Montrose & Ouray, Colorado, charge stations now open

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

dgpcolorado

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 20, 2011
Messages
3,249
Location
The Western Slope, Colorado
I know it's not a big deal to you city folks but I saw (and charged at) my first ever public charge station in the 2½ years I've owned my LEAF. Nice location right next to Montrose City Hall in the center of the main business district. Station is a two cord Schneider, although one parking space is marked for handicapped use. Free to use; the station was mostly paid for by a state grant funded by the new EV annual registration fee here in Colorado. I've added it to plugshare.com.

This is the first public charge station here in far western Colorado, except for Durango, which is way on the other side of the San Juan Mountains. This will help a lot for my sixty mile grocery shopping trips in winter, given the decline in my battery capacity. So it is a really big deal for the utility of my LEAF here in remote rural Colorado.
bananahm.gif


14055199627_1dc653cd6d.jpg


14241483964_c8dfb303d2.jpg
 
It's great to see these pop up! I have only charged publicly maybe 3 times. But I might get more adventurous this summer and make longer trips that require charges away from home.
 
Congratulation! Another Rocky Mountain High feeling!

Next time I pass through Montrose, on my way to visit my brother in Gunnison, I will check it out.

I am wondering if someone seeing you drive your Leaf around the last few years may have influenced the decision to install the unit? And/or does this also mean the City might be ready to purchase some kind of plug-in vehicles?

Enjoy!
 
lkkms2 said:
...I am wondering if someone seeing you drive your Leaf around the last few years may have influenced the decision to install the unit? And/or does this also mean the City might be ready to purchase some kind of plug-in vehicles?
Until I found out through the grapevine that Montrose was one of three charge stations going into this area they weren't aware of my existence and the only EV they were aware of was an NEV owned by a manager at the local power co-op (DMEA). So the guy at the city who has been pushing the charge station project was pretty happy to hear that it was going to get used right away. He is hoping that it will allow EVs to visit and shop in the city and hopes to put in more stations in the future; I think he is being pretty optimistic since there are only two EVs in this local area (my LEAF and a Volt) plus possibly one Tesla way over in Telluride. But I gather that a Nissan dealer employee in Grand Junction has a LEAF, which I think means that they are now LEAF certified. So it may be that more EVs will pop up around here. But the short range LEAF really isn't practical for remote rural use. I make it work because I find it fun.

And, yes, the Montrose city guy is thinking about an EV/PHEV for city use. Another wrinkle is that the local power co-op is going to be installing solar panels at the new charge station and they should generate much more electricity than will be used by the EVSE. Which he will point to when people criticize the city for giving away free electricity.

I've been asked to be at the formal opening and press event of the new charge station to get the news out that it exists. I'll bet they get some serious pushback from irate community members.

I also noticed this morning that the new charge station going in at scenic Ouray (next to the famed hot springs pool and hydropower generating station) has been installed but isn't on yet. Should be ready to use next week. Ouray is my county seat and I volunteer one day a week for the tiny county government. After all these years I never tire of that lovely drive to Ouray. A couple of weeks ago there were a half dozen bighorn ewes grazing on the edge of the highway. In winter herds of elk in the pastures next to the highway are routine in the early morning.
 
The public charge stations in Ouray and Mountain Village have been running for some weeks now. The Ouray station is at the Hot Springs Pool and I try to charge there once a week when I'm at my volunteer job, so that people can see it getting used. Made the trek over to Mountain Village today to hike up the Telluride ski area. That trip is a gamble since without the charge station there is no way I make it home (85 mile round trip, with thousands of feet of vertical gain, both ways, of course). Going up the east side of Dallas Divide took 40-43 kW to hold the 60 mph speed limit — that sucks down charge mighty fast!

Some pictures of the Ouray charge station:
14964928549_856715441b_b.jpg

On the other side of the leafy fence is the hot springs pool.

14964969840_73bc94cc29_b.jpg


Some pictures of the Mountain Village charge station, located on the upper level of the parking garage, a short distance from the free gondola that takes one to Mountain Village or down to Telluride:
15128622226_e2456c7d97_b.jpg


15151646585_9d63ce0aa5_b.jpg


15148662931_793ba4924b_b.jpg

Parking while charging is free. A Tesla reported using the station five days ago over the Labor Day weekend.

Some pictures of the vistas from the ski runs:
15151712525_a0af51e2a0_b.jpg

San Juan Mountains from the See Forever ski run, looking east. Telluride is located in the canyon below the picture.

14965031230_b7fdc22f41_b.jpg


15151708115_c953cea3db_b.jpg

A view into the upper part of Bear Creek Canyon from the top of Chair 6, 11,970 feet. (I hiked up the ski run from the gondola station at 10,435 feet.) Beyond where the picture is taken is out-of-bounds because it is difficult and dangerous — avalanches — for the ski patrol to rescue and extract anyone who ventures into the canyon.

It's not flat around here.
 
Congratulations on now being able to visit the Telluride area with your LEAF! The photos are a real treat. I'm glad that others are able to see you using the charge stations. It seems likely that they'll also see use by occasional Tesla and PHEV drivers.

dgpcolorado said:
Going up the east side of Dallas Divide took 40-43 kW to hold the 60 mph speed limit — that sucks down charge mighty fast!
That mirrors my experience ascending the San Bernardino Mountains on Highway 330. On the infrequent occasions when I have charge to spare, I'll sometimes climb at the speed limit of 55 mph and maintain ~40 kW to the motor for long stretches. With my 3+ year old battery on that climb, I can go from 80% charge to the first low battery warning in about 15 minutes. I'm guessing this isn't any harder on the battery than doing a quick charge.
 
abasile said:
...With my 3+ year old battery on that climb, I can go from 80% charge to the first low battery warning in about 15 minutes. I'm guessing this isn't any harder on the battery than doing a quick charge.
I suppose that's true, although I've never done a QC — not that there are any DCFC stations around here even if I did have the charge port. Holding that kind of power level sure heats the battery: I could watch the temp rise even though the OAT was 5ºC less than the battery temp. I didn't keep it up for nearly as long as your long slog up SH 330.

As you know, I hypothesize that our repeated hill climbing is a significant battery degradation factor. In my case, my climate is quite cool but that heat from hill climbing keeps my battery warmer than it would otherwise be. That's quite useful in winter but figures to cause some extra degradation in summer. I've had my battery over 30ºC several times in recent weeks and can watch the Ah decline each time it happens. It would be interesting to do it with the "lizard" battery!
 
Nfuzzy said:
Awesome news and pictures! Now we could just get more charging around CO springs.
Well, you do have several L2 charging options around CS, from what I've seen. The problem out here in the boondocks is that each of the three L2 locations is unique. If the station is down or blocked, a short range LEAF is in big trouble. So far they have been completely reliable and, of course, I don't have to worry about waiting in line since I have the only LEAF in the area and the chances of two visiting Teslas is low. (But I wonder if that could change during ski season at Mountain Village?)
 
dgpcolorado said:
As you know, I hypothesize that our repeated hill climbing is a significant battery degradation factor. In my case, my climate is quite cool but that heat from hill climbing keeps my battery warmer than it would otherwise be. That's quite useful in winter but figures to cause some extra degradation in summer. I've had my battery over 30ºC several times in recent weeks and can watch the Ah decline each time it happens. It would be interesting to do it with the "lizard" battery!
As we'd expect, big, long climbs seem to be hardest on the battery. For most of this year, due to a nice change in my circumstances, I've only taken the LEAF down to the Valley pretty infrequently. It still gets a good amount of use driving between our mountain communities, but the grades aren't nearly as long or hard. The battery temperature has stayed at five bars for most of the summer, and reported degradation has slowed dramatically. (Earlier this summer there were two or three 7 TB events on the return from long drives to LA/OC involving quick charging, but the battery was back to 5 TB by the next morning.)
 
Great shots, and I'm glad to see ski areas are starting to put in EVSEs. There's a at least two that have them at Tahoe, Squaw Valley and Diamond Peak. These will be increasingly important once the Model X appears, as well as PHEV CUVs like the Outlander.

BTW, any idea where people in Grand Junction commonly go to (downhill) ski? Telluride, Crested Butte, or ?
 
GRA said:
...BTW, any idea where people in Grand Junction commonly go to (downhill) ski? Telluride, Crested Butte, or ?
The local ski area for Grand Junction* is Powderhorn, a small family-oriented area on the north side of Grand Mesa. They had an unusually good snow year last year. Telluride and Crested Butte are too far from GJ for daytripping. The problem with Telluride is that it is so isolated that it gets predominantly destination skiers (of course that also means that there aren't any lift lines). So there isn't any competition for, or decent discounts for, locals and the price became more than I was willing to pay several years ago. I stick to skinny skis from the house nowadays, when the snow cover permits.

The myriad ski areas near the Denver metro area — and the Salt Lake City area — tend to rely on local skiers, so they compete fiercely and significant lift ticket discounts are common. Not so with Telluride. But it is the most scenic downhill ski resort in Colorado, by a wide margin. (Over the years, I've skied all of the more than two dozen areas in this state, including several that no longer exist.)


* Interesting bit of trivia: Grand Junction was named for its location at the junction of the Grand and Gunnison rivers. The Grand River was renamed the (upper) Colorado River in 1921.
 
dgpcolorado said:
GRA said:
...BTW, any idea where people in Grand Junction commonly go to (downhill) ski? Telluride, Crested Butte, or ?
The local ski area for Grand Junction* is Powderhorn, a small family-oriented area on the north side of Grand Mesa. They had an unusually good snow year last year. Telluride and Crested Butte are too far from GJ for daytripping. The problem with Telluride is that it is so isolated that it gets predominantly destination skiers (of course that also means that there aren't any lift lines). So there isn't any competition for, or decent discounts for, locals and the price became more than I was willing to pay several years ago. I stick to skinny skis from the house nowadays, when the snow cover permits.

The myriad ski areas near the Denver metro area — and the Salt Lake City area — tend to rely on local skiers, so they compete fiercely and significant lift ticket discounts are common. Not so with Telluride. But it is the most scenic downhill ski resort in Colorado, by a wide margin. (Over the years, I've skied all of the more than two dozen areas in this state, including several that no longer exist.)
Do Grand Junction types ever drive over to Aspen or Vail? I-70 to Vail might be quicker than going up to Telluride, even though it's longer. Although I'm with you, and will choose a better view (but then I'm on skinny skis exclusively, although my backcountry skinny skis have gotten a lot wider and metal edged, and the boots a lot stiffer, compared to when I started in the '70s).
 
Coming from FoCo, all the ski areas are out of range for now. I could make Eldora with a quick stop at the QC in Boulder, but that would probably not go over well with the family.

Looking forward to the next Leaf lease in 2017 when I should be able to make it up 70 with the family and gear on board.

Those Model S's sure look good with the ski racks on them. Too bad they're so expensive.
 
GRA said:
my backcountry skinny skis have gotten a lot wider and metal edged, and the boots a lot stiffer, compared to when I started in the '70s.
These are the backcountry skis we use: http://www.backcountry.com/alpina-cross-terrain-touring-ski" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Normally we use them in the National Forest surrounding our neighborhood. I've also found them quite usable at our local ski area (Snow Valley, just a few miles up the road). However, we've found that we enjoy the backcountry so much that we don't even bother with the downhill ski slopes. A couple of seasons of not buying lift tickets paid for the backcountry skis.

Those in Southern California even have charging available within a short walk of backcountry skiing opportunities - my EVSE in PlugShare. All you need is a full Quick Charge before heading up the mountain, and be ready to placate the authorities when they tell you chains are needed. :)
 
GRA said:
Do Grand Junction types ever drive over to Aspen or Vail? I-70 to Vail might be quicker than going up to Telluride, even though it's longer...
Possibly, but both are a long haul for a day trip (~2 to 2½ hours each way). Sunlight, near Glenwood Springs, is closer but doesn't have much advantage over Powderhorn, which is very close to GJ. If the snow coverage is good Powderhorn is a respectable small ski area with a good variety of runs. Perfect for daytripping from GJ. Too far for me to go (~3 hours each way).
 
AlanSqB said:
Coming from FoCo, all the ski areas are out of range for now. I could make Eldora with a quick stop at the QC in Boulder, but that would probably not go over well with the family.
Yes, the day trip downhill ski options from Fort Collins are pretty limited.
Looking forward to the next Leaf lease in 2017 when I should be able to make it up 70 with the family and gear on board.

Those Model S's sure look good with the ski racks on them. Too bad they're so expensive.
Perhaps the Model 3 will do the trick! Although I don't think it would make FC to Silverthorne without some sort of charge on the way. They need to put a Supercharger station in Golden or Thornton, or someplace like that; the one at Park Meadows is very out of the way for folks coming from the north. (From the map of stations, it appears that such a location is in the works.)
 
abasile said:
GRA said:
my backcountry skinny skis have gotten a lot wider and metal edged, and the boots a lot stiffer, compared to when I started in the '70s.
These are the backcountry skis we use: http://www.backcountry.com/alpina-cross-terrain-touring-ski" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Normally we use them in the National Forest surrounding our neighborhood. I've also found them quite usable at our local ski area (Snow Valley, just a few miles up the road). However, we've found that we enjoy the backcountry so much that we don't even bother with the downhill ski slopes. A couple of seasons of not buying lift tickets paid for the backcountry skis.

Those in Southern California even have charging available within a short walk of backcountry skiing opportunities - my EVSE in PlugShare. All you need is a full Quick Charge before heading up the mountain, and be ready to placate the authorities when they tell you chains are needed. :)
Wow, those are a lot wider than I use. I used Fischer E-99s with kicker skins for years (210cm, 65-55-60), and what they lacked in turning ability they made up for in cruising speed, especially on spring corn. But I prefer something a bit softer and wider now, used with my old Asolo Snowfield 3-pin boots. I'm often carrying a full pack, so like the extra stability of the wider boot and binding, and IME Nordic Norm 75mm 3-pins are a lot easier to clean snow and ice out of than NNN-BC or similar.
 
Back
Top