Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Roadster charging at TMC Connect Reno 2016?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.

gregd

Active Member
Dec 31, 2014
2,714
1,916
CM98
What sort of charging arrangements are there at the Atlantis for folks that are not staying at the hotel?

I'm considering doing a single day trip (Friday) to TMC Connect in Reno. I live about 110 miles away in California, but my Roadster's ideal range is down to about 212 miles, and there's that 6,000 foot mountain to climb. So, I know I can get there, and most of the way home, but that's not going to cut it.

I do have both of the CAN adapters (J1772 and Model S destination), and a UMC 240, so rather flexible on that end, but worry about finding a guaranteed spot I can put the car for about half the day in order to not be stranded. A full day of 120v/15a might even be enough.

I don't want to ruin my show experience by worrying constantly about charging my car for the return trip. Should I just drive the ICE?
 
Greg,

There’s two 90 amp MS HPWC’s right across the street from the Atlantis in their parking lot and they are available to the public. We have used them many times. Also, there are at least a dozen other locations with free charging (J1772 or MS HPWC) within a short distance from the Atlantis. We will be at Connect with our Roadster on Friday and can assist you in locating charging, if you like. We use Plugshare to locate charging.

We have driven from the valley up to Reno over 80, 50, & 88 many times and we never have issues if we calculate about 120% of distance traveled to compensate for the increase in altitude, if you know what I am trying to explain.
 
Last edited:
My limited experience with mountain driving is surprisingly close to what the laws of physics suggest. I took a trip to Nyack a couple of weekends ago (ham radio club's Field Day location), 38 miles + 4,000 ft elevation from my house. It took 62 ideal miles to get there, and about 16 to get home. I think I was in regen for the entire first 10 miles or so on the way back, but couldn't quite get the car to add miles to the display. So, 78 ideal miles to cover 76 real ones, at moderate freeway speeds. A lot better than I expected.

Still, my luck with public charging has been less than spectacular, and at an EV convention, I expect they will be rather over-subscribed. I'd be constantly distracted by the car, and not focused on the show. Leaning towards the ICE, but still thinking about it...
 
Looking at Plugshare, those are the only two non-supercharge outlets within walking distance of the site, so they will be busy. It also looks to be a particularly hot day, which means the A/C will be running to cool the battery (and/or the occupant!) on the way home, taking the trip out of hypermiling range.

Between the two factors, and lacking any guaranteed alternatives, I think the right move will be to take the ICE, and enjoy the show. And, note to the home banker, consider the 3.0 battery perhaps earlier than otherwise needed. :)
 
In addition to the two HPWCs there are also two J1772 as shown below.
image002 (1).png


I was a bit confused as to the location of these generic charging stations since PlugShare shows HPWCs in this location. However, that's incorrect. The HPWCs are on the near edge of the expansion lot across Virginia street.

I'd expect most of the Model Ss to cycle through the Superchargers.
 
Plugshare shows the two 80amp HPWCs across the street. The J1772's right in front of the casino entrance are 40amp and are on the Chargepoint network.They can be difficult to access due to the limited parking in front of the casino. We have used them all in the past without any issue. We will be there with our CAN-JR and CAN-SR if anyone needs to use them.

Doug, maybe we can set up some sort of shuttle service to the other charging locations?