Heber Springs, AR

flyeyes · Jun 25, 2015

My brother has a lake house in Heber Springs, AR which is about 135 miles from my house in Memphis.

Obviously, Heber Springs is near the center of the Great Southern Supercharger Desert, but I can't find anything even remotely close on plug share to make a day trip possible. He has 220v at his house, but because of the terrain (house built into a hillside) I can't get the car closer than about 70 feet or so.

Any ideas?

glenhurst · Jun 25, 2015

I would look into RV campgrounds. They often have 240v/50a NEMA 14-50 outlets (although not always; older campgrounds may have only 30 amp service with 10-30 outlets) and will usually let you charge if they have an open camp site and you offer to pay. The website Arkansas Tourism Official Site - Fun Affordable Family Vacations - State of Arkansas
website lists 353 RV campgrounds. Call around and ask (be sure to ask what amperage they offer). You should be able to find something. Also, private campgrounds are easier to work with than those owned by the state. State campgrounds would require a policy for allowing EVs to charge, and they'd have to figure out a dollar amount, etc., which are decisions that have to be made by some state office, which means the manager at the camp office will say no. Private campgrounds, on the other hand, have their policies made by the owner, who is usually there and can make such decisions on the fly. I usually offer $2 - $5 per hour of charging and I've never been turned down if there's space. Let them know you'll only be there for an hour or two. Be sure to take your charger with you.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and if it comes up in the conversation that they're worried about how much electricity an electric car would draw and what that would cost them, point out that a NEMA 14-50 can only put out 9.6kw per hour. Even if they pay residential rates for their electricity, at, say, 15 cents per kwh, that's still only $1.44 per hour of electricity. Paying them $2 - $5 per hour more than covers their cost.

purplewalt · Jun 28, 2015

I agree with glenhurst.
Best thing to do would be to use RV park(s) for enough of a charge to get you back home.
Always call ahead and confirm that you will be coming with an approximate time, and get their approval that it will be okay to charge an EV before going.
And have a back-up plan (alternate charging location).

State of Arkansas also has a quite a few of charging Options (NEWM 14-50 outlets) at their State Parks.
They should charge you about $10 for a near full charge, less for a top-up charge.

I have a RV catalogue for the entire US and Canada, and can quickly compile a list of charging locations.
PM me if that is the method you are looking to try.

WRT charging from the 70 feet distance to the 220V outlet @ your brother's house: I have seen (and own) a 20 foot Extension cord with 14-50 heads on both ends, but that (a single extension cord) will still leave you about 30 feet short of connecting.
You might build your own extension cord, but the wiring size would need to be pretty significant in order to overcome the distance and resistance (and heat).

glenhurst · Jun 29, 2015

purplewalt said:
I agree with glenhurst.
Best thing to do would be to use RV park(s) for enough of a charge to get you back home.
Always call ahead and confirm that you will be coming with an approximate time, and get their approval that it will be okay to charge an EV before going.
And have a back-up plan (alternate charging location).

State of Arkansas also has a quite a few of charging Options (NEWM 14-50 outlets) at their State Parks.
They should charge you about $10 for a near full charge, less for a top-up charge.

I have a RV catalogue for the entire US and Canada, and can quickly compile a list of charging locations.
PM me if that is the method you are looking to try.

WRT charging from the 70 feet distance to the 220V outlet @ your brother's house: I have seen (and own) a 20 foot Extension cord with 14-50 heads on both ends, but that (a single extension cord) will still leave you about 30 feet short of connecting.
You might build your own extension cord, but the wiring size would need to be pretty significant in order to overcome the distance and resistance (and heat).

My only caution about planning to charge in state parks is that unless the state has created a policy for EV charging, the local ranger may not be able to help you out and let you charge, short of just charging you the full overnight fee for a campsite. This has been my experience in Minnesota. It's not that they don't want to help, it's that they're a state institution and by law they can't do anything for which they have no policy. OTOH, private campgrounds can do whatever the owner wants, and usually they're quite friendly and more than happy to take a few dollars for an hour or two of charging. Purplewalt is correct, though: call ahead.

flyeyes · Jun 29, 2015

glenhurst said:
My only caution about planning to charge in state parks is that unless the state has created a policy for EV charging, the local ranger may not be able to help you out and let you charge, short of just charging you the full overnight fee for a campsite. This has been my experience in Minnesota. It's not that they don't want to help, it's that they're a state institution and by law they can't do anything for which they have no policy. OTOH, private campgrounds can do whatever the owner wants, and usually they're quite friendly and more than happy to take a few dollars for an hour or two of charging. Purplewalt is correct, though: call ahead.

I made the trip successfully over the weekend, and learned a few things. I'll probably post a summary on the model s front page, where it's more likely to be seen.

In short, though, I was able to prearrange charging in a neighbor's garage with 30 amp dryer circuit.

My brother went to the neighbor's garage/laundry room and took a photo of the plug, and I went to Home Depot and bought materials to make an adapter. $23 and about 15 minutes later I was good to go. After making the adapter I tested it on my own dryer circuit. 18 miles/hr charge, with no excessive heat.

The 161 road miles (with a small detour) consumed just over 170 rated miles at an average 55-60 mph with a brisk crosswind and mild (80ish) temps.

5 hours of charging from a gracious neighbor while we went boating and ate and I had 196 rated miles when we left to come home. Averaged about 60-65 with less traffic, less wind, and cooler temps. Arrived home with 34 rated miles. All of the driving was on dry roads, most of it rural two-lane, some of it winding with frequent 25mph turns and switchbacks.

There were several RV parks and boat storage facilities, but none that were convenient to my destination. I talked to the Red Apple Inn and country club, which is a five minute walk from my brother's house, about getting a destination charger from Tesla. They seemed receptive, but if anybody else might be interested in a destination HPWC at the
Red Apple Inn please reply to this post or PM me so I can use it to bolster my case. Www.Redappleinn.com.

Thanks for the advice and suggestions.

purplewalt · Jun 29, 2015

Glad to hear you made your own adapter, and it did the trick.

Genius.

Necessity being the Mother of Invention.
Neighbors come in handy a lot of times....

Sounds like you might have a 60?

flyeyes · Jun 29, 2015

purplewalt said:
Glad to hear you made your own adapter, and it did the trick.

Genius.

Necessity being the Mother of Invention.
Neighbors come in handy a lot of times....

Sounds like you might have a 60?

Nope, an 85D

i started with about 268 rated miles ( forgot to schedule a range charge the night before and was impatient to leave). 100% is about 273 on my car.

realistically, for my driving habits and the 85 I think 220 miles or so is the longest leg I'd like to plan without a good backup, and I suspect a good bit less in cold weather although I haven't driven the car in the cold yet.

Also, adapters are pretty easy with cosmacelf's excellent summary .pdf. Just google "cosmacelf adaptor"

i didn't have time to order his suggested parts from Amazon, but found acceptable substitutes on the shelf at HD. I've made other adapters for other trips, and they're getting pretty quick and easy to make

cottylowry · Jun 29, 2015

Flyeyes, here's a great resource for you, if you every need to for RV hookups again -- get the smart phone app "AllStays, Camp and RV" it's $9.95 from the app store and has everything you could imagine for RV use. There are filters to parse 30amp and or 50amp campgrounds, plus dozens of other filters -- like over pass height, Walmarts that let you camp overnight -- lots of good stuff for Tesla and RV owners. All kidding aside, it's a great app -- we are using it to stay in West Yellowstone at an RV park that has 2 cabins this August -- this will allow us to venture into Yellowstone during the day, since Yellowstone has NO charging stations available to the public.

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Heber Springs, AR

flyeyes

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2013 Model S

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