These cars look so beautiful in these settings. No other car maker would dare shoot their cars at this location.
Tesla Owner Recalls Trip to Yosemite Park, The Never Ending Search for a Charging Outlet - AllCarsElectric.com
Definitely. I vote for a Tesla charger in Yosemite - I'd like to be able to take trips to Yosemite in my model S, and this isn't going to be realistic without a charging station there.
We might want to hold back the push for Tesla chargers everywhere just now. They are still hoping to use J1772 connector someday soon (once they become available). I guess if the wait for J1772 is going to be too long they could put in the Tesla proprietary at first then change it later, but that would be more trips out there, and more cost spent on a temporary connector that would become obsolete.
billarnett has been working with a bunch of owners to take up a collection and put in a charger at the Ahwahnee. This is a reasonable point, but I am not expecting the change from the Tesla specific connector to the J1772 connector to be that expensive or that big of a deal compared to the rest of the work. Dedicating the circuit and installing the HPC box itself (which should be the same according to Clipper Creek) is the hard/expensive part. The connector being "wrong" should be easily rectifiable. The same owners will likely chip in for that work. Waiting until the powers that be finally agree on a standard and there being vehicles which can use that just means more waiting. None of the people who are donating money for the charger have a Roadster with a new connector but could make use of the old connector this summer if it existed.
Yes, if it would be used a bunch this summer then it could be worth it to get one in now even if it has to change later. And, yeah, the hard part is probably getting all the agreements in place and getting the circuit all hooked up, so changing the Roadster end connector would probably be the easy part. Also, I doubt all the existing Roadsters will change to J1772-2009 overnight, so there will probably be some adapters going both ways for a little while. I wonder if the J1772-2009 changeover would include retrofitting existing HPCs, MC240s, MC120s, etc...(?)
Since J1772-2009 is a standard, I would think that the plug connectors would be available on the open market (unlike the precious Tesla proprietary one). So we could anticipate converting our own cords, if Tesla does not provide for it. I doubt they will do it for free!
Yes, I don't think anybody was expecting Tesla to swap anything for free. It will be much easier to order the new connector straight from Clipper Creek when the time comes.
But who is going to change out the charge port receptacle (only Tesla -- to avoid warranty issues) ... and how much will they charge for that ?
As soon as I saw Doug's post on the Tesla blog of Bill trip my first thought was of "outsiders" using the charging scheme as a rallying cry for EVs not being ready. Tesla took a bit of a risk putting the story out there/
"What use, sir, is a newborn baby?" But EVs aren't ready. So? I see the state of the art as a little like aircraft after WW1, except that it's (hopefully) harder to get killed. We know that the basic technology works. There are issues of range and carrying capacity. There are a number of small manufacturers. There aren't many places to land. My position in all this is of an interested observer. It's fun to watch the pioneers cope with the limitations. I'm willing to chip in for a windsock for the local flying field, or perhaps mow the grass. Maybe some day I'll get a joyride. Maybe my next car will be an EV. I sincerely doubt I will have to wait 66 years. Meanwhile, don't get defensive. Freely admit the limitations. Point out the coming improvements. Give joyrides. And maybe sponsor recharge stations here and there.
I came back from Yosemite. I stayed in the lower pines campground, and saw a few sites with 120V outlets. One site with 240V 50A hookup really surprised me. I know roadster is not compatible with camping, but ...
Speaking from the perspective of a backpacker, the Roadster's trunk has plenty of volume to carry all the necessary gear to go camping. ToddLa and I have gone car camping in my 350Z - it was amusing to see the suprised looked from the campers around us when we showed up and set up camp. The 350Z has a bit more storage volume than the Roadster does, but we packed lots more in the Z than what was necessary.