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Canadian Trip Planning

Discussion in 'Canada' started by Doug_G, Jul 9, 2013.

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  1. Tessaract

    Tessaract Member

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  2. madmax240

    madmax240 Model S 100D

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    #422 madmax240, Aug 19, 2019
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2019
    Got back Saturday afternoon from our trip to Gros Morne NL via Pictou NS with the ms 100D. Left Ottawa (Russell) at 480 kms range and charged at SCs in Drummondville, Rivière-du-Loup, Saint Leonard, Lincoln and Aulac.
    Plugged into 110 at the Airbnb in Pictou, NS for 4 days. This gave me enough to get to the ferry in North Sydney Cape Breton.
    My anxiety started to come around, so I charged to 100% for 1 hour and 28 minutes at Sobeys North Sydney via Chademo. Range indicated 519kms at 100%.

    On the ferry for 6 hours then proceeded to Stephenville, NL. There isn't charging listed there. We stayed at the Days Inn which had a 30 amp plug on the building which they said I could use, but needed and adapter, which I didn't have at the time. It's the circular locking one. Googled it (NEMA L5-30R) I believe. The kind staff let me borrow an extension cord and I connected to an outlet in the room through the window and got around 50kms overnight .

    From Stephenville we set out to charge in Deer Lake at Woodward Auto Group. Tim Hortons next door. Charged to 420 kms while there just because I wanted to be able to have enough to drive around Rocky Harbour. Noticed I pulled about 71 kms/hour when the store was closed vice 50 kms/hour on the way back when the store was open.

    While in Rocky Harbour, we were plugged to 110 at the Airbnb at 5 to 9 kms/hour. We did a bit of driving around and plugged in most of the time when at the Airbnb. After 4 days we left with more than enough to get back to Deer Lake and add 40 or so kms for the trip to Port aux Basques. There we used the Sun Country J1772 at St Christopher's Hotel overnight. Got 71 kms/hour and charged to full. (The charger took a while to connect and start.)

    The next day, we took the ferry into North Sydney and made it to Aulac with 47 kms left. I drove a little more aggressive on the return and kept seeing the keep below 105 or 110 kms/hr warning. Supercharged all the way back in reverse order.

    The trip was amazing and can say the charging options worked out great. We did not have to wait for anyone using the chargers Would have been longer otherwise.
     
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  3. Kashirat

    Kashirat Member

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    Anyone try to make the trip from Edmonton to jasper with a standard range plus model 3? It looks like it’s just outside the EPA range and no supercharger in between (just a slow charger in Edson?)

    Looks like the Trip Planner suggests going down through Calgary and then back up.
     
  4. MarcoRP

    MarcoRP @MontrealTesla

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    I think whichever trip planner youre using is only considering Tesla chargers. There are also other chargers in Niton Junction (14-50), Edson (Tesla) and in Hinton (J-1772). I’d recommend you see PlugShare for charging options
     
  5. MarsNext

    MarsNext Member

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    Currently on a long road trip - Toronto to Calgary (via US - of course). Anybody every take the route - Missoula, MT to Fort MacLeod,AB. It is 412 km between superchargers up and down mountain roads. Needless to say, a little nervous about that leg of the journey.
    As a sub-note, anyone have up to date info on house prices in the area … just in case.
     
  6. tombar

    tombar Member

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    #426 tombar, Sep 24, 2019
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2019
    I haven't taken that route however there are several Tesla destination chargers around Whitefish and quite a few J1772 hotel/motel locations on the route, check on plugshare.com. If you time it for an overnight stop with charge that'll make for a 'worry free' drive.
     
  7. MarsNext

    MarsNext Member

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    Thanks for the info - sounds like a plan
     
  8. SMSMD

    SMSMD Active Member

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    I have driven that route in my Model X 90D. I had a overnight stop in Red lion hotel Kalispell which has a Tesla destination charger. I drove through the west glacier park easily without any tension. The west glacier park also has destination chargers. I hope the road is still open as it's closed during winter.
     
  9. Nairb

    Nairb Member

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    If you're traveling with a CHAdeMO adapter, you could go to the free DC fast charger in Jaffray BC (355km from Missoula) or the one in Sparwood (404km from Missoula) then continue on to Calgary via Hwy 22 and skip Fort MacLeod altogether. Alternatively you could stop in Fernie and use the free level 2 a city hall while going for lunch or a hike as a decent half way stop between Missoula and Calgary. Either way it's probably better than getting a hotel for the night only 4 hours from your destination. If you're thinking of spending a night, the Super 8 in Fernie also has a level 2 charger.
     
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  10. Nairb

    Nairb Member

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    With the Going to the Sun road closed, after the Missoula Supercharger you'd have to go from West Glacier to East Glacier via #2, making the distance to Fort MacLeod more like 489km or do a long backtrack heading East from Missoula making it 530km, or 570km via Great Falls from Missoula. If you have the adapter, I'd head for Jaffray/Sparwood, or if not, do the lunch or overnight in Fernie (373km from Missoula) as it's a far nicer place to spend time than Great Falls. And then it's just 3 hours to Calgary from Fernie via #22 (also a much nicer drive than #2 from Maclead).
     
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  11. Nairb

    Nairb Member

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    Sorry for the extra posting. Just replying directly to you so you see the response alert. See my previous posts about Glacier park road closures and alternate route through Jaffray, Fernie, and Sparwood from Missoula.
     
  12. ceejay44

    ceejay44 Member

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    planning on Squamish BC to Thunder Bay ON via Calgary AB in October and back. Have a CHADEMO adapter, and Petro-Canada has a few level 3s open right now but still substantial gaps from Alberta to Thunder Bay. I guess we'll be going through US sadly
     
  13. Nairb

    Nairb Member

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    Note that Glacier National Park's Going to the Sun Road is closed for paving through to Sept 29th, reopening the 30th:

    Glacier National Park Reminds Public About Logan Pass Access in September - Glacier National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

    I'm not sure what went wrong with my posting with the link about this above (two #429 posts) but it doesn't seem to show unless logged on. We'll see if this one works.
     
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  14. Nairb

    Nairb Member

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    It seems that the new DC fast charger in Cardston, AB (61km South of Fort Macleod Supercharger) might now be operational. There have not been any actual check-ins or uses via Plugshare but one person commented that the FLO app shows it to be activated.

    For those traveling with a CHAdeMO adapter North from the Missoula Supercharger, it's 350km/218miles to Cardston via Going to the Sun road (Typically stays open to the 3rd week of October, however Waterton/Glacier just had about a metre of snow so that route might now be closed until next June). Via East Glacier it's 427km to Cardston ( So it probably still makes more sense to go Missoula to Jaffray/Sparwood BC (348km/398km) DC fast chargers, then on to Calgary via hwy22 (266km from Sparwood).

    My business neighbour (Accelerate Kootenay's) told me last weekend that they are in Southern Alberta the next couple weeks doing ribbon cutting ceremonies at some of these new "Peaks to Prairies" DC fast Chargers. One is coming to Milk River, AB as well (135km SE of Fort Macleod) but that's still a stretch from the Bozeman, Butte, or Missoula Superchargers (435km or more).


    Peaks to Prairies Electric vehicle charging network - Tesla Owners Club Alberta

    This official page says only Canmore and Lethbridge are currently online:

    ATCO | Peaks to Prairies Electric Vehicle Charging Station


    Going-to-the-Sun Road - Glacier National Park (U.S. National Park Service)


    https://www.nps.gov/glac/learn/news/upload/Logan-Pass-Open-Close-Dates_Press-Kit-6-26-2017.pdf
     
  15. Andy O

    Andy O Member

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    I want to drive Winnipeg to Toronto leaving in about 14 days. How do I design a good route? I prefer to stay in Canada, and am not in a big hurry.

    The supercharger network between Calgary and Sudbury is almost complete and could possibly be operational by then, or partly operational. There is no detailed info on what the rollout timing is like, only observations that in some places everything seems to have been built. There is a better chance that they will be operational for the return trip but the road conditions in Canada might be poorer then.
     
  16. MarsNext

    MarsNext Member

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    Decided against going through Glacier National Park. Took #15 south and stopped at Great Falls. Stayed overnight at Springhill Suites - they have a Tesla charger. Worked great and the hotel was above expectations. On to Butte, MT the next morning then all the way across the U.S. back to Toronto.
    Look forward to being able to make this drive across Canada next year. Fingers crossed.
     
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  17. tombar

    tombar Member

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    You don't mention which model you have and it's range or if you CHAdeMO adapter. Weather and road conditions is an issue even going through US this late in the fall. I'd reconsider doing the trip till the late spring when more SCs should be completed. For planning purposes I'd use plugshare.com , it includes Tesla SCs, CHAdeMO chargers, And L2 charges.
     
  18. Andy O

    Andy O Member

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    Thank you tombar. I have a model 3 LR and no CHAdeMO adapter. I understand what road conditions can be like at this time of year, and if they're atrocious I guess I will postpone until spring or take a US route. The route through northern Michigan is gorgeous at this time of year because of the leaves but I haven't considered it because of the presumed difficulty charging there. You suggest Plugshare; ok, I've done that before.
     
  19. Birdman325

    Birdman325 Member

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    Apologies in advance for the duplicate post. I posted this in the Model 3 forum but should have posted it here.

    Planning out an upcoming Toronto - Teaneck NJ and then return trip. I have done this a couple of times in my Model 3 and the trip was great, but for this upcoming trip, my return is late night. I am planning on leaving Teaneck only at about 7:30 or 8 pm which means even a 45 minute delta between taking the Tesla and my wife's SUV (to account for the charging time) could be the difference between arriving home at 2:45 or 3 in the morning vs 3:30 or 4 in the morning. Of course, the benefit of the 3 is the supreme added value of EAP late at night making the driving that much easier.

    My main question relates to some of the SC stops along the way. Abetterrouteplanner has me stopping at Roscoe, Erwin and Buffalo (which is often the route I take). I have stopped at each of these before and I am a little concerned about arriving at these locations late at night. The Roscoe supercharger is in the parking lot of the Roscoe diner which is likely to be closed by the time I get there. There is very small local gas station across the street but nothing else.

    The Erwin SC is in the parking lot of a Dunkin Donuts which is also likely to be closed by the time I get there. Buffalo is in a nice strip mall with a Borders - great for the daytime, but definitely closed when I get there.

    My main concern with these SC locations is not safety, but restroom stops. If I have to stop at these locations to charge, and then need to stop again for restrooms, the added time will be a real issue.

    Especially late at night, and given the "restroom" issue, my preference would be to stay on the Thruway - better lighting, and restrooms right off the highway if needed (5 minutes in and out) but I am not familiar with any of the SC locations along that route.

    Any thoughts or guidance? TIA (Thanx in advance)
     
  20. ceejay44

    ceejay44 Member

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    I am about to return from Thunder Bay to the west coast, reversing what I did 10 days ago or so. If you have a CHADEMO adapter, you're good to go I would think: leave Winnipeg with a full charge, charge at one of two level 3s in Kenora, then bump up in Ignace at Petro Canada, then charge in Thunder Bay at Petro Canada or other level 3, then Nipigon and Wawa at Petro Canada, then presumably you can get a level 2 charge in the Sault, then Petro Canada in Espanola and onwards. Just beware about range loss: I have new winter tires, mud flaps, a rack on top and had some headwinds and colder weather (between -2C and 5C) when drove out to TBay and was only getting about 400km on a full battery (I've got a LR AWD and am using the wheel covers)
     
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