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What will be your first Florida destination requiring charging away from home?

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Larry Chanin

President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts
Moderator
Aug 22, 2011
4,937
814
Sarasota, Florida
After you get your Model S, what is your likely first Florida vacation destination requiring a charge away from home?

For Florida Roadster owners, what was the destination of your first "roadtrip" requiring a charge away from home? Any interesting leasons learned?


I'm figuring we'll probably visit Disney World when we get our Model S, but we won't be staying at one of their resorts until they offer charging stations to their guests.

I doubt we'll be driving to Key West anytime soon. :wink:

Larry



 
We're going for the 85kWh battery pack and my wife wants us to go to Key West, we can't do it non-stop but lunch in Miami and then on to the Keys is easily do-able.

Hi Nigel,

Thanks. That's very encouraging. We really enjoy going to Key West, but so far we've only taken the ferry from Ft. Myers.

I didn't see any charging stations in Key West and the round trip to Miami is over 300 miles. Did you plan on locating an RV park?

Larry
 
Driving to the Keys with the pano roof open would be awesome. I'll probably end up going to Orlando with the family. Does anyone know if the two on-site hotels at Universal have charging capability? I need to stay there on our next visit to be able to get into Harry Potter World early, and the kids are extremely excited to go there. I hear that without staying on property it can be a 3 hour wait to get in there.
 
Driving to the Keys with the pano roof open would be awesome. I'll probably end up going to Orlando with the family. Does anyone know if the two on-site hotels at Universal have charging capability? I need to stay there on our next visit to be able to get into Harry Potter World early, and the kids are extremely excited to go there. I hear that without staying on property it can be a 3 hour wait to get in there.

Hi Arnold,

I couldn't find any on premise hotels at Universal with chargers. However, the Wingate by Wyndham @ Universal & Convention Ctr claims to be a half mile from Universal Studios. Their website states, "Charging station for hybrid and electric cars available."

Recargo.com shows that it has two level 2 chargers.

Larry
 
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I'd definitely call Universal Studios and ask. And then call each individual property manager and ask. And tell them you'd "hate to have to go to the Wingate, but ... ".

Even if they don't find a plug for you, the more calls they receive inquiring about charging, the sooner they'll put chargers in. But they first have to have potential guests asking (and realize they've lost guests to properties that DO accomodate EVs).
 
@Larry, thanks for that. The problem is that in order to get into the park early you have to stay at one of the two on-site hotels affiliated with Universal.

@Bonnie, I will definitely call the hotels and ask them about charging. I won't be going until late summer, but it's probably a good idea to start pestering them now so they think lots of different people are asking over the next few months!
 
@Arnold ... +1 :)

fyi - I've never had a hotel NOT find me a plug. 'But surely you have SOMEPLACE i can plug in? No, could I talk to the maintenance dept? '... and on and on. There is always an outside plug. Always. Usually 110v, but sometimes a 14-50. And surely Universal Studios has a place for RVs to park.

Good luck!
 
I keep thinking that we need to find charging stations, but apparently the point is that any electric outlet should be useful if we are charging overnight?

Exactly! My UMC stopped working the other day and I had to charge on 110V/15A for 2 nights....no problem. Plus, if you start at Miami with 300 miles then you only need about an additional 50-80 miles to safely get back there from Key West.

BTW, there are a couple of EV Rental places on KW, so there must be a way to charge them:

Key West Electric Car Rental | Key West Florida Travel
Key West Cruisers, The Way to See Key WEst

P.S. Marina's usually have 240V/50A outlets also; that might mean making sure we have the correct adapter.
 
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fyi - I've never had a hotel NOT find me a plug.

Ditto. Also note the big hotels in Orlando always have a laundry; the laundry is usually on the ground floor and at the rear of the hotel and they usually have accessible outlets, often NEMA 14-50. Some hotels offer free overnight parking for EV's.

@Arnold: Note: at the Renaissance Seaworld they also offered that the valet could take my car to the ChargePoint for me (about 2 miles away IIRC). You don't always have to get a charge at the same place you're sleeping.
 
@Arnold: Note: at the Renaissance Seaworld they also offered that the valet could take my car to the ChargePoint for me (about 2 miles away IIRC). You don't always have to get a charge at the same place you're sleeping.

Excellent point, although now I feel like it will be my duty to try to get the hotels I'm staying at to be EV-friendly!

As for the Keys, there should be charging stations set up along US-1. It looks like there are a few charging stations in Florida City (right outside the Keys), which should give you plenty of juice to get down to KW, but there should definitely be something in the Keys for charging.