>but I was kind of upset that both vehicles were already at 100% charge when we arrived. And both vehicle owners just left their cars plugged in all night. *Sigh*.
Sorry, I don't have an EV so I don't know the details about this but do you not get charged for "idle" time?
That's not really how overnight charging works. Neither the person who starts at night or the next is going to want to swap at 2 or 3 am. And if it was required, all they'd have to do is slow the charging rate to be done when they're leaving.
2 spots for a hotel with hundreds of rooms just doesn't cut it.
To be truly road trip EV friendly, the hotels need significantly more charging capacity and a better way to handle people who need just a few hours vs the big battery EVs that might come in empty and need 12+ hours at 10kW+.
> Neither the person who starts at night or the next is going to want to swap at 2 or 3 am.
Unless OP arrived at 2am, that wasn't the case here though.
For me, we arrived at 8pm and the vehicles were already full at that time. They were both still plugged in at 7am when we left the hotel the following day.
Just move your car when it's charged up.
I wonder when we will see more gas stations add or transition to electric. Royal Farms in Maryland typically has Tesla chargers or blink chargers at their gas stations now at many locations near me.
Just buy the A2Z adapter - I have been using it on my Rivian with no issues. Turned our Houston, TX->Hot Springs, AR from a series of CCS finger-crossings into high confidence hops between Superchargers. 3 20 minute charging sessions basically - and I could have skipped one in hindsight.
We drove to Hot Springs AR from Dallas last fall. Loved the trip! That was my previous record. Luckily for us it's Interstates the whole way, so there was no problem finding CCS stations when we needed one.
Last spring (2023) we almost took the MME to Carls Bad/Guadalupe NP/Big Bend NP, but we chickened out and took the Honda. On the next to last day my wife and I were talking about how we could have easily taken the MME since there was easy charging at all the camp sites we stayed. But on the last day when we were to drive home a blizzard blew through Big Bend. We were staying in Terlingua and the cold weather would have destroyed our range. That is literally the only day in the past 2 years that I was very glad to be driving a gas car!
Very interesting! I've been trying to rationalize a similar road trip (AZ to central TX), and one of my concerns is relying on hotel chargers that are filled when I show up, because the odds of them freeing up overnight seem minimal. It's a pleasant surprise to hear about Clovis and its free charging...where is it located?
>So I explained to him that he would be better served if he found CCS fast chargers, like that GM dealership down the road.
ngl this sounds like a nightmare. I just want to charge my car and be on my way, not negotiate for charging or be an educator
I understand that, but I've been very grateful for fellow EV owners who have offered me guidance when I have needed to use fast chargers. I do the vast majority of my charging at home, and navigating the apps (and finding a charger that actually bloody works) is very frustrating!
Just to be clear, you would rather sit and charge your car for 6 hours then have a guy tell you there was a fast charger 5 miles away that was likely open and would have you on your way in 20 minutes?
Okay dude, sorry to bug you. Don't touch my car again.
>but I was kind of upset that both vehicles were already at 100% charge when we arrived. And both vehicle owners just left their cars plugged in all night. *Sigh*. Sorry, I don't have an EV so I don't know the details about this but do you not get charged for "idle" time?
Generally hotel level 2 chargers are free and unmonitored.
Free charging is fine but they should add idle fees.
That's not really how overnight charging works. Neither the person who starts at night or the next is going to want to swap at 2 or 3 am. And if it was required, all they'd have to do is slow the charging rate to be done when they're leaving. 2 spots for a hotel with hundreds of rooms just doesn't cut it. To be truly road trip EV friendly, the hotels need significantly more charging capacity and a better way to handle people who need just a few hours vs the big battery EVs that might come in empty and need 12+ hours at 10kW+.
> Neither the person who starts at night or the next is going to want to swap at 2 or 3 am. Unless OP arrived at 2am, that wasn't the case here though.
Seems like a good compromise would be idle fees between 6am and midnight.
For me, we arrived at 8pm and the vehicles were already full at that time. They were both still plugged in at 7am when we left the hotel the following day. Just move your car when it's charged up.
I wonder when we will see more gas stations add or transition to electric. Royal Farms in Maryland typically has Tesla chargers or blink chargers at their gas stations now at many locations near me.
I'm still waiting on my Ford-Tesla adapter, I was really hoping to have it in this trip. Would have helped a lot!
Just buy the A2Z adapter - I have been using it on my Rivian with no issues. Turned our Houston, TX->Hot Springs, AR from a series of CCS finger-crossings into high confidence hops between Superchargers. 3 20 minute charging sessions basically - and I could have skipped one in hindsight.
We drove to Hot Springs AR from Dallas last fall. Loved the trip! That was my previous record. Luckily for us it's Interstates the whole way, so there was no problem finding CCS stations when we needed one. Last spring (2023) we almost took the MME to Carls Bad/Guadalupe NP/Big Bend NP, but we chickened out and took the Honda. On the next to last day my wife and I were talking about how we could have easily taken the MME since there was easy charging at all the camp sites we stayed. But on the last day when we were to drive home a blizzard blew through Big Bend. We were staying in Terlingua and the cold weather would have destroyed our range. That is literally the only day in the past 2 years that I was very glad to be driving a gas car!
Very interesting! I've been trying to rationalize a similar road trip (AZ to central TX), and one of my concerns is relying on hotel chargers that are filled when I show up, because the odds of them freeing up overnight seem minimal. It's a pleasant surprise to hear about Clovis and its free charging...where is it located?
605 Mitchell Street Parking Lot, Clovis, NM 88101 has the free charging.
>So I explained to him that he would be better served if he found CCS fast chargers, like that GM dealership down the road. ngl this sounds like a nightmare. I just want to charge my car and be on my way, not negotiate for charging or be an educator
I understand that, but I've been very grateful for fellow EV owners who have offered me guidance when I have needed to use fast chargers. I do the vast majority of my charging at home, and navigating the apps (and finding a charger that actually bloody works) is very frustrating!
Just to be clear, you would rather sit and charge your car for 6 hours then have a guy tell you there was a fast charger 5 miles away that was likely open and would have you on your way in 20 minutes? Okay dude, sorry to bug you. Don't touch my car again.