Questions on Long Term Parking at ORD

[Jack Smoke]

How about a one way rental minivan/suv? I’ve done that a few times when I’m flying out of ORD.

Didn’t realize they had chargers in Long term parking. By all means, use them for the intended purpose. I’d try and find one under a streetlight and keep the GearGuard on. I would be checking GG frequently

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[Craigins]

Charging in the western suburbs is sketchy, not sure it it applies to around ORD.

The EA station I usually top off at before trips sucks and delivers around 50kW regardless of state of charge (150 kW chargers) and typically only 1 or 2 of the 3 pedestals are working. When i head further out, same issue of half of them being down and the remaining ones not delivering at pedestal capacity. Even a brand new evgo station had a few pedestals down and someone blocking the 350kW charger. I was stuck on a 100kW to top off, which wasn't too bad, only wasted a few minutes.

Make sure to watch plugshare for the days leading to your trip. And build in time incase you have to wait for a charger to open up.

 

[BuchRivian]

Charging in the western suburbs is sketchy, not sure it it applies to around ORD.

The EA station I usually top off at before trips sucks and delivers around 50kW regardless of state of charge (150 kW chargers) and typically only 1 or 2 of the 3 pedestals are working. When i head further out, same issue of half of them being down and the remaining ones not delivering at pedestal capacity. Even a brand new evgo station had a few pedestals down and someone blocking the 350kW charger. I was stuck on a 100kW to top off, which wasn't too bad, only wasted a few minutes.

Make sure to watch plugshare for the days leading to your trip. And build in time incase you have to wait for a charger to open up.

Thanks for the feedback. Exactly what I was looking for. Plugshare shows pretty decent ratings of the EA chargers @ the Fashion Outlets by ORD. That would be right on my drive in, so if those are reliable, would be a great option. Just need to figure out (when I get my vehicle) what the expected drain will be for sitting for an extended period of time.

 

[Wentworth]

https://www.oharepersonalvalet.com/
google’s an amazing thing.
This might be cost-prohibitive for the length of your trip, but I think this is the sort of solution you might want to pursue. Apologies for “chops busting” re: using google. I’d want someone to be able to mind my R1 and make sure it was as charged as I needed it to be when I got back. Extra services, however, cost more. At this stage of the EV charging infrastructure and the vampire drain, I don’t see another good solution. There were a number of valet options that came up when I searched for “ORD valet parking,” this was the first one that mentioned EV charging access. Call around, see what you can arrange. You might find a hotel or other valet service that will move the R1 on and off a charger for you.

 

[MIG]

How about 3rd-party offsite parking? There are several services, some with EV charging available. Cheaper than O'Hare parking and you can probably arrange for a top-up the day before your arrival. Here's one:

https://www.oharepersonalvalet.com/

 

[BuchRivian]

https://www.oharepersonalvalet.com/
google’s an amazing thing.
This might be cost-prohibitive for the length of your trip, but I think this is the sort of solution you might want to pursue. Apologies for “chops busting” re: using google. I’d want someone to be able to mind my R1 and make sure it was as charged as I needed it to be when I got back. Extra services, however, cost more. At this stage of the EV charging infrastructure and the vampire drain, I don’t see another good solution. There were a number of valet options that came up when I searched for “ORD valet parking,” this was the first one that mentioned EV charging access. Call around, see what you can arrange. You might find a hotel or other valet service that will move the R1 on and off a charger for you.

How about 3rd-party offsite parking? There are several services, some with EV charging available. Cheaper than O'Hare parking and you can probably arrange for a top-up the day before your arrival. Here's one:

https://www.oharepersonalvalet.com/

Thanks to both of you for this option. I'm definitely going to check them out.

 

[bd5400]

I’ll add that you cannot count on access to the chargers in the long term parking at ORD. Not only are they typically always full, sometimes the entire lot is full and you can’t even get access to the parking structure to see if there is an available charger. I’ve had that happen twice now with the long term structure, the most recent being a couple of weeks ago.

I personally wouldn’t take my R1T to ORD if I was going to be gone for two weeks or more. If I was going to be gone for more than one week but less than two I’d make sure I charged to 100% as close to the airport as possible. Otherwise, it’s just not worth the hassle of possibly coming back to a dead battery.

The valet option that was posted seems promising at least, but I would make sure to have them charge the vehicle at the start of the trip and ask them to check it closer to the end date. My guess is that it isn’t sitting on a charger the entire time (I’m sure they have to rotate cars) so I wouldn’t want them to leave the truck sitting for weeks thinking they would just charge it the day before pickup.

 

[9527]

I’ll add that you cannot count on access to the chargers in the long term parking at ORD. Not only are they typically always full, sometimes the entire lot is full and you can’t even get access to the parking structure to see if there is an available charger. I’ve had that happen twice now with the long term structure, the most recent being a couple of weeks ago.

Exactly this happened to me 3 weeks ago. And it was also my second time. The entire deck was full. I learned something new though. There was a parking enforcement van parked just outside of the entrance. I asked the guy if I could get in and find a spot. He said no but he gave me a voucher which allowed me to park in the daily parking by terminal 1, 2, and 3 and pay the Lot F rate. There’re charges in the daily parking as well but they’re hard to find and I did not have time to find them.

 

[scooter]

An additional thought came to mind: Do you have status with a major hotel brand? Many of the ORD area hotels will allow you to park at their hotel parking structures for a fixed daily rate and take the shuttles to the terminals (I've personally done it at the Hilton O'Hare Rosemont). Unsure about long term charging but it is another option.

 

[Gimmeoneofeach]

I've used the chargers at the Outlet Shoppes just across from ORD 3x after flying from Chicago. They have been great every time. Grabbed a quick bite at the food court and ready to roll. That said, I'm trying the Ohare Personal Valet service mentioned here for a 2 week trip to Europe at the end of the month. Pricing is pretty reasonable. Ill let you know how that goes.

 

[Riv_Ian]

I had a similar experience to @SSteveEV at DTW. I checked ahead of time with QwikPark about charger availability - just L1 to keep up with vampire drain. When I arrived, they were all occupied. We lost 50 miles of range over 9 days in January with Gear Guard on, which wasn’t a problem fortunately. If the charger spots are already busy enough to be full a lot of the time, I would really like to see a reservation option. Better still, a valet option where you leave a key, let them know when you’ll be back and they ensure it’s at an adequate level of charge when you get back.

 

[pc500]

110 miles for 3 weeks? One way rent a car or uber. Parking has to cost more.

 

[BobK]

Another option:

An additional thought came to mind: Do you have status with a major hotel brand? Many of the ORD area hotels will allow you to park at their hotel parking structures for a fixed daily rate and take the shuttles to the terminals (I've personally done it at the Hilton O'Hare Rosemont). Unsure about long term charging but it is another option.

O’Hare Parking at Nearby Hotels

In the Pre-covid days, I parked at the different hotels in the Marriott chain. Lots were well lit. No problem with vandalism-but that may reflect the fact no one would bother with the kind of cars I drove then. (Marriott had one shuttle bus that continuously circulated between their two hotels and the terminals at O'Hare-so you didn't have to call for a pickup).

Some hotels offered a deal-if you stay one night-they throw in some "free" parking. Nice option if you have an early AM flight.

SpotHero has a nice summary of options. I would check directly with the hotel (website or call) regarding charging (covered or outdoor), parking rates (might be cheaper than spothero), and if you can get hotel points

https://blog.spothero.com/ohare-parking

 

[thebwk]

I've used the chargers at the Outlet Shoppes just across from ORD 3x after flying from Chicago. They have been great every time. Grabbed a quick bite at the food court and ready to roll. That said, I'm trying the Ohare Personal Valet service mentioned here for a 2 week trip to Europe at the end of the month. Pricing is pretty reasonable. Ill let you know how that goes.

How was your experience using the Ohare personal valet service? I'm flying to France for a week in March and am looking for advice on parking my R1S.

Thanks,
Ben

 

[Blueassassin]

So I just got back from a 7 day trip where the truck stayed at the midway garage in the cold. I left it at 67% and turned off the app got back turned on the app and I was at 55%. This is the worst loss I have ever had I keep the cameras on and had plenty of range to get home. Im guessing the weather was the big factor in this. 12% in 7 days still less than 2% per day.

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