Hotwired
Welcome to this week's Reno News & Review.
It feels kind of weird to be on the leading edge of something, but having my electric car feels that way. You know me: I'm about as hip as your grandma. After I wrote about Harrah's new charging stations, I got an email from Circus Circus that they are also adding charging stations. I doubt the two installations are related, but three incidents make a pattern. Krystal Pyatt, Circus Circus publicity person, tells me they're adding four stations, 240 volt, on the ground floor of the north parking garage.
Circus Circus has some restrictions. For example, it's only for guests, but I'm not quite sure what their definition of guest is. According to Pyatt: “Guests will be allowed to charge for a maximum of four hours. To do so they will acquire a parking pass from the front desk. The whole process will be free as an added value to Circus Circus Reno customers.”
While I think it's great that Circus Circus is adding green amenities, I'm not sure about the logic of the restrictions. It's free parking in the garage, right? I think the idea behind the free parking is that people who park there are more likely to eat and gamble in the casino—the idea behind all amenities casinos offer. But electric cars are mainly commuter cars. That suggests, the drivers are not coming from Sacramento or probably even Fallon. That means, it's people from Reno who are using them, not people who are staying in the hotel.
The majority of people using “outside” chargers are just using them for convenience when parking. I'm just trying to put myself in a gambler's seat, but it seems to me if I'm at Circus Circus for four hours, and then I have to leave to move my car, I'd probably just leave.
At any rate, that's one of the exciting things with disruptive innovation, you don't know how things will work out. One of these casinos in town will figure out the best practice, and then probably everyone will emulate it. All I know is that while I'm really pleased with my decision to go electric, I've still got a pretty long stretch before I'd call me hip.
