Supercharger- Colby, KS

[PLUS EV]

Hi everybody. Just stumbled upon a new supercharger in my travels.

It is already under construction and looks like 10 stalls. Located at the Oasis Travel Center just south of I-70 at Exit 53. The address is 700 E Horton Ave. Colby, KS 67701.

This is a great location as it is right off the freeway and the travel center has a small food court with a Starbucks, Quizno's, Qdoba and a pizza place. There is also a full gas station with all the typical convenience store amenities. Across the street is a Comfort Inn. This will also shorten a long gap between Hays and Goodland which is particularly problematic going east to west in cars with smaller batteries.

I did take some pics, but want to get back on the road while I still have daylight. Will post them within the next 24 hours. There is a lot of construction left to be done. The frames of the bollards are up and there are freshly set pads for the enclosure and the transformer but there is only a frame of the enclosure erected and no transformer yet. Also the pavement is completely torn up and needs to be repaved. There are also the typical wooden boxes with Telsa labels on them. My wild ass guess is this one will take another 2-3 months before it is open.

 

[PLUS EV]

@BlueShift

There is definitely enough here to merit a construction cone on supercharge.info!

 

[BerTX]

Hi everybody. Just stumbled upon a new supercharger in my travels.

It is already under construction and looks like 10 stalls. Located at the Oasis Travel Center just south of I-70 at Exit 53. The address is 700 E Horton Ave. Colby, KS 67701.

This is a great location as it is right off the freeway and the travel center has a small food court with a Starbucks, Quizno's, Qdoba and a pizza place. There is also a full gas station with all the typical convenience store amenities. Across the street is a Comfort Inn. This will also shorten a long gap between Hays and Goodland which is particularly problematic going east to west in cars with smaller batteries.

I did take some pics, but want to get back on the road while I still have daylight. Will post them within the next 24 hours. There is a lot of construction left to be done. The frames of the bollards are up and there are freshly set pads for the enclosure and the transformer but there is only a frame of the enclosure erected and no transformer yet. Also the pavement is completely torn up and needs to be repaved. There are also the typical wooden boxes with Telsa labels on them. My wild ass guess is this one will take another 2-3 months before it is open.

Nice find! I agree that it will help at particular times, but I suspect this is because the business requested the location. There are no other intermediate locations scheduled on the plan in this area, and it doesn't look like distances are that much different in SC spacing.

I'll wait for @ItsNotAboutTheMoney to do the research, and those numbers should give distances...

 

[PLUS EV]

Nice find! I agree that it will help at particular times, but I suspect this is because the business requested the location. There are no other intermediate locations scheduled on the plan in this area, and it doesn't look like distances are that much different in SC spacing.

I'll wait for @ItsNotAboutTheMoney to do the research, and those numbers should give distances...

Nah 142 miles and 1700 ft elevation is a pretty huge gap for a major cross country route. Especially when it can get pretty cold there.

Also the supercharger in Goodland is pretty lame with only a gas station and steak and shake within walking distance.

 

[swaltner]

Great find. Colby is a great place for travel between Wichita and the Denver area. It's roughly the half-way spot between these areas. With a morning departure, you usually arrive at Colby right around noon when traveling in either direction. I usually make this my lunch and fuel stop when driving ICE vehicles on this road trip. Switching to a Tesla should make the trip planning consist of a brief bio break in the morning and afternoon with a longer lunch break to top off the vehicle a little further. Shouldn't be much difference in total travel time and is my personal preferred location for a longer stop for a meal on this trip.

 

[IT Geek]

Also the supercharger in Goodland is pretty lame with only a gas station and steak and shake within walking distance.

...and a Holiday Inn Express. But I totally agree, it's not a very lively place.

 

[derowland]

Going West towards Goodland from Hays, in the Winter, I've had to slow down a couple of times to make sure I could make it. Temps, increasing altitude and speed made this a "pay attention" segment. This will be a good stop on I-70. Thanks, Tesla.

 

[Shawn G]

Having grown up in Kansas, wind can be a significant factor as well. It usually comes from the north or west, and sustained straight line winds of 20-25mph are not uncommon, especially in the winter. I have seen noticeable differences in mileage between KC and Salina depending on direction of travel even though there is little elevation change.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Nice find! I agree that it will help at particular times, but I suspect this is because the business requested the location. There are no other intermediate locations scheduled on the plan in this area, and it doesn't look like distances are that much different in SC spacing.

I'll wait for @ItsNotAboutTheMoney to do the research, and those numbers should give distances...

Yeah. I was surprised when Colby showed up on Tesla's map earlier this year. I thought they would've put something in Oakley before Colby since it's closer to being equidistant between Goodland and Hays.

 

[tes-s]

Still hoping for something off the interstates in CO. Went to Granada this summer, and no chargers anywhere around. Even an 80-amp destination charger in Lamar or La Junta would have helped. Ended up charging in Goodland then charging overnight at an RV park in Syracuse KS to be able to get there and then make it to Colorado Springs supercharger.

I thought my days of finding RV parks were over...

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Still hoping for something off the interstates in CO. Went to Granada this summer, and no chargers anywhere around. Even an 80-amp destination charger in Lamar or La Junta would have helped. Ended up charging in Goodland then charging overnight at an RV park in Syracuse KS to be able to get there and then make it to Colorado Springs supercharger.

I thought my days of finding RV parks were over...

There are several planned off the interstates in Colorado but nothing planned for Lamar or La Junta yet. Hopefully they'll be adding some between Pagosa Springs and Montrose as well.

 

[Ddowns2050]

I drove the stretch from Hays to Goodland this past winter in an 85D. I charged to 263 miles which was a range charge. It was 14 degrees and the wind was blowing strong from the west. The speed limit was 75. I started out driving 79mph and by half way slowed to about 65mph. I made it with 10 miles of range left. I don't think a 60 kw could have made it period. This sounds like a great spot. Hays to Goodland even though is only 142 miles, is a long way in the winter.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

I drove the stretch from Hays to Goodland this past winter in an 85D. I charged to 263 miles which was a range charge. It was 14 degrees and the wind was blowing strong from the west. The speed limit was 75. I started out driving 79mph and by half way slowed to about 65mph. I made it with 10 miles of range left. I don't think a 60 kw could have made it period. This sounds like a great spot. Hays to Goodland even though is only 142 miles, is a long way in the winter.

I had no problem making it from Hays to Goodland shortly after Christmas driving 80 mph in my S 90D. I charged in Hays and got to Goodland with 45 miles left. A friend made the same trip in an S 60D a day or so later and he reported that he had to reduce speeds to 45 to 50 mph in order to make it. He's since paid to unlock his 75 kWh battery upgrade.

 

[PLUS EV]

Here are some pics of the supercharger under construction that I took on Tuesday:

Colby, Kansas supercharger

 

[cpa]

The Hays to Goodland leg is the one that had me driving 48 MPH for 90 minutes in May of 2015, and I started the leg at 62MPH. I left Hays with 97%, and reached Goodland with 6%. Winds from the northwest had the flags parallel to the ground, and the local news channel at the Holiday Inn said that gusts were close to 40 MPH.

Colby would have been nice two years ago!

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Colby, KS

Along Primary Interstates: I-70
Along US Numbered Highways (<=5mi): US-24
Along Auxiliary Interstates: None

From: Goodland, KS - 36.9 miles
To: Hays, KS - 106 miles
Diversion: 0.9 miles
From: Limon, CO - 144 miles
To: Salina, KS - 199 miles

Neighbors:
Murdo, SD (KS-25/NE-25,US-34,u,US-83,I-90BUS,SD-248): 355 miles
Gothenburg, NE (KS-25,NE-25,NE-44B,US-34,u,US-83,NE-23,NE-47): 156 miles
Mitchell, SD (KS-C20,US-24,US-83,KS-383,US-36,KS-383,US-183,NE-91,NE-11,u,US-20,NE-11,SD-43,US-18,SD-46,u,US-18,SD-44,u,I-90,SD-37,I-90BUS): 434 miles
Grand Island, NE (KS-C20,US-24,US-83,US-36,KS-383,US-183,u,US-34,NE-44,I-80,US-34): 209 miles
Hays, KS (I-70,US-183): 106 miles
Weatherford, OK (I-70,US-283,u,US-400,KS-34,US-54,KS-34,US-183,u,US-270,u,OK-33,OK-54,u): 356 miles
Shamrock, TX (I-70,US-83): 315 miles
Ozona, TX (I-70,US-83,TX-70,TX-171,TX-70,TX-208,US-84,u,u,US-83BUS,u,TX-163,US-87,TX-163,TX-466): 650 miles
Goodland, KS (I-70,KS-27): 37.2 miles
Ogallala, NE (KS-25/NE-25,NE-44B,US-34,NE-25,US-6,NE-61): 153 miles

Lots of neighbors on the "fast" routes between the W-E Interstates.
I always enjoy seeing those routes that go between the gaps, like the 650 miles to Ozona, TX.
Fastest route to Tucumcari, NM is also direct but Goodland, KS isn't that much of a diversion so it's not a neighbor here.

 

[PLUS EV]

The Hays to Goodland leg is the one that had me driving 48 MPH for 90 minutes in May of 2015, and I started the leg at 62MPH. I left Hays with 97%, and reached Goodland with 6%. Winds from the northwest had the flags parallel to the ground, and the local news channel at the Holiday Inn said that gusts were close to 40 MPH.

Colby would have been nice two years ago!

Days where the flags have priapism can really ruin an EV road trip!

 

[Da_Gman]

You said it, PLUS EV. Those head wind drives can be hard on your range.

 

[jrw]

Stopped by this week on my way to Colorado. Looks like rapid progress.

 

[cpa]

You said it, PLUS EV. Those head wind drives can be hard on your range.

How did all this innuendo get past the censors?