Hi everyone!
I’ve been following this closely as we’re making a road trip out to Charlottetown this weekend with our Model 3 from Ontario. We can get as far as Bangor, ME on Superchargers and are going to use Level 2 chargers from there.
Has anyone done that drive with the LR Model 3? The car says it should have enough range to go directly from Bangor to Charlottetown, but it is 587km which is well over the car’s rated max of 499km.
Any tips or advice on the drive would be great!
I think others have answered this question about tripping through Maine but here are my 2 cents.
I've done the trip to Moncton from Toronto through Maine and back twice or 3 times before R-du-L opened. It's easily doable with only one L2 charging stop. The last time I went to Moncton I went through Canada only but I had a borrowed CHAdeMO adapter so I did one CHAdeMO stop instead of one L2 stop.
If you have CHAdeMO, Maine is (on paper) still about 10 minutes faster than going on the TransCanada, but I suspect that 10 minutes will be eaten up at the border heading back into NB from Maine. (The border crossings you will probably hit in Quebec or Ontario going into the northeastern US will likely be very quiet--I've seen some where there were not even guards--just a video camera to talk into.)
In short, if you have a CHAdeMO adapter:
1. take the Maine route if you want some scenery and aren't afraid of smaller roads but
2. stick to the TransCanada if you want to have safer roads (divided highway the whole way) and avoid potential border crossing hassles.
I'm going today (with a borrowed adapter) and taking the transcanada.
If you can't get a CHAdeMO adapter, Maine is faster because it's shorter and the roads are slower so you'll get more range so need less charge time.
Once past the last supercharger in Brewer, ME, I always charge / eat in St. Stephen, NB (using the station downtown by the river, across from Pizza Delight, at a brewpub). But my heavy Model S will only go about 400km on a full charge; maybe further on the 90km/hr road through northern Maine, but less on the 110km/hr TransCanada in NB.
I doubt you will get from Brewer to Charlottetown on one charge even with your long range Model 3, but you will get a long way. I strongly suspect you can make it to Moncton and do something for a while when the car is charging. Just keep an eye on it. There are many L2 places to stop between St. Stephen and Moncton. If it looks like you won't make it, you can change plans and stop, just like you would with an ICE car. There might not be as many L2 chargers as gas stations, but there are still between 13 to 16 L2 chargers along that route, depending how far you want to stray off the highway.
Try keeping it to 100km/hr once you get into NB instead of the speed limit (which I think is 110). People might not like it, but it's a 4 lane highway. They can go around.
In a Model 3 you might even make it all the way to rypalmer's place on the island to charge!
If only they hadn't built that bridge, the ferry would have saved you some range. ;-)