Eastern Canada Superchargers

[Doug_G]

Just got back from a one-day trip to Toronto.

For the first time since driving electric, I powered down the 416/401 instead of taking the usual back route. Plugged in at Kingston. No other Teslas were there when we plugged in, but we waved at one as we were entering the parking lot.

It was very windy and snowing, so we made a beeline for the closest restaurant, which was Boston Pizza. That ended up taking longer than planned (of course), so we charged for 55 minutes. Met a nice family with another Model S as we were unplugging, and another car had also appeared.

At Port Hope we stopped to top off for a bit, so we could easily get back to Port Hope again after our visit. We didn't need all that much charge, but as it happens we ran into another very nice owner, ended up chatting for a while, and stayed longer than planned :biggrin:. Apparently "Tesla Time" also affects charging.

We visited Toronto for six hours. As it happens there was a plug available at our destination, so we were able to top up during the visit. So we didn't need Port Hope on the way back; we headed directly for Kingston.

There was nothing open at Kingston by this hour, so we napped in the car while charging. We then continued on to Ottawa again, via 416. (I considered going Perth road but the weather conditions were variable, so I decided to stick to the 401/416.)

Definitely a lot better than stopping for hours at Level II stations! There's no way we could have done a one-day trip like this without the Superchargers.

 

[Cebe]

Nice! I'm planning a New Year's Eve in Ottawa, driving from Toronto on Thursday, driving back on Friday. The hotel charging exists but only a 110V, so I'm debating whether I'll be fine (S85) for a round trip from Kingston, or need to go to one of the Level 2's around Ottawa and kill some time...

 

[Doug_G]

Going up the 416 took 64% of my battery (cold-ish and not going slow), so unless you take it easy I don't think round trip can be done easily without charging.

You can minimize the power required by taking Perth Road instead. It takes about the same amount of time, is shorter, and uses a lot less power due to lower speed limits (which are compensated for by the shorter distance). If you go that route and take it easy speed-wise you should be able to round-trip it.

FYI Perth Road / County Road 10 is better than Hwy 15 because there is much less traffic (so you can go your own pace) and you don't spend a lot of time grinding through towns. The only towns on that route are quite small. The route goes through Westport and Perth.

Here's the route going to a random location in SW Ottawa. You can see why it's so much shorter.

 

[Dufferin]

Thanks Doug, I have to travel to Ottawa in a few weeks and will take your advice on the route. What is the latest on the Ottawa supercharger?

 

[Jaff]

Cebe, we did this trip (1 day, overnight) from Niagara to Ottawa back in April of this year...it was still cold overnight in Ottawa about -5 degrees)

We fully Super Charged at Kingston...arrived and plugged in at the hotel (120v 15 amp circuit) about 6:00 pm...charged until 9:00 am the next day...we easily made it back to the Kingston Supercharger for another full charge to head home with...I'm trying to remember, but I think we picked up about 85 kms of range overnight...I travelled the speed limit as we were in a rush and I did not time to search around Ottawa for a level II charge station, or find a hotel with a level II.

Nice! I'm planning a New Year's Eve in Ottawa, driving from Toronto on Thursday, driving back on Friday. The hotel charging exists but only a 110V, so I'm debating whether I'll be fine (S85) for a round trip from Kingston, or need to go to one of the Level 2's around Ottawa and kill some time...

 

[Doug_G]

Thanks Doug, I have to travel to Ottawa in a few weeks and will take your advice on the route. What is the latest on the Ottawa supercharger?

No information. My best guess is that they'll install Superchargers when they build the service center. Aside from the fact that they plan to build one, there is no information on when/where it will happen.

 

[Airwolf]

There's also the Brookstreet hotel in Kanata which has two Tesla high speed chargers underground and they are free, for three hours parking.

 

[RiverBrick]

Based on photos and comments from Guy on Plugshare, a 3rd stall is being installed in Montreal. The current setup is one cabinet (two posts) in the front for the public and one cabinet inside in the back reserved for the service center. This 3rd public stall probably is probably the result of taking from the service center.

On the other hand, one of the two actual stalls was out-of-order as of 3 days ago.

 

[Doug_G]

That's good news, if a bit of a half-measure. I've been avoiding using the Montreal supercharger because I didn't want to go all the way there and find it occupied.

 

[RiverBrick]

After the big storm, a photo was posted on fb showing two of the six Kingston stalls blocked due to snow being plowed up against the equipment enclosure. Hopefully, that was a very temporary measure.

 

[Aussie Bob]

After the big storm, a photo was posted on fb showing two of the six Kingston stalls blocked due to snow being plowed up against the equipment enclosure. Hopefully, that was a very temporary measure.

Can you share photo? Did not see it in Australia!

 

[BSandiford]

Can you share photo? Did not see it in Australia!

Here you go Bob!

This was taken on December 30th as I drove up to Ottawa from Whitby to watch the Sens game

Ī

- - - Updated - - -

After the big storm, a photo was posted on fb showing two of the six Kingston stalls blocked due to snow being plowed up against the equipment enclosure. Hopefully, that was a very temporary measure.

I took the picture. It was still blocked when I drove back through the next day. Two were blocked and the third spot on the North side could only be reached by parallel parking at it (like in the picture). If an ICE vehicle would have been parked at the spot beside the Supercharger spot then the third spot would have been inaccessible too.

 

[Cebe]

Sure, but you can access all six from the north side (the car in the photo is parked on the south side.)

 

[Peter_M]

The best thing to do in this situation is to call Tesla's Roadside Assistance number at (877) 798-3752 and let them know. They will contact the property owner to get it sorted out and hopefully avoid the problem next time.

 

[RiverBrick]

Sure, but you can access all six from the north side (the car in the photo is parked on the south side.)

There's only room for three vehicles per side (maybe four if you plan for it and squeeze everyone in , but I doubt it.)

This design where cars supercharge back-to-back is rare. I can only think of one other like it, Gallup New Mexico, out of 60 sites visited.

 

[Cebe]

There's only room for three vehicles per side (maybe four if you plan for it and squeeze everyone in , but I doubt it.)

This design where cars supercharge back-to-back is rare. I can only think of one other like it, Gallup New Mexico, out of 60 sites visited.

You can fit six on each side. Most of the time people seem to park on the north side. I stopped on Thursday and Friday this week, and the sixth car on the north side would have had a bit of trouble, but mostly because you couldn't get out the driver's side

 

[Peter_M]

You can fit six on each side. Most of the time people seem to park on the north side. I stopped on Thursday and Friday this week, and the sixth car on the north side would have had a bit of trouble, but mostly because you couldn't get out the driver's side

I'm with RiverBrick - I can't see how you would fit 6 cars into 3 spots and have the cables reach the cars. Even if you used the adjacent spots and squeezed them tight, that's still only 5 cars and I don't think the cables would reach. But if it is possible, I'd like to see a picture!

 

[Cebe]

I see what you're saying. Apparently, I'm blind and should have my license taken away. I've charged here about a dozen times so far, and never actually counted the parking spots, as it just looked like you could fit six cars on each side. That's actually quite funny...

 

[Ladoe00]

On the other hand, one of the two actual stalls was out-of-order as of 3 days ago.

I was at this supercharger earlier today and it is still out of order (so only 1 stall available). I was also there on the 24th and at one point, we were 6 cars in queue for a spot... The Montreal supercharger situation is ridiculous. They need to fix this.

 

[wayner]

Last year I was at the Woodstock SC in early March and there were large snowbanks in front of the SCs which meant that you had to pretty much back into the snowbank in order for the cable to reach. At least you don't have to worry about plugging an exhaust pipe!