Yellowstone travel/charging advice

[Redline]

My wife and I are looking at doing a little road trip from Minnesota to the Yellowstone area in Sept. We were going to go to Europe, but our 8 month old hasn't been sleeping that great, and well....we think this might be a bit easier lol.

Anyways, just looking around and it sure seems charging is in a big dead zone around Yellowstone. I was looking at areas in ID, Jackson, or MT to stay, that could have access to the parks, as well as charging. Has anyone spent much time in that area? It does look like something like Bozeman is the easiest.

Thanks!

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[Doug]

We stayed in Red Lodge last summer with our R1T. There are two level two chargers which we used. There are quite a few air bnb's and a couple motels that are not too far away. IT is a pretty small town. The Beartooth highway over to Yellowstone is very scenic. Not much for charging in Yellowstone but at a couple of the spots there are level two chargers. The area around and in Red Lodge is a nice area for exploring and some very scenic hikes and fishing spots if you are into that sort of thing.

 

[Aardvark]

This info is about 7 or 8 years old, but here's how we did Yellowstone in a 2016 Model X 75D with 220 miles full range:
1. We spoke to the manager at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel and asked if we could trickle charge at an outside 15 A socket while hiking. This very nice manager directed us instead into their maintenance lot to use a NEMA 14-50, 50 A socket.
2. On another day we used the J1772 charger at the Old Faithful Lodge Cabins.
3. Third location was a J1772 charger by Mammoth Hot Springs.

But a word of caution here. Back in early 2017 there were far fewer EVs on the road. We were an oddball traveling to Yellowstone in an EV so we had no trouble pulling up and charging at these spots. I would expect now that more EVs are competing for these very few spots.
We were in a tent campsite with no power. I can't remember why I couldn't find a site with power. But if you can do that, your problem is solved.
You are going to love your time at Yellowstone! Good luck.

 

[Joules Burn]

There is now a RAN in Gardiner. West Yellowstone has L2 chargers at the Holiday Inn and Grey Lodge. Jackson has L2 chargers at Lexington and Springhill Suites - plus a free 50kW ChargePoint in the city parking garage. You are “Bison speed” in the park so efficiently is really high.

 

[VandalSibs]

My sister traveled around and thru Yellowstone in her ID.4 a few months ago, and charging for her wasn't an issue - both in terms of need, and availability. Granted, she came from Washington down thru Montana, while you are from the other side of things, but I think you'll still be okay.

 

[TexasBob]

We were just up in Yellowstone all last week (fly in rent a pos Hyundai with poj CarPlay, story for a different day). We saw three Rivians visiting. One guy (maybe on here?) with an R1T drove in from Iowa. Also two R1S.

We stayed at the Canyon Lodge and noted there were at least two L2 chargers there. I would check with Xanterra on which other lodges have them, but be warned that the L2 chargers are often crowded and I personally witnessed more than one "when are you going to be done charging" frustrated conversation.

We stayed 1/2 the time at Mammoth Hotel. There is a RAN 15 minutes away in Gardiner (as noted above). If I were to take the Rivian to Yellowstone, this would be my 100% solution. I like Mammoth best of all the in-park accommodations and it is easy to charge from there. (Also unsolicited plug to eat at the Wonderland Lodge and Cafe which is excellent.) It is also easy enough to get most places in the park from the NW corner. Note that the Supercharger in West Yellowstone is a V2 and not NACS compatible.

 

[Redline]

We're looking at AirBnB's and adding the "EV" section basically eliminates most of them. Being close to the RAN would be amazing.

 

[Doug]

We're looking at AirBnB's and adding the "EV" section basically eliminates most of them. Being close to the RAN would be amazing.

I remember seeing this video on YouTube about Yellowstone last year. He found an Air bnb with level 2 charging and drove 1000 miles over several days for free. HIs channel is "Electrified Veteran". I copied the link for the video and put it below hopefully it works.

 

[RomanN]

My family has a home in eastern Idaho on the other side of the pass from Wilson/Jackson.
I was there for 5 weeks and got back on Sunday. The Tesla superchargers in the area are the older ones with 150 max.

The Tesla superchargers in West Yellowstone, Jackson Hole (at Whole Foods), Big Sky and Idaho Falls are all incompatible with our vehicles.

I had a Rivian wall charger installed at our home before I arrived, so charging was not an issue for me.

Like others have mentioned, staying around Gardiner is probably the place to be.

I did see a charger in downtown Driggs that doesn't appear on any charging maps I have seen.

 

[RomanN]

There is a place in Tetonia that has a little hotel and is also part of an RV park. It might be a pretty affordable option if you could charge at the RV park overnight while staying there. It's an easy drive to West Yellowstone.

Teton Peaks Resort, Hotel, RV, & Glamping Destination

 

[COdogman]

Don’t try to pet a Buffalo.

You’re welcome

 

[TexasBob]

Don’t try to pet a Buffalo.

You’re welcome

 

[SwaziCAR]

My family has a home in eastern Idaho on the other side of the pass from Wilson/Jackson.
I was there for 5 weeks and got back on Sunday. The Tesla superchargers in the area are the older ones with 150 max.

The Tesla superchargers in West Yellowstone, Jackson Hole (at Whole Foods), Big Sky and Idaho Falls are all incompatible with our vehicles.

I had a Rivian wall charger installed at our home before I arrived, so charging was not an issue for me.

Like others have mentioned, staying around Gardiner is probably the place to be.

I did see a charger in downtown Driggs that doesn't appear on any charging maps I have seen.

This is on Plugshare (I've used it). There are others on the outskirts of Ashton (which I've also used) and Island Park (which I have not). Enel X is no longer in business in North America and these chargers are now connected to Rionadi, administratively. Payment is via the Rionadi web site (but I haven't used them since the change).

 

[Joules Burn]

If he can colonize Mars, he could open up these to all in West Yellowstone.

 

[BigSkies]

Wyoming unfortunately decided to make the state as inaccessible as possible to EV drivers. I hear that state laws guarantee DCFC chargers are unprofitable in the state, but I can't say I understand it.

Our best chance of changing things is to talk directly to decision makers. Please email the Wyoming Tourism Board directly about how lack of DCFC is reducing your travel dollars spent in the state.

I've personally contacted them and received no responses. But the more they hear, the more they will care.

This type of thing does make a difference. I received a personalized reply to my email to the South Dakota tourism department, and they shared my email with the state legislature in justifying the need for DCFC south of Mt. Rushmore.

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