Road trip from Smithfield, VA to Kimston, NC: charging desert?

[Todd Burch]

Hi all,

In mid-July I have to take a 3-day business trip from my home in Smithfield, VA to Kinston, NC and I'd like to take my Model S (85 kWH). (Sorry about the typo in the title--can't edit it of course!)

The drive itself is about 150 miles, so no problem there...but I need some help figuring out how to charge while there and for the return trip.

I may have a coworker with me, so a multi-hour stop along the way is a no-go. I need to find a place (preferably a hotel in Kinston) where I can charge overnight, and where I can top off before I leave to drive home. I'm trying to find something faster than a 120V charger that doesn't require me to go out of my way, but I'm coming up empty on PlugShare, Recargo, Chargepoint, etc.

Any ideas? Anyone know of a hotel in Kinston that offers EV charging better than Level 1?

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Maybe my only option is to call hotels and find one with a 120V outlet outside that will let me plug in overnight?

 

[Robert.Boston]

PlugShare reports an EV plug at the town buildings in Hookerton, snout 10 miles north of Kinston. If you're staying a couple of nights, 120V charging should be okay, and at least one of the Kinston hotels should be able to manage that for you.

 

[rsquared99]

I did a quick RV campgrounds search and found this reference. Shows 30 amp service and not too far from Kinston. May be others, I stopped when I got one. Just a suggestion.

Daly’s Riverside Campground
643 River Rd, Seven Springs NC 28578
Phone# (919) 734-4616
Email [email protected]


Nightly $25.00
Weekly $150.00
Monthly $350.00


Daly’s Riverside Campground is located 7 miles south of Goldsboro off Hwy 111 south on River Road. All sites have full hook ups with 30 amp service and the campground is is pet friendly. The campground is currently under construction, so there are no bath houses or swimming pool, but will be coming soon!!! There are a lot of other activities for and outdoorsman such as fishing, canoeing and hiking. Daly’s Riverside Campground is also close to the Cliffs of the Neuse State Park for swimming, boating and hiking. Hope to see you at Daly’s Riverside soon!!! Address & Phone#:

 

[dflye]

Having done a similar length road trip through that charging-desolate part of NC (going from Raleigh to Arapahoe - a bit further east along 70 from Kinston), I couldn't find anything remotely helpful (other than either stopping at a Nissan dealership or an RV park for a few hours), so I ended up using a 110 plug at our destination for the entire weekend to get enough charge to get back home. While the 2 or 3 miles of range added per hour isn't very much, eventually it added up to enough to get home without a stop to recharge.

 

[twinklejet]

It all depends on how many hours you'll actually spend there. 120V @ 2miles/hours (worst case scenario) takes approx. 75 hours to charge 150 miles. (Approx. slightly over 3 days) If you could extend your trip by 1 day, you're all set for 120V.. but then again you don't really need to recharge to full.

Assuming 265 miles leaving your home, and 100 miles remaining at destination - You should be good to go with a 100 mile recharge and get home with 35 miles remaining (15 mile extra consumption buffer added both ways)

 

[Todd Burch]

Thanks for the suggestions. If I were doing this by myself, I'd have no problem stopping for a bit. But since I'll have a coworker with me, I'm trying to avoid too much inconvenience (like going 10 miles out of my way to recharge at a level 2 charger)...my coworker will probably not be tolerant of EV inconvenience, and it's not good EVangelism to show that sort of inconvenience. C'mon supercharger network!

My current thought is to perhaps stay at a hotel in Hookerton close to the level 2 charger. (Note to municipalities: see how chargers attract business??)

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Edit: ouch. 0 hotels in Hookerton. Maybe I have to go there and charge at the level 2 awhile by myself, and supplement the level 2 with level 1 for the rest of the time at a hotel in Kinston.

 

[Todd Burch]

Ok, so my plan is this:

Drive to Kinston, check into hotel. Drive a mile north to Neuseway Campground, and plug into a 14-50 in the RV hookup area. Leave the car there overnight while I walk a mile back to the hotel. Walk back in the morning, pick up the car, and it should be good for 2 days of local driving. Then, take it back to the RV site on my final night so I can make the trip back on Thursday.

Hookerton, NC has a level 2 at the town office, but not a single hotel or restaurant in town. Not that a restaurant would matter, since level 2 is too slow...