Western governors agree to build charging station network Western governors agree to build charging station network
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Western charging stations
- Thread starter Sunergy PV
- Start date
IdaX
Member
That would be awesome! Need some DC Fast Chargers between Boise & Coeur d'Alene as well as eastern Oregon for sure.
skitown
Member
I'm just overly excited that ID has thrown its hat in the ring on this. I figured you were mocking us.Guess what state is not among those seven western states?
IdaX
Member
No, certainly not mocking. Thinking about the types of states that these are, (politically red and pretty fossil fuel oriented for the most part), it's encouraging to see them giving some decent support toward electric vehicles. I was just pointing out the funny in someone hearing western states and the premature celebration of Oregon when it's not actually included. Boise to Bend has been a tough route for a while.
As to the other states, they have a lot of empty space off the main interstates, so I will be curious to see what routes they put the charging stations on. I hope they don't waste the money by doing that stupid thing of putting in useless 30A level 2 stations, cluelessly thinking it covers a route for "travel". They need to do DC fast charging stations.
skitown
Member
I get where you're coming from @Rocky_H for sure. In fact, I recently channeled your comments RE the planned Superchargers that are slated across I-84 (think Ontario, Mountain Home, and Heyburn) that are great to see, but technically a bit redundant compared to the current difficulty we have getting to say eastern Oregon, northern Idaho, western Montana, western Nevada, or anywhere in California via the SC network from Boise. Hopefully this supplementary charging network will help augment things a bit to make those trips more doable. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if Tesla solved all of these in one big swoop in 2018/19 on their own. Regardless, it's great to see Idaho not always pulling up the rear.
Yes, current case in point is that my wife is driving with some friends down to Las Vegas tomorrow. From a map perspective, it's really straightforward: I-84 east to Twin Falls, and then straight down U.S. Highway 93 for 500 miles--easy peasy, right? Except there is no charging except 40A all along highway 93. I tried mapping out what it would take to make this work with a Tesla, farther west or east to pick up at least one or two Superchargers, and there is no way that doesn't add at least 4 hours or so to the trip from slow charging or tons of extra distance. Hopefully this initiative can get something better on the US or state highways.
Huh. Funny how things change in just a few months as charging infrastructure shows up little by little. Since I last checked the Boise to Las Vegas route a couple of months ago, a new 45kW Chargepoint CHAdeMO station has showed up in the tiny burg of Panaca, NV. So, if you detour a little bit from Twin Falls to West Wendover, charge up all the way there, then it looks like you can barely make it to Panaca, and from there, pretty easily to Las Vegas. However, a midway stop in Ely for a meal and 40A charging would add a little buffer to make it to Panaca.
It's interesting to read about issues others are having across the U.S. with the lack of superchargers. In the greater Los Angeles area we have at least 12 supercharging locations, and on weekends one could easily find themselves waiting over 30 minutes in line just to use the darn thing. Tesla definitely needs to either increase the number of stalls or supercharging locations in SOCAL in addition to the rest of the U.S. without coverage. I plan to take a cross-country trip over Christmas, and I hope to be able to drive I-10 all the way across....fingers crossed.
Going through Salt Lake only adds 69 minutes to the drive. I make this drive a lot (from Seattle to Las Vegas) so I have gone every route imaginable (there are a few more when starting in Seattle). Sure I'd like to get the route through Ely back in my rotation (as well as the route through Susanville!), but in the meantime just staying on the interstate and going through SLC isn't that bad.
roblab
Active Member
I know there might be a few who won't appreciate this thought, but when I bought, there were NO superchargers anywhere. That's why I bought the biggest battery I couldn't afford. I drive from Boise to Winnemucca with comparatively little trouble. For those who want to jump into the frog pond early, I'd recommend a bigger battery over the baddest stereo equipment.
I have driven many times Boise area to Bend, and it was a friend and myself who got the charger put in at Burns. Before that, I used the RV park just north of town. Yeah, the charger is 70 amp, but it doesn't take long to pump it up enough to make the rest of the drive. Y' gotta stop somewhere. My daughter just moved there, about 5 blocks from the charger, so it makes a nice stop.
I have driven many times Boise area to Bend, and it was a friend and myself who got the charger put in at Burns. Before that, I used the RV park just north of town. Yeah, the charger is 70 amp, but it doesn't take long to pump it up enough to make the rest of the drive. Y' gotta stop somewhere. My daughter just moved there, about 5 blocks from the charger, so it makes a nice stop.
Hmm, 10 hours 9 minutes seems faster than 10 hours 31 minutes. And a 40kW CHAdeMO isn't that much slower than a Supercharger when you only need a partial fill to bridge a gap anyway. But there's also an aspect of wanting to be able to take this route, since I've never driven highway 93.
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
Tesla definitely needs US 93 chargers at Wells, Ely and Crystal Springs, NV.
And also US 50 at Fallon, Austin and Delta, NV.
And the whole 395 route north of Reno is dismal.
And also US 50 at Fallon, Austin and Delta, NV.
And the whole 395 route north of Reno is dismal.
I'm pretty sure Twin Falls (or Boise) to Vegas via both West Wendover and Panaca is a few minutes slower than taking I-15 through Utah. And that isn't accounting for the slower charge in Panaca.
Generally speaking, I think the reliability of superchargers when compared to other forms of charging makes taking the all-supercharger route a slam dunk. But if you are up for an adventure, then go for it.
I quoted the exact travel times from Google Maps, which disagrees with your "pretty sure" gut feeling.
I used google maps as well. Could have been at different times of day with different traffic through SLC I suppose.
EDIT: Just mapped it out again and got exactly 9 hours for both routes. This time I included all the supercharger stops rather than routing directly. I did:
-Twin Falls SC --> West Wendover SC--> Panaca, NV--> Las Vegas
and
-Twin Falls SC--> Tremonton SC--> Nephi SC--> Beaver SC--> Las Vegas
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