Wyoming's Loneliest EV Chargers Sits In The Middle Of Nowhere

Many may ask why the heck someone would put a solar-powered EV charger in the middle of nowhere in central Wyoming. Turns out it's left from Rivian's testing of EV trucks in the rugged and brutal Cowboy State terrain and weather.

This solar-powered EV charging station on the 5,000-acre Red Canyon Ranch in the middle of nowhere near Lander, Wyoming, was put there as part of a test to see how EVs perform in the brutal Wyoming weather and rugged terrain. (Bill Sniffin, Cowboy State Daily)

Electric vehicle charging stations are becoming more common in Wyoming. Still, there are a lot of remote places in the Cowboy State’s wide open spaces where they would seem out of place and subject to mockery.

One of those places is the Red Canyon Ranch, a rugged and remote 5,000-acre property south of Lander managed by The Nature Conservancy. Yet, two EV charging stations are prominently placed at the Red Canyon Learning Center on Red Canyon Road.

The charging stations are functional and available to anyone driving one of many EV models on the market. However, they’re more than just a couple of random EV chargers in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. The Red Canyon stations are part of a unique experiment that tests the limits of EVs in the harsh conditions of the Cowboy State.

EV trucks have been working on Nature Conservancy properties outside Lander and Ten Sleep for more than two years. So far, the directors of both sites said they’ve performed incredibly well.

"I thought (the EV truck) was super capable," said John Coffman, Western Wyoming stewardship director for The Nature Conservancy in Wyoming. "It could get up and go anywhere a Jeep or a side-by-side could go, and it was comfortable and suitable for the country."

Coffman said he and his colleagues at the Red Canyon Ranch and the Tensleep Preserve in the Bighorn Mountains have been driving pickups built by Rivian Automotive Inc. The California-based company focuses on creating practical outdoor electric vehicles.

"The Nature Conservancy has a partnership with Rivian," Coffman said. "We were working with their special programs group and testing the trucks out on preserves. As part of that partnership, we were testing and providing feedback on how it might work for ranch management."

The Wyoming Chapter was one of four Nature Conservancy preserves selected to test the company's vehicles. To facilitate the tests, the company installed EV charging stations for its trucks at both locations. The side benefit is anyone visiting also can charge up there.

Coffman drove Rivian's RT1, a pickup that can comfortably seat five people while going from 0 to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds, according to the company's website, and has a range of 420 miles on a single charge.

In March 2022, Rivian's trucks were shared between the Red Canyon Ranch and the Tensleep Preserve. Coffman had nothing but positive things to say about how the RT1 performed in the rugged terrain outside Lander.

"It had 900 pounds of torque and 850 horsepower," he said. "And the whole truck lifts to 18 inches of clearance. That made it suitable for getting over rocks and other obstacles, which was useful. It could get up and go."

Trey Davis, Eastern Wyoming stewardship director for The Nature Conservancy, was sitting in one of the Rivian RT1s when Cowboy State Daily called to ask him about it.

"I've been privileged to drive three different ones," he said. "At first, we were able to drive a prototype when the company came out to visit our site. Later, I had a pre-production model, and this would have been the same one John Coffman was driving. And most recently, for about a year, I've been driving a launch edition, which means one of the first editions of the Rivian RT1."

Davis said one of the reasons Rivian and The Nature Conservancy wanted to use the RT1s in Wyoming was to see how they perform in winter. Davis said he regularly drove his test trucks over the Bighorn Mountains through the lowest subzero temperatures of winter in the course of his duties, providing a perfect test for the trucks.

"I frequently traveled over the Bighorns to our Tensleep Preserve, including a whole bunch of winter use during the toughest times of year," he said. "I drove it in 31 below zero and in temperatures nearly that cold quite a few times and through 8% grades in mountainous terrain."

Davis said the harsh winter conditions did impact the purported range of the RT1, but not enough that he was ever imperiled on his journeys. Luckily, the charging stations Rivian installed at the Tensleep Preserve ensured there was enough juice to get the vehicle everywhere it needed to go.

"When it comes to handling Wyoming's winter conditions safely, in ice and snow, it served very well," he said. "The grades and the cold weather do affect the ability and range of the battery, but I've been traveling mainly in the same mountain range. I didn't have to worry much about running out of energy in the winter."

Additionally, Davis said the truck did everything else that any other vehicle would be required to do at both of The Nature Conservancy's Wyoming preserves.

A Rivian RT1 is expensive, with the Dual Standard model starting at nearly $70,000 with a range of 240 miles on a single charge. Thanks to their partnership, The Nature Conservancy now has a higher-end Rivian free of charge.

"(Rivian) donated it to our chapter of the Nature Conservancy," he said. "We drove it for quite some time while still under their ownership, and they donated it to us this year."

That donation included the EV charging stations at Red Canyon Ranch and the Tensleep Preserve.

"They installed those chargers for us to charge the trucks, and some chargers are available to folks as part of their charging network," Coffman said.

Rivian announced the opening of its first Rivian Network Adventure Site in Wyoming, six stations in Cheyenne, in March 2024. A map on the company's website shows sites in Gillette, Buffalo, Sheridan, Cody and Rock Springs as "coming soon."

The charging station at the Red Canyon Ranch appears on Rivian's map, while the one at the Tensleep Preserve doesn't. Nevertheless, all the stations are open to the public and compatible with most EVs.

"It's a solar facility, by the way," Davis said. "It was partially tied into solar now and then, and we're working on taking it completely to solar."

Both Coffman and Davis attested to the R1T's excellent performance in Wyoming. After years of rugged terrain and subzero excursions, they believe the trucks have proven themselves as capable as any other vehicle.

"It's not my job in any way to advertise for the company or criticize the company, but I do have a lot of experience with all-wheel drive vehicles in hard conditions," Davis said. "But the R1T served really well and still does."

“Electric trucks are just WRONG.”

Electric series hybrids like a locomotive a re perfect for trucks. You get all the zero rpm torque of an electric drive system just like a locomotive plus the unlimited range of having liquid or gaseous fuels. Add in a small high density pack and you get huge peak torque and HP, regen energy captured to double your mpg and with a plug in pack the first 40 or 50 miles of five times cheaper per mile in fuel costs. Retail kWh is five times cheaper than retail diesel fuel per mile.

When my current F250 diesel dies a noble truck death I hope Ford has a diesel electric series hybrid with a 50 mile plug in range ready for sale. Also a series hybrid can have V2G so you have 80 amps of 240V anywhere the truck goes all the time everywhere off grid. That alone is worth it for folks doing real work and truck things off grid in the oil patch or construction.

Sort by 50kw and higher to see fast DC. Looks to be a number of CCS scattered about those are the blue and purple pins. Tesla are red and yeah primarily on the interstate which is Tesla biz model make it so people with Tesla can get from City to City not BFE.

https://chargefinder.com/us/search

I have a Model 3 on lease. I also have the CCS adapter that also does J1772 single phase AC most only do CCS DC. Get the dual it’s worth the extra $20 over a DC CCS only it opens up 10000+ more charge points to a comparable Tesla. Only certain model 3 can CCS at 170kw mine can it has the newest ECU which is needed for CCS. Tesla will retrofit an older model for a fee fyi.

I have also charged a Model Y totally off grid via a 15,000 watt generator set up with the fourth pin hard grounded to earth as Tesla looks for the floating ground of a generator you have to hard ground it not difficult for anyone with a college level of engineering knowledge. We were coastal fishing offgrid and had the genset for site A.C. And lighting loads anyways. That genset plus 5 twenty liter jerry cans all fit on the hitch mounted cargo shelf behind the Model Y. Full disclosure we had my 4x4 expedition for the boat so not the only vehicle at beach camp.

My Model 3 will also take 48amps 240V from that generator if needed and has a 1_1/2 receiver hitch to mount the same cargo shelf. Tesla says no towing but you can custom mount a hitch mine is for my bike rack and that cargo shelf mostly. It will tow the “whore” trailer a 12 foot light utility trailer that’s gets whored out on the regular to my group of friends. Had as much as 1000lbs on the trailer and with 450hp the M3 hardly noticed it was there the regen however was much higher it maxed out the current and went to friction brakes something it rarely does with no trailer.

Point is it’s not hard to off grid a Tesla if you need too with some basic add ons which have other more important uses anyways. That model Y charged to 80% the first night in 6 hours and didn’t need to pull more than a half dozen amps from the genset the whole rest of trip since it just sat there playing music and running the starlink Wi-Fi. we left with 80% and two cans still had fuel. Since the genset was used for fans, a portable window A.C. unit, led lights,coffee maker not all of that fuel use in fact most of it was not the Model Y. For the twice a year far off grid fishing or camping trip the efficiency of using a genset to charge an EV is moot. I worked out mathematically based on the generators rated fuel flow at 75% load which includes 38 amps for the EV and 8 for lights ,starlink and music system. The gross MPG equivalent was 35mpg for range out of the EV vs gasoline used to run the genset. still not bad and certainly not an issue for twice or so a year use to charge an EV far from the grid. Again a trivial fuel cost if you already own the generator for other uses. The only added costs are the grounding rod and some insulated wire and liquid electrical tape.

The real solution is for Tesla to offer a small portable HVDC range extender a 2cyl 1000cc driving a 400-1200hz alternator into a SiC inverter at 400-800V make it removable and mount it on a receiver hitch or in the front trunk. 5 gal of petrol would give 300+ miles of range. Make this rentalable for the two ish trips per year people take far off the beaten path or for 600+ mile bladder busting seat time. You get all the cheap cost per mile 99% of the time from the outlet , massive torque of the electric drive system and regen braking which saves brake pads. I know people who have 100,000+ on hybrids on the original pads.

420 miles range...Even if the heat or A.C. Cuts that in half which is 210 miles and a 50% range loss. The most I have ever seen in Texas 105 heat and AC ripping at hwy speed which is the worst for an EV is 25% greater watts per mile vs the same IH35 75
Mph trip during the mild spring or fall.

So 210 miles is 50% loss double what I have seen in the real world in an EV.

Zoom to Wyoming and put a 100 mile circle around anyone of the blue,purple or red pins that’s your out and back radius with a 50% loss in pack range. Going pin to pin you can put a 200 mile radius on each pin for a 50% pack loss. I’ll give you a hint there is no part of the state of WY more than 100 miles from one of those pins. Range anxiety is a mental issue and largely a bommer FUD issue.

LHaving now owned for more than 6 months and have rented EVs for years I have never ever had a range issue. The tech in the car will point you to a fast DC charge point along your route if it calculates you don’t have enough to reach your destination in the nav system. It will even allow you to reserve a spot for a fee so you know it’s empty when you arrive. The FSD hands off on the interstates is why I take the EV vs the S60 now every time. That and it’s cheaper for fuel by a factor of two on the road and five at home. Really its free at home as the solar panels charge the EV 200+ days a year. The true cost is the marginal cost of not selling the solar power vs using it for the EV.

I have taken model S and 3s over 1800 mile trips in Gulf of Mexico level summer heat in July and August at that. Since I don’t like cold and refuse to work Alaska or North Dakota in winter it’s moot for me. Still no EV on the market would loss 50% they all max out at 30%. EVs were never ment to be rural cars thst are commuter cars of excellence especially if you can charge at home.

https://chargefinder.com/us/search

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