Was wondering about a trip from Southern Ontario to Calgary next June. Looks like no problem to Butte, Montana or even to the Tesla Chargers in Helena, Montana. But looks like there is only one J772 between there and Lethbridge, Alberta in Great Falls, Montana. Do any people have experience driving from Calgary south into the US?
I just came back from Edmonton->Las Vegas->Edmonton in an AWD LR Model 3 with Fort McLeod->Lethbridge->Helena->Butte as part of the route (and back the same way although I took an overnight break on this chunk on the way back).
Going South is the section you need to be careful about as you gain elevation.
Supercharged to 97% at Fort McLeod
Top up to 98% at Peavey Mart in Lethbridge (its about 15 KW J1772, and there's an equivalent 15KW+ Tesla destination charger at Water Pure and Simple as a backup) I also did a demo there and burnt off some reserves showing off the "Tesla accelleration" so had even less than that.
Drive at 90 kph to the border on Highway 4. This is a quiet 2 lane in each direction highway, no worries about being slower than speed limit.
Drive at 55 mph from the border to Vaughn on I15. Still a nice quiet section of highway with no worries about being slower.
Take the Ulm-Vaughn road to Ulm at about 50 mph (bypassing the climb and extra mileage to Great Falls and back). This is 1 lane in each direction, mostly paved but with about a 2-3 mile stretch of gravel. I took this to break up the monotony of driving and save some range but I don't think it saved that much because there were a couple of rollercoaster hills. I'd probably skip this if I was to do it again, I don't think it saved that much and this can't be done in autosteer mode
Back on I15, drive at 65 mph to Helena. Still slower than the speed limit but not so bad. I could have taken this at the speed limit with more time at Suds Hut if I wanted to.
Charge at Suds Hut in Helena for supper. There are 2 fast Tesla destination chargers and 1 J1772 charger there, and the food is great.
Drive at 65 mph on I15 to Butte. Could probably have gone faster but it was night.
Going North (Butte to Helena, Helena to the border, border to Lethbridge) you should be able to skip the Ulm-Vaughn road shortcut and do the speed limit since you are going lower in elevation. You can check the energy graph at Great Falls and slow down if you think you will cut it close getting to Lethbridge since that section from Great Falls to Lethbridge is a quiet section of road with 2 lanes in each direction.
On my trip I supercharged at Butte, drove to Conrad Super 8 and stayed the night while charging on their 14-50, then went through to the Fort McLeod supercharger, without needing to stop at Helena or Lethbridge.
