Charge!

Tesla charging station coming to Mammoth.

In what mayor Michael Raimondo described as a “very exciting item” on its agenda, Mammoth Town Council has approved 4-0 the authorization of a lease to build a Tesla Supercharging Station at the Park and Ride in downtown Mammoth Lakes. Andrew Levy, a visiting project developer from Tesla Motors, spoke Wednesday evening to the council members and public about the impact such a station would have on the town.

Tesla Motors is a luxury car manufacturer specializing in fully electric vehicles, with most of its cars sporting a sticker price starting at just over $100,000.

The cars, Levy said, can travel a maximum of 270 miles on a fully-charged battery, making Mammoth Lakes an ideal stopping point for travelers from Los Angeles, whether they be en route to Reno and points beyond or visiting Mammoth Lakes as a destination.

Mayor Raimondo mentioned that he has been following Tesla message boards and that, with the recent addition of Lone Pine, Inyokern and Mojave Supercharger Stations, he has seen a great increase in comments about building such a facility in Mammoth Lakes. “I think it’s a big win for the Tesla community that’s been asking for this to happen,” he said.

It was the council’s consensus this will be a boon to the community as well—the proposed location parks Tesla drivers just across the street from the Chart House plaza and within walking distance of businesses along Old Mammoth Road. The Park and Ride is also directly adjacent to trolley stop 10. Cars can be completely charged in 30-40 minutes, giving drivers enough time to walk or take public transport to establishments near the Supercharger station.

Councilman John Wentworth referenced the “Electric Highway,” an in-progress series of Supercharger stations for Electric Vehicles between Reno and Las Vegas.

Nevada currently has 150 Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations in the state (not all of these built by Tesla) and Tesla Motors is building a new battery “gigafactory” in Sparks.

The sentiment of Council is that Mammoth will soon become part of a growing network of EV-friendly towns.

Tesla’s Levy said, “Thirty minutes is just enough time to get some lunch, have some dinner, check out the town … as soon as [the Tesla community] finds out there’s a station in Mammoth they’ll get excited and they’ll head up here.”

Tesla’s onboard computers are equipped with an application that will view the exact GPS location of cars from the owner’s phone, as well as the amount of time required to fully charge the vehicle’s battery, so drivers can plan their Mammoth “layover” accordingly.

Mammoth Lakes already has several EV-charging stations at hotels for the use of guests. The Westin Monache, 80/50, the Village’s Grand Sierra Lodge and Juniper Springs Lodge all sport both Tesla and standard chargers. Sierra Nevada Resort plans to introduce stations on their property this fall.

Tesla will be responsible for maintaining its facilities as well as providing power to the Supercharger Station, which will require taking over 16 parking spaces at the Park and Ride on Old Mammoth and Tavern Roads.

These spaces will be widened to accommodate snow removal (TOML will be responsible for this) and turned into 8 Tesla charging stations. Four of these will be dedicated to Tesla vehicles only (“Dedicated” Stalls) and another four will become “Enabled” Stalls—available for 30 minute general parking for any vehicle, including other electric and hybrid cars. The proposed lease dictates that “The Town is not required to be proactive in parking enforcement should other vehicles use the spaces.” However, the agreement does reserve the right for Tesla Motors to convert “enabled” stalls to “dedicated” stalls with ten days notice “if demand dictates.”

The Park and Ride at Tavern Road was deemed “under-utilized” in the Town’s staff report. No shocker.

The project is anticipated to be completed this fall and the charging stations will be available 24 hours a day. It seems as though Tesla has a good deal of interest in the project—the company has even offered to foot half of the bill should the location of the Supercharger Station need to be changed after the first five-year lease expires, a courtesy they haven’t extended to some of the other locations they’ve built stations in. The towns of Ukiah and Crescent City would have to pay all the costs completely were they to move locations, even after fulfilling five-year leases.

After the terms of the first lease has been fulfilled, TOML would need to give Tesla Motors a one-year notice if they do decide to relocate—the impetus for this agreement is based on previous plans for the location as a tentative affordable housing complex as well as a multistory parking structure.

Mayor Raimondo, clearly smitten with the idea of Tesla coming to Mammoth Lakes, had only this to say before initiating the unanimous vote: “Lastly, how do we get Elon [Musk, founder of Tesla] to come for the ribbon-cutting?”