Denver to Pueblo

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.

MikeinDenver

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 28, 2014
Messages
329
Location
Columbus, OH
I am looking at the feasibility of a trip to Pueblo. Plenty of charging seems to be available in CSprings but not much in Pueblo. I e-mailed the Nissan dealer there but so far no response and based on what I have read about them don't expect one. Wondering if anyone has any experience or recommendations?
 
MikeinDenver said:
I am looking at the feasibility of a trip to Pueblo. Plenty of charging seems to be available in CSprings but not much in Pueblo. I e-mailed the Nissan dealer there but so far no response and based on what I have read about them don't expect one. Wondering if anyone has any experience or recommendations?

I suggest calling the Pueblo dealer, not emailing. Most dealers route questions about the charging stations to the service dept, so emails to sales may not get answered. In addition, per plugshare.com there are two other sets of 2 level 2 chargers in downtown Pueblo. I've not used either but probably you'll get one to be available.

On the trip from Denver to Pueblo be aware that many of the stations showing up on plugshare are actually wall outlets. The two Nissan dealerships in Colo Springs both have the standard 208V Aerovironment chargers so they are slower than most other level 2s. Either is happy to welcome LEAFs from other dealerships but the Colo Springs one is open only during business hours (you literally have to drive through their service garage to get to the charging stations) and the Woodmen one has 3 outside chargers, but 2 are regularly ICEd by parked used cars and the third may be occupied.

Your best bets for parking where you can walk to something else while charging are: Walgreens in Castle Rock, Walgreens in Monument, downtown Colorado Springs and near Colorado College, the "First and Main" location on Powers (but note that this is a significantly different route than I-25, so if they are both occupied you're kinda stuck) and to some degree the Walgreens in Fountain. The Colorado Springs Utilities location on Mesa Road is a little out of the way but if you don't mind a hike or bike ride you can go to Garden of the Gods, tour their zeriscape garden, or during working hours tour their conservation exhibits.

There are no level 3s south of Arapahoe Nissan in Colorado - yet.
 
cgaydos said:
MikeinDenver said:
I am looking at the feasibility of a trip to Pueblo. Plenty of charging seems to be available in CSprings but not much in Pueblo. I e-mailed the Nissan dealer there but so far no response and based on what I have read about them don't expect one. Wondering if anyone has any experience or recommendations?

I suggest calling the Pueblo dealer, not emailing. Most dealers route questions about the charging stations to the service dept, so emails to sales may not get answered. In addition, per plugshare.com there are two other sets of 2 level 2 chargers in downtown Pueblo. I've not used either but probably you'll get one to be available.

On the trip from Denver to Pueblo be aware that many of the stations showing up on plugshare are actually wall outlets. The two Nissan dealerships in Colo Springs both have the standard 208V Aerovironment chargers so they are slower than most other level 2s. Either is happy to welcome LEAFs from other dealerships but the Colo Springs one is open only during business hours (you literally have to drive through their service garage to get to the charging stations) and the Woodmen one has 3 outside chargers, but 2 are regularly ICEd by parked used cars and the third may be occupied.

Your best bets for parking where you can walk to something else while charging are: Walgreens in Castle Rock, Walgreens in Monument, downtown Colorado Springs and near Colorado College, the "First and Main" location on Powers (but note that this is a significantly different route than I-25, so if they are both occupied you're kinda stuck) and to some degree the Walgreens in Fountain. The Colorado Springs Utilities location on Mesa Road is a little out of the way but if you don't mind a hike or bike ride you can go to Garden of the Gods, tour their zeriscape garden, or during working hours tour their conservation exhibits.

There are no level 3s south of Arapahoe Nissan in Colorado - yet.


Thanks for the information. I will just call them. I have researched all the spots on the way and in Pueblo I was just curious if there was anything I had missed. I had planned to go to the CO Springs Utilities location partly just to check it out as it isn't your usual charging location according to what I have seen. My other thought was the Walgreens in Fountain. I will be heading down after work so it will be probably 7pm by the time I get to the Springs. I will be staying at a hotel so I may be able to charge there but I would prefer to have as many options as possible. And ones where I can watch it instead of leaving it plugged in over night on 120. There are the ones in downtown Pueblo but I am just not sure how available they would be. I was going to take 83 down for the slower speeds and other benefits and it is closer to my house than 25.
 
Also check out Carstations.com. I've given them descriptions of many of the charging locations in the Springs, so there is some info for you.

83 is a good way to conserve. First, it is shorter if you are coming from the direction of Parker/Aurora. Second, you avoid the large, battery-sucking, climb-and-descend between Lone Tree and Castle Rock. Third, you can travel 60-65 all the way without worrying about being run off the road by semis doing 85, especially in the 2-lane segment between Castle Rock and Monument. If you do take that route you might try sticking with Powers instead of cutting over to I-25, which brings you by First-and-Main. Lots of restaurants and IIRC not too far from some hotels.

Assume you already have the SemaCharge card for the Walgreen's stations.

If you haven't done these kind of routes before note that climbs and wind are your biggest energy drains this time of year (barring another out-of-season snowstorm :) ). On 83 you'll hit the summit just south of the traffic light at Hodgen Road and after that you should see the GOM guesstimate shoot up. 83 doesn't have the steep climbs I-25 has but you're still netting a climb of over 2k feet from Parker. If there are high headwinds - which as you know aren't uncommon here - you can easily see a 10% drop in range - but you'll get some benefit from high tailwinds.
 
cgaydos said:
Also check out Carstations.com. I've given them descriptions of many of the charging locations in the Springs, so there is some info for you.

83 is a good way to conserve. First, it is shorter if you are coming from the direction of Parker/Aurora. Second, you avoid the large, battery-sucking, climb-and-descend between Lone Tree and Castle Rock. Third, you can travel 60-65 all the way without worrying about being run off the road by semis doing 85, especially in the 2-lane segment between Castle Rock and Monument. If you do take that route you might try sticking with Powers instead of cutting over to I-25, which brings you by First-and-Main. Lots of restaurants and IIRC not too far from some hotels.

Assume you already have the SemaCharge card for the Walgreen's stations.

If you haven't done these kind of routes before note that climbs and wind are your biggest energy drains this time of year (barring another out-of-season snowstorm :) ). On 83 you'll hit the summit just south of the traffic light at Hodgen Road and after that you should see the GOM guesstimate shoot up. 83 doesn't have the steep climbs I-25 has but you're still netting a climb of over 2k feet from Parker. If there are high headwinds - which as you know aren't uncommon here - you can easily see a 10% drop in range - but you'll get some benefit from high tailwinds.

Thanks. I do have that app as well and my Sema card should be here any day. I wouldn't be doing the journey until mid next month but I like to plan. And I am just enjoying seeing where I can make it with the LEAF. I know what you mean on the hills. We head downhill going to work and can usually end up with more miles on the GOM than we left with but on the way home is when it eats them up going back up the hill.
 
This sounds like something we Denver folks should all do... for fun!

I'm on the North end of town, so perhaps I'd QC down at Tynan's and then head down 83 from there.
 
ampitupco said:
This sounds like something we Denver folks should all do... for fun!

I'm on the North end of town, so perhaps I'd QC down at Tynan's and then head down 83 from there.

That is probably your best bet. I mean to get up to that one and check it out.
 
So I made the trip down on Friday and returned on Sunday. Found some cool places and found Solon in Pueblo to be worthless. They may have a level 3 now but getting access to any of their chargers is a pain. Trip took awhile but overall wasn't bad.
 
ksnogas2112 said:
Here's the address for the two public chargers (L2)

105 S. Victoria, Pueblo, CO 81003
215 W 10th St, Pueblo, CO 81003

The courthouse was great, completely deserted on a Friday and Sat night. I would say that is probably the best place to charge in Pueblo. The utilities one in Colorado Springs is probably the best overall spot I have found. Things to do and patrolled every so often by security.
 
MikeinDenver said:
So I made the trip down on Friday and returned on Sunday. Found some cool places and found Solon in Pueblo to be worthless. They may have a level 3 now but getting access to any of their chargers is a pain. Trip took awhile but overall wasn't bad.

Could you elaborate?

Difficult to get physical access to the chargers, or do you mean they bully you out if you didn't buy from them?

I am also trying to persuade The Broadmoor to install a couple DCQC. That's South-West Colorado Springs, but a great place to be stuck for 30 minutes :) And the first in CS hopefully.
 
2k1Toaster said:
MikeinDenver said:
So I made the trip down on Friday and returned on Sunday. Found some cool places and found Solon in Pueblo to be worthless. They may have a level 3 now but getting access to any of their chargers is a pain. Trip took awhile but overall wasn't bad.

Could you elaborate?

Difficult to get physical access to the chargers, or do you mean they bully you out if you didn't buy from them?

I am also trying to persuade The Broadmoor to install a couple DCQC. That's South-West Colorado Springs, but a great place to be stuck for 30 minutes :) And the first in CS hopefully.

They have padlocks on the breakers for them and so you have to find someone to get the key from the service dept to open it up. The service dept hours are pretty limited. They definitely don't seem to be very leaf friendly. There is no reason the chargers should not be accessible 24x7. Electricity cost would be negligible with how many EVs there must be down there.
 
MikeinDenver said:
ksnogas2112 said:
Here's the address for the two public chargers (L2)

105 S. Victoria, Pueblo, CO 81003
215 W 10th St, Pueblo, CO 81003

The courthouse was great, completely deserted on a Friday and Sat night. I would say that is probably the best place to charge in Pueblo. The utilities one in Colorado Springs is probably the best overall spot I have found. Things to do and patrolled every so often by security.

Thanks for the Pueblo info. Was the utilities one the place on Mesa Road? They are real 240V, not 208V like so many others including Nissan's level 2s, so it charges faster even for pre-2013 LEAFs.
 
cgaydos said:
MikeinDenver said:
ksnogas2112 said:
Here's the address for the two public chargers (L2)

105 S. Victoria, Pueblo, CO 81003
215 W 10th St, Pueblo, CO 81003

The courthouse was great, completely deserted on a Friday and Sat night. I would say that is probably the best place to charge in Pueblo. The utilities one in Colorado Springs is probably the best overall spot I have found. Things to do and patrolled every so often by security.

Thanks for the Pueblo info. Was the utilities one the place on Mesa Road? They are real 240V, not 208V like so many others including Nissan's level 2s, so it charges faster even for pre-2013 LEAFs.

Yes the Mesa location is the utilities place. Great place to just walk around and if you go in the building they have some good information on being more efficient with your lawn/garden choices etc. Interesting stuff. Or you can just sit outside and enjoy the view of the mountains and all the different plants/trees they have. If you are going to be there awhile I would grab some food before you get there. It will be my primary charging location for any further trips down South. I wanted to check out a few other places but I just ran out of time and wanted to get home.
 
Back
Top