Supercharger - Beatty, NV (live 2016/2/9)

[ProphetM]

A gray 'opening soon' marker has appeared at Beatty, Nevada on Tesla's "Today" supercharger map. There's not much to the town but there's no other possible site for oodles of miles in either direction. I didn't notice anything going in when I was through there a couple weeks ago, but I also wasn't really looking.

I think the most likely place for a supercharger would be the Stagecoach Hotel & Casino at the north end of town, being the most significant development (and only casino), with restaurants, Death Valley Nut & Candy Co. and a Motel 6 next door. There is also the Death Valley Inn at the south end of town, and I'd give an outside chance to the Exchange Club area in the center of town, which is near the chamber of commerce and a couple places to eat. All of these properties are apparently owned by the same person, named Ed Ringle. He intends for a bigger casino resort to be built across the street from the Stagecoach, but at the moment it's just a nice sign and empty land, and there's no indication it will be anything more for the foreseeable future.

I'm glad to finally see some activity along the corridor from Las Vegas to Reno. They will need to build something in Tonopah and Hawthorne as well. North of there the options are greater - a supercharger in Fallon would probably be good but you could make it from Hawthorne northeast to Lovelock without one, or to a destination charger in the Reno area.

 

[Coiled]

I noticed that marker too. It will be nice to see the Vegas-to-Reno route fill in. The state is also building their "electric highway" along that route.

"Opening soon" usually means Tesla has at least obtained a permit. I tried looking for it on the Nye County website, but no luck. I may have to call them after the holiday.

 

[callmesam]

Made a call to Stagecoach Hotel and they front desk mentioned a "charging station going in at Eddie World next to the candy store."

Could not identify make or model of charging unit.

Called Eddie World and the manager is out.

 

[markb1]

When visiting Beatty, be sure to check out Rhyolite, a ghost town just down the road. I was just there in July. Interesting place.

 

[emupilot]

Made a call to Stagecoach Hotel and they front desk mentioned a "charging station going in at Eddie World next to the candy store."

Could not identify make or model of charging unit.

Called Eddie World and the manager is out.

Well, maybe not...

Chris Brooks, VEA executive of energy services said the charging station, that's part of a statewide Nevada Electric Highway initiative, will be housed at Stagecoach Eddie World gas station in Beatty.
"We will be building, owning and operating an electric vehicle charging station,"￾ Brooks said.

but maybe so...

"We are in talks right now with Tesla to see if they will come in at the same time,"￾ he said. "They had planned on potentially putting one there, and this might help them build at the same time."

 

[Coiled]

Called the Nye County building safety office. They do handle permits but they said there's none required for a charging station in Beatty because it's outside the Pahrump area. As far as they knew, nothing would have to be filed or approved unless it's with the Beatty Town Advisory Board. The Board had a meeting in August but the minutes are not online yet.

I might head up there this weekend to see what there is to see. Candy and a ghost town ... could be worse.

 

[Coiled]

There's nothing to see yet at Eddie World. Another Tesla owner I met up there said he had talked to the property owner, who is working with Tesla and hoping to get the supercharger installed by the end of the year. The goal is to have Valley Electric install the state's Electric Highway charger at the same location. This confirms what the VEA executive said in the article @emupilot found.

By the way, the candy at Death Valley Nut & Candy Co. seems overpriced but they have a huge selection. Malted milk balls, candy corn, peanut brittle, licorice, jawbreakers, you name it.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

...Death Valley Nut & Candy Co... have ... licorice....

FYP.

Thanks for the update.

 

[Coiled]

Called up Eddie World today and they said there's been no progress. The plan is still to have the state's L2 charger and the supercharger at that location, but construction has not started on either one at this point.

 

[emupilot]

Called up Eddie World today and they said there's been no progress. The plan is still to have the state's L2 charger and the supercharger at that location, but construction has not started on either one at this point.

Is there an agreement between Eddie World and Tesla or anything else which makes it definite that superchargers will be going in here?

 

[Coiled]

The last I heard (second hand), they were finalizing the contract with Tesla and hoping to get the supercharger installed by the end of the year. I'm guessing the contract is done since they still expect it to be built there. It sounds pretty definite to me, especially since Tesla already put it on their map as Coming Soon.

 

[Coiled]

While testing out autopilot (awesome feature) I drove up to Death Valley Nut & Candy. Sad to say, there is still no sign of any construction.

 

[Coiled]

Wait a minute, what do we have here?

I didn't see any sign of the state's Electric Highway L2 charger, and there was nobody around to ask when either one would be finished. But still ... the gateway to Death Valley will soon be open!

 

[Coiled]

Eight stalls. That's a huge installation for the middle of nowhere, but there's a significant risk of ICEing from the Motel 6 next door. I hope the signage is good.

Guess where the U-Haul would have parked if the supercharger hadn't been blocked off?

 

[Tyl]

WOW! Thank you for your reporting! Excellent job of photo journalism! The photos show great progress! I think it's great when all of a sudden TMC member find a supercharging station that is so far along. Another cone for supercharge.info (another great non tesla website).

 

[Zroiron]

Awesome!!! Death Valley, here we come!!

 

[Coiled]

WOW! Thank you for your reporting! Excellent job of photo journalism! The photos show great progress! I think it's great when all of a sudden TMC member find a supercharging station that is so far along. Another cone for supercharge.info (another great non tesla website).

Thanks. I was surprised to see it so far along. Two weeks ago there was not even a hint of construction.

 

[mspohr]

If you're in the area, don't forget to stop at the Area 51 Alien Center (and Brothel) just down the road in Amargosa, NV
Good reviews on TripAdvisor and Yelp:
Area 51 Alien Center - 18 Photos - Gas & Service Stations - Amargosa Valley, NV - Reviews - Yelp
Area 51 Alien Travel Center, Amargosa Valley - Restaurant Reviews Photos - TripAdvisor

 

[Coiled]

If you're in the area, don't forget to stop at the Area 51 Alien Center (and Brothel) just down the road in Amargosa, NV

The alien center is just a tourist trap with alien-themed merchandise. The cafe is sub-par.

Did not try the alien brothel. You know what they say: Once you go green, you never get clean.

 

[johnnyS]

On a trip to Death Valley about 10 years ago, we drove out of the national park to get gas in Beatty. At the time, there was a lot of talk about Beatty becoming the nuclear waste dump for the country. It is kind of cool that now it has a supercharger installation. I cannot imagine it getting much Tesla traffic.