Best EV Charging When Visiting Pendleton, Oregon

Thinking of traveling to Pendleton, Oregon in your electric vehicle? Why shouldn’t you! Pendleton is an amazing city, with some great local events and attractions. There is the ever-popular Pendleton Roundup and Woolin Mills with the city’s namesake. The Tamástslikt Cultural Institute provides an in-depth look at the history and culture of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla tribes. It’s one of the few museums in the country that tells the story of Western expansion from the Native American perspective.

Maybe you’re heading there from Portland (209 miles away), Boise (222 miles), or Seattle (273 miles). At those distances, you’re pushing the comfortable range of most modern electric vehicles. Even if you can make it, you’re crawling into town with a very low battery. We’ll show you the best place to charge up on your way in and out of, and while you’re staying in Pendleton, Oregon.

EV Charging on your way into Pendleton, Oregon

As a major East-West corridor, there are many options as you head into Pendleton on the I-84 for EV charging. But don’t forget cities like Walla Walla to the north, which are a “charging oases” in an otherwise “charging desert.”

From the East

Leaving Boise on I-84 leaves you with a few fast-charging options in each of the cities you pass through along your way to Pendleton. Telsa drivers have it a little bit easier with some dedicated Supercharger locations in Ontario. The T&T Country Store in Huntington has an Electrify America station and there seems to be a very nice ChargePoint location near the Starbucks in La Grande.

From the West

Once you leave Portland, there are a few fast-charger locations along I-84 on your way to Pendleton, but honestly, we’re surprised there aren’t more. Hood River is a great place to stop and charge up. The Dalles is more of a halfway point, but the charging there seems to be more vehicle-specific (Tesla-only, Rivian-only). There does seem to be a DC-charger at the Fred Meyer that is vehicle-agnostic. Miss an opportunity to charge in the Dalles? Try to make it to Hermiston and get some electrons at the Space Age Fuel center off I-84. Oh and pick up a watermelon if they’re in season.

From the North

There are a ton of fast-chargers all along I-82. The city of Yakama is a convenient half-way point to Pendleton, and lucky for you it has excellent fast-charging infrastructure located just off the highway. The Baymont has 8 Tesla stations while the nearby Walmart has its normal complement of Electrify America stations. If you’re hungry, the Tesla station (open to non-Telsa) near Bob’s Burgers and Brews is a great place for a pitstop.

If you can make it past Yakima with range to spare, you can also hit up the fast-chargers in Prosser or Kennewick before you make it to the I-84.

EV Charging while staying in Pendleton, Oregon

Surprisingly, as of this writing, there are only two fast-charging locations in Pendleton, Oregon. One is located at the Heritage Station Museum, which you should check out anyway, so that’s good. The other fast charger is a NACS station a bit outside the city at the Wildhorse Resort & Casino. The casino has some family-friendly options, such as a bowling alley and arcade, to keep everyone entertained while you charge up. There are a smattering of L2 stations around the city at popular tourist destinations, such as The Children’s Museum of Eastern Oregon.

If you’re spending the night, one of the easiest ways to charge your vehicle is to book a place to stay with an EV charger and charge up while you sleep. It looks like the Hampton Inn has a few L2 chargers that are pay-by-minute, but that’s the only hotel we found in the city on PlugShare. And we only found one AirBnB with an EV charger listed in Pendleton, Oregon too. Yikes!

Looks like we need to get some hosts signed up to bring some Ranger Stations online in Pendleton. If you’ve got a property you’d like to add an EV charging amenity, let us know.

About Ranger EV

Ranger EV helps to professionally manage EV chargers as an amenity at sites across the PNW. The Ranger platform enables Guests and Hosts to more easily share energy for powering sustainable travel. Check out the app or contact them today if you’re interested in hosting a Ranger Station™ on your property and welcoming more EV travelers to your home or business.