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Supercharger - Superior, MT
- Thread starter Cottonwood
- Start date
And/or those well heeled enough to afford the additional accessory (though I guess this applies to most/all Model S owners by default).
Not quite. It's 323 miles from Billings to Rapid City, and it's 198 from Superior to Ritzville. The 323 is just too far, and the 198 in the mountains, and especially in the winter is too far to be comfortable, even at 55.
As I said before, Sheridan, Gillette, and Coeur d'Alene are needed to convert the Montana Island to the Montana Causeway!
And/or those well heeled enough to afford the additional accessory (though I guess this applies to most/all Model S owners by default).
And/or those who didn't buy an inventory car.
I would have liked to have dual chargers in the car, but I figure in the long run I won't miss them. The Supercharger network is getting there!
As for Billings to Rapid City: according to Plugshare, Wayside RV Park looks to be situated half way, and has 14-50 50A plugs. So, it's doable, for the intrepid adventurer, today. Still, yeah... I'd love to see at least one of the Superchargers between Billings and Rapid City suddenly pop up as having been under construction for some time and no one noticed.
Bighorn
Top Supercharger
We're keeping an eye on things locally. Also, many RV parks close down in winter, so call ahead.And/or those who didn't buy an inventory car.
I would have liked to have dual chargers in the car, but I figure in the long run I won't miss them. The Supercharger network is getting there!
As for Billings to Rapid City: according to Plugshare, Wayside RV Park looks to be situated half way, and has 14-50 50A plugs. So, it's doable, for the intrepid adventurer, today. Still, yeah... I'd love to see at least one of the Superchargers between Billings and Rapid City suddenly pop up as having been under construction for some time and no one noticed.
There is a new dot on the supercharger map between Superior and Missoula Montana for 2014. I hope the dot was misplaced and they are not really putting another supercharger near Missoula, when as has been post a lot there is a huge need for one in St Regis for highway 135. The only reason I can see for another supercharger near Missoula would be for Highway 93/200 going north. Anyone using that would be coming from the south or east, going by the existing Supercharger. I hope they are not thinking that people from the west would go to Missoula to go north on 200. A supercharger in St Regis MT or even Haugan would serve all the people coming from Seattle, Portland and Spokane going north to Flathead Lake, Kalispell, Whitefish and Whitefish Mountain Ski Area. Yes they can now use the Superior charger, but it is an extra 30 miles of travel and the time to recharge the extra 30 miles, taking an extra 45 minutes. If you agree please write to supercharger at teslamotors.com.
Last edited by a moderator:
Bighorn
Top Supercharger
Bighorn
Top Supercharger
deonb
Active Member
I just stopped there today, and in 15 minutes had 3 very uneasy interactions with completely different folk.
1) Just after I plugged in, a person walked up from the gas station and said: "I'll give you somewhere to plug that in", pointed at his posterior, and turned around and walked away. I've had bad interactions before, so I just ignored this.
2) After he left, a couple of minutes later someone else pulled in and started talking about the charging, how much it costs (I said free). Then asked how long the battery lasts (I said - well, I don't know yet, but from the looks of things maybe 12 years/150'000 miles). Then he asked me how much the battery costs - and I replied "12 thousand". So then he absolutely freaked out: "12 thousand, are you insane? You know this whole thing will never work, right?". So then I replied: "That truck of yours over 150'000 miles would use more than twice as much in gas", at which point he got really upset with me and started picking up a rock (fist-size) to throw at the car, until his son stopped him and led him away. All the time he was swearing at everybody in the vicinity about the "$12000 battery" though. I thought, wow - 2 interactions, never seen that, but ok.
We were initially planning on grabbing lunch from Durango's, and eat it at the picnic tables in the park 2 blocks away. However, after the above 2 interactions I didn't want to leave the car unattended for fear the battery-phobia guy comes back. So I unplugged (I had at that time enough to get to Coeur d'Alene, but were originally wanting to shoot straight for Ritzville) and we went over to the picnic tables with the car...
3) As we arrived (in the Tesla), 2 strangers from the house across the street, immediately walked up to us, beer in hand, and basically said we weren't welcome there and to leave. Didn't specifically point to the Tesla, but is the only reason I could think of that caused this. We looked like them in any other way. (White, middle age, overweight). We just left.
Well, Montana hospitality at it's best for you...
But anyway, why I'm concerned isn't the specific events - I've had bad encounters before at Superchargers, but they're generally isolated. However, this is 3 completely unrelated events in 15 minutes. What I think is happening here is that this is a small town (812 people) with a tight-nit community that all talk to each other. So I think someone in the community got the rest of the community now riled up against Tesla for whatever reason. It's not going to take long before some teenager take it on himself to take revenge on someone's car for whatever lot in life they blame Tesla for.
Based on this, I would strongly recommend at the very least to never leave a car unattended there until the community heat blows over. This also isn't a necessary supercharger stop - you can stop at Coeur d'Alene and easily make it to Missoula. I've charged at Missoula without any issues there - it's a much larger town.
1) Just after I plugged in, a person walked up from the gas station and said: "I'll give you somewhere to plug that in", pointed at his posterior, and turned around and walked away. I've had bad interactions before, so I just ignored this.
2) After he left, a couple of minutes later someone else pulled in and started talking about the charging, how much it costs (I said free). Then asked how long the battery lasts (I said - well, I don't know yet, but from the looks of things maybe 12 years/150'000 miles). Then he asked me how much the battery costs - and I replied "12 thousand". So then he absolutely freaked out: "12 thousand, are you insane? You know this whole thing will never work, right?". So then I replied: "That truck of yours over 150'000 miles would use more than twice as much in gas", at which point he got really upset with me and started picking up a rock (fist-size) to throw at the car, until his son stopped him and led him away. All the time he was swearing at everybody in the vicinity about the "$12000 battery" though. I thought, wow - 2 interactions, never seen that, but ok.
We were initially planning on grabbing lunch from Durango's, and eat it at the picnic tables in the park 2 blocks away. However, after the above 2 interactions I didn't want to leave the car unattended for fear the battery-phobia guy comes back. So I unplugged (I had at that time enough to get to Coeur d'Alene, but were originally wanting to shoot straight for Ritzville) and we went over to the picnic tables with the car...
3) As we arrived (in the Tesla), 2 strangers from the house across the street, immediately walked up to us, beer in hand, and basically said we weren't welcome there and to leave. Didn't specifically point to the Tesla, but is the only reason I could think of that caused this. We looked like them in any other way. (White, middle age, overweight). We just left.
Well, Montana hospitality at it's best for you...
But anyway, why I'm concerned isn't the specific events - I've had bad encounters before at Superchargers, but they're generally isolated. However, this is 3 completely unrelated events in 15 minutes. What I think is happening here is that this is a small town (812 people) with a tight-nit community that all talk to each other. So I think someone in the community got the rest of the community now riled up against Tesla for whatever reason. It's not going to take long before some teenager take it on himself to take revenge on someone's car for whatever lot in life they blame Tesla for.
Based on this, I would strongly recommend at the very least to never leave a car unattended there until the community heat blows over. This also isn't a necessary supercharger stop - you can stop at Coeur d'Alene and easily make it to Missoula. I've charged at Missoula without any issues there - it's a much larger town.
Ooh I would love to encounter these folk and give them a piece of my mind. Though I could picture the headlines "angry tesla owner beats local into coma". Probably not a good image for Tesla. Sigh. I wish you could just beat intelligence into some people but then again, "you can't fix stupid".
FLDarren
Member
Ooh I would love to encounter these folk and give them a piece of my mind. Though I could picture the headlines "angry tesla owner beats local into coma". Probably not a good image for Tesla. Sigh. I wish you could just beat intelligence into some people but then again, "you can't fix stupid".
You have a point. "Tesla" would be used in the headlines. Like it matters what kind of car the assailant owned.
DFibRL8R
Active Member
Sounds like folks in that town have a SUPERIORity complex:wink:
I have never had a negative interaction like this at a supercharger in 60,000 miles of Tesla driving, crazy that you got three in one stop!
I have never had a negative interaction like this at a supercharger in 60,000 miles of Tesla driving, crazy that you got three in one stop!
@deonb, sorry to hear about your experience. The incident with the crazy rock guy sounds scary!
I used the Superior MT Supercharger twice last month during my 3500 mile round trip from the SF Bay Area to Glacier and Olympic National Parks last month. I had no negative interactions with the people in Superior. The staff at the gas station where the Supercharger is located was friendly and I had no negative interactions with any passers by. In fact the people I talked to were very nice, and some had questions about the car which I answered and they had nothing bad to say.
Let's not leap to pass judgement about all the people of Superior and of the state of Montana.
I used the Superior MT Supercharger twice last month during my 3500 mile round trip from the SF Bay Area to Glacier and Olympic National Parks last month. I had no negative interactions with the people in Superior. The staff at the gas station where the Supercharger is located was friendly and I had no negative interactions with any passers by. In fact the people I talked to were very nice, and some had questions about the car which I answered and they had nothing bad to say.
Let's not leap to pass judgement about all the people of Superior and of the state of Montana.
caddieo
Member
Maybe the Montana State Police should follow the lead of the LAPD and have a few MS cruisers. That should result in some interesting encounters with the local Luddites.
bollar
Disgruntled Member
For what it's worth, I have had good results with the "how this car is fueled" approach. You don't always have to answer the question asked and at an appropriate point early in the conversation (definitely before you dissed the one guy's truck), simply say, "it's important to me to use U.S., not imported fuels -- this car is powered by coal & natural gas, all of which comes from within Montana."
Now, don't be mentionin' all that hydro and solar you have at home. Not pertinent.
Now, don't be mentionin' all that hydro and solar you have at home. Not pertinent.
Larry93428
Member
Tesla Superchargers need to be in a secure, gated area. This will discourage unwanted encounters and allow some amenities - window cleaners and maybe an air pump.
Some of the foot traffic is frightening and we are helpless when plugged in. There have been incidents at Las Vegas and at Barstow.
~Larry
Some of the foot traffic is frightening and we are helpless when plugged in. There have been incidents at Las Vegas and at Barstow.
~Larry
This is sad. I wonder if the town is on hard economic times? Would explain, but not excuse, their attitude towards folks "flaunting wealth" in their "hood".
taurusking
Member
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