Supercharger - Clayton, NM

[quickstrike12]

That’s always been my get out of jail free card. Slow down.
I don’t worry so much about running out completely. I know I could in a pinch slow WAY down for a bit and make it. Might be super annoying and not part of the plan, but I’ll get there. And of course in most cases it’s faster to subtract 5 to 10 mph on a long road trip than it is to stop at a RV park and gain maybe only 35 miles in an hour. Unless of course your making it part of a useful stop for food anyway I guess.
having only a MS 75 I have gotten pretty good at managing my driving speeds.

 

[ausdma]

You can get to Austin by taking a hard right at Salina, KS, instead. Avoids this gap and is a less-stressful ride. Of course the downside is you have to go through the Eastern side of Colorado and half of Kansas. But it'll get you there!

View attachment 580233

I am super excited for this supercharger location.

I make the drive from Austin to Breckenridge and back several times a year. Going north, it's far simpler and way less stress to go up I35 to I70, despite the fact that you have to charge in Perry, OK, the armpit of supercharger locations. I stay at the Hyatt in Wichita, KS, which has a destination charger and is a very nice hotel. Coming back south, it's really not a problem in my S90D to make the leg from Trinidad to Amarillo, and I can get from Breck to Amarillo with only the single charge in Trinidad. The bonus is the Mexican restaurant near the Trinidad charger actually has a vegetarian section on their menu, so I can get a good meal and WiFi while I take an hour to get a 100% charge.

The ability to easily make the leg going north from Amarillo to Trinidad without having to drastically moderate speed or find trucks to draft is what we have needed for many years. Every year this location is listed for the current year, but it never happens.

Now that it is permitted, hopefully it won't be one of those locations that is permitted but never starts construction.

 

[wreighven]

Update from my way back to DFW (Trinidad, CO to Amarillo, TX). Took another "deeper" pass at the Ranch Market. Scoured the whole parking lot. All that I found that piqued my interest were two hatch chili tumblers for roasting.
Stats for the return trip were "better". Left Trinidad, CO with a 287 mile battery as Tesla said I would make it with 14%, and with driving the speed limit up the Raton pass, and then 5 over the rest of the way, made it to Amarillo with 14 miles left LOL. So 273 rated miles used for 223 real miles of journey (compared to 303 miles on the way up). I think the wind and elevation help quite a bit coming Southeast from CO to TX.

 

[houstonian]

Update from my way back to DFW (Trinidad, CO to Amarillo, TX).

May want to think about posting your stats on this thread too: Amarillo to Trinidad, CO supercharger stats - round trip

 

[reddy]

Update from my way back to DFW (Trinidad, CO to Amarillo, TX). Took another "deeper" pass at the Ranch Market. Scoured the whole parking lot. All that I found that piqued my interest were two hatch chili tumblers for roasting.

Yes, Hatch chili season is great.

It was a very brisk day today, so you may have had some heater usage. Right now it's only 45 degrees in Amarillo in early September. Also you would have had a bit of a tail wind , currently 24MPH from NNE.

Having Clayton available will take the range anxiety away from this trip.

 

[rafacq]

I think I read a post that the Clayton permit was not for construction, but for a feasibility study. Can anyone validate if it’s true?

It has been almost 2 months (July 21) and no sign of construction. Maybe Elon will get to it by the time Giga Texas is open and he needs to ship cybertrucks to Colorado via Clayton.

 

[mociaf9]

I think I read a post that the Clayton permit was not for construction, but for a feasibility study. Can anyone validate if it’s true?

It has been almost 2 months (July 21) and no sign of construction. Maybe Elon will get to it by the time Giga Texas is open and he needs to ship cybertrucks to Colorado via Clayton.

It was for plan review only, not construction. Interestingly, looking through the other Superchargers which are findable in this same portal, none of them had this type of plan review. All just had the commercial electrical permit. So, it's possible that rules about what types of permitting is required for EVCS in this area have changed. Or there was some other reason why this one needed the extra step.

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

I think I read a post that the Clayton permit was not for construction, but for a feasibility study. Can anyone validate if it’s true?

It has been almost 2 months (July 21) and no sign of construction. Maybe Elon will get to it by the time Giga Texas is open and he needs to ship cybertrucks to Colorado via Clayton.

It can take AGES to move from "permit" to "construction". Sometimes as long as a year.

 

[TexasDuke]

Site Follow up: I was past the area this week and no indication of any planning at the site.

 

[sirpumpkin]

Planning on Denver - > Houston in the Dec 22 time frame. A little concerned about Trinidad to Amarillo. Do you think I can make it in a LR Model Y (albeit full with five adults, two dogs, and a thule)? Also are winter tires necessary for this trip?

 

[Zaxxon]

Yes, you can make it. Just charge to 100% in Trinidad, take it easy on the speed leaving Trinidad and adjust as necessary depending on what the nav tells you you'll arrive with.

I don't think you 'need' winters, but I do run them. Raton pass can get a little dicey if weather is terrible.

 

[Tectonic]

Planning on Denver - > Houston in the Dec 22 time frame. A little concerned about Trinidad to Amarillo. Do you think I can make it in a LR Model Y (albeit full with five adults, two dogs, and a thule)? Also are winter tires necessary for this trip?

By "a thule" I'm guessing you mean a thule roof top box? Not sure if the previous reply was taking that into account - your drag will be significantly increased with that. With the box and it being winter, if you run into a headwind, you may need to slow down a lot to make it (or stop off at an RV park to charge). The return trip (if you're planning that) is even tougher due to the elevation change. If conditions look bad, you might consider the alternate of taking I-70 east to Salina KS and then south from there. Unless by some miracle they build the Clayton site before then, that is...

 

[garrett5688]

If you already have the Y and Thule, might be worth doing some range testing with it so you are prepared.

 

[Zaxxon]

By "a thule" I'm guessing you mean a thule roof top box? Not sure if the previous reply was taking that into account - your drag will be significantly increased with that. With the box and it being winter, if you run into a headwind, you may need to slow down a lot to make it (or stop off at an RV park to charge). The return trip (if you're planning that) is even tougher due to the elevation change. If conditions look bad, you might consider the alternate of taking I-70 east to Salina KS and then south from there. Unless by some miracle they build the Clayton site before then, that is...

Yeah, I missed the Thule mention. If conditions are also bad (eg 20F and a headwind, snow, etc), could be very difficult. I would have a charge stop in my back pocket somewhere in the middle just in case.

 

[sirpumpkin]

Appreciate the comments. I'm concerned snow tires would also impact range. Snow tires I purchased have heavier wheels (33 lbs). I also don't want to kill the tread in Houston (will likely give test drives to friends/family).

 

[Zaxxon]

There's an RV parking section in Dalhart with several 14-50 outlets. I would just take it easy and plan to stop there for an in-car meal if range starts to look dicey.

PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You

 

[PLUS EV]

Planning on Denver - > Houston in the Dec 22 time frame. A little concerned about Trinidad to Amarillo. Do you think I can make it in a LR Model Y (albeit full with five adults, two dogs, and a thule)? Also are winter tires necessary for this trip?

Should be fine but I would start off driving the speed limit or even a bit lower just to be certain, especially given the likely cold temperatures that time of year. Winter tires may or may not be necessary, but it definitely can get extremely snowy that time of year, even as far south as Amarillo.

EDIT: just saw the bit about the Thule. That can definitely change your aerodynamics in a way that it may not be doable. I would try to pay attention to how it affects your usage on other legs previously in the trip to get an idea. Or, if at all possible, don't bring the Thule.

 

[PLUS EV]

By "a thule" I'm guessing you mean a thule roof top box? Not sure if the previous reply was taking that into account - your drag will be significantly increased with that. With the box and it being winter, if you run into a headwind, you may need to slow down a lot to make it (or stop off at an RV park to charge). The return trip (if you're planning that) is even tougher due to the elevation change. If conditions look bad, you might consider the alternate of taking I-70 east to Salina KS and then south from there. Unless by some miracle they build the Clayton site before then, that is...

I would be highly pessimistic about his chances of making the return trip, although he didn't specify that he would be making the return trip so hopefully that isn't an issue. Definitely should go through Salina, KS if he's going from Dallas to Denver or something similar.

 

[rafacq]

Planning on Denver - > Houston in the Dec 22 time frame. A little concerned about Trinidad to Amarillo. Do you think I can make it in a LR Model Y (albeit full with five adults, two dogs, and a thule)? Also are winter tires necessary for this trip?

I’ve never used winter tires in Texas (lived in the DFW area over 40 years). If weather is not good in Ratón pass, chains will be helpful. But that’s going to hurt your range. Ratón KOA and Dalhart City park have NEMA14-50. Safe travels.

Edit: After some thinking, I think I would head east on I-70, south on I-35 to Dallas, then I-45 to Houston.

 

[Zaxxon]

I’ve never used winter tires in Texas (lived in the DFW area over 40 years). Safe travels.

Texas wouldn't be the reason, it'd be Raton Pass.