Minneapolis to Toronto (and back)

[techMology]

Definitely. Weather was a bigger issue than charging or range anxiety. By next Christmas there will be superchargers in Onalaska, Maumee, Chatham and London, making the trip almost too easy.

Glad to hear it was an anxiety free trip! Well, minus the weather.

How long did it take, door to door? Including and excluding overnight stops?

 

[J in MN]

I would like to know what the relationship is between ambient temp and range. I am planning a 246 mile (396km) round trip in a P85 on Sunday with a 30a (110v) RV charge at the destination. The forecast is for a high of -17c. Burnsville to Granite Falls. Thoughts?

There is no easy answer as it depends on how much sunlight you have, and your cabin temperature setting. If you use range mode, cabin heating will add at most 50 Wh/mi @ 65 mph. This might not be enough to keep you warm at -17 C, though. I am also concerned about the 15 to 20 mph headwinds you will face. Bottom line, I think, is that you will make it there provided you adjust your speed to ensure predicted range based on average over past 15 miles remains more than distance to go.

Charging at 30 A 110 V is going to be an issue. That's only 3 kW. The battery heater will use all of that overnight while trying to charge (forecast low for Sunday night is -26 C / -8 F). You will need to plug in immediately upon arriving to try to get as much charging done as possible before the battery cools down. You will probably need at least 40 hours to charge.

Good luck!

 

[J in MN]

How long did it take, door to door? Including and excluding overnight stops?

Door to door elapsed time was exactly 72 hours.
On the road time was approximately 25 hours.
Driving time was less than 17 hours.

I will post more precise stats once I can access the recorded REST data.

 

[balefire]

Fabulous log. Thank you. I would like to know what the relationship is between ambient temp and range. I am planning a 246 mile (396km) round trip in a P85 on Sunday with a 30a (110v) RV charge at the destination. The forecast is for a high of -17c. Burnsville to Granite Falls. Thoughts?

my limited experience this winter doing 200 mile trips is the following using maximum cruise control, minimal range heating, 60-65mph, and standard preheat protocols...

45 deg F .. 300 wh mi .. 200 rated miles
32 deg F .. 350 wh mi .. 230 rated miles
15 deg F .. 375 wh mi .. 250 rated miles

 

[crazybrit]

There is no easy answer as it depends on how much sunlight you have, and your cabin temperature setting. If you use range mode, cabin heating will add at most 50 Wh/mi @ 65 mph. This might not be enough to keep you warm at -17 C, though. I am also concerned about the 15 to 20 mph headwinds you will face. Bottom line, I think, is that you will make it there provided you adjust your speed to ensure predicted range based on average over past 15 miles remains more than distance to go.

Charging at 30 A 110 V is going to be an issue. That's only 3 kW. The battery heater will use all of that overnight while trying to charge (forecast low for Sunday night is -26 C / -8 F). You will need to plug in immediately upon arriving to try to get as much charging done as possible before the battery cools down. You will probably need at least 40 hours to charge.

Good luck!

40 hours to charge. Ugh. And I understand that the Tesla charging system limits the maximum charge to a rated 20A for any 100v source, so it will only pull 16A. That's 1.75kW. Thank you for your help. I don't think we can do it. Darn. Seems like everything is working against us: the temperature, the wind, the charging source, 4 adults in the car...

 

[crazybrit]

I checked again, and appently the person I talked to before was wrong, and they do have 50a outlets, so now things will be better. This will still be interesting.

 

[J in MN]

50 A 240 V will be no problem. Let us know how it works out.

 

[J in MN]

Starting to prepare for the return trip. Weather over the next 3 days look challenging.

While in Toronto, I visited the service center in Mississauga (to replace a door handle that stopped working after 5.8.4 update), Lawrence Ave (huge new facility) and Yorkdale (said to be the store with highest foot traffic in the world).

I plan to stop at Highland Park on the way back, as well as Madison and Onalaska superchargers if ready. May also do some scouting for the London ON supercharger site if time and weather allows.

 

[J in MN]

Trudging through the unploughed highways in Detroit at @ 70 km/h (45 mph) consuming 270 Wh/km (430 Wh/mi) was no fun and used quite a bit more range than planned.

Charging in Ann Arbor now while visiting some museums at the U of MI.

 

[wycolo]

> my limited experience this winter doing 200 mile trips is the following using maximum cruise control, minimal range heating, 60-65mph, and standard preheat protocols...

45 deg F .. 300 wh mi .. 200 rated miles
32 deg F .. 350 wh mi .. 230 rated miles
15 deg F .. 375 wh mi .. 250 rated miles [balefire]

Nice chart!! My gut feelings all nicely laid out. Will stick this to the dash. Now if I get stranded at least I'll have someone else to blame. :biggrin:
--

 

[William13]

J in MN, where's the love? No update today? Too tired? Did you stop here in Mishawaka again? I would love to drive to and from Toronto on only Superchargers. Then I will be able to tell my friends that the early adopter phase is over...

 

[J in MN]

J in MN, where's the love?

Yes, sorry. We arrived late in Mishawaka due to the extra charging required in Ann Arbor.

Charging at Mishawaka Friday morning was NOT super - cold soaked battery and ambient at -19 C / -2 F meant 30 kW (0.5 C) max.

Got to Highland Park at about 2pm where it was a white day, and not just because of the snow:

Speaking of white, here is a pic from Chatham ON.

Glad I brought a shovel - the car was thoroughly plowed in over night.

I was told that ground was broken on the London ON supercharger, but we couldn't find any evidence at the White Oaks Mall, or anywhere else along Wellington Rd.

Done at Highland Park where sleet is now falling.

 

[Vexar]

Be careful on the way back, the cold is going to be epic. I guess the good news is the supercharger infrastructure has improved while you were out of country.

 

[J in MN]

Hit an unexpected heavy snow shower in Rockford. 4 of the 6 stalls were snowed in with 14 inch deep drifts. One of the two accessible stalls was not working.

High temperature for the day was 0 C just south of the Dells.

Leaving Mauston now.

 

[J in MN]

Charging at Onalaska now, the last supercharger for the trip. The cooling fans in the car are running, which is the first time this has happened on the trip.

 

[J in MN]

Arrived here with the lowest SOC of the trip - 8%.

 

[J in MN]

Left Onalaska with 99% SOC and 319 km range and made it home with 10 km left. I suppose trips to the northern suburbs in a 60 will require one or more of speeds below posted, calm winds or summer temperatures.

 

[Vexar]

Congratulations, J in MN! We are all glad you made it back on Saturday. Sunday or today would have been an issue on the last leg of your trip.

 

[neroden]

Trudging through the unploughed highways

I found that this was the biggest range killer. I see you were seeing the same thing.