Request: HPWC b/w St Lous and Sikeston (I-55) or b/w Effingham and Paducah I-57/ I-24

[jeffnorman]

Anyone who has an 80A HPWC who would be willing to allow me to use it on my monthly trips down through Southern Illinois, Eastern Missouri and ending in West Tennessee please let me know! I have two campsites along the way I have been using (one in Effingham, the other in Paducah) for 50A service, but 80A dual charging would cut off several hours of an already very long trip... and would be greatly appreciated.

I have two routes that I have used. HPWC 80A chargers along either route would be amazingly helpful.

Route 1: I can easily make the trip to St. Louis from the Normal IL SC. After that, though, I have to stay overnight and charge on a Chargepoint station. The trip from St. Louis to Dyersburg TN is about 225 miles - would be great to find an HPWC on that second leg to top off just for safety and peace of mind.

Normal -> St. Louis via I-55
St. Louis -> Sikeston -> Dyersburg TN via I-55 and I-155 (at Caruthersville MO)

Route 2: This is the shorter route, but requires 1-2 campground stays. No hotels with chargers nearby. I have made it from Effingham all the way to Dyersburg one a full charge in Effingham (overnight camping), but it is 245 miles and I have always ended up within a mile or 2 of zero, and on one occasion below zero! Not good for my heart, and impossible in winter or on rainy or windy days. So a second (shorter) stop in Paducah is required unless I want to risk getting stuck in West Tennessee or Kentucky, literally hundreds of miles from any flatbed towing service that could handle a Tesla. Any HPWC along this route would be very helpful... two spaced apart would make the drive downright pleasant!

Normal -> Champagne via I-74
Champagne -> Marion via I-57 (overnight in Effingham, unless I can find an HWPC)
Marion -> Paducah via I-24
Paducah -> Dyersburg via US45 and US51 (can also avoid the 70mph I-24 route, and cross the bridge at Cairo, IL and take US51 all the way in ... but I doubt there are any Tesla owners that way ... beautiful and more efficient drive though, so I usually go that way since I am cutting it so close and efficiency makes all the difference when there are no chargers!).

 

[Cottonwood]

Sure wish I could help you. You are talking about the area where I grew up, Metropolis, IL. When I was 18, I had a summer job helping to build the I-24/US-45 interchange between Metropolis and Paducah; that was a few years ago...

I don't know many people around there anymore, but if I make a contact, I'll see if we can find 100 Amps left over in a breaker panel somewhere for an HPWC; it will be a while before this area sees a Supercharger.

Enjoy your trips though "Little Egypt"!

 

[FlasherZ]

I live between St. Louis and Mt. Vernon, IL off I-64. Would this help?

 

[jeffnorman]

I live between St. Louis and Mt. Vernon, IL off I-64. Would this help?

Yes that would be a really good stop for me. I will be driving down in the next 3 weeks I think.. Can you PM me contact info?

 

[invisik]

Hi, I'm in a similar situation trying to get from Minneapolis, MN to Nashville, TN. Same thing, can get down to the Normal, IL supercharger no problem.... then goes campy. Could go to the St. Louis Service Center and charge there, but then have to stop overnight at a campground (Paducah or similar). An alternate might be to go through Indianapolis then Louisville as some Plugshare folks say they have HPWC's available (unknown if 80amp or not).

Thanks for any other suggestions......

-m

 

[GSP]

The Tesla store in Indianapolis has six HPWCs. It is located on the northside at Keystone Ave and I-465.

You may want to drive there from Normal, then head down to Louisville. PlugShare has this "ModelS" listing. It probably is just a low power station, but it would be worth calling them it see if it is an 80 A HPWC or J1772.

DMB Transport
DMB Transport | Louisville, KY | Electric Car Charging Station | PlugShare

GSP

 

[dhrivnak]

Not sure I'd you could go through Cape Geradeu (sp) about 100 miles south of St Louis. But Jack Rickart of EVTV has several 70 amp chargers available for public use.

 

[FlasherZ]

Hi, I'm in a similar situation trying to get from Minneapolis, MN to Nashville, TN. Same thing, can get down to the Normal, IL supercharger no problem.... then goes campy. Could go to the St. Louis Service Center and charge there, but then have to stop overnight at a campground (Paducah or similar). An alternate might be to go through Indianapolis then Louisville as some Plugshare folks say they have HPWC's available (unknown if 80amp or not).

Thanks for any other suggestions......

-m

Unfortunately, the St. Louis service center doesn't have outside chargers (unless something changed recently). You could probably negotiate with them to charge while they're open, but I've only ever seen my car charge at 40A there via NEMA 14-50 (no HPWC).

My HPWC is a slightly better option than dragging yourself into STL, although I'm not in a direct line towards where you're going. There are many campgrounds in Carlyle, IL that can offer 50A service since there are several state parks there, with plenty of options for hanging out.

 

[greencharge]

For people on I - 57 , I am in Marion with a 14-50 in the garage , the local Nissan dealership and Community college have J 1772 stations

 

[Skotty]

I sent Tesla a suggestion a few months ago to plan on building a Supercharger in Sikeston. Not sure if they will take it to heart or not though.

 

[Cottonwood]

The town of Metropolis, IL, a few miles off of I-24 and on the Ohio River, is always looking for gimmicks to get people off of I-24 and spend some time there. Many years ago, they even made the effort to become the official home of Superman!

I bet if a few of you midwesterners got Tesla to ante up for a couple of HPWC's, and you guys passed the hat to raise some money for installation, you could find a host there.

The casino would probably love to get a few Tesla owners to stop by for a couple of hours, or wouldn't it be nice to charge next to Superman!

See:

1. OFFICIAL City of Metropolis Tourism Website : Home of Superman!
2. Great Casino Gambling at Harrah's Metropolis Casino: Poker, Slots and Table Games
3. Metropolis, Illinois - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[caddieo]

The town of Metropolis, IL, a few miles off of I-24 and on the Ohio River, is always looking for gimmicks to get people off of I-24 and spend some time there. Many years ago, they even made the effort to become the official home of Superman!

I bet if a few of you midwesterners got Tesla to ante up for a couple of HPWC's, and you guys passed the hat to raise some money for installation, you could find a host there.

The casino would probably love to get a few Tesla owners to stop by for a couple of hours, or wouldn't it be nice to charge next to Superman!

See:

1. OFFICIAL City of Metropolis Tourism Website : Home of Superman!
2. Great Casino Gambling at Harrah's Metropolis Casino: Poker, Slots and Table Games
3. Metropolis, Illinois - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Good idea! The 2015 SpC map shows a dot at Nashville and Mt. Vernon, IL (aside from the one at Effingham, IL). Metropolis would split the distance between Nashville and Mt. Vernon (235 miles) nicely. Either that, or Paducah. Now, if they can just put one more between Effingham and Chicago, I will be in 7th heaven by the end of 2015.

 

[Cottonwood]

Good idea! The 2015 SpC map shows a dot at Nashville and Mt. Vernon, IL (aside from the one at Effingham, IL). Metropolis would split the distance between Nashville and Mt. Vernon (235 miles) nicely. Either that, or Paducah. Now, if they can just put one more between Effingham and Chicago, I will be in 7th heaven by the end of 2015.

If someone could get the attention of the correct person at Harrah's, this seems a perfect match for them; invest a couple of thousand and attract MS owners to stop at their casino for a few hours or overnight, who would otherwise just drive on by!

Harrah's is also a perfect place for Tesla to ante up a free HPWC or two!

 

[invisik]

The Tesla store in Indianapolis has six HPWCs. It is located on the northside at Keystone Ave and I-465.

You may want to drive there from Normal, then head down to Louisville. PlugShare has this "ModelS" listing. It probably is just a low power station, but it would be worth calling them it see if it is an 80 A HPWC or J1772.

DMB Transport
DMB Transport | Louisville, KY | Electric Car Charging Station | PlugShare

GSP

Awesome suggestions--the spacing is great too. May not necessarily have to range charge each stop to help reducing charging time. Any idea if the Indianapolis HPWC's are available 24 hours? (Edit: Nevermind I see their description on PlugShare, they are 24/7 in the east garage, lower level)

This residential HPWC might also be an option: http://api.plugshare.com/view/location/10215

Thanks again.

-m

 

[Cottonwood]

Awesome suggestions--the spacing is great too. May not necessarily have to range charge each stop to help reducing charging time. Any idea if the Indianapolis HPWC's are available 24 hours? (Edit: Nevermind I see their description on PlugShare, they are 24/7 in the east garage, lower level)

This residential HPWC might also be an option: http://api.plugshare.com/view/location/10215

Thanks again.

-m

My experience range charging an MS on an HPWC is that you get the full 80 Amps at 240 Volts until you hit about 90% SOC. If your next stop has less charging power than the one you are on, you can save some time by charging until the charging power goes down to the power of the next stop.

 

[Liz G]

Rumor has it that the Lumiere casino in St Louis may have some HPWCs installed. Haven't had a chance to go down and confirm visually but you may want call them and see if they are online.

 

[invisik]

My experience range charging an MS on an HPWC is that you get the full 80 Amps at 240 Volts until you hit about 90% SOC.

I can test this as I have a 80amp HPWC at home.

If your next stop has less charging power than the one you are on, you can save some time by charging until the charging power goes down to the power of the next stop.

I guess I'm not following you there. Don't you need to charge for as many rated miles as you need to make it with a buffer?

-m

 

[Cottonwood]

If your next stop has less charging power than the one you are on, you can save some time by charging until the charging power goes down to the power of the next stop.

I guess I'm not following you there. Don't you need to charge for as many rated miles as you need to make it with a buffer?

Let's take an example: I drive to a 20 kW HPWC (H), an RV Park with a 50 Amp, 14-50 (RV), then to my destination (D).

I could charge at H, and RV to just enough to make it to the next stop with some margin, and I would get there without range anxiety. However, if I charge at H to get more miles than I need to make it to RV at a faster charge rate than I will get at RV, then my total charge time at H+RV is reduced.

Because there is a taper at the end of H, if I continue charging until the power goes down to the power at the next stop, I am gaining rated miles faster at the faster charger.

So, in the example above, I would continue charge at H to more than I need to make it to RV, until the charge power at H tapers to 10 kW. Now at RV, my charge time is reduced, and I charge enough to make it to D with margin.

Let's put in some simple, no-margin, round-numbers on an example. I start in the morning with 250 rated miles. I need 500 rated miles to make it to my destination, it's 200 from start to H, 100 from H to RV, and 200 from RV to the destination (D). Further, I can charge at 50 mph at H until 225 rated miles which tapers to 25 mph at 235 rated miles. RV charges at 25 mph.

Case 1, charge to enough to make it to next stop:

• At H, I arrive with 50 miles, need 100 to make it to RV. At 50 mph charge 1 hour to add 50 miles, for a total of 100 rated miles, drive to RV.
• At RV, arrive with 0, need 200 to make it to D. Charge for 8 hours at 25 mph, leave with 200 for the trip to D.
• Total charge time: 9 hours

Case 2, charge at fastest rate:

• At H, I arrive with 50 miles, need 100 to make it to RV. At 50 mph charge 3.5 hours hours (add 175) to 225 rated miles, charge another 0.3 hours (add 10) to 235 miles until charge rate is down to 10 kW, drive to RV.
• At RV, arrive with 135, need 200 to make it to D. Charge for 2.6 hours at 25 mph (add 65), leave with 200 for the trip to D.
• Total charge time: 6.4 hours

By always using the fastest charger, we have reduced the charge time for this example day from 9 hours to 6.4 hours, a 2.6 hour time savings.

The bottom line of this is the simple rule, if you are going from a faster charger to a slower charger, keep charging at the faster charger until the charge rate tapers to the rate of the slower charger. Use displayed power (kW) for this, because that is displayed as the instantaneous value, while charging mph is the average for the session. The average may look better, but is completely wrong for these optimizations.

 

[invisik]

Ahh ok I get it. Yes that makes sense... Thanks for explaining.

-m

 

[invisik]

The Tesla store in Indianapolis has six HPWCs. It is located on the northside at Keystone Ave and I-465.

Hi again,

Do you know if these HWPC's are 208v or 240v? Just trying to estimate my charging time there. I may have to stay overnight there--is it car camping friendly?

Thanks.

-m