Use your Supercharger votes to help national parks!

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Recently, Tesla opened up Supercharging to many more vehicles by adding support for GM vehicles. This means many more EV drivers can now participate in Supercharger Voting! When Tesla does this, they give each user 5 votes to use on a map of potential future locations. While areas along the major highways and in major metropolitan areas get a lot of votes, some of the more rural stations don’t seem to get much love.

In this article, I’m going to suggest some ways readers can vote for Superchargers that will benefit EV travel to national parks, including the five locations I chose. I’ll also suggest some places we can ask Tesla to include in the next round of voting!

National Parks with a nearby voting location

One of the first hints I did was look for markers on Tesla’s map that are near or on the way to national parks. It wasn’t that hard to find them!

First I voted for Gardiner, Montana and Cody, Wyoming. These stations are both located near Yellowstone National Park and would place Superchargers on three sides of the park. There’s already one in West Yellowstone, Montana, but unfortunately it’s not a V3, so non-Tesla vehicles can’t use it. It would be great to open two more routes into the park and help Cody, Wyoming, have something more than a dealer charger.

Another place that could use some recharging love is Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park. I know this would be a taxing place to get a charge (in some summers it gets close to 130 degrees), but getting a short charge to climb out of the deep basin below sea level would be very useful. No one wants to get stuck in Death Valley with no air conditioning, right? I just hope Tesla puts a sun shade and maybe some misters or big outdoor fans there! An indoor charging station with AC could also be good for the vehicles.

For my fourth vote, I chose Munising, Michigan. Although not called a national park, nearby Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is just another kind of national park and is managed by the National Park Service. Having charging points nearby would really help travelers both there and to Isle Royale. However, you will still have to take the boat to Isle Royale.

For my final vote, I chose Hot Springs, Arkansas. When I traveled to Hot Springs National Park earlier this year, I relied on Franklin’s Charging, which was great. But they only have two stalls. During the busy season, more stalls are needed in the area, so it is wise to vote accordingly. If Tesla chooses to do this, I would definitely recommend using Franklin’s first as they are a great local small company and have native NACS ports!

With my votes exhausted, there were a few runners-up that I could recommend people consider if you don’t like any of the above. A Supercharger in Ruidoso or Roswell, New Mexico would help drivers reach White Sands National Park. Pinetop-Lakeside, Arizona (near Show Low) would be another great place to get more stalls as that would help with access to several NPS properties in the region. Taos, New Mexico would also be a great spot, offering access to the Rio Grande Gorge (part of a national monument run by the Bureau of Land Management) and Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.

Do you have some locations that you think are better for EV drivers going to national parks? Be sure to let us know in the comments or on social media.

My suggestions for the next round

In addition to the ability to vote, Tesla also provides a link to a suggestion box that you can use to suggest locations for future voting or simply let Tesla choose without voting (it’s not really a democracy).

My biggest disappointment with charging national parks is that it is still difficult to reach the North Rim of the Grand Canyon with an electric car. Many unloaded EVs can get in and out of there via a ChargePoint station in Kanab, Utah, but lower-range EVs and EVs towing RVs and other trailers would still struggle, especially if they’re coming from out east or Flagstaff ! So I suggested that Tesla consider Jacob Lake, Arizona as a Supercharger station.

A station is also needed nearby in Cameron, Arizona. This is good not only for getting to the North Rim from the South Rim or Flagstaff, but also for people trying to travel between the Grand Canyon and other parks like Canyonlands and Arches National Parks. Tesla has a station in Kayenta, but adding a station in Cameron or Tuba City and adding a station at Jacob Lake would pretty much round things out for the region.

Another place that could use some love is the route to Yellowstone National Park from the south. Jackson, Wyoming would be a great place to start because it would also serve Grand Teton National Park. Afton, Wyoming would also be great because it would allow people to travel to Jackson from Bear Lake, Utah.

Another national park that could use a boost is Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado. Cortez, Colorado is in the middle of a major dead zone. Since people use electric vehicles (especially trucks) to tow and power campsites, it would make a lot of sense to have a Supercharger there. So I suggested that too.

Finally, the Blue Ridge Parkway could use a lot of love. It is difficult to pinpoint exact locations, but we should keep in mind that the terrain the road crosses will require additional power consumption, especially when towing. When people struggle to get from attraction to attraction and campsite to campsite, it becomes a more stressful experience than it should be. It’s also great to be able to take power with you to the campsites without hookups along the Parkway!

Whether or not you agree with all my suggestions for voting and suggesting more places, make sure you spread the word that voting is happening! By getting input from EV drivers, Tesla can do right for all of us.

Featured image: A screenshot from Tesla’s Supercharger Voting website.