Supercharger - Gardnerville, NV

emupilot said:

Since Tesla's recently updated supercharger map has a Coming Soon dot in the Minden / Gardnerville area, I did some googling and found the building permit:

TOPAZ LODGE INC
1979 S HWY 395
GARDNERVILLE NV , 89410

It was in the permitting process for six months but the permit was issued August 24th so it is likely now under construction. It's actually not close to the city of Gardnerville, but whatever. It's about 192 miles from Lone Pine, but there is theoretically another supercharger "Coming Soon" between them.

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Excellent find! We've been talking here about Minden/Gardnerville, but thinking about it in the last month or so I came to the conclusion that the Topaz Lake area might be better, to serve Monitor Pass as well as SR 208 east, and what do you know! Especially with an SC in SLT/Stateline, Minden/Gardnerville is a bit redundant, and too close to Reno/Carson City.

Now, for LEE VINING (have I emphasized that enough?) and Jamestown or Groveland, SLT and Bishop. And I like that Mariposa is actively looking to get Tesla to put an SC and/or HPWCs there. With one in Fresno plus the above, that will cover all routes into Yosemite with at least two in a gateway town, plus provide access to Shaver/Huntington/Edison Lakes and Sequoia/Kings Canyon from the NW. They still need one in Visalia/Tulare, or better yet put it further east in Exeter, Lemon Cove or Three Rivers, and put an SC in Bakersield instead. That will be good spacing along 99, plus a gateway SC for Sequoia from the SW.

I stayed at the Topaz Lodge a number of years ago, on the way to a wedding in Lake Tahoe. It was a pretty decent place; hopefully it still is. The hotel has since become a Super 8.

emupilot said:

Since Tesla's recently updated supercharger map has a Coming Soon dot in the Minden / Gardnerville area, I did some googling and found the building permit:

TOPAZ LODGE INC
1979 S HWY 395
GARDNERVILLE NV , 89410

It's about 192 miles from Lone Pine, but there is theoretically another supercharger "Coming Soon" between them.

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that's 192 miles and altitude roughly the same but there is a climb from Lone Pine over 8,000 foot Deadman Summit, then a drop of 1300 feet to Lee Vining and climb again to 8,140 foot Conway Summit and then a drop to 6500 foot Bridgeport, followed by a maybe 500 foot climb to the West Walker river, then down to 5100 foot Topaz Lake, just across the NV border. According to some calculations, every 1,000 feet of climb costs 10 rated miles as against only 6 regen miles gained per thousand drop; so 30 extra miles climbing to Deadman, 8 miles regained to Lee Vining, 13 more miles to climb to Conway and finally 18 regen miles to Topaz = roughly 20 additional rated miles, making it a 212 mile equivalent. Out of range for a 60 or 70 without full charge; just possible for an 85 with 80% charge and no buffer.

Ahwahnee Lodge Yosemite is only 145 mi, though.

My experience with big climbs and descents is that they don't cost you as much range as you estimated, brucet999. The rule of thumb Cottonwood determined (and my experience backs this up) is that it takes an additional 7 rated miles to climb 1000 feet, of which you get back 6 rated miles on the descent.

emupilot said:

Since Tesla's recently updated supercharger map has a Coming Soon dot in the Minden / Gardnerville area, I did some googling and found the building permit:

TOPAZ LODGE INC
1979 S HWY 395
GARDNERVILLE NV , 89410

It was in the permitting process for six months but the permit was issued August 24th so it is likely now under construction. It's actually not close to the city of Gardnerville, but whatever. It's about 192 miles from Lone Pine, but there is theoretically another supercharger "Coming Soon" between them.

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How do you find lists of building permits. I looked at Mono County website (for Lee Vining) but couldn't find anything.

stevezzzz said:

My experience with big climbs and descents is that they don't cost you as much range as you estimated, brucet999. The rule of thumb Cottonwood determined (and my experience backs this up) is that it takes an additional 7 rated miles to climb 1000 feet, of which you get back 6 rated miles on the descent.

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Also, there will be SCs in Lee Vining and/or Bishop. Lee Vining is the critical one, Bishop the nice to have.

Maybe this is a pedantic nit to pick: Topaz Lake is hard by the California/Nevada Line. The lodge is only a few yards north of that. Gardnerville, Nevada is still about 20 miles north of the Supercharger location. Twenty miles is a tad far to associate a label for a Supercharger location in a city or town. For those of us who know the area well, we know that Gardnerville is no where near the Supercharger. Others reading this thread or following closely on Blue Shift's wonderful Supercharge.info web page might not pick up on this fairly long distance. It is unfortunate that the postal address is for Gardnerville.

Would it make it clearer for everyone to rename this particular site to something like "Topaz Lake Lodge, south of Gardnerville NV" or "US395 @ California/Nevada state line Supercharger south of Gardnerville" perhaps?

My experience with others concerning geographic place names is that people tend to be approximate and not precise. And this can lead to confusion or misunderstanding.

Just call it Topaz Lake, because that's where it is. I've never understood why Tesla called Lake Point 'Tooele'; it's not as if Google Maps won't bring up the right location using the actual names instead of the mailing address.

Lee Vining, please.

Topaz will help... my last trip I charged at Lone Pine and had to stop and get a little more charge in Minden during dinner in order to make it home (barely) to Lake Tahoe. (On the way down, had to stop at Bishop RV park to make it to Lone Pine.) With Topaz, I should be able to make it without problems.
However, we really need a charger in Lee Vining! This is a good stop between Truckee and Lone Pine as well as access to Yosemite Park.

mspohr said:

Topaz will help... my last trip I charged at Lone Pine and had to stop and get a little more charge in Minden during dinner in order to make it home (barely) to Lake Tahoe. (On the way down, had to stop at Bishop RV park to make it to Lone Pine.) With Topaz, I should be able to make it without problems.
However, we really need a charger in Lee Vining! This is a good stop between Truckee and Lone Pine as well as access to Yosemite Park.

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I sent an email to Tom's Place, suggesting that they contact Tesla about hosting a SC.

82 miles from lone Pine, 110 from Topaz, very 150 feet on/off from 395 plus good food and nice surroundings.

brucet999 said:

I sent an email to Tom's Place, suggesting that they contact Tesla about hosting a SC.

82 miles from lone Pine, 110 from Topaz, very 150 feet on/off from 395 plus good food and nice surroundings.

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Another good place further south would the be Mammoth Airport. I'm sure this already has electrical infrastructure as well as lots of space. It is right next to US 395 for easy access. It is far enough away from Mammoth itself to prevent squatters but convenient to Mammoth, June Lake and Bishop.

Guessing Susanville, CA will be next (about 140 from Garnerville) on trail up US 395. Susanville would also be doable from Corning, at 125 miles, or Roseville (thru Yuba City -a push- at 185 miles). Both extremely scenic routes.

smartypnz said:

Guessing Susanville, CA will be next (about 140 from Garnerville) on trail up US 395. Susanville would also be doable from Corning, at 125 miles, or Roseville (thru Yuba City -a push- at 185 miles). Both extremely scenic routes.

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It is also only about 135 miles or so from Mt. Shasta City. Makes traveling to or from the Pacific Northwest faster for those going to locations east of Southern California. SR89/44/36 is also a scenic route. I hope Susanville gets one too!

cpa said:

It is also only about 135 miles or so from Mt. Shasta City. Makes traveling to or from the Pacific Northwest faster for those going to locations east of Southern California. SR89/44/36 is also a scenic route. I hope Susanville gets one too!

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The biggest problem with Susanville is that it's about 4 miles west of one of the corners of the Susanville/Janesville-Buntingville/Standish triangular intersection, and each of the legs is 9 miles long. No matter where you put it, you are miles out of the way for either 395 or 36 traffic. I _hate_ triangular intersections with long legs. Best I could come up with is put an SC around Chester to handle the roughly E-W traffic, and another in either Buntingville or Standish for N-S 395 traffic - there'll eventually need to be an SC in Alturas. I suspect there's more traffic going from the Susanville (and points west) area to/from Reno than coming to/from Alturas, which suggests that Buntingville would be best.

cpa said:

It is also only about 135 miles or so from Mt. Shasta City. Makes traveling to or from the Pacific Northwest faster for those going to locations east of Southern California. SR89/44/36 is also a scenic route. I hope Susanville gets one too!

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Yep. I've traveled from Reno to Mt. Shasta twice on that route (Spring 2014 and Spring 2015)

GRA said:

The biggest problem with Susanville is that it's about 4 miles west of one of the corners of the Susanville/Janesville-Buntingville/Standish triangular intersection, and each of the legs is 9 miles long. No matter where you put it, you are miles out of the way for either 395 or 36 traffic. I _hate_ triangular intersections with long legs. Best I could come up with is put an SC around Chester to handle the roughly E-W traffic, and another in either Buntingville or Standish for N-S 395 traffic - there'll eventually need to be an SC in Alturas. I suspect there's more traffic going from the Susanville (and points west) area to/from Reno than coming to/from Alturas, which suggests that Buntingville would be best.

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Guy, I admire your logical and sensible thinking combined with your intimate knowledge of the roads. Yes, that triangular intersection could be mildly annoying for north-south travelers along US395 if they had to veer into Susanville to get a charge. But I sorta look at it this way: Supercharging is free. There will at least be a better choice of places to eat or take a bio break in Susanville rather than those bustling hamlets of Standish or Buntingville. (Herlong or Doyle, anyone?) Second, that shortcut along Lassen County Highway A3 has a much slower speed for about half its length, is known to few, and is easy to miss if one is preoccupied or (like my wife) has a hard time really finding road signs (I cannot take a snooze on road trips when she drives!) Third, if we assume that there will be a Supercharger in K-Falls within the next couple of years, it's only about 170 miles on OR39 and California 139 to Susanville, a much more direct route.

I agree with you that it would be great to see Tesla build out US395 north of Susanville with Alturas, Lakeview and Burns. But I just do not think that route is on Tesla's radar for the foreseeable future because it is seldom traveled, even in summer. Winters in Modoc and Lake Counties are extremely cold which will eat into range, especially between Lakeview and Burns. All in all, Susanville proper opens up routes between Reno and the Pacific Northwest, which would (guessing here) account for 90% of the travelers. For the few intrepid souls who frequent Modoc County, they will just have to drive an extra seven miles! Cheers :biggrin:

cpa said:

Guy, I admire your logical and sensible thinking combined with your intimate knowledge of the roads. Yes, that triangular intersection could be mildly annoying for north-south travelers along US395 if they had to veer into Susanville to get a charge. But I sorta look at it this way: Supercharging is free. There will at least be a better choice of places to eat or take a bio break in Susanville rather than those bustling hamlets of Standish or Buntingville. (Herlong or Doyle, anyone?) Second, that shortcut along Lassen County Highway A3 has a much slower speed for about half its length, is known to few, and is easy to miss if one is preoccupied or (like my wife) has a hard time really finding road signs (I cannot take a snooze on road trips when she drives!) Third, if we assume that there will be a Supercharger in K-Falls within the next couple of years, it's only about 170 miles on OR39 and California 139 to Susanville, a much more direct route.

I agree with you that it would be great to see Tesla build out US395 north of Susanville with Alturas, Lakeview and Burns. But I just do not think that route is on Tesla's radar for the foreseeable future because it is seldom traveled, even in summer. Winters in Modoc and Lake Counties are extremely cold which will eat into range, especially between Lakeview and Burns. All in all, Susanville proper opens up routes between Reno and the Pacific Northwest, which would (guessing here) account for 90% of the travelers. For the few intrepid souls who frequent Modoc County, they will just have to drive an extra seven miles! Cheers :biggrin:

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While there is a pizza joint and a couple of coffee shops in Janesville, you're right that there really isn't much traffic along 395 north of the intersection. I've only done it once, coming back from Ashland, since I wanted to check out the South Warner Wilderness east of Likely. We stayed in Alturas, and there really isn't much there - we ate at a restaurant called (IIRR, this was the early '90s) the "Pizza and Pasta Palace", and I've never had such tasteless pizza; the 'sausage' appeared to be hamburger. I should have gone with my first instinct, and tried elsewhere - when we walked in I couldn't smell the food (in a pizza joint?). As for missing the turnoff, I was assuming people in a Tesla would be using their map function, and thus wouldn't miss A3.

I'd rather see them enable 97 in Oregon, say K-Falls (or somewhere around the Crater Lake turnoff) and the Bend area first, so I guess Susanville would be acceptable. OTOH, Chester is right on Lake Almanor, and serves as a closer gateway to Lassen than Susanville via 36, although Susanville is better for SR 44 traffic and can handle both, plus SR 139 (169 miles to K-Falls, albeit some serious passes - have you had a look at the elevation profile using gps visualizer or some other program?). Okay, you've convinced me, Susanville it is.

GRA said:

While there is a pizza joint and a couple of coffee shops in Janesville, you're right that there really isn't much traffic along 395 north of the intersection. I've only done it once, coming back from Ashland, since I wanted to check out the South Warner Wilderness east of Likely. We stayed in Alturas, and there really isn't much there - we ate at a restaurant called (IIRR, this was the early '90s) the "Pizza and Pasta Palace", and I've never had such tasteless pizza; the 'sausage' appeared to be hamburger. I should have gone with my first instinct, and tried elsewhere - when we walked in I couldn't smell the food (in a pizza joint?). As for missing the turnoff, I was assuming people in a Tesla would be using their map function, and thus wouldn't miss A3.

I'd rather see them enable 97 in Oregon, say K-Falls (or somewhere around the Crater Lake turnoff) and the Bend area first, so I guess Susanville would be acceptable. OTOH, Chester is right on Lake Almanor, and serves as a closer gateway to Lassen than Susanville via 36, although Susanville is better for SR 44 traffic and can handle both, plus SR 139 (169 miles to K-Falls, albeit some serious passes - have you had a look at the elevation profile using gps visualizer or some other program?). Okay, you've convinced me, Susanville it is.

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You should have stayed and eaten at the Niles Hotel in Alturas. Not too bad, and the hotel is really old, but the new owners have fixed it up pretty nicely. The Likely Saloon in Likely is a throwback to the old dive bars that used to be scattered throughout the west along rural highways in the middle of nowhere. (There is also a fun place in Callahan in Siskiyou County, Weaverville has a good one as does Greenville. You may have figured out by now that I like to stop into these places and mix in with the locals. The drinks are cheap and generous, and the company is colorful and real.)

Yes, US97 from Weed to Rufus needs Superchargers. K-Falls and Bend or Redmond/Madras would do the trick. Those should permit easy driving (now that Kennewick is open) from northern California to Eastern Washington. I went to EVTripplanner and saw that the elevation gain from K-Falls to Susanville is a whopping 79 feet. Under summer conditions with one driver, it would use 281 wh/mile. In winter conditions (30 degrees) with 850 pounds of payload, the wh/mile went to 340. So should be easy in a 70.

Finally, maybe it is because of my age, but I do not know a soul who relies upon navigation systems in their driving. For me (and my wife/son/friends) they are a complete distraction. Directions are frequently obsolete. They route you on the interstates when secondary roads are more fun and scenic. They do not know that certain highways are closed for the winter. They have bad names for streets (or the dread "unnamed road.") Distances are frequently off by 100+feet in urban areas where the blocks are really, really short. In short, I get the feeling that whoever designs these navigation systems never uses them. Cheers!