Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Mountain News: Tesla installs charging stations

SILVERTHORNE, Colo. – Driving a Tesla electric car just got much easier in the I-70 corridor of Colorado. Tesla is installing eight fast-charging stations at the Outlets at Silverthorne, located 113 kilometres from downtown Denver.
news_mtnnews1

SILVERTHORNE, Colo. – Driving a Tesla electric car just got much easier in the I-70 corridor of Colorado. Tesla is installing eight fast-charging stations at the Outlets at Silverthorne, located 113 kilometres from downtown Denver.

From Silverthorne, it's another 48 kilometres to Vail, 145 kilometres to Steamboat Springs, and 161+ kilometres to Aspen, depending upon the season.

In 30 minutes, the charging stations can deliver electricity sufficient for 322 kilometres of driving.

"Just like in California, where Tesla began in the major metro areas and then provided charging stations at incremental locations while expanding outwards, a Silverthorne charging station will get Denver metro residents to Steamboat, Vail Valley and the Aspen area and back," explains Kevin Batchelder, town manager of Silverthorne.

In May, Tesla announced plans for a network of 200 fast-charging stations that will connect most of the major population centers in the United States and Canada, providing free electricity at the dispensers.

"The expansion of the network will mean that Model S drivers can take the ultimate road trip — whether that's L.A. to New York, Vancouver to San Diego, or Montreal to Miami — without spending a cent on fuel," said Tesla in its May announcement.

Only Tesla Model S cars can be charged. They run about $70,000 but have a much bigger battery pack than other electric cars. A Nissan Leaf, for example, has a theoretical battery range of 125 kilometres. Because of the limited range, the standard advice in mountain towns is that it's best to buy a hybrid, with an electric component and a gasoline engine.

But why should this be good news for other electric car owners? A correspondent in Oregon for KATU asked that question of Phil Barnhart, a state representative from Eugene.

"The first cellphone was a brick," he answered. "It weighed like a brick. It cost $10,000. If somebody didn't buy the thing, we wouldn't have this," he said, pulling his iPhone out of his pocket. "You've got to have early adopters."

In Silverthorne, the town government lined up Tesla with the Canada-based owners of the factory-outlet complex. Tesla doesn't demand prime real estate, but it does require use of four or five parking spaces plus 200 to 600 square feet for the charging equipment.

Dog and bear tangle

WHITEFISH, Mont. — The Whitefish Pilot managed a trifecta in its headline: "Dog survives bear attack on Lion Mountain." And none of it was a stretch.

A nine-year-old weimaraner named Daisy raced around the house that is located on Lion Mountain, located about three kilometres from Whitefish, to confront an invader, a sow bear. Protecting its two cubs that had climbed a tree, the sow swiped into Daisy twice with great success.

Daisy's human companions rushed the dog to a veterinarian, who managed to save the dog's life, but just barely. They tell the Pilot that they realize they are in "bear-adise," what with all the berries and apple trees, but have made a point of picking up the fruit to make their home less attractive to bears.

As for Daisy, she's pushing her luck. She was once shot through the chest with an arrow and another time suffered a severely broken leg while chasing a ball. Cats may get nine lives, but probably not dogs.

Construction resumes, but not exuberantly so

PARK CITY, Utah — Summer is wrapping up with a flourish of building in Park City, as $10 million in permits were issued for each of July and August. But the Park Record notes that totals remain far below those of the exuberant years between the 2002 Winter Olympics and the Great Recession.

driver says cops target Ferraris

ASPEN, Colo. — Part-time Aspen resident Marc Ostrofsky says that the local cops picked on him. He drives a red Ferrari, and he was charged with driving 34 mph in a 25 mph zone. He denies that, but tried to round up the six other Ferrari owners in Aspen to make the case before the traffic judge that the local cops target them.

The Aspen Daily News says that the local police chief, Richard Pryor, denies any such profiling.

Pleading no contest, Ostrofsky elected to take an online driving course, which comes with a $100 administrative fee. That shouldn't be a problem. Time magazine two years ago reported that Ostrofsky had made $50 million in the past two decades as an online entrepreneur.

'Burners' told to avoid Mono County

MAMMOTH VILLAGE, Calif. —The Burning Man Festival held in Nevada's Black Rock Desert over Labour Day weekend this year included a sign warning other "burners," as festival-goers are nicknamed, against driving through Mammoth Village and Mono County.

Why the steer-clear and don't-spend-money message? The local sheriff's department and the state patrol both had patrols or stops during the flux of traffic between Los Angeles and the desert site. The Sheet reports the men and women with the badges made several arrests for drug charges.

Ski towns worry about flood potential

VAIL, Colo. — After storms dumping prodigious amounts of rain on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, local governments in ski towns and other mountain valleys were dispatching people, equipment and money to flood-stricken communities.

For example, about 65 employees from Aspen, Snowmass Village and Pitkin County were placed on call to help. "I'm pretty impressed that we were able to put 65 people on the table and still cover each other's backs," said John Peacock, Pitkin County manager. He told the Aspen Daily News that 25 pieces of heavy equipment, from backhoes to dump trucks, would also be available.

The Vail area also dispatched aid, and the question logically arose: Could it happen here? Mark Miller, the local police chief, told the Vail Daily that 18 inches would devastate Vail.

Crested Butte reaches pot compromise

CRESTED BUTTE, Colo. — A compromise has been struck. The Crested Butte Town Council was set to allow sales of recreational marijuana in all commercial zones. But parents and others turned out in force, demanding restrictions that sales be quarantined to only limited business districts — and especially not on Elk Avenue, the prime hang-out area for both teenagers and tourists.

The Crested Butte News reports great anxieties expressed at a local meeting. One parent wondered what happens if a marijuana-infused lollipop gets thrown away and a kid or a dog gets it. "The stakes are high in Crested Butte and the penalties should be harsh," she said.

Another speaker, identified as a second-home owner, admitted that he has many friends who use marijuana and said he wasn't the least bit afraid for his grandchildren. Just the same, he urged moderation.

And that's what Crested Butte did. No sales outlets on the tourist strip and with the "shut" sign going up at 8 p.m. and a maximum of five outlets. This compares with liquor sales until midnight at stores and until 2 a.m. in bars, plus 32 places for purchase of alcohol on just one street, Elk Avenue.

This compares with neighbouring Mt. Crested Butte, the municipality at the base of the ski area. There, the view is: no time and nowhere.

Taking the long view was Jim Schmidt, a town resident since the 1970s and a fixture on the Crested Butte Town Council. He said fear being expressed about recreational marijuana is similar to that expressed when medical marijuana rules were being drawn up.