Las Vegas Hotel Charging Stations

[mdolan92869]

Just got back from a vacation in Las Vegas. Got to the Signature at MGM Grand on Monday afternoon. Asked valet about EV charging. He said he thinks so, but he said he was the manager and the guys who drive the cars into the garage would know better (really, that's what he said). Didn't drive Tuesday or Wednesday and when I came back on Thursday, I forgot to ask again. Well, this morning I remembered to ask the valet about it. He said that they currently have 3 Tesla chargers shared between the 3 towers. Said if I had an adapter, it would be first come, first served in the garage. Need to remember that next time. These chargers don't show up on PlugShare or on the Signature MGM website. Since it's guest only parking, probably not publicizing it since you can't just pull in and charge.

Then at my charging stop in Barstow, talking with the guy next to me. He's on the team adding 20 more EV chargers to Caesars parking. Asked me (with a smile) if that would change my hotel choice next time I go up. We both helped the 3rd Mach-e owner who was DCFC charging for the first time. He wasn't getting a very good rate. I tried to explain using the navigation to route to the charge to help pre-condition since the car knows it's going to a charger. He also asked about driving the rest of the way to Las Vegas with a SR battery. I told him to just stop in Baker and top it off, lots of chargers there. And when he thought that he'd just charge to 100%, I explained the slow down at 80% would probably take longer than the stop in Baker. Not sure how Ford can better educate new owners about things like this.

Real nice hearing more chargers are going in at the hotels. Be real nice to leave with 100% charge and get that much farther on the first leg. And if they have it at the valet, no need to get up in the middle of the night to unplug and move, the valets can do that and no battles for electrons.

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[dbsb3233]

We frequent Vegas (usually every 2 months). 3 of our frequent casinos all have chargers in self-parking areas (Red Rock, Silverton, South Point). As do many others.

But people are figuring them out. A year or two ago they were only lightly used. Now it can be really hard to find an open one that's working. They were great for road-trippers like us that needed a destination charge, but the locals are swamping them now for free charging instead of charging at home. The downside of free charging.

The other problem is they don't hold up very well. Most use the ChargePoint dual units. But they've been breaking down regularly. All 6 in the Silverton garage were broken on a recent trip. All 4 at Sunset Station too. And about a third of them at Red Rock. However South Point has 12 Bosch units, and they seem rock solid. Haven't seen one down yet.

 

[Logal727]

I’ll be in Vegas in October but will be sans car, guess that’s a good thing maybe

 

[Mach1E]

Just got back from a vacation in Las Vegas. Got to the Signature at MGM Grand on Monday afternoon. Asked valet about EV charging. He said he thinks so, but he said he was the manager and the guys who drive the cars into the garage would know better (really, that's what he said). Didn't drive Tuesday or Wednesday and when I came back on Thursday, I forgot to ask again. Well, this morning I remembered to ask the valet about it. He said that they currently have 3 Tesla chargers shared between the 3 towers. Said if I had an adapter, it would be first come, first served in the garage. Need to remember that next time. These chargers don't show up on PlugShare or on the Signature MGM website. Since it's guest only parking, probably not publicizing it since you can't just pull in and charge.

Then at my charging stop in Barstow, talking with the guy next to me. He's on the team adding 20 more EV chargers to Caesars parking. Asked me (with a smile) if that would change my hotel choice next time I go up. We both helped the 3rd Mach-e owner who was DCFC charging for the first time. He wasn't getting a very good rate. I tried to explain using the navigation to route to the charge to help pre-condition since the car knows it's going to a charger. He also asked about driving the rest of the way to Las Vegas with a SR battery. I told him to just stop in Baker and top it off, lots of chargers there. And when he thought that he'd just charge to 100%, I explained the slow down at 80% would probably take longer than the stop in Baker. Not sure how Ford can better educate new owners about things like this.

Real nice hearing more chargers are going in at the hotels. Be real nice to leave with 100% charge and get that much farther on the first leg. And if they have it at the valet, no need to get up in the middle of the night to unplug and move, the valets can do that and no battles for electrons.

20 chargers for 5,000 guests at Caesars?

I wouldn’t plan on them being available.

 

[dbsb3233]

We can usually still find one open overnight for a charge the night before the drive home. But even that will be nearly impossible as more EVs hit the roads. Imagine how hard it would be to find a handicap spot open if 50% of the cars had handicap plates.

Casinos often offer a handful of L2 chargers now as a perk, but I don't expect they'll ever cover half the parking garage with them. The only way around this is to start charging for them. "Free" will kill the golden goose.

Public L2 needs to be priced somewhat higher than home electricity.

DCFC needs to be priced 2x-3x more than home electricity.

Otherwise we'll just end up with an inefficient charging model that will fail. The most efficient method that needs to be 90% of total charging is overnight where people sleep. Cheapest, most convenient, and off-peak is far better for the grid.

 

[4sallypat]

Been to Caesars last summer and it was a F-show.

All 6 EA chargers were occupied with ICE or non charging EVs.

Line of people wanting to get a charge but couldn't.

Called security and they could / would not do anything as they are not "EV patrol" and not authorized to cite or tow.

Someone called LVMPD and they came out and could not do anything as it was on private property.

Manager came out and called 2 employees who were occupying charger stalls without charging to move them.

I finally got a charge after 30 minutes of this nonesense.

Luckily I was early to my dinner reservation inside Caesars....

 

[mdolan92869]

20 chargers for 5,000 guests at Caesars?

I wouldn’t plan on them being available.

That's why I'm hoping places like Signature at MGM get more because they're valet only. No fighting for the chargers by the public. But you are right, 20 is just a drop in the bucket. But at least it's a start, lets hope that it keeps growing as the EV population grows.

 

[Mach1E]

That's why I'm hoping places like Signature at MGM get more because they're valet only. No fighting for the chargers by the public. But you are right, 20 is just a drop in the bucket. But at least it's a start, lets hope that it keeps growing as the EV population grows.

I dunno if it’s better than nothing. It’s not growing as fast as the EV population and may just end up being a source of frustration like @4sallypat found.

Simplest solution would be to charge slightly more for parking for BEVs and have a row of 240v outlets (bring your own portable charger).

Very easy to scale and waaaaaay cheaper.

Charging stations just cost too much $$ to ever really make sense to scale.

 

[dbsb3233]

I dunno if it’s better than nothing. It’s not growing as fast as the EV population and may just end up being a source of frustration like @4sallypat found.

Simplest solution would be to charge slightly more for parking for BEVs and have a row of 240v outlets (bring your own portable charger).

Very easy to scale and waaaaaay cheaper.

Charging stations just cost too much $$ to ever really make sense to scale.

Pros and cons to all the methods. 240v outlets can make some sense, but then you have to worry about someone stealing your EVSE unless you lock it down somehow. And many people don't carry one. Might be popping breakers too if people try to plug one in that draws too much power. And there's multiple plug types.

Charging stations that charge $ for use are probably the best overall solution, but yes, they cost a lot more to install and maintain.

Some places use cheaper home-style EVSEs that have no payment processing option. That saves money but have no internal usage control. To prevent over-usage/unintended usage, probably need to access-control that parking area. That's probably the logical approach for many apartment complexes -- fence off the charging area and put in an access gate.

One method I haven't seen yet that may be good to explore is a central kiosk that controls many satellite chargers. That could save some cost. Put the access control/payment in the central kiosk, then just use cheap home-style EVSEs as the satellites. When you need to replace an EVSE, shouldn't cost nearly as much.

We'll probably see some creative solutions coming for all this.

Fortunately for a place like Las Vegas, hotel charging is a convenience rather than a necessity. There's lots of DCFC around the city if needed (10 EA stations alone, and other networks).

 

[Muttgt]

Just got back from a vacation in Las Vegas. Got to the Signature at MGM Grand on Monday afternoon. Asked valet about EV charging. He said he thinks so, but he said he was the manager and the guys who drive the cars into the garage would know better (really, that's what he said). Didn't drive Tuesday or Wednesday and when I came back on Thursday, I forgot to ask again. Well, this morning I remembered to ask the valet about it. He said that they currently have 3 Tesla chargers shared between the 3 towers. Said if I had an adapter, it would be first come, first served in the garage. Need to remember that next time. These chargers don't show up on PlugShare or on the Signature MGM website. Since it's guest only parking, probably not publicizing it since you can't just pull in and charge.

Then at my charging stop in Barstow, talking with the guy next to me. He's on the team adding 20 more EV chargers to Caesars parking. Asked me (with a smile) if that would change my hotel choice next time I go up. We both helped the 3rd Mach-e owner who was DCFC charging for the first time. He wasn't getting a very good rate. I tried to explain using the navigation to route to the charge to help pre-condition since the car knows it's going to a charger. He also asked about driving the rest of the way to Las Vegas with a SR battery. I told him to just stop in Baker and top it off, lots of chargers there. And when he thought that he'd just charge to 100%, I explained the slow down at 80% would probably take longer than the stop in Baker. Not sure how Ford can better educate new owners about things like this.

Real nice hearing more chargers are going in at the hotels. Be real nice to leave with 100% charge and get that much farther on the first leg. And if they have it at the valet, no need to get up in the middle of the night to unplug and move, the valets can do that and no battles for electrons.

Hey that was me in the red GT ?. Thanks for the window cleaning!

 

[Muttgt]

20 chargers for 5,000 guests at Caesars?

I wouldn’t plan on them being available.

It’s a tricky thing to add chargers to such a large property. We have 5,000 rooms but a lot of people not driving, driving ICE, etc. If we go with too many chargers than they just get blocked anyway.

We also have 50+ year old buildings and infrastructure. Simply adding a few chargers has costs in the 6 figure range.

 

[Muttgt]

Been to Caesars last summer and it was a F-show.

All 6 EA chargers were occupied with ICE or non charging EVs.

Line of people wanting to get a charge but couldn't.

Called security and they could / would not do anything as they are not "EV patrol" and not authorized to cite or tow.

Someone called LVMPD and they came out and could not do anything as it was on private property.

Manager came out and called 2 employees who were occupying charger stalls without charging to move them.

I finally got a charge after 30 minutes of this nonesense.

Luckily I was early to my dinner reservation inside Caesars....

Problem is those are the Forum Shops chargers and are also managed by another 3rd party. They also placed them right next to the entrance so they get ICE parked at a lot.

 

[DYohn]

I just use EA in Vegas and don’t rely on the resorts to know what to do.

 

[mdolan92869]

Hey that was me in the red GT ?. Thanks for the window cleaning!

No problem. I hope the other guy stopped in Baker and didn’t try to charge to 100% and go non-stop to Vegas.

 

[4sallypat]

Problem is those are the Forum Shops chargers and are also managed by another 3rd party. They also placed them right next to the entrance so they get ICE parked at a lot.

Correct.

Wish they put the charge stations further away so that people who are not supposed to take up a spot won't be so tempted to park close to the building...

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