backed up. Get a good rental car plan from your insurance.

I have no regrets on getting the 85D myself. It has been a great car in both winter (we ski a lot) and summer here. While it does require a little more planning before trips and some patience on the service side, everything else about it makes up for it and then some.

Thx for this - good info and good to know.

Any advice on best insurance provider for CO resident? Ive read a LOT about different providers, seems to vary hugely depending on city/state?

 

[MrClown]

Insurance does vary wildly based on lots of factors including location and I half suspect they throw in a random multiplier for how they feel that day. I ended up with Encompass which I heard about either on this forum or the Tesla forum. I didn't like the company I had before getting the Tesla (Ameriprise/IDS through Costco) and, though I pay about 5% more overall than I did before for car and house, I feel like the coverage is better and includes an agreed-value clause (different from "stated value" - don't get that). They talk a good game at least.

 

[Brister13]

MrC - Thx for your advice, much appreciated. This whole, 'buying a Tesla' thing is a little more complex than the usual car purchase process! will definitely check out Encompass

 

[Sandy]

I'm a relatively new Colorado Model S owner and have done quite a bit of driving around the state with no problems. On Friday (April 22), I have an appointment in Salida (live in Littleton) which I probably can't do round trip without a charge (round trip driving distance about 284 miles plus mountainous). No superchargers that will help. My solution, I'm going to tour the Wood's distillery in Salida. Visitors to the distillery can charge their cars on their level 2 J1772 (basically a 220 volt line with a charge port that our J1772 adapter will fit). Found out about the distillery using plugshare. Will let you know if there are any glitches.

Sandy

 

[Brister13]

Sandy

thx for that. I think Salida is a key location since its sort of the gateway to the southwest part of the state. I pass through or near Salida often so would be good to know which charging options work well. Good luck with your trip - i look forward to hearing how it went

Thx, Brian

 

[napoleonblownapa]

Sandy,

Hope your trip went well! I have charged at Wood's Distillery multiple times without issue. The J1772 charger there is a fairly unusual 70 AMP charger. You can take advantage of that kind of power only if you opted for dual chargers on your car. Remember the Supercharger in Colorado Springs...

Mac

 

[Sandy]

Sorry for taking so long to update. Kind of forgot. My trip to Salida was wonderful. What a great drive -- just beautiful scenery the whole way and back. Might have been able to make it round trip without charging but decided the buffer of extra charge would make me more comfortable. So I had a great visit at Wood's distillery. People were very nice, the tour was quick but informative, and I bought a bottle of their barrel-aged gin to take with me. Turns out that a Tesla owner who regularly travels through Salida bought the charger for the distillery. It's 240 volt, 70 amp unit and you park in a parking spot on the street in front of the building (with the J1772 and adapter sticking out into the street). Was really not an issue. I only have a single charger in my S so could only do the 40 amp charging. Got home with plenty of charge to spare.

 

[Panoz]

I've talked to the Wood's Distillery owner about charging, he seems very accommodating. My issue is that someone needs to be there to charge - he may not be in at noon today, maybe he will, etc. I'm not in any way complaining - the charge is vital to travel in Colorado - but frankly I need to be able to pull up and charge at any time I'm in town to make it a viable option.

I've been thinking about putting a 100-amp HPWC in Alamosa, CO which would be the ideal place for me - it's 1/2 the way (diagonally) across the state where I travel a few times a year. I'm considering approaching a KOA campground about sending the wiring from two typical RV pads to one HPWC for fast charging (well, as fast as possible on AC).

 

[Brister13]

Thx for the responses.
Thought id let younknow that i did pull the trigger. Ordered MS 70D last week. Confirmation and VIN yesterday. Requested early July delivery because i cant take it earlier due to work travel. My wife is even more excited than me. She had the electrician install the 240v outlet in the garage yesterday. I think its going to be a long 7 weeks wait

MS70D. Midnight silver, pano, tan interior, premium Seats and luxuary package. Ordered at the denver park meadows store. V excited!

 

[Panoz]

Very nice! Join either (or both!) of the Colorado Tesla Clubs for the best EV experience. The Denver group is Denver Tesla Club and the Colorado Springs group is www.csevc.com .

Did you go 50-amp on the charger or 100-amp? Did you get an HPWC?

 

[1001001]

Thx for the responses.
Thought id let younknow that i did pull the trigger. Ordered MS 70D last week. Confirmation and VIN yesterday. Requested early July delivery because i cant take it earlier due to work travel. My wife is even more excited than me. She had the electrician install the 240v outlet in the garage yesterday. I think its going to be a long 7 weeks wait

MS70D. Midnight silver, pano, tan interior, premium Seats and luxuary package. Ordered at the denver park meadows store. V excited!

Welcome Brian, we just ordered our MS 70D too, Obsidian, Pano, Pilot, Interior upgrade, seats, subzero, suspension; June/July too. Maybe I ran into you at Park Meadows.

We can't wait either, see you around the meet ups sometime.