Recommendations for carging location on a Seattle -> VancouverBC Daytrip

[Bperry]

Thinking of taking my 85kW on its first road trip to Vancouver,BC from Seattle. I'm not staying up there more than an afternoon, so i'd like an option to charge a little while up there. It's a 250 mi round trip so with conservative driving i should be able to make it, but I was wondering if anyone has a suggestion for a good place to charge for an afternoon. My actual destination is just NW of Fort Langley along Hwy 1. I was just going to use PlugShare for close by locations but was wondering if anyone had insight.

A little apprehensive about a long day trip, but I don't have an ICE anymore! :-D

Also... amazing to think that as soon as there is a supercharger along the way, a trip like this wont even require a little bit of planning.

 

[ChadS]

250 miles is definitely possible if you drive very carefully...but you are smart to plan a charging stop. Unexpected rain or wind can really cut down your range. Even if you make it, it's no fun to worry about range the whole trip. Plan a charging stop, and you can make it easily no matter what happens. I agree that Superchargers will change the nature of such trips dramatically!

Plugshare is what's I'd recommend to find chargers in the area. But in case that doesn't work and you want to charge along the way:

HERE is a map of Tesla-specific chargers in WA. If you have twin chargers, you will be interested in the blue ones (the ones at 70A). If you have Tesla's HPC adapter, you can use any blue one. If you don't, you'll have to use the one with a J1772 head in Blaine.

Check out Sun Country's web site (HERE) for similar chargers in Canada. Best to call before using those though - some are lower amperage, some are restricted to hotel guests, some aren't really quite where the map shows them, etc.

 

[Jackyche]

A lot of the Sun Country's chargers are 70amps (they're rebranded Clipper Creek, which I believe the Tesla Roadster rebranded for their Roadster HPC).

If you have the twin charger, look for the Sun Country ones in Vancouver and Burnaby.

If you don't have twin charger, I suppose any ole 30amp would be alright although not helpful for your day trip. Once, I parked at Vancouver City Hall parking lot and charged my roadster there (30 amp, ChargePoint, cheap parking rate). Walked to the skytrain station (1 minute walk) and rode around with my boy for a few hours and came back.

 

[Francis Lau]

@BPerry:

I have done this trip to Richmond BC with my 85kWh (single charger) several times and according to my experience, you will *need* to charge. Here are some stats:

* Trip from Bellevue to Richmond BC
* Total Trip : 300 miles (140 each way with minor city driving)
* Total Energy Used: 103 kWh so I was 18 kWH short
* Average Energy: 345 Wh/mi

I typically stay overnight and have charged at the following locations:
* Blaine - Roadster HPC with J1772 plug, 26 rated miles per hour
* Westin hotel - 110v overnight, 4 rated miles per hour
* Burlington Outlet - Aerovironment, 20 rated miles per hour

In my most recent trip in February, I used 353 Rated Miles and with total trip miles of 300 , I was 15% or 53 miles short. Here is my charging summary for the trip:

* Burlington Charge on the way north: 1:20 hours, Gained 27 miles at 20 miles per hour
* Arrived at Westin
* 110V Charge at Westin: 16 hours, Gained 51 miles at 3-4 miles per hour
* Burlington Charge 2 on the way south: 1:20 hours, Gained 28 miles at 20 miles per hour
* Got home with 17 miles left

In summary, I charged for a total of 106 rated miles on the road. This was in February and was cold so you probably consume less power.

So for my trips to Richmond BC, I typically plan for 5.5 hours of charging at level 2 charging. I can't wait for the superchargers! All I need is 150 miles at 30 minutes instead of 5.5 hours to make this less hassle free

Do you have dual chargers?

 

[joshuaeven]

How is charging in Vancouver proper? Any overnight parking (hotels one can recommend) with Level 2 charging?

 

[onesixeight]

@BPerry:

I have done this trip to Richmond BC with my 85kWh (single charger) several times and according to my experience, you will *need* to charge. Here are some stats:

* Trip from Bellevue to Richmond BC
* Total Trip : 300 miles (140 each way with minor city driving)
* Total Energy Used: 103 kWh so I was 18 kWH short
* Average Energy: 345 Wh/mi

I typically stay overnight and have charged at the following locations:
* Blaine - Roadster HPC with J1772 plug, 26 rated miles per hour
* Westin hotel - 110v overnight, 4 rated miles per hour
* Burlington Outlet - Aerovironment, 20 rated miles per hour

In my most recent trip in February, I used 353 Rated Miles and with total trip miles of 300 , I was 15% or 53 miles short. Here is my charging summary for the trip:

* Burlington Charge on the way north: 1:20 hours, Gained 27 miles at 20 miles per hour
* Arrived at Westin
* 110V Charge at Westin: 16 hours, Gained 51 miles at 3-4 miles per hour
* Burlington Charge 2 on the way south: 1:20 hours, Gained 28 miles at 20 miles per hour
* Got home with 17 miles left

In summary, I charged for a total of 106 rated miles on the road. This was in February and was cold so you probably consume less power.

So for my trips to Richmond BC, I typically plan for 5.5 hours of charging at level 2 charging. I can't wait for the superchargers! All I need is 150 miles at 30 minutes instead of 5.5 hours to make this less hassle free

Do you have dual chargers?

Francis:

Is the Westin you mentioned the Wall Centre location in Richmond? I stay there a lot but I will take my model S the next time I go and was wondering where is the outlet.

Thanks

Chris

 

[Bperry]

@BPerry: Do you have dual chargers?

Nope. :-(

Thanks for the info guys, i'm targeting the J1772 in Blaine, WA on the way North and maybe again on the way and back. Does anyone have any insights into how busy it is?

I'll also probably check out the Burlington WA supercharger location, exciting!!

 

[nleggatt]

If you want to spend the night we might be able to offer you a bed and nema plug for the night we are in abbotsford so just a 15-20 minute drive from ft Langley and close to sumas boarder crossing

 

[Francis Lau]

Nope. :-(

Thanks for the info guys, i'm targeting the J1772 in Blaine, WA on the way North and maybe again on the way and back. Does anyone have any insights into how busy it is?

I'll also probably check out the Burlington WA supercharger location, exciting!!

FWIW, on both my trips in December and February, the Blaine charger was not used on the way north and south.

 

[nleggatt]

Anyone have an hpc adapter I could borrow next week for a Vancouver to la trip?

 

[nleggatt]

Seven feathers on the map above says its a 70amp hpc, is this a roadster hpc? Or can my model S use it?

 

[ChadS]

Sorry nleggatt, but my HPC adapter is busy next week.

The 70A charger at Seven Feathers in Canyonville, OR is indeed a Roadster HPC (in fact I set them up with it), so you would need an adapter. They also have a CHAdeMO charger, but no adapter yet, sigh. If you are spending the night there, they also have a 30A EVSE next to the CHAdeMO, and a campground full of 14-50 outlets.

 

[Puyallup Bill]

Deleted.