Model 3 Standard Range Plus or Long Range AWD in the Ottawa Area?

[Mikeydeek]

It would be good to hear how the back route was Bijan. Sounds like an especially good call as it seems like the Kingston SC is out of service (or severely reduced) at the moment.

 

[bijan]

It would be good to hear how the back route was Bijan. Sounds like an especially good call as it seems like the Kingston SC is out of service (or severely reduced) at the moment.

I'll update you once I make it to Ottawa.

Yes I just posted it on Facebook. I'm the only one at Belleville and just saw Kingston reduced on the navigation.

I'm traveling with a five month old and want to avoid Ottawa supercharger so I'll be stopping in Perth overnight possibly using their free L2 chargers to get back to full.

 

[Mikeydeek]

I'll update you once I make it to Ottawa.

Yes I just posted it on Facebook. I'm the only one at Belleville and just saw Kingston reduced on the navigation.

I'm traveling with a five month old and want to avoid Ottawa supercharger so I'll be stopping in Perth overnight possibly using their free L2 chargers to get back to full.

Good luck with the trip and watch out for the snow tomorrow!

 

[ZooSean]

I live in Ottawa and have the LR AWD.
I would never go back to a front wheel drive and certainly not a RWD.I have had the Xdrive on my 535 and this is just as good, if not better. I also feel that when you go to resale, AWD is very sought after in this part of the country.
I have made two trips to GTA and sailed past Kingston to supercharge in Belleville which has triple the amount of Superchargers. I think with the 5 month plus winters we have here AWD is very very nice to have.

No, the RWD with Model 3 is fine with Winter tires. But we do need LR for Ottawa cold.

 

[bijan]

Good luck with the trip and watch out for the snow tomorrow!

Thanks. Made it to Perth would probably have made it to Ottawa with about 10%.

Charging at L2 now. One spot was iced. I'll have to head to hotel and come back hopefully the spot I'm at now won't get iced too.

I hope to get to Ottawa before the snow tomorrow. I'll have to keep and eye on the weather reports.

 

[bijan]

Looks like Ottawa supercharger might be down like Kingston was earlier...

Edit: now it's showing 2/8, which is still weird at almost 4am.

I'll probably use an L2 again Sunday night before I head back on Monday.

 

[bijan]

Charged to 90% overnight in Perth.

Made it to Ottawa ahead of the storm. Would have probably just made it without charging overnight.

Until Brockville is built I think Ottawa Toronto and Montreal Toronto are a lot easier in long range. Especially in winter.

 

[Mikeydeek]

Charged to 90% overnight in Perth.

Made it to Ottawa ahead of the storm. Would have probably just made it without charging overnight.

Until Brockville is built I think Ottawa Toronto and Montreal Toronto are a lot easier in long range. Especially in winter.

Glad you beat the storm!
Yes Brockville will make it much easier in the SR+ to Toronto.
Am trying a winter trip Ottawa to Montreal next weekend. Will be interesting to compare it to the summer trip.

 

[mswlogo]

No, the RWD with Model 3 is fine with Winter tires. But we do need LR for Ottawa cold.

Agreed

When weather is warm I generally do 10% better than EPA.

It was 4F (-15C) out last night.
Drove to SuperCharger with 20% battery.
Charged to 80% with Cabin heat on.

So cabin was completely warm, 80% SOC, toasty battery (reached 120 kW, not bad considering battery was pretty cold when I arrived).

Drove 70 miles (non stop, all highway). No faster than 65 mph. It Used 143 miles.

Heat really needed to stay high to be comfortable. Also tried to use recirculate with A/C to keep windows from fogging. But had to occasionally use the “blue” defrost button which heats fresh air (air that’s 5F)

Oh, at the destination that was 70 miles was a fast food place, it was 1AM. I had full regen when we walked in. Probably took 20-25 minutes. Car was left with cabin heat on 62F (dogs were in car). When we left I lost 40% of regen. Drove another 30 miles and didn’t gain any regen back.

Luckily it doesn’t get this cold to often. Maybe 2-3 weeks of single digit temps happens per winter. It was 70F last weekend.

So on a SR Model 3 with 240? miles subtract 10% off the top because you don’t typically charge above 90%. Now subtract 20% off the bottom. You typically don’t want to go below 20%. Especially in extreme cold (you want safety margin).

So take 70% of 240 miles range and you get a whopping 168 miles. Now take 50% of that in extreme cold. Now you’re down to a whopping 84 miles.

Now I don’t know how cold it gets around OP. But this is how it was for me in NH. I really expected 20-30% hit if cabin and battery was warm. But it was 50% with 100% preconditioned. Image if it wasn’t preconditioned !!! Or if it’s -10F.

Get as much battery as you can afford in cold climates.

BTW My commute is 5 miles. But I do like to go places on the weekend.

I could have run heat lower, but I refuse to have me or my wife uncomfortable in our very expensive Tesla. I don’t want a cold nose with a warm butt.

 

[ccudmore]

Agreed

When weather is warm I generally do 10% better than EPA.

It was 4F (-15C) out last night.
Drove to SuperCharger with 20% battery.
Charged to 80% with Cabin heat on.

So cabin was completely warm, 80% SOC, toasty battery (reached 120 kW, not bad considering battery was pretty cold when I arrived).

Drove 70 miles (non stop, all highway). No faster than 65 mph. It Used 143 miles.

Heat really needed to stay high to be comfortable. Also tried to use recirculate with A/C to keep windows from fogging. But had to occasionally use the “blue” defrost button which heats fresh air (air that’s 5F)

Oh, at the destination that was 70 miles was a fast food place, it was 1AM. I had full regen when we walked in. Probably took 20-25 minutes. Car was left with cabin heat on 62F (dogs were in car). When we left I lost 40% of regen. Drove another 30 miles and didn’t gain any regen back.

Luckily it doesn’t get this cold to often. Maybe 2-3 weeks of single digit temps happens per winter. It was 70F last weekend.

So on a SR Model 3 with 240? miles subtract 10% off the top because you don’t typically charge above 90%. Now subtract 20% off the bottom. You typically don’t want to go below 20%. Especially in extreme cold (you want safety margin).

So take 70% of 240 miles range and you get a whopping 168 miles. Now take 50% of that in extreme cold. Now you’re down to a whopping 84 miles.

Now I don’t know how cold it gets around OP. But this is how it was for me in NH. I really expected 20-30% hit if cabin and battery was warm. But it was 50% with 100% preconditioned. Image if it wasn’t preconditioned !!! Or if it’s -10F.

Get as much battery as you can afford in cold climates.

BTW My commute is 5 miles. But I do like to go places on the weekend.

I could have run heat lower, but I refuse to have me or my wife uncomfortable in our very expensive Tesla. I don’t want a cold nose with a warm butt.

What are these "miles" and "farenheits" things you are talking about on the Canadian forum?

 

[mswlogo]

What are these "miles" and "farenheits" things you are talking about on the Canadian forum?

I did translate to Centigrade . I know your joking around.

But to help make this unitless and universal that applies to what ever range and units you have.

Take 100 units of distance * 70% (usable battery range) * 50% (extreme cold impact) = 35 units of distance.

And in my example above there was no wind or rain.

 

[martind3]

So tonight’s storm was my first chance to try the SR+ in true Ottawa winter conditions. I was incredibly impressed with how well it handles. I had a 328 x-drive previously and the SR+ is better in the snow.

 

[Huddaboy]

I also drove in tonight’s storm with my SR+ all on city roads like Riverside, Heron, Prince of Wales, etc. First real winter for me and this car too. Some personal background, I’ve owned many rwd cars throughout my driving “career” and am fairly comfortable in the snow and this car has brand new Toyo GSI 6 snows mounted. On the unploughed roads, the car is somewhat unsettled. The rear end dances around a bit but the TC always catches it. The understeer is horrible however and it was hard to steer out of some ruts. It would be a little nerve wracking at unploughed hwy speed. When there’s no traffic it would be fun to be able to switch it all off and have some sliding fun. Even with Slip Start turned on (or TC off) it still doesn’t fully turn it off.

On ploughed roads the car does just fine. AWD will get you off the line much better but once you’re going it doesn’t really matter as long as you have winter tires. The added range would be nice in these colder temps though.

IMO, SR+ is fine for Ottawa winter with four good snow tires. Just take it easy and drive sensibly and you’ll be fine.

cheers
Ken

 

[bijan]

Was out tonight in my AWD in Ottawa. Was ok and took it slow. Not sure how RWD would have done as I had to drive through some unplowed and high snow areas.

 

[tlr1000]

Honestly, I wasn't ready to spend an extra $15,000 for 100km range and awd.

$49,999 to 65,000 is significant.

I agree that 50 and 65K are significant and not sure the extra 15k is worth it. If I were to buy another one, it'd be an SR+ or I'd pay the extra 10k and get the Performance. For 10k, wheels, acceleration improvement, much better brakes, improved suspension, etc., add up to a reasonable value.

 

[Goodtohave]

So tonight’s storm was my first chance to try the SR+ in true Ottawa winter conditions. I was incredibly impressed with how well it handles. I had a 328 x-drive previously and the SR+ is better in the snow.

I have an SR+ and a 328 x drive...

The SR + is very good in the snow but tires make all the difference. I have gislaved nord frost factory studs on the BMW and Hakka9 studded on the SR+.

I would still prefer the X drive in heavy snow, but the SR+ is better then the RWD BMW’s I have had

 

[richyrich]

Was out tonight in my AWD in Ottawa. Was ok and took it slow. Not sure how RWD would have done as I had to drive through some unplowed and high snow areas.

My second winter in Ottawa with a RWD and 70,000km under my belt. No issues. Worst issues I had expected were poorly plowed uphills but I’ve had no issues thanks to being really heavy and RWD “pushing from the back”.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

3LR RWD here. Had issue with the hill at Cote de Neige (where the Pho place and Hospital corner). Don't know the cross street as I'm still learning Montreal

Snowtire = Hakka 3s. Hill 2, 3LR RWD 0

 

[cohix]

We live in Ottawa and got the SR+ delivered last month. Things have been a bit mixed.

We live in an apartment. I work from home, but GF works in an office and they have ChargePoints, so we can still do daily charging. Day to day things have been perfectly fine, and the RWD with snow tires has been completely fine. Came from a 4WD Volkswagen Tiguan and I don't notice much of a difference, even in the snow dumps we've had the past 2 weeks.

As for trips, things have been less positive. We got the CHAdeMO adapter, which has been essential. We go to Toronto every 3 weeks or so, and our trip length has increased from 4:30h in the VW to 5:30-6h in the M3. Now, this is partially because the superchargers are spaced oddly and you rarely arrive at one with a low enough charge level to get the max charge speed. We're only a month in and I've been experimenting with different charge stop combos to see which ones make the most sense.

This is made a bit worse by the fact that Kingston is NOT a great charge stop. It is slow for a "V2" charger, the in-car reporting on it is always wrong (from our experience), and it is currently shown as out of service. There is a PetroCan DCFC just west of Kingston, which is a viable option, but....

The SC in Brockville will be the key, especially on the trip home, as you'd be able to charge in Port Hope and then arrive at Brockville with a low charge level, charge at the (presumably) superfast V3 SC, and then make it to Ottawa with 30% or more. As it stands today, you need to use the Brockville PetroCan CHAdeMO (which is honestly pretty great, but max 50kw with the Tesla adapter), which likely adds 20-30m to your trip time over a SC.

We just got back from Toronto last night, and I was honestly a bit frustrated with how long the trip took, but I'm going to continue experimenting with different charge stops and get that total time down below 5:30h (or die trying!). We've been able to do the cold trip with 2 charge stops, but last night it took 2 + 15 mins at Brockville PetroCan.

The caveat to all of this is that come summertime, this will all be moot! I fully expect to be able to do Ott->TOR with one charge stop at Bellville and TOR->OTT with 1 Kingston or 2 short PH/Brock stops.

One final thing since I know this has been looooong (but these are the kinds of posts I looked for when we were considering the purchase) is that I believe my mistake has been starting out each leg at 120/125KM/h (going with the traffic ok....), and then when the charge estimate drops too low, I reduce the speed and then sometimes decide to bail out. I think next time I will start each leg at 105KM/h and then IF the estimate stays somewhat reasonable, increase speed slowly. Again, sorry for the essay.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

We live in Ottawa and got the SR+ delivered last month. Things have been a bit mixed.

We live in an apartment. I work from home, but GF works in an office and they have ChargePoints, so we can still do daily charging. Day to day things have been perfectly fine, and the RWD with snow tires has been completely fine. Came from a 4WD Volkswagen Tiguan and I don't notice much of a difference, even in the snow dumps we've had the past 2 weeks.

As for trips, things have been less positive. We got the CHAdeMO adapter, which has been essential. We go to Toronto every 3 weeks or so, and our trip length has increased from 4:30h in the VW to 5:30-6h in the M3. Now, this is partially because the superchargers are spaced oddly and you rarely arrive at one with a low enough charge level to get the max charge speed. We're only a month in and I've been experimenting with different charge stop combos to see which ones make the most sense.

This is made a bit worse by the fact that Kingston is NOT a great charge stop. It is slow for a "V2" charger, the in-car reporting on it is always wrong (from our experience), and it is currently shown as out of service. There is a PetroCan DCFC just west of Kingston, which is a viable option, but....

The SC in Brockville will be the key, especially on the trip home, as you'd be able to charge in Port Hope and then arrive at Brockville with a low charge level, charge at the (presumably) superfast V3 SC, and then make it to Ottawa with 30% or more. As it stands today, you need to use the Brockville PetroCan CHAdeMO (which is honestly pretty great, but max 50kw with the Tesla adapter), which likely adds 20-30m to your trip time over a SC.

We just got back from Toronto last night, and I was honestly a bit frustrated with how long the trip took, but I'm going to continue experimenting with different charge stops and get that total time down below 5:30h (or die trying!). We've been able to do the cold trip with 2 charge stops, but last night it took 2 + 15 mins at Brockville PetroCan.

The caveat to all of this is that come summertime, this will all be moot! I fully expect to be able to do Ott->TOR with one charge stop at Bellville and TOR->OTT with 1 Kingston or 2 short PH/Brock stops.

One final thing since I know this has been looooong (but these are the kinds of posts I looked for when we were considering the purchase) is that I believe my mistake has been starting out each leg at 120/125KM/h (going with the traffic ok....), and then when the charge estimate drops too low, I reduce the speed and then sometimes decide to bail out. I think next time I will start each leg at 105KM/h and then IF the estimate stays somewhat reasonable, increase speed slowly. Again, sorry for the essay.

Been doing Toronto > Montreal and back for the past three weekends. Efficiency in the cold drops to 60~% percentile. Factor that into your drive and it becomes less stressful. Nap / read / eat / watch Netflix / play games during the break and everything was cheery