New Washington Charging Stations?

[Pangea]

Hello! I live in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and travel frequently to Seattle, Portland and into Montana. I was pleased to see that Montana has a partnership with the Towne Pump gas stations to install a number of fast chargers throughout the state in 2023 because my last trip with limited winter battery was a bit nerve wracking! We recently drove to Seattle, and the route is still pretty sparce when it comes to chargers. The one in Ellensburg had a line actually as we were going to Seattle and we had to wait quite a while before we could even plug in. Has anyone heard of any new fast chargers going in on I-90 through the state?

Sponsored

 

[RickMachE]

Each state has submitted plans to use the government funds. You can easily find those online. They may have installations going in previous to that also. Usually on the state's page devoted to EVs. You can also lookup locations on PlugShare.

 

[Pangea]

Yes, I did look at the plans online, it's quite a read... Plugshare did not show any coming either. That's why I'm asking here to see if anyone in the area knew more.

 

[silverelan]

Sounds like they're doing some sort of station upgrade in Ritzville, WA between Ellensburg and Spokane for Electrify America. Ellensburg was slated to get shut down on Dec 12 but for some reason that pinned announcement is gone. Ellensburg is getting a lot of congestion and could use more charging on reliable chargers!

Pilot Flying J map shows that they're planning on putting in EVgo chargers at Travel Centers in Ellensburg and CDA.

Starbucks has slowly been installing Chargepoint chargers with Volvo. Starbucks HQ in Seattle and Provo, UT have the only two open stations so far but they'll put one in Issaquah too which is debatable for how useful that would be for long distance drives. Ellensburg Starbucks is a big miss since there's a 5-stall Supercharger V1 directly behind it.

https://www.media.volvocars.com/us/...nstalling-chargepoint-electric-vehicle-charge

 

[Pangea]

Thank you for this information! That's shocking to me that were going to close Ellensburg, in the winter most EVs would not be able to make it from Ritzville all the way to North Bend, 191 miles. I know I sure wouldn't feel comfortable going over the pass with my battery that low! It's been between -15 and 5 degrees here so I'm maxing out at 190 miles fully charged right now with my CART1. We do really need a fast charger here in Coeur d'Alene, as well as Moscow, ID. It's silly to have to stop in Smelterville at the Walmart in the middle of nowhere!

I am happy that EVgo is going to put up a few new chargers and the Starbucks partnership would be amazing. As much fun as it is to hang out for 30 minutes at a gas station...

 

[silverelan]

Thank you for this information! That's shocking to me that were going to close Ellensburg, in the winter most EVs would not be able to make it from Ritzville all the way to North Bend, 191 miles. I know I sure wouldn't feel comfortable going over the pass with my battery that low! It's been between -15 and 5 degrees here so I'm maxing out at 190 miles fully charged right now with my CART1. We do really need a fast charger here in Coeur d'Alene, as well as Moscow, ID. It's silly to have to stop in Smelterville at the Walmart in the middle of nowhere!

I am happy that EVgo is going to put up a few new chargers and the Starbucks partnership would be amazing. As much fun as it is to hang out for 30 minutes at a gas station...

Have you used the two DC chargers in CDA? They're 150kW and were built using VW settlement funds.

https://www2.deq.idaho.gov/admin/LEIA/api/document/download/14500

Ellensburg needs another 4-stall charging station and Cle Elum could definitely use one too. I'd really like to see CCS stations in most towns along I-90 and I-82 that also have Tesla Superchargers. The one exception is Prosser, WA. That town needs a legit upgrade from the existing 50kW stall.

 

[Pangea]

Cle Elum would be a great location for one because most cars crossing the state could easily make it from Ritzville to Cle Elum, without having to stop prematurely in Ellensburg. I have not used the CDA ones since I live here and have one in my garage. I had read though a few months ago they were not working, however I did look again and it looks like the last couple months they've been back up. It is nice that there's an option for people to stop here!

Sponsored