Electrify America Opens Easy Trips To The Grand Canyon For CCS EVs
Yesterday, Electrify America announced the opening of a station near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. With the latest hardware, the stations should provide a reliable charge for up to six cars at speeds of up to 350 kilowatts. The station is located at the Grand Canyon Visitor’s Center in Tusayan, Arizona, and is located pretty close to the park’s south entrance.
“The station at Grand Canyon Visitor Center really embodies Electrify America’s mission to create convenient and accessible high speed charging for EVs,” said Brandy Mathie, director, site acquisition and portfolio management at Electrify America. “We are thrilled to electrify the adventure road trip.”
On the surface, it might seem a little superfluous to have a station near the park gate when there are already stations in both Flagstaff and Williams, allowing for an easy round-trip from the nearest interstate. But, the geographic scope of Grand Canyon National Park is easy to misjudge on a map. A drive from Tusayan to the Desert View Watchtower on the other end of the park is over a 50-mile round-trip, and there are dozens of miles of other roads around Grand Canyon Village and to Hermit’s Rest. Plus, there are many dirt roads in the park and in nearby tribal and U.S. Forest Service lands. Some of these dirt roads lead to prime camping spots, historic sites, and views of the canyon that few see.
So, if you’re going to spend time in the park, being able to get a quick charge to continue your adventures is essential.
Another excellent thing about the new station is that it helps other destinations around the area to be in better reach. If one were to top up at the Tusayan station and take it easy on the 28-mile drive to the east gate, it’s mostly downhill from there to the Navajo Nation. The Little Colorado river goes through a breathtaking canyon out that way, and there should be plenty of range to reach places like Lake Powell, Marble Canyon, and for some EVs, places like Monument Valley and the North Rim. Those last two would probably require some time at Level 2 charging stations, but they can be well worth that pain while we wait for more stations.
I know that’s a lot of trip planning information, but the main point here is that the new station opens up a great number of tourism and outdoor recreation opportunities in the whole region.
How Far We’ve Come
My family generally preferred to visit the North Rim when I was a kid and young adult. I’d ask about the South Rim, but I let my grandparents convince me that the other side of the canyon is hot, crowded, and overly commercialized. So, I didn’t try that side for a long time. But, in 2019, I decided to take a crazy 1,200 mile trip in my Nissan LEAF, and made that a stop along the route.
At the time, there were no rapid charging stations anywhere near the Grand Canyon, not even a Tesla Supercharger. So, I topped the car off in Flagstaff, took it up US-180, and made it to Grand Canyon Village with about 10% charge left. I then spent the day using the park’s shuttles to check the South Rim out while the car charged at a Level 2 charger. That night, I drove back out to Flagstaff and continued my crazy journey.
But, if I had wanted to camp out in the woods, it wouldn’t have worked out for the LEAF. If I had wanted to drive out to Desert View, I wouldn’t have had enough range. Basically, all I could do with the car that day was charge it, and that was severely limiting.
A few months after my trip, Tesla put in Superchargers, and since then, I’ve switched to a Chevy Bolt EUV. With more range, and more importantly liquid cooling, the Bolt can pretty easily make the trip. But, before this station opened, I would have still been pinned down to the Village. The Bolt would give more flexibility, but ultimately, I’d be on a tether from the nearest Level 2 charging station about as long as half the Bolt’s range, and I’d be facing hours of charging before I could go out on another side trip again.
This new Electrify America station won’t be helpful to LEAF owners (it’s only CCS), but all of the CCS cars will now have that much more flexibility when visiting the South Rim. Instead of worrying about range, it will be easier to get a charge and go back out again.
My Upcoming Trip
In a few weeks, I’m going to be heading up to the South Rim to get some camping time in. Before this station opened, I had planned on trying to camp in the Village where all of the hotels, restaurants, and national park offices are. That way, I could get a Level 2 charge while I sleep so I could go out and enjoy more things.
Instead, I’m now planning on camping out away from a campground, or “dispersed camping.” In RV jargon, I’ll be boondocking. I have some Shiftpod insulated shelters, heat pumps, and a variety of other electric glamping gear. Instead of relying on shore power or solar for this, I’ll instead be using the car as a battery. I’m hooking a 2000 watt power inverter up to the car, and will be using a 3 kWh power station as a buffer.
In other words, instead of relying on the grid to charge the car and run glamping gear, I’ll be using the car to power my own little grid out and away from the crowds. Obviously, I’m still relying on the grid to fast charge in town, but the fast charging gives me a lot more freedom and flexibility to decide where and when I use electricity back at camp.
Ultimately, that’s what EV charging does. It’s not just about the range and convenience as much as getting a little more freedom to make your own driving and route planning decisions. The more of this we can get, the merrier.
Featured image provided by Electrify America.
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