Crystal Mountain Now A Tesla Driving Destination

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08 December 2014

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SAM Magazine—Thompsonville, Mich., Dec. 8, 2014—Crystal Mountain is the first location in northern Michigan designated as a Tesla Driving Destination Partner, in which the electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer establishes complimentary charging stations for its customers.

The new high-power connectors provided by Tesla offer more than twice the power of a typical charging station. There are now about 150 Tesla Supercharger stations in the U.S., and the Destination Partners, are, in a sense, an extension of that program—although the Partners can't offer quite the speed of a Supercharger station. It takes 4.5 hours to recharge at Crystal using a Tesla charger.

As a Destination Partner, Crystal is within the single-charge driving range for Tesla owners across much of the Lower Peninsula. For example, a Tesla S85D with all-wheel drive has a range of 295 miles. The total energy cost of that one-way trip is approximately $10.

Three years ago, Crystal Mountain became the first resort in Michigan to install complimentary charging stations for EVs (including its own Chevy Volt). The resort now has five stations, three that accommodate any make or model EV, and two that exclusively service Tesla.

“This is an amenity that aligns closely with our culture of sustainability and environmental stewardship," said Jim MacInnes, Crystal Mountain CEO and vice-chair of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers National Energy Policy Committee. “What's more, we believe this is an amenity for which there will be a growing demand in the years ahead." In a release, Crystal Mountain cited a University of California-Davis study that projects there will be one million EVs on the road by 2017.