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The ski round-trip problem in the Northeast

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AWDtsla

Active Member
Mar 3, 2013
4,323
4,298
NE
Perhaps this is not the only area of the country that has this problem, but this is for sure a good one. If you live in the Boston area and like to go up to ski country North on I-93, you're not going to be able to make it on a day trip without a supercharger. There are none planned on this route. I see one at what appears to be Lebannon, NH and some on I-95 towards Maine, but they are way out of that way. You could potentially go to Killington or Okemo with that (I am just assuming but it might be tight going up and down the mountains in very cold weather, perhaps with a roof rack), but there are tons of places up I-93 that you can't even try. In addition I-93 is basically a prime route to Canada/Montreal, and now has a 70mph limit all the way to the border, which means even less range per charge. This is looking like a non-Tesla route for the foreseeable future (past 2015).

I think this might have changed as well, I thought when I looked at the supercharger map last year there would be one near Concord, NH on I-93. Unfortunately doesn't look like it now.

And no none of the many mountains I have been to have I seen any EV spots, usually you have to park and secondary parking lots with no utilities or buildings what-so-ever, so charging while you ski is just not possible right now.
 
My impression from what I've seen & heard from the SuperCharger team is that they will take suggestions seriously. Send them specific information regarding future sites where an SC would be needed and they send a real person to scout it out, eventually.
The link (email address) they sent me for suggestions is the same as the one on the SuperCharger page of the TM website.
 
Perhaps this is not the only area of the country that has this problem, but this is for sure a good one. If you live in the Boston area and like to go up to ski country North on I-93, you're not going to be able to make it on a day trip without a supercharger. There are none planned on this route. I see one at what appears to be Lebannon, NH and some on I-95 towards Maine, but they are way out of that way. You could potentially go to Killington or Okemo with that (I am just assuming but it might be tight going up and down the mountains in very cold weather, perhaps with a roof rack), but there are tons of places up I-93 that you can't even try. In addition I-93 is basically a prime route to Canada/Montreal, and now has a 70mph limit all the way to the border, which means even less range per charge. This is looking like a non-Tesla route for the foreseeable future (past 2015).

I think this might have changed as well, I thought when I looked at the supercharger map last year there would be one near Concord, NH on I-93. Unfortunately doesn't look like it now.

And no none of the many mountains I have been to have I seen any EV spots, usually you have to park and secondary parking lots with no utilities or buildings what-so-ever, so charging while you ski is just not possible right now.

I second. It's a very popular route for us Quebecers when going to the US.
 
The ski resorts need destination chargers, and the ones that realize it will get the EV business to the exclusion of the others. It's just not realistic to expect Tesla to place superchargers at a density that will allow "day trip" round trips without charging at your destination, certainly not until there are enough superchargers out there that most owners can drive one way where they need to go.
 
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The ski resorts need destination chargers, and the ones that realize it will get the EV business to the exclusion of the others. It's just not realistic to expect Tesla to place superchargers at a density that will allow "day trip" round trips without charging at your destination, certainly not until there are enough superchargers out there that most owners can drive one way where they need to go.

This is extremely unlikely. You understand they have to run massive generators to run their snowmaking machines? The ones with fans can be taking 10-30kW to run, each. They simply don't have that kind of service in the mountains. It's not realistic to expect remote destinations to be able to charge massive numbers of electric cars. Not to mention you'd want to be charging your Tesla at 20kW. Times how many cars?
 
Assuming 100% efficiency that's 5kW*6 hours = 30kWh of charge while you're there. Not enough.

Well, if you're only going to be there for a few hours, that's true. Expecting a 20kW capable EVSE install is still a bit much, though. In order to take advantage of 20kW AC charging, you have to

1. Own a Tesla
2. Have twin chargers installed
3. Have the resort install a fairly expensive 100A circuit
4. Have the resort buy a HPWC
5. Spend only a few hours at the resort (if you stay overnight, much cheaper 5kW charging works just as well)

It just isn't worth it for them to install an expensive 20kW capable system that is proprietary. But they can install a much cheaper 5kW capable system, serve guests who stay overnight just fine (making more $/customer), and not be locked into a proprietary EVSE.

EDIT: even cheaper would be to install a NEMA 14-50 that provides up to 40A/10kW
 
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Bretton Woods recently added two 14-50s for EV charging, responding to lobbying by @PeterK and others. Attitash also has EV charging, though I think only 30A. Mt Abrams (Maine) also has two EV plugs.

Bretton Woods is about 155 miles from Boston. http://www.jurassictest.ch/GR/ thinks it takes under 50 kWh to get there, and another 42 kWh to get back. So even 5-6 hours on the 208V 40A circuit should give you more than ample power to get home.

That said, I strongly agree that a SC at the new Hookset NH rest area would be a very welcome addition.
 
Perhaps this is not the only area of the country that has this problem, but this is for sure a good one. If you live in the Boston area and like to go up to ski country North on I-93, you're not going to be able to make it on a day trip without a supercharger. There are none planned on this route. I see one at what appears to be Lebannon, NH and some on I-95 towards Maine, but they are way out of that way. You could potentially go to Killington or Okemo with that (I am just assuming but it might be tight going up and down the mountains in very cold weather, perhaps with a roof rack), but there are tons of places up I-93 that you can't even try. In addition I-93 is basically a prime route to Canada/Montreal, and now has a 70mph limit all the way to the border, which means even less range per charge. This is looking like a non-Tesla route for the foreseeable future (past 2015).

I think this might have changed as well, I thought when I looked at the supercharger map last year there would be one near Concord, NH on I-93. Unfortunately doesn't look like it now.

And no none of the many mountains I have been to have I seen any EV spots, usually you have to park and secondary parking lots with no utilities or buildings what-so-ever, so charging while you ski is just not possible right now.

Yes, it does appear that the Concord/Manchester SC location has been removed from the list, at least for the time being. The two VT SC locations will be Burlington and White River Junction (or nearby West Lebanon NH). White River is within range of Boston, and only 34 miles from Killington & Pico. Stowe is 74 miles from White River, and Sugarbush is 66 miles from White River. So these are all doable, once the SC is installed at or near White River Junction. You'd simply top off again to go back to Boston.

Some of these ski areas also have level 2 charging or are working on it.
 
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Bretton Woods recently added two 14-50s for EV charging, responding to lobbying by @PeterK and others. Attitash also has EV charging, though I think only 30A. Mt Abrams (Maine) also has two EV plugs.

Bretton Woods is about 155 miles from Boston. http://www.jurassictest.ch/GR/ thinks it takes under 50 kWh to get there, and another 42 kWh to get back. So even 5-6 hours on the 208V 40A circuit should give you more than ample power to get home.

That said, I strongly agree that a SC at the new Hookset NH rest area would be a very welcome addition.

I charged at Bretton Woods over MLK weekend on the new 14-50. Worked great.

Last winter I did a day trip to Mt Sunapee from Cambridge, 100 miles each way. Planned to plug into their 110v but the circuit was so poor that the car wouldn't accept power - red light on the charge port. Made it on a range charge with 15 mi left, and was ready to stop for dinner and an L2 in Concord if needed.

As Robert and others have pointed out, lots of chargers popping up over the past year. And I think there will be superchargers at the Hooksett service areas, Tesla just took them off the map until it's been negotiated with the developers.
 
That said, I strongly agree that a SC at the new Hookset NH rest area would be a very welcome addition.

New Hampton, NH would be a better place. About half way to Canada for those travelers. 120 miles round trip to Bretton Woods on the way back to the Boston area. Should care-free to accomplish even in a 60kWh under worst-case conditions - I'm guesstimating with 35 miles to spare if you bought a 60kWh (not that I plan to).
 
Personally I think there are just as many good ski areas near I-89 heading north and west of the planned SC location in W. Lebanon, NH/ White River Jct, VT. I also think 89 is a better route to Montreal, especially in an EV. It's about the same amount of time either way, but going up 93 is a lot more miles. It makes up for it with the 65 and 70 mph speed limits north of the border but that just requires more charging to get to the same place in about the same amount of time.

I don't think you're ever going to find much destination charging at ski areas for day skiers. Only the lodges and hotels will have them for the reasons that AWDtsla mentioned. Almost every ski area, even small ones, do a lot of co-gen with diesel generators and the power is usually pretty dirty.

Perhaps this is not the only area of the country that has this problem, but this is for sure a good one. If you live in the Boston area and like to go up to ski country North on I-93, you're not going to be able to make it on a day trip without a supercharger. There are none planned on this route. I see one at what appears to be Lebannon, NH and some on I-95 towards Maine, but they are way out of that way. You could potentially go to Killington or Okemo with that (I am just assuming but it might be tight going up and down the mountains in very cold weather, perhaps with a roof rack), but there are tons of places up I-93 that you can't even try. In addition I-93 is basically a prime route to Canada/Montreal, and now has a 70mph limit all the way to the border, which means even less range per charge. This is looking like a non-Tesla route for the foreseeable future (past 2015).

I think this might have changed as well, I thought when I looked at the supercharger map last year there would be one near Concord, NH on I-93. Unfortunately doesn't look like it now.

And no none of the many mountains I have been to have I seen any EV spots, usually you have to park and secondary parking lots with no utilities or buildings what-so-ever, so charging while you ski is just not possible right now.
 
Don't forget us southern New Englanders! We need that Chicopee location. That will at least open So. VT resorts for a day trip. We could detour to Albany but that adds some significant time to the trip.
I'd rather see that Chicopee station in Greenfield. The restaurants are better in Greenfield, and an SC there would serve not only the N/S I-91 traffic from Connecticut but also the W/E traffic on Route 2.
 
I'm not understanding this comment. The Chicopee station would serve 91 N/S and the Mass Pike E/W which has a whole lot more traffic than Rt 2.

I think @Robert.Boston is assuming that there will be Superchargers in Albany and Sturbridge/Charlton so I-90 will be pretty well covered.

- - - Updated - - -

I don't know Greenfield, but it would be nice to have a New England Supercharger that's not at a highway service area or strip mall...