Driving Between Ottawa and Toronto

[Peter_M]

If you get any flak for the waiting while charging or for the slow driving, just tell them it's probably the last time you'll have to do it this way. In the summer, your range will be better, and by some time this year there should be a supercharger in Kingston.

 

[techMology]

So, -2 to -13 degrees with 5-10cm of snow and wet snow called for on Saturday between Toronto and Ottawa.

That's the day we are planning on traveling.

Should we still do it?

 

[Doug_G]

First of all, don't believe a forecast three days out. Our "snowstorm" predicted for today amounted to a few snowflakes.

Secondly, sure. I've driven in far worse. I've done 306 km at -20C in a blizzard. Worst case scenario is you spend a bit more time charging.

If you would hesitate to drive on the conditions in a gas car, THEN I would hesitate.

 

[LazMan]

Which way are you planning on going? If there is wind from the west, it will help going to Ottawa. Also, you can charge a number of places along the way.

 

[techMology]

First of all, don't believe a forecast three days out. Our "snowstorm" predicted for today amounted to a few snowflakes.

Secondly, sure. I've driven in far worse. I've done 306 km at -20C in a blizzard. Worst case scenario is you spend a bit more time charging.

If you would hesitate to drive on the conditions in a gas car, THEN I would hesitate.

Thanks, Doug. Reassuring words; I appreciate them. First road trip jitters and all that. I wouldn't hesitate to do it on my own, but my passengers may be a little less accommodating.

 

[techMology]

Which way are you planning on going? If there is wind from the west, it will help going to Ottawa. Also, you can charge a number of places along the way.

Yep, just being paranoid. I'll be taking the Doug_G EV Highway (doing my part to make that moniker stick) which is the 401 to Kingston, charge there, then up Highway 10 through Perth.

 

[mnx]

It all comes down to if you want to spend time charging at J1772s or not. It sounds like you don't mind so go for it.

 

[techMology]

Well, we made it. 17cm of snow forecasted turned into 0cm of snow on the ground. Just some wet patches to deal with, but otherwise, completely dry and not windy.

Temperatures were between 0 and 5 Celsius the whole way.

Did my first range charge which yielded 435 km. Left Toronto at 2:35pm, and did as recommended... slow and steady. Arrived at the Kingston Best Western with 171 km left at around 5:20 afraid I was going to be ICE'd but that wasn't the case. Do we have a term for when another Model S is blocking you from charging?

No phone number on the dash or anything, so I asked at the desk if they were a guest or just stopping by. No clue, was the response. Our 5 month old had slept the whole way to Kingston and was now awake. We decided to wander into Tom's Place to see if we could locate the owner.

Pretty quickly I noticed someone with their iPhone on their table with the Tesla app open. Jackpot! The were traveling from Kitchener to Ottawa and had just taken delivery of their brown MS last week. They had tried charging at the Best Western in Milton but it wasn't working, and they charged at the BW in Cobourg before stopping in Kingston. I told them about the Doug_G EV Highway and I think they were going to give it a shot (their original route was via the 416).

We plugged in at 6:38pm and waited about an hour which brought us up to 242 km.

I found Highway 10 really nice (but quite hilly) between Kingston and Perth, so it was hard to keep power consumption down. After Perth the road was quite choppy, but flat, so easy to keep the power consumption low.

Ended up at the BW Victoria Park in Ottawa with 40 km left. Two of the EV spots open, the third with an ICE parked in it. Plugged in and am getting 29km/hr back.

A tiny bit of range anxiety when I hit Perth because I hadn't expected to burn through so much between there and Kingston. The girls were great, but a little chilly at the end. I had the cabin at about 18 degrees when I was starting to panic a bit.

Final numbers for the trip:

Distance: 422.1 km
Total energy: 81 kWh
Average energy: 192 Wh/km

So I suppose "technically" I could have accomplished that on one charge?

Thanks to Doug_G and the rest for the tips... I'm hoping the ride home is as smooth (and perhaps an hour shorter).

(Oh, one last thing... The staff at Tom's Place were incredible. Great place to kill time. Super friendly and infinitely helpful. Tasty food too.)

 

[Doug_G]

Congratulations on successfully completing your first Toronto-Ottawa road trip. Nice to have positive temperatures - it helps with the range big-time. 40 km is a good margin. My minimum target is 30 km, and I almost never go under that. I'm pretty sure you could do the trip in one charge in the summer, if you're careful; but I really wouldn't recommend trying it in the winter.

I've yet to run into another EV charging in "my" spot, that's pretty funny. Sometimes I call ahead to see if they'll put a cone in the spot so I don't get ICE'd. Many hotels will do that, but not all (I ran into one that said they would, but did not, and I got ICEd). Doesn't help if another Tesla shows up though!!!

Yes 10 is a bit hilly, but you'll still use far less power than if you took the 416. And the trip time is the same. If you're worried about range, instead of lowering the heat just slow down slightly. 5 kph makes a big difference, especially in cold weather.

On the way back, if your consumption is looking good you could skip Kingston and go to Cobourg. I find that BW is about the very welcoming of Tesla drivers, and they also have a restaurant. I like to go farther on the first charge, when I've got the Range charge. Since the charging slows down a lot when finishing a full range charge, I don't wait for it; I only do those on overnight stops.

 

[mcfadyena]

Sorry to just catch the update on this thread now!

I've got an HPWC that you can use on the way home if you like. You can take HWY 7 home toward Peterborough, and cut up toward Campbellford just after Marmora. Charge at my HPWC to give you enough charge to make it home, if you like. You can hit the 401 from here. It's a beautiful drive, and I can look after some coffee/wine/beer while you're here, or bring everyone into Campbellford for a meal, walk through one of the provincial parks, or to look around - we DO have the giant twoonie here ;-)

Again - apologies for not seeing this until now! HPWC here is avail. to everyone heading between Toronto and Ottawa. I'll go list it on PlugShare now.

Glad you made it and enjoyed your trip.

Best,
A.

Well, we made it. 17cm of snow forecasted turned into 0cm of snow on the ground. Just some wet patches to deal with, but otherwise, completely dry and not windy.

Temperatures were between 0 and 5 Celsius the whole way.

Did my first range charge which yielded 435 km. Left Toronto at 2:35pm, and did as recommended... slow and steady. Arrived at the Kingston Best Western with 171 km left at around 5:20 afraid I was going to be ICE'd but that wasn't the case. Do we have a term for when another Model S is blocking you from charging?

No phone number on the dash or anything, so I asked at the desk if they were a guest or just stopping by. No clue, was the response. Our 5 month old had slept the whole way to Kingston and was now awake. We decided to wander into Tom's Place to see if we could locate the owner.

Pretty quickly I noticed someone with their iPhone on their table with the Tesla app open. Jackpot! The were traveling from Kitchener to Ottawa and had just taken delivery of their brown MS last week. They had tried charging at the Best Western in Milton but it wasn't working, and they charged at the BW in Cobourg before stopping in Kingston. I told them about the Doug_G EV Highway and I think they were going to give it a shot (their original route was via the 416).

We plugged in at 6:38pm and waited about an hour which brought us up to 242 km.

I found Highway 10 really nice (but quite hilly) between Kingston and Perth, so it was hard to keep power consumption down. After Perth the road was quite choppy, but flat, so easy to keep the power consumption low.

Ended up at the BW Victoria Park in Ottawa with 40 km left. Two of the EV spots open, the third with an ICE parked in it. Plugged in and am getting 29km/hr back.

A tiny bit of range anxiety when I hit Perth because I hadn't expected to burn through so much between there and Kingston. The girls were great, but a little chilly at the end. I had the cabin at about 18 degrees when I was starting to panic a bit.

Final numbers for the trip:

Distance: 422.1 km
Total energy: 81 kWh
Average energy: 192 Wh/km

So I suppose "technically" I could have accomplished that on one charge?

Thanks to Doug_G and the rest for the tips... I'm hoping the ride home is as smooth (and perhaps an hour shorter).

(Oh, one last thing... The staff at Tom's Place were incredible. Great place to kill time. Super friendly and infinitely helpful. Tasty food too.)

 

[Cosmacelf]

You might consider putting your HPWC location up on Plugshare.com.

 

[techMology]

Much appreciated, mcfadyena! Not sure if we are making a stop in PEC to visit some friends on the way back. If we don't, I'll let you know!

 

[Username]

The simple rule of thumb in cold weather is to deduct 40% off your range.

 

[mcfadyena]

It's up there. I did it this morning.

You might consider putting your HPWC location up on Plugshare.com.

 

[Peter_M]

Wow, the Ottawa-Toronto trip is MUCH easier when the weather is warmer. This weekend (about 7-10C), we only had to stop for about an hour each way - just enough time to have supper and then hit the road. We went via Hwy 15 and 401 and stopped at the Cobourg Best Western on the way to Toronto and the Kingston BW on the way home. Our first trip in December required 2.5 to 3 hour stops, which was pretty tedious.

 

[Doug_G]

Yep, that's pretty typical. Really looking forward to the Superchargers.

So nice to have the warm weather again - full regen and more range. Yesterday we arrived home and my Model S still had more range than the Roadster, which didn't go anywhere!

 

[Username]

Can't wait for them to be installed and perhaps one in Muskoka or Barrie but I am still of the belief that we won't see them for a couple of years due to Tesla's love of China and Europe.

 

[sule]

Hi all ... I read all ten pages of this and it is very useful (I have my S85 for about a month now). I may need to make this trip mid July (Toronto to Ottawa) for an extended weekend, staying there a few days, visiting Montreal while there. I think I'm at least "aware" of all the tricks and things to pay attention to as well as which chargers I could use. That said I'd appreciate some suggestions to some slightly different questions (or different perspective)... I'd be going fully loaded (myself, wife, three kids, our stuff in the frunk/trunk). One thing I don't want to do is have my kids wait. We will need to stop for lunch but, depending on weather and road conditions (and availability of trucks to follow) EV Trip Planner says it may take up to 650 rated km one way to make the trip. That means I *may* need to add 200+ rated km each way, or up to 3 hours at chargers available.

Of course, it may not come to that, and it is possible that I actually make it without a charge, even (I did manage to do a trip average of 129 Wh/km for a 87 km stretch of highway) but that would be a risk. So, what I would like is to plan some "masking" activities for us to do as a family while the car is charging - see/visit attractions, for example within *walking* distance of charging stations. Both ways. Do any of you have recommendations what those could be on Toronto-Ottawa stretch (thinking of kids ranging from 3 to 10 years of age). I'd need at least two, at he same or two different places - one each way.

Also, any recommendations on a hotel in Ottawa and a good charging spot / parking in Montreal (for a one day excursion from Ottawa)?

Thanks!

 

[Doug_G]

In Ottawa, take your kids to the Canada Science and Technology Museum. CS-90 out front (paid parking but no charge for charging).

Ottawa-Montreal is easy but will need charging in Montreal to get back. Check the Sun Country Highway web site for equipped hotels. There are lots of 30A chargers in Montreal but you need a card to activate them, and that's slow - can't even get full charge overnight.

 

[Peter_M]

For the Toronto - Ottawa stretch, a 75-90 minute lunch stop should be enough charging time at one of the CS-90 SCH chargers (Cobourg, Kingston or Peterborough). I've done this trip 3 times in the past few weeks and this has been enough. When you stop, work out the remaining distance along your planned route and charge to that plus 50-75 buffer. If you stick to the speed limit, you'll get close to rated range in this weather. As you get closer you can speed up if your estimated range is staying well above the remaining distance. Good luck - it's actually a pretty easy trip this time of year.