Yellowstone travel/charging advice

[hammick]

We have a home outside of Red Lodge and there is free L2 (11kw) at the community center. The NE entrance to Yellowstone is our favorite by far but the elevation gain to get there over Beartooth Pass might be too much for an R1. Once you get into the park you will have great efficiency. If you try that route please let us know how it goes. Would love to be able to take our R1S Max out of Red Lodge and into the NE entrance and have enough juice to get to the RAN in Gardiner.

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[RalphF]

Last year I travelled from Cody WY over Dead Indian Pass via the Chief Joseph Hwy thru the NE Yellowstone entrance to Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. No range issues and it was spectacular! R1S large pack.

 

[hammick]

Last year I travelled from Cody WY over Dead Indian Pass via the Chief Joseph Hwy thru the NE Yellowstone entrance to Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. No range issues and it was spectacular! R1S large pack.

Wow! Did you charge to 100% in Cody. What SOC when arrived at Mammoth? I can't decide if Beartooth is my favorite road of Chief Joseph. When on my bike I usually go up Chief Joseph and out Beartooth.

 

[RalphF]

We had charged to 95+% in Riverton, drove to Cody and plugged in at the Buffalo Bill museum (slow Lvl 2) for a couple of hours, so we were probably in the high 80% range, certainly not 100%. We did not have any range anxiety prior to our arrival, so I think we must have got to the hotel charger at just below 20%. I had never been over the Chief Joseph Hwy and we thoroughly enjoyed the trip and scenery. Travel speed was certainly not Interstate speed, that helped with the range.
Travel through the park was a breeze, never had an issue with range or charging! I would love to repeat and try the Beartooth Pass next time!

 

[hammick]

We had charged to 95+% in Riverton, drove to Cody and plugged in at the Buffalo Bill museum (slow Lvl 2) for a couple of hours, so we were probably in the high 80% range, certainly not 100%. We did not have any range anxiety prior to our arrival, so I think we must have got to the hotel charger at just below 20%. I had never been over the Chief Joseph Hwy and we thoroughly enjoyed the trip and scenery. Travel speed was certainly not Interstate speed, that helped with the range.
Travel through the park was a breeze, never had an issue with range or charging! I would love to repeat and try the Beartooth Pass next time!

Do exactly what you did but when leaving the park go out Beartooth. Once you are over the summit you will regen all the way into Red Lodge. Probably won't have to charge until you hit the Supercharger in Laurel. Red Lodge doesn't have any DCFC.

 

[eleanor22]

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!

I did a trip this year in Yellowstone and glacier park . I was disappointed in the chargers available and in Yellowstone. I drove up north to the Rivian chargers outside park each time to charge, Gardiner. I just planed my days events to be around that part of park during charging times. We ate lunch there and it is a pretty town. I really only needed to charge each 2 days. I think if I did it again I would look at campsites with electric hookups, if there are any there.

 

[SwaziCAR]

I think if I did it again I would look at campsites with electric hookups, if there are any there.

There are none in Yellowstone, except for Fishing Bridge RV Park, which doesn't allow tents (including rooftop tents). In Grand Teton National Park, there's Signal Mountain Campground, which does have electric sites (and which I've used multiple times); it helps if you have a Geezer pass (62 and older), as the sites are expensive.

DC chargers west of the park, in Island Park, Ashton, and Driggs (all in Idaho), also can be useful.

 

[Hauser37]

I just came back from a trip. Went in thru red lodge and arrived there with about 100 miles in my RIT. Charged at the park to a full charge overnite. Completely free. Charged at 30 mph. Went over the Bear tooth pass next moring which is amazingly beautiful and a 5500 ft elevation gain then breakfast in Cooke city then to gardiner for a quick charge. Then down to West yellowstone up thru Ennis to Butte. So from the Rivian charger in Gardiner to Butte did not charge but arrived with 100 miles. No sweat!. There are a coupe of chargers at hotels in west yellowstone. But the full charge in Red lodge made everythng so easy. RIT Max battery 420 miles. It was a wonderful trip. The R1T WAS A DREAM.

 

[Redline]

I never once charged in the park. We had an Airbnb that had a lvl 2 charger. The Rivian was so efficient in the park I hardly needed to charge.

 

[RPG]

We just got back from a two-night trip through Yellowstone, starting from northern Utah, in my gen 2 dual-motor R1T with max pack and range wheels. With a little pre-planning, We had no problems with charging and had plenty of range.

First day: drove north from Utah and stopped at the Blackfoot Supercharger, charging to 100% while we had a nice lunch at a Peruvian restaurant a short walk away. Drove to West Yellowstone and overnighted in one of the hotels. We did not charge in West Yellowstone.

Day two, morning: drove into the park to Old Faithful, then north through Mammoth and out of the park to charge at the Gardiner RAN, with several sight-seeing stops along the way. The RAN charging station was empty when we arrived. One of the four chargers was out of order. Another Rivian arrived while we were there. We had a nice lunch at a little cafe just down the road while we charged to 100%.

Day two, afternoon: drove back into the park, through Mammoth, Norris, Canyon, Artist's Point, West Thumb, and out the South entrance, through Grand Teton NP, to Jackson Hole, again with stops along the way. We overnighted at a hotel In Jackson, and during the night put the Rivian on a free 6 kW ChargePoint charger at Miller Park, getting a 94% charge by mornings. I noticed that there is another charger right on Jackson Town Square.

Day three: drove home without needing a charge along the way. Yes, an EV trip to Yellowstone is feasible even though the charging station coverage is pretty thin in the area.

For this late-October trip, temperatures were in the upper 20's to low 40's. There was snow and ice on some of the roads, and walkways and boardwalks were icy. Entrance stations were manned, and they gave us a park map and paper, but did not charge an entrance fee. We did not see much wildlife: two lone bison, a few small herds of elk, some geese and ducks, lots of ravens. The scenery was beautiful, with highlights of snow and golden aspen.

 

[hammick]

I just confirmed via Plugshare that the SC in Buffalo, Wyoming is finally under construction. I called the station to confirm and they said it should be complete within a month. We've been waiting on this "coming soon" location for two years. This will speed up our travels significantly and allow us to camp in the Bighorns with unlimited power.

Thanks Muskrat!!!

 

[Doug]

I just confirmed via Plugshare that the SC in Buffalo, Wyoming is finally under construction. I called the station to confirm and they said it should be complete within a month. We've been waiting on this "coming soon" location for two years. This will speed up our travels significantly and allow us to camp in the Bighorns with unlimited power.

Thanks Muskrat!!!

That is awesome! That means we can eliminate the charging at the Chargepoint charger in Sheridan that is much slower.

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