Milton, On to Cape Breton, NS, Roadtrip!

[Pieter Knispel]

Hi All,

I am planning my first real road trip with my two young kids for just before Canada Day, with a reservation at Cape Breton National Highlands Park for July 1. I plan on splitting the drive up over the course of 3 days/2 nights and with this high level plan, had a few questions I was hoping you might be able to help with:

1) We will be Tesla camping for those two nights on the drive to Cape Breton, as we will on the way back, where do people recommend we do this? Just at a supercharger location, or somewhere a little more off the beaten path?
2) 90% of the trip is covered off by Superchargers, but the last leg from NB to Cape Breton is essentially without a Supercharger. I will use PlugShare and ChargePoint as required but any overall tips for heading out a few hours away from a SuperCharger?

Any other tips or suggestions are welcome. Cancelling the trip might be one considering my kids are 8 and 5 and will be all like "are we there yet" the whole way, but thats another story!

Thank you in advance!

 

[madmax240]

It will be an awesome trip.
What model is your Tesla as there are a couple of level 3 chargers in Cape Breton. You could use a CHAdeMO adapter for your S or X.
As you are camping, I would recommend one of these if you are using sites with electrical service:

amazon.ca/AC-WORKS-Charging-Adapter

 

[Pieter Knispel]

It will be an awesome trip.
What model is your Tesla as there are a couple of level 3 chargers in Cape Breton. You could use a CHAdeMO adapter for your S or X.
As you are camping, I would recommend one of these if you are using sites with electrical service:

amazon.ca/AC-WORKS-Charging-Adapter

Thank you! Have a long range Model 3!

 

[Tz00]

You say you are Tesla Camping... You mean sleeping in the car? Just wondering what your plans are for that with 3 people. I want to try that this summer, and plan on folding down the back seat and getting some kind of pad. I think sleeping in a reclined seat wouldn't be very comfortable, but not sure.

As for where to do that, the 3 Superchargers in NB are all at Irving gas stations, so I don't think it would be an ideal place to sleep. Maybe they wouldn't care, but they might.

The other thing, once you leave the Aulac SC, you'll need to top up via Level 2 along the way, but will likely arrive at the Park at a low SoC (unless you are overnighting somewhere in between). And with the 30A 120V camp site outlets, it may take too long to charge up the car. Depends on how many nights you stay there and how much you drive while there. But you'd want to leave near 100% for the return trip.

 

[Threader]

For your Model 3 Car Campers | Twin is the correct size.

Four you Model 3 Car Campers | Twin is the correct size. : teslamotors

Ikea Twin matress foam $99

MINNESUND Foam mattress - Twin - IKEA

 

[Pieter Knispel]

You say you are Tesla Camping... You mean sleeping in the car? Just wondering what your plans are for that with 3 people. I want to try that this summer, and plan on folding down the back seat and getting some kind of pad. I think sleeping in a reclined seat wouldn't be very comfortable, but not sure.

Yeah sleeping in the car! My kids are relatively young and in a dry run, it worked well.... not quite as spacious as when they jump into a queen with me, but it'll do for a couple of nights.

We are actually using these thin inflatable air mattresses from Sail as we have so much other camping gear to pack, I cant have something large taking up too much room.

 

[Viv ki Bijli]

Yeah sleeping in the car! My kids are relatively young and in a dry run, it worked well.... not quite as spacious as when they jump into a queen with me, but it'll do for a couple of nights.

We are actually using these thin inflatable air mattresses from Sail as we have so much other camping gear to pack, I cant have something large taking up too much room.

You are one brave Man.
Please enjoy the trip. I have Model 3 but when I went to Cape Breton with family, I just took ICE

 

[wayner]

To each his own but that sounds like torture to me. Fly to Halifax and rent. I go to Cape Breton 2-3X per year and I would never even consider driving.

 

[Pieter Knispel]

To each his own but that sounds like torture to me. Fly to Halifax and rent. I go to Cape Breton 2-3X per year and I would never even consider driving.

Hahah, a fair statement. I know, I drive a Tesla, but Im also divorced with a couple of young kids, so keeping expenses down is key, and also, it might sound like torture, but many a fond family memory is created on the back of a long ass road trip, so thats what Im hoping for here!

 

[wayner]

My family used to do cross country road trips and I saw, or at least slept through, the country from Hamilton to Vancouver, and back through the US, or vice-versa, a few times. But I am glad that I don't have to do that any more.

 

[Lukez]

Hey I will be out there at the same time as you! I plan on leaving my car near the last supercharger in New Brunswick and renting a car for the week.
I will have a chademo with me but it was hard to find a dog friendly place with a way to charge overnight and do day trips every day.
Did not want to camp.

 

[seangoggin]

I will be going to Newfoundland early August with the Model 3 LR.

I think it will work fine.

At Christmas, we drove to Savanna GA from Waterloo but the supercharger network makes it easy.
After Aulac NB you are on level 2. The J1772 adapter is your friend.

Get the PlugShare app, it also has commentary on the chargers, like if it is often the employees ICEing the charger and that they will move if asked (North Sydney). (I know they are not technically chargers, but electrical service units.)

Get and ChargePoint or FLO accounts and apps. FLO has a few chargers in Cape Breton, ChargePoint accounts will work on the FLO network and vis versa. You can check your account setup around Milton before leaving. For example, the IKEA free chargers at Burlington use ChargePoint to start charging.

Charge up at Aulac, NB it is your last supercharger.

Call the places you are staying to inquire about charging including a normal wall plug. Remember a good wall outlet will do 7km/h so from 7 pm and to 10 am you could get 105 km. Many RV and Camping grounds have 14-50 which will completely charge a Model 3 overnight.

Extension cords are not technically allowed, they are not code. If you do bring an extension core it has to be heavy gauge full power rated, 1875 Watts. Stop if anything is getting too warm. The Mobile Connector I think has a temperate sensor on the end to check if for overheating and will reduce amps, it is code. It is also rated to run in the rain. I have used it in driving rain.

 

[Vawlkus]

The UMC is water resistant, but not water proof.

Means you can get it wet, but don’t let it get immersed in a puddle.

 

[idoco]

There are multiple campgrounds for charging on your route. I would just pick one to stay overnight on the way and charge overnight.

If the campground has 50 amp service than you can use your UMC 14-50 plug. If it has only 30 amp service then you will need this adapter: AC WORKS™ [EVTT30MS] EVSE RV/Generator TT-30 Plug to 50A Electric Vehicle Adapter for Tesla

50A/240V service will charge the Model 3 @ @30 mph. 30A/120V service will charge the model 3 @ ~11 mph