Charges in Richmond?

Richmond Omni hotel is your best bet (163 miles from Timonium). 70 amp Tesla charger in basement parking. Call ahead and ask for the valet, and have them tell you if the charger is in use. There are, I am sure, other threads about this charger, plus you can see comments I (along with others) posted on Recargo/Plugshare. Make sure once you plug in you bump up the amps to 70 amp charge...I got 43 miles per hour of charge (dual chargers) when I charged there.

Still 256 miles for you to go after that, so you'll have to hit something on the way for an hour 931 mile charge on 30 amp NEMA 14-50 line). Make sure you have a charging strategy at Emerald Isle - good luck!

Another, albeit slower alternative is the Eaton J1772 30A charger at James River Air in Ashland, VA. It's on Plugshare at James River Air Conditioning - Ashland Branch - Electric Car (EV) Charging Station - PlugShare
There's another at Randolph Macon College right there.

It's north of Richmond, there are places to eat nearby, and there's no charge.

I recently stayed at the Richmond Marriott. There is no dedicated EV charging capability there. They parked my car up front next to the Valet stand and we plugged the car into a 110v outlet ---- which was all I needed that particular eveninig. As others on this thread have pointed out, the Omni has great capability as long as the spots are available. I have also charged at the Science Museum --- a Chargepoint J1772 30A charger. I wanted to visit the Museum so I spent a little over four hours there and got some 70 miles of charge. There are two stations at the Science Museum. Interestingly, when I arrived on a weekday at about 11:30 am, both spots were available. When I took a break to check on my MS at about 1:30 pm, I noted that a Volt was plugged into the second spot --- and the Volt had a placard hanging from the rear view mirror indicating it belonged to a staff member at the Museum. Ven Rala used one of the VCU chargers in the evening recently while he had dinner after the Richmond International Raceway gathering.

I did use one of the VCU chargers (broad st) on a wednesday evening, it worked well (J1772) but plugshare states that garage is closed on weekends

The VCU lot on Broad Street is closed on weekends, or was when I tried it in April. The one on the MCV campus downtown would more likely be open as it serves the hospital and medical school. It would also be pretty convenient as it's right off I95. You may try calling VCU parking services or the MCV bookstore which is right next to the garage.

artsci said:

Thanks so much. I'll give them a call. This is perfect. I can stop there for a leisurely lunch and be on my way in a few hours or less. From there it's only 90 miles from my next charge in Roanoke Rapids.

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Omni charger: Great!

Omni food (at least the lunch): Bad, and I mean quality-wise--the options sounded fine but the food wasn't very good (including undercooked pasta). There are restaurants a short walk away; I recommend looking around for something better.

Can you charge at the Omni, even if you are not staying there as a guest. Is there some charge/parking fee? I am going to Williamsburg for labor day weekend and the hotel (Williamsburg Woodlands) said we could plug into a 110 and that should be fine for our 2 day stay, but just in case, I wanted a back-up plan.

Yes you can. The garage is not free but once you are in the garage, you can use the charger. There is a monthly user who works in the adjoining building who regularly uses it during the week. One charger with two parking spots.

You can charge at the Omni for free, but parking is about $3.50 an hour. if you do plan to try the Omni, make sure you call the hotel and ask for the valet when you get close....the valet can tell you whether there is a car charging there (two parking spots, one charger). Another option (and a mandatory backup option!) is to hit up one of the Williamsburg Tesla owners (there are several!!) and use their 14-50 (I don't think any of them have an HPWC). I know several of them and they are enthusiastic Tesla owners who love to share their plug!

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One other thing on the Omni - once you plug in increase your amps to 70 so you get the full charge. The Tesla software will think it is an HPWC and will limit you to 60 amps...you can override that and get the full 43 mph charge (based on when I went there last) the Omni will give you.

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One other thing on the Omni - once you plug in increase your amps to 70 so you get the full charge. The tesla software will think it is an HPWC and will limit you to 60 amps...you can override that and get the full 43 mph charge (based on when I went there last) the Omni will give you.

So can you charge at 70 Amps even if your car doesn't have a dual charger?

Ven Rala said:

So can you charge at 70 Amps even if your car doesn't have a dual charger?

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Heh, well, no. If you have a single charger, you'll be limited lower than 70 amps.

Good catch, Kendallpb! Sorry, Ven Rala - I should have included in my comment that I have the twin chargers. Single charger will charge at 40 amps.

tjimtjim said:

the valet can tell you whether there is a car charging there (two parking spots, one charger).

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All good advice from jimtjim...

There are actually 3 spots that the charger can reach... it's just that one of them is a long "front-to-back" spot that the valets mide have to juggle a car in to. You can see it in this pic... it's where my buddy's Volt is parked behind my blue Model S:



The charge station is on the side of the wall just to the right and below that Electric Vehicle sign, and has a reasonably long cable.

Thanks for the info. 40amps is still fine. Hopefully 2 days on a 110v will be fine at my hotel in Williamsburg over the weekend, but I will keep the Omni in mind as a back-up.

scaeare: Good catch - thanks for correcting me!!