Charging in Mammoth Lakes, CA

[Neo F]

This weekend I took my first of 5 trips to Mammoth Lakes to snowboard. I know charging options are very limited unless you own a Tesla (bunch of superchargers); however, there are no public charging options of any sort with the exception of Mammoth RV Park. They are very limited and because of the recent snowfall they were not even an option. Snow removal is really behind. I ended up buying a 100' extension cord that I ran from the condo I stayed at to my Rivian. Plugged into a 120v/20amp circuit my goal was to at minimum not lose any range related to battery maintenance from the cold. The first day I was there, I lost 20mi. The extension cord saved me over the weekend, but that is not really an option.

The hotels that are in the area who have charging are limited to hotel guests. I'm coming from Los Angeles and the last charging option is in Bishop. The 41mi drive from Bishop to Mammoth is all uphill and cold temps that really eat into your range. Mammoth is a popular destination, I am shocked that there are no public EV charging stations.

Does anyone know of any other options that may not be publicly posted?

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[Rivan]

wow, I was looking into that Trip from OC just yesterday, I was thinking I would Charged up in Bishop, and go up.. I know it is up hell .. So I am assuming I should end up with 200 miles - the night drain, even if we are at 50 miles, driving down back to bishop should be good enough?? apparently I am all wrong .. .. I do not see any charging network up there ...

 

[State11]

My kids had a mtb race in Mammoth in October and ran into the same issue, but driving from Tahoe. There's an EA station in Bridgeport that ended up working fine on the way there and back. I was worried I'd have to drive to Bishop and back to charge, but it wasn't necessary. How full did you charge in Bishop?

 

[Sconces]

I typically charge pretty deep in bishop (85%+) while I get dinner nearby. Going up to mammoth takes about 85-90 miles of range but coming down to bishop again you really don’t need much (10 miles maybe?). I lost about 10 miles per 24hour with temps in the teens.
But I second finding it strange that there’s no public ccs network in town.

 

[sk05]

I typically charge pretty deep in bishop (85%+) while I get dinner nearby. Going up to mammoth takes about 85-90 miles of range but coming down to bishop again you really don’t need much (10 miles maybe?). I lost about 10 miles per 24hour with temps in the teens.
But I second finding it strange that there’s no public ccs network in town.

Basically this. Charge up at Bishop as much as you can. Agreed that it's weird there's no public charging area in Mammoth Lakes. I try to stay at the Village (Westin or Village Lodge) and bring a TeslaTap with me. I lost 18 miles in underground parking garage over 6 days. There was also a bear in the underground garage.

It didn't take much to get back to Bishop but I'd look into ABRP to calculate as well. I don't find it as useful as others but it helps.

 

[hayduke]

I live in Mammoth Lakes. I can confirm there is zero Level 3 charging anywhere in Mammoth, and zero public level 2 charging anywhere in town. There is of course a Tesla Supercharger (built on leased town land) and soon to be a second Supercharger again on government land at the new hockey rink still under construction. Tesla is apparently funding some public level 2 chargers as part of that hockey rink project which I suppose will be the town's first. I have no idea what the terms of use will be (e.g. can you leave your truck there overnight? as the only public charging option I am guessing it will be crowded and there may be rules about only using them when you are at the rink - the town has said they will be free). And it would of course take overnight to meaningfully charge your truck so a lousy travel option anyway.

The original now-removed RAN map from the Rivian website of course had a charging location in Mammoth, the map made it look like the visitor center on 203. More than being late, I'd really like to know do they or did they have any real intention or plan to build a charger? Two years from now will it be there? It's so frustrating to see Rivian apparently busily investing in chargers where other public options exist, yet seemingly not filling in the gaps where only Tesla chargers exist.

As a local it's distressing and embarrassing that in 2023 Mammoth Lakes still has no public level 2 or level 3 charging. It's a small town and I get the impression that the town officials never saw a distinction between Superchargers and EV chargers in general & happily leased away the public rideshare lot to the Tesla Motors corporation for the private use of its own customers. A pretty lousy use of public land in my opinion.

A tangent, but rather than coming from LA I am usually traveling between Mammoth and Las Vegas. There is NO non-Tesla infrastructure along the way. I've made the drive a few times with ~20-40 miles left after filling to 100% in Bishop or Vegas but last week I rolled into Vegas with 7 miles of charge remaining. At this point "what's the weather" is now a question I have to ask when wondering whether I can travel between the two places I spend the most time.

Tangent aside, the cold weather in Mammoth really does dent the charge and highlight the need for charging. I park outside and probably lose ~5% a day of charge (don't normally have significant charge loss issues when in warmer temps).

My rule of thumb is 25% charge to get from Bishop to Mammoth, but <10% to get back the other way, and about 5% charge loss per day in the cold.

 

[RYU]

Thanks for the tips! Very useful for us Mammoth visitors. Are you on the stock 21" or 20" ATs?

I live in Mammoth Lakes. I can confirm there is zero Level 3 charging anywhere in Mammoth, and zero public level 2 charging anywhere in town. There is of course a Tesla Supercharger (built on leased town land) and soon to be a second Supercharger again on government land at the new hockey rink still under construction. Tesla is apparently funding some public level 2 chargers as part of that hockey rink project which I suppose will be the town's first. I have no idea what the terms of use will be (e.g. can you leave your truck there overnight? as the only public charging option I am guessing it will be crowded and there may be rules about only using them when you are at the rink - the town has said they will be free). And it would of course take overnight to meaningfully charge your truck so a lousy travel option anyway.

The original now-removed RAN map from the Rivian website of course had a charging location in Mammoth, the map made it look like the visitor center on 203. More than being late, I'd really like to know do they or did they have any real intention or plan to build a charger? Two years from now will it be there? It's so frustrating to see Rivian apparently busily investing in chargers where other public options exist, yet seemingly not filling in the gaps where only Tesla chargers exist.

As a local it's distressing and embarrassing that in 2023 Mammoth Lakes still has no public level 2 or level 3 charging. It's a small town and I get the impression that the town officials never saw a distinction between Superchargers and EV chargers in general & happily leased away the public rideshare lot to the Tesla Motors corporation for the private use of its own customers. A pretty lousy use of public land in my opinion.

A tangent, but rather than coming from LA I am usually traveling between Mammoth and Las Vegas. There is NO non-Tesla infrastructure along the way. I've made the drive a few times with ~20-40 miles left after filling to 100% in Bishop or Vegas but last week I rolled into Vegas with 7 miles of charge remaining. At this point "what's the weather" is now a question I have to ask when wondering whether I can travel between the two places I spend the most time.

Tangent aside, the cold weather in Mammoth really does dent the charge and highlight the need for charging. I park outside and probably lose ~5% a day of charge (don't normally have significant charge loss issues when in warmer temps).

My rule of thumb is 25% charge to get from Bishop to Mammoth, but <10% to get back the other way, and about 5% charge loss per day in the cold.

 

[hayduke]

Thanks for the tips! Very useful for us Mammoth visitors. Are you on the stock 21" or 20" ATs?

? 20" A/Ts. no tonneau cover (delivered from factory that way).

 

[seatosummit]

Any movement on this? I find the lack of CCS/J1772 pretty odd. Feels like a developer could easily charge a premium per kWh to cover their investment before others come in.

I parked in the overflow lot in March and lost considerable milage during a storm. Accurate that you really don't need much to get down the hill to Bishop.

RAN in Lee Vining is underway, which is nice, but not a solution to winter visits that terminate in Mammoth Lakes.

 

[Neo F]

Sadly for my upcoming 6 trips to Mammoth this ski season, I will leave the Rivian at home and drive my GMC. It was just too much of a headache last year to deal with the lack of charging. I keep checking every month to see if the Tesla station gets retrofitted to support CCS charging.

 

[Cosmacelf]

The only thing I can suggest is if you are renting a condo with access to a 20A receptacle, buy a Tesla Mobile Connector and the NEMA 5-20 adapter and a Tesla to J1772 adapter. It’ll allow charging at 16A rather than 12A and it’ll make a difference in the winter.

Hilton hotels will supposedly be adding level 2 chargers at their hotels, don’t know if it’ll be done before ski season though.

And, of course, there are about five condos/hotels that have charging for guests.

 

[hayduke]

There is of course a Tesla Supercharger (built on leased town land) and soon to be a second Supercharger again on government land at the new hockey rink still under construction. Tesla is apparently funding some public level 2 chargers as part of that hockey rink project which I suppose will be the town's first. I have no idea what the terms of use will be (e.g. can you leave your truck there overnight?

^ Quoting myself from January. Very little progress on the new town ice rink which I heard was badly damaged during the winter storms. I myself am in what is now a multi-year epic with my HOA to even get a personal charger installed despite the Davis-Sterling act in CA that demands HOA allow chargers for personal use.

The level of public education / awareness on this issue among locals / homeowners is woeful. Most members of the public seem surprised/unaware I can't charge at a Tesla charger and/or that no public charging options exist in town.

I have not heard any news of other public chargers being planned. I'm a local but I imagine for tourists the charger is almost going to need to be at one of the bases for the mountain (a large number of level 2 chargers seem ideal for this).

The only consolation is if you're just here for a short trip, it's only about 10% of range to get back to Bishop and probably about the same whenever Lee Vining opens. If you're staying in town a while, good luck...

 

[superfly_snook]

As long as they don’t put a RAN site at Eagle and ban us all to there ?

 

[HaveBlue]

Pretty surprising. I have a place in Big Bear and there are now two DCFCs in Big Bear. I'll be putting a L2 at my place eventually.

I know condo HOAs and managers in Mammoth are really bad to deal with.

 

[socaljsb]

I've sent a request to EA to open a location in Mammoth and also submitted a few site suggestions to EVgo here: https://www.evgo.com/company/contact/

Minaret Village Shopping Center - 437 Old Mammoth Rd, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
Sierra Center Mall Shopping Center - 452 Old Mammoth Rd, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
Mammoth Gateway Shopping Center - 26 Old Mammoth Rd, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
Mammoth Mall Shopping Center - 106 Old Mammoth Rd, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
Red Rooster Shopping Center - 3343 Main St E, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
Berner Street Parking Lot (across The Village) - 6220 Minaret Rd, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546

Wouldn't hurt to get more folks pushing for locations to be added...

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