Supercharger - Twin Falls, ID

[vinnie97]

^And here I was recently reading where somebody in the Model 3 subforum claimed they would have no problem traveling at 55 mph to maintain range, and your post is a sobering reminder that they must not be (or regularly travel) in a state where interstates have posted speed limits of 80 mph.

 

[AudubonB]

Rancher's suggestion of Burley and Mountain Home would facilitate travel...but only on the I-84 corridor. It would be effectively useless for any N-S travel, either on Rte 26 or, more importantly, on that most-beautiful-of-all-N/S-intermountain roads, Rte 93; if a choice had to be made, a Twin Falls site would service both directions.

BTW, I take great issue with the overall tenor of "gotta travel the 80mph (or whatever) limit". I've humped heavy loads up and down all those interstates, and never have had any drivers show any irritation that I'd be traveling under 60mph. Now, that is in a full-sized pickup, and most often with a large trailer, and I concede that there may be drivers who consider giving those vehicles a pass whereas a smaller car going slowly could be, conceivably, fair game - but that is driver sensibility and is not a "safety issue".

 

[vinnie97]

Exactly, with heavier and larger loads you have a very obvious excuse. Running near E in my hybrid on a recent trip, it was a bit nerve-wracking, though, to have cars barreling up behind me, and I would definitely call it a safety hazard since higher speeds shorten necessary response times, and it seems that most folks aren't quite as understanding when passenger vehicles are being operated like semis.

Thanks for the Route 93 tip...haven't had the pleasure before.

 

[Rancher]

Rancher's suggestion of Burley and Mountain Home would facilitate travel...but only on the I-84 corridor. It would be effectively useless for any N-S travel, either on Rte 26 or, more importantly, on that most-beautiful-of-all-N/S-intermountain roads, Rte 93; if a choice had to be made, a Twin Falls site would service both directions.

BTW, I take great issue with the overall tenor of "gotta travel the 80mph (or whatever) limit". I've humped heavy loads up and down all those interstates, and never have had any drivers show any irritation that I'd be traveling under 60mph. Now, that is in a full-sized pickup, and most often with a large trailer, and I concede that there may be drivers who consider giving those vehicles a pass whereas a smaller car going slowly could be, conceivably, fair game - but that is driver sensibility and is not a "safety issue".

I hadn't considered N/S travel - South there is Wendover, but is there another SC location North that a TF SC would enable access to?

And, I travel with my truck/trailer hauling cattle/equipment quite often, and while at 4 axles the 80 mph speed limit applies to me, I wouldn't consider burning the fuel it would require to accelerate 20+ tons over 70mph. Even the truck by itself adds a significant cost. BUt, in a passenger vehicle, the extra cost is minimal, my time is more valuable, and on a trip through scenery as monotonous as I84, I'm going to get past it as fast as possible. And, there's nothing like having people say "Oh, yeah, Tesla - those cars are so slow that even the semis on the freeway have to pass them. That's why I'll never drive an electric vehicle..."

 

[ZBB]

And, you shouldn't be doing road trips with the 60kWh, in any case - that's strictly a commuter vehicle.

Um… No. The 60 handles road trips just fine. My 60 just turned 40k miles this week, with over 7500 miles on road trips. Its been as far south as Tucson, AZ and north as Vancouver, BC. We've had Supercharger gaps to cross a few times -- overnight charging got us back home or to a Supercharger most of the time, and we crossed one with a 4.5 hour stop at a Service Center during the day to get enough to get us to our next destination.

I'm monitoring this thread since we're starting to plan for a road trip next summer -- would be nice to be able to get to BC from AZ by going Salt Lake and Boise (partly because its a bit shorter, partly because it would be a different route than last year's trip). The road trips I've taken have proven that EV Trip Planner's forecasts are very good -- most of the time we used within 2 rated miles of the forecast, and came in under the estimate by 5-10 miles a few times.

I agree that it would be better for 2 Superchargers between Boise and Trementon. But Tesla usually attempts to place Superchargers 100-120 miles apart, with some as far as 140 miles apart. Trememton to Boise is 268 miles, which would mean 134 miles if Tesla could exactly split the distance for a single Supercharger in Twin Falls, or 89 miles apart if they put in 2 over this distance instead.

If there is only one SC, Tremonton to the US-93 exit in Twin Falls is 144 miles -- and EV Trip Planner shows 185 rated miles needed at my standard settings (speed factor of 1.1, payload of 700 pounds to cover 3 people plus luggage, exterior temp of 100F and A/C set to 70). That's doable in a 60, but does not leave much buffer -- especially if there were a headwind. If I drop the speed factor to 1.0 (i.e. drive with the flow of traffic), drops the RM needed to 167, which gives a bit more buffer.

So I hope Tesla is considering 2 SC's and think Rancher's suggestion of Burley and Mountain Home would make sense. But even if its just one in Twin Falls, we'll likely still go for this route if we take the trip next summer.

Audie - I think the N/S route will more likely be on I-75. Tesla hasn't Supercharged many non-Interstate routes (101 in CA is the only one I'm aware of…)

 

[cpa]

ZBB,

Tesla has several in the West besides US101:

Mojave is on California 14/58. Inyokern is on US395/California 178. Folsom is on US50, with plans for Placerville and South Shore. Lone Pine is on US395. Blanding, Moab, Lusk and Farmington are all on federal highways and not interstates, although this is likely due to Musk's promise to take his sons on a road trip. Detroit Lakes is on an Oregon state highway to facilitate Portland to Bend. Your home state even has Wickenburg on US60/93.

Plans call for the US395 corridor to be built in or near Bishop and further north--maybe Lee Vining, Bridgeport or Minden/Gardnerville. They might even put plugs in Susanville. California SR99 will see Fresno and possibly one or two other places.

I believe that once the interstate highway system is nearing 80% completion for Superchargers we will begin to see selected segments of secondary highways receiving theirs. There are scores of routes that might just see one or two installed along a 200-300 mile segment, but not covered over their entire length!

 

[Rocky_H]

Reply to @Rancher: I am going to be polite, but this stuff doesn’t deserve it.

Quote: “Oh, I'm sure it's completely doable with just the one station - if you crawl along along at 25 miles under the speed limit (55 mph). […]being a road hazard because you are so slow compared to the rest of traffic that you are practically a standing object, in order to complete the trip, leaves a slightly sour taste.”
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This is the fallacy called a false dichotomy. You are saying that there are only two possible speeds that can be driven: 80+mph or 55mph. What hogwash. You don’t have to go nearly as slow as 55mph to make this easily, and I just did this drive on the 8[SUP]th[/SUP] and 9[SUP]th[/SUP], and the majority of the traffic there goes in the mid 70’s mph. So going about 70 or 72 will be much more efficient and will be very close to the speed of most of the traffic that is going within a few miles per hour of that so that it is not even close to being a hazard or a “standing object”. (Nice ridiculous hyperbole, there, by the way.)

Quote: “, I left Boise with 217 miles of range and got to TF with only 23 left, running right at speed limit of 80 mph […]- just a standard ho-hum trip. Wouldn't have made it to Burley without slowing down. […]And, leaving TF the next morning with a full 255 miles of range, got to Tremonton with 60 miles of range - again, right at the speed limit the whole time. […]Which means that in both cases, leaving with <200 miles rated range means you have to drive under the speed limit.”
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And THIS is why people frequently don’t drive at 80+mph. It KILLS efficiency, regardless of whether it’s gas or electric. You used 194 rated miles to go 125 actual miles. That’s burning at 1.5 times rated energy consumption. On that very same stretch from Boise to Twin Falls, I get 1 to 1 on rated miles going about 70 to 72 mph. And then you used 195 rated miles to go 146 actual miles. That’s at 1.3 times rated consumption—again, running pretty hot. Oh, the horror, the tragedy of driving under the speed limit(!!), which is actually, you know, THE LAW. By the way, that is the highest speed limit in the entire country except for a small stretch of one highway in Texas. It’s not going to kill you to go a bit under 80 to drastically help your range. But I know, you’re from Oregon, so you’re excited to taste the forbidden fruit of the 80mph speed limits of Idaho and Utah.

For the rest of that, you are way overestimating those Supercharging times. 60 min, 60 min, 40 min? These are 125 and 145 mile distances, at the most, and the one from SLC to Tremonton at the start is only 76 miles. None of those stops will need to be over a half hour, but of course you want to burn 200 rated miles in 125 real miles, so you want to complain about the charging time to accomplish that feat of wastefulness.

 

[mmh]

Oh! I want to get in on this argument. I go from SLC to BOI at least once a year, usually twice. Last time I went was in May 2015, I kept accurate numbers for everything. In an S85 this trip is pretty easy without much planning. I am very much so looking forward to (or hoping for) a Twin Falls SC as it would reduce the charging times from 2+ Hours to 30 minutes. At my highest point I used 44.4kWh for the leap between Twin Falls to Tremonton, a S60 can do that pretty easily, though would need to leave on a full charge from Twin Falls.

SLC to Tremonton
*Average Moving Speed, I was going at or above the speed limit the entire time.
63MPH Average Speed*
291wh/mi (24.6 kWh)
84.4 Miles Total Distance
87 RM Used.
Charge Time (in Tremonton): 41M

Tremonton to Twin Falls (Blue Lakes Inn)
63MPH Average Speed** didn't go 80MPH, cruise was set between 72 and 75 (Drove slower not out of fear of not making it, but to reducing charging time needed on a 11kW charger)
298wh/mi (44.5 kWh)
149.1 Miles Total Distance
158RM Used.
Charge Time (in Twin Falls): 2H 26M

Twin Falls to Boise
60MPH Average Speed
280wh/mi (35.5 kWh)
132 Miles Total Disance
127RM Used.

--

Boise to Twin Falls
53MPH Average Speed (Again slow to reduce needed charging time (Supercharger would remove this limitation))
279wh/mi (37.1 kWh)
133.1 Miles Total Distance
127RM Used
Charge Time (in Twin Falls): 1H 46M

Twin Falls to Tremonton
65MPH Average Speed
299wh/mi (44.4 kWh)
148.5 Miles Total Distance
156RM Used.
Charge Time (in Tremonton): 32M

Tremonton to Salt Lake City
67MPH Average Speed
297wh/mi (24.8 kWh)
83.3 Miles Total Distance
88RM Used.

 

[GRA]

Although I've only done it once (coming back in an ICE), ISTM that there will also need to be an SC added in Wells, NV along with at least one in the TWF/Burley/Heyburn area, as anyone traveling between NorCal and West Yellowstone/Grand Teton on I-80 will prefer to use U.S. 93 rather than detouring through SLC. Adding another SC in Battle Mountain, NV along with Wells would also provide better spacing for 60s/Model 3s along I-80, i.e. Lovelock/Battle Mountain/Wells rather than Lovelock/Winnemucca/Elko, with the option of skipping Wendover and using Tooele instead. Burley/Heyburn - Wells can be a bit far in bad conditions for a 60, while TWF is easy from Wells, but entirely too far from Tremonton.

 

[cpa]

Although I've only done it once (coming back in an ICE), ISTM that there will also need to be an SC added in Wells, NV along with at least one in the TWF/Burley/Heyburn area, as anyone traveling between NorCal and West Yellowstone/Grand Teton on I-80 will prefer to use U.S. 93 rather than detouring through SLC. Adding another SC in Battle Mountain, NV along with Wells would also provide better spacing for 60s/Model 3s along I-80, i.e. Lovelock/Battle Mountain/Wells rather than Lovelock/Winnemucca/Elko, with the option of skipping Wendover and using Tooele instead. Burley/Heyburn - Wells can be a bit far in bad conditions for a 60, while TWF is easy from Wells, but entirely too far from Tremonton.

Also, Wells would enable taking Nevada State Route 233 through Montello and driving north of the Great Salt Lake and meeting up with Interstate 84 just south of the Idaho-Utah line. It provides a nice drive to Promontory to see the National Monument.

 

[GRA]

Also, Wells would enable taking Nevada State Route 233 through Montello and driving north of the Great Salt Lake and meeting up with Interstate 84 just south of the Idaho-Utah line. It provides a nice drive to Promontory to see the National Monument.

You mean there's someone else here who would actually go out of their way to visit the Golden Spike site?:biggrin: Although the distance is pushing it in a 60 - with 1,000 lb. in the car and 100 deg. you're looking at around 200 rated miles, and detouring to Tremonton first only knocks about 10 miles off the leg.

 

[yagerd]

Just got this from the City of Twin Falls Planner

This is a response to your public records request associated with the Tesla Charging Stations. We have received a building permit to construct 8 charging stations at the Twin Falls Visitor’s Center that is operated by the Twin Falls Chamber of Commerce.

 

[mmh]

Just got this from the City of Twin Falls Planner

This is a response to your public records request associated with the Tesla Charging Stations. We have received a building permit to construct 8 charging stations at the Twin Falls Visitor’s Center that is operated by the Twin Falls Chamber of Commerce.

OMG OMG OMG ITS HAPPENING!!!!! I'm so happy!

 

[dgpcolorado]

OMG OMG OMG ITS HAPPENING!!!!! I'm so happy!

The missing link!

Map shows it as 4.7 miles from I-84. Not too bad although I would have preferred something just off the freeway.

Edit: GRA beat me to it!

Edit2: 4.7 miles is to the old Visitor's Center I think. If the Superchargers are at the new one, "Twin Falls Tourist Center," that appears to be only 3.3 miles from the freeway.

 

[GRA]

Assuming this is the spot, Twin Falls Tourist Center, 2015 Nielsen Point Place, Twin Falls, ID 83301, it's 4.7 miles off I-84. Not ideal, but doable. Right on U.S. 93, though, and close to its Jct. with U.S. 30.

Google Maps

Edit: ^^^Brilliant minds etc.:biggrin:

 

[BerTX]

The view from there isn't bad, though...

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

The view from there isn't bad, though...

<photo>

That made me feel a little dizzy.

 

[Rocky_H]

The missing link!

Map shows it as 4.7 miles from I-84. Not too bad although I would have preferred something just off the freeway.

Edit: GRA beat me to it!

Heh, have you BEEN to Twin Falls? There is nothing just off the freeway. The entire town is on the other side of the huge Snake River Canyon, which is a few miles off the interstate. That’s as close as they can get it.

- - - Updated - - -

That made me feel a little dizzy.

It's one of the few structures in the country that legally allows BASE jumping.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

OMG OMG OMG ITS HAPPENING!!!!! I'm so happy!

I hope it's not going to be held up by the planning committee.

Monty Pythons Life of Brian - Scene 21, the committee meeting - YouTube

(It's happening always triggers thoughts of that scene ..)

 

[dgpcolorado]

Heh, have you BEEN to Twin Falls? There is nothing just off the freeway. The entire town is on the other side of the huge Snake River Canyon, which is a few miles off the interstate. That’s as close as they can get it...

Yes, I've driven that route many times. Not that I thought it would ever happen, but there's a truck stop next to a Days Inn (I stayed there in May) right off the freeway. Putting the Supercharger station there would have been more convenient, I think.

But, yes, I am well aware that Twin Falls is on the other side of the Snake River Canyon; I have a cousin who lives there. At least the Visitor's Center is on the north edge of town.