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Smart Centres Future Superchargers in Ontario, BC and Saskatchewan

To tie back in my answer to my question, I found the source of the expectation of the Supercharge.info location in Regina. A reported statement to a newspaper made by the Smart Centre, a company that owns a number of the Canadian Walmart sites. She didn't give a timeline but at the least it narrows the future Regina SC location to 3 places in the city. Prince of Wale & Vic, Harbour Landing, and Pasqua & Rochdale.

Someone picked the East because it's right on the #1. But Habour Landing has better local food option.

The North location would be a wildcard to act as a better link to Saskatoon-Regina. However that doesn't seem to be a priority for them now and they'll ultimately need Davidson or maybe Kenaston SC to tie in Saskatoon, anyway. I don't think they'd eschew the 4-lane and go North on #6 to Dafoe as part of a parallel Yellowhead route?
 
Hey everyone. I just got my model 3 AWD on Saturday and drove it back from Vancouver. Narrowly escaped the snow. Mountain driving was great with the supercharger network from Van to Calgary. Hopefully they have the sask network up and running soon, it eliminates range anxiety and stopping for 20-30 mins every 300-400km was no big deal, and it was a nice opportunity to meet other Tesla owners.
 

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Hey everyone. I just got my model 3 AWD on Saturday and drove it back from Vancouver. Narrowly escaped the snow. Mountain driving was great with the supercharger network from Van to Calgary. Hopefully they have the sask network up and running soon, it eliminates range anxiety and stopping for 20-30 mins every 300-400km was no big deal, and it was a nice opportunity to meet other Tesla owners.
How did the Calgary - Regina leg go? How many stops, where? I'd assume Medicine Hat, Swift Current, and then home. Or was it cold enough you needed (or just felt like having more, shorter stops) to tap some of the Sun Highway stuff and Moose Jaw/Caronport, too?
 
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Hey everyone. I just got my model 3 AWD on Saturday and drove it back from Vancouver. Narrowly escaped the snow. Mountain driving was great with the supercharger network from Van to Calgary. Hopefully they have the sask network up and running soon, it eliminates range anxiety and stopping for 20-30 mins every 300-400km was no big deal, and it was a nice opportunity to meet other Tesla owners.

Congratulations! That’s a nice looking car.
 
How did the Calgary - Regina leg go? How many stops, where? I'd assume Medicine Hat, Swift Current, and then home. Or was it cold enough you needed (or just felt like having more, shorter stops) to tap some of the Sun Highway stuff and Moose Jaw/Caronport, too?

Supercharger in Calgary got me to Medicine Hat with no issues. Going from supercharging in 30 mins to 8 hours of charge required for a Tesla destination charger was a rude awakening (there is one by the BP's in Medicine Hat). The drive is 5 hours, and the charge rate is 50km / hour or so, plus a bit of wiggle room and a bit of range loss from the cold, and it took about 12 hours of charging (6 in Med Hat and 6 in Swift Current).

The superchargers really are key. Didn't realize how much of a difference it would make. Hopefully Tesla comes through and gets the Sask ones up in time. Even though I don't plan on doing distance travel this winter I think having the supercharger network available gets you easy instant access to all of Western Canada and USA, at a fraction of the cost of gas.

Also, I just had a 240 Nema installed in my garage and it works really well, totally worth it. It is probably not worth getting the Tesla wall charger considering the difference is marginal.
 
Supercharger in Calgary got me to Medicine Hat with no issues. Going from supercharging in 30 mins to 8 hours of charge required for a Tesla destination charger was a rude awakening (there is one by the BP's in Medicine Hat). The drive is 5 hours, and the charge rate is 50km / hour or so, plus a bit of wiggle room and a bit of range loss from the cold, and it took about 12 hours of charging (6 in Med Hat and 6 in Swift Current).

The superchargers really are key. Didn't realize how much of a difference it would make. Hopefully Tesla comes through and gets the Sask ones up in time. Even though I don't plan on doing distance travel this winter I think having the supercharger network available gets you easy instant access to all of Western Canada and USA, at a fraction of the cost of gas.

Also, I just had a 240 Nema installed in my garage and it works really well, totally worth it. It is probably not worth getting the Tesla wall charger considering the difference is marginal.
I'm picking up my model 3 next weekend from Calgary and will be doing this drive to Regina. How fast did you drive during the trip? Any reason why you didnt charge at peavey mart in medicine hat?
 
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Supercharger in Calgary got me to Medicine Hat with no issues. Going from supercharging in 30 mins to 8 hours of charge required for a Tesla destination charger was a rude awakening (there is one by the BP's in Medicine Hat). The drive is 5 hours, and the charge rate is 50km / hour or so, plus a bit of wiggle room and a bit of range loss from the cold, and it took about 12 hours of charging (6 in Med Hat and 6 in Swift Current).

The superchargers really are key. Didn't realize how much of a difference it would make. Hopefully Tesla comes through and gets the Sask ones up in time. Even though I don't plan on doing distance travel this winter I think having the supercharger network available gets you easy instant access to all of Western Canada and USA, at a fraction of the cost of gas.

Also, I just had a 240 Nema installed in my garage and it works really well, totally worth it. It is probably not worth getting the Tesla wall charger considering the difference is marginal.
Weird, that sounds low for a proper Tesla Destination charger. Plug-share says that Hampton Inn/BP HPWC should be 16kW, providing enough for your car's 75km/hr limit? Also sounds like you didn’t take your battery over 95% SOC at Balzac? It’s slow to get there but that extra 40 min ultimately saves a lot of time when jumping into L2 territory.

But yes, long distance travel w/o SC is brutal. L2 at home is fine though. I’m DIY an HPWC but 32A 240V “dryer plug” covers a lot. I’ve used that for the Bolt for months & maybe once that it could have mattered (plans changed so it didn’t).

Good news is by next year Dickenson or Brandon or both should be providing non-Winter connection into SC network headed South & East. Although Dickenson route will need %100 charge and may need a little bump at Estevan Peavey Mart to be safe.
 
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Supercharger in Calgary got me to Medicine Hat with no issues. Going from supercharging in 30 mins to 8 hours of charge required for a Tesla destination charger was a rude awakening (there is one by the BP's in Medicine Hat). The drive is 5 hours, and the charge rate is 50km / hour or so, plus a bit of wiggle room and a bit of range loss from the cold, and it took about 12 hours of charging (6 in Med Hat and 6 in Swift Current).

The superchargers really are key. Didn't realize how much of a difference it would make. Hopefully Tesla comes through and gets the Sask ones up in time. Even though I don't plan on doing distance travel this winter I think having the supercharger network available gets you easy instant access to all of Western Canada and USA, at a fraction of the cost of gas.

Also, I just had a 240 Nema installed in my garage and it works really well, totally worth it. It is probably not worth getting the Tesla wall charger considering the difference is marginal.

What was your state of charge when you left Calgary?
 
Weird, that sounds low for a proper Tesla Destination charger. Plug-share says that Hampton Inn/BP HPWC should be 16kW, providing enough for your car's 75km/hr limit? Also sounds like you didn’t take your battery over 95% SOC at Balzac? It’s slow to get there but that extra 40 min ultimately saves a lot of time when jumping into L2 territory.

But yes, long distance travel w/o SC is brutal. L2 at home is fine though. I’m DIY an HPWC but 32A 240V “dryer plug” covers a lot. I’ve used that for the Bolt for months & maybe once that it could have mattered (plans changed so it didn’t).

Good news is by next year Dickenson or Brandon or both should be providing non-Winter connection into SC network headed South & East. Although Dickenson route will need %100 charge and may need a little bump at Estevan Peavey Mart to be safe.
Weird, that sounds low for a proper Tesla Destination charger. Plug-share says that Hampton Inn/BP HPWC should be 16kW, providing enough for your car's 75km/hr limit? Also sounds like you didn’t take your battery over 95% SOC at Balzac? It’s slow to get there but that extra 40 min ultimately saves a lot of time when jumping into L2 territory.

But yes, long distance travel w/o SC is brutal. L2 at home is fine though. I’m DIY an HPWC but 32A 240V “dryer plug” covers a lot. I’ve used that for the Bolt for months & maybe once that it could have mattered (plans changed so it didn’t).

Good news is by next year Dickenson or Brandon or both should be providing non-Winter connection into SC network headed South & East. Although Dickenson route will need %100 charge and may need a little bump at Estevan Peavey Mart to be safe.

Yeah, that day it was -5 so I think the cold affected capacity a bit as well. I have a 240 at home and it is great. Went up to Saskatoon last weekend with no issues.

Any word on the rest of the Sask supercharger network?

Joshua
 
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Any word on the rest of the Sask supercharger network?
Nothing yet about the rest of the stuff between Calgary & Regina, and Tesla hasn't even hinted yet about Saskatoon. :/ Clearly they are still thinking about Saskatchewan as being the empty space you cross, and only on the #1, not the Yellowhead, rather than being a local market. Because Saskatoon is bigger population than Regina still, right? :/

What did you use for charging in Saskatoon, or are you saying you were able to able to make the round trip? Even edge to edge that's a little over 500km round trip, right?

Really, "if I was running things" I'd be tempted to dead-end at Medicine Hat for now and instead build the Regina-Saskatoon-Kindersley route to Rockyview. It's a low percentage longer than direct Regina to Calgary, and it pulls together so much more of the province for just those 3 stations. You'd then even be able to handily make that route from Saskatoon to Calgary without relying on my backwoods path via Dorthy -> #848 -> #564. ;)

Even better Kindersley might be able to leap to Red Deer with a Model 3 LR? I'd have to recheck the map, because you're going a bit North and it's kinda awkward with a lot of square turns. I think you go via Three Hills unless you're ready to take on secondary highways to get to the QE2? Been a lot of years since I drove that route. That would make a pretty decent Saskatoon -> Edmonton path. Battlefords area could tie in via Kindersley, P.A. (and something of a circle to the East) via Saskatoon.

Doesn't really address the East side of the province above the #1, so Yorkton might remain sad and sorry Gull Lake, but it'd be more inclusive faster than their current grey pin plan. Saskatoon is still the biggest city, right?
 
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Nothing yet about the rest of the stuff between Calgary & Regina, and Tesla hasn't even hinted yet about Saskatoon. :/ Clearly they are still thinking about Saskatchewan as being the empty space you cross, and only on the #1, not the Yellowhead, rather than being a local market. Because Saskatoon is bigger population than Regina still, right? :/

What did you use for charging in Saskatoon, or are you saying you were able to able to make the round trip? Even edge to edge that's a little over 500km round trip, right?

Really, "if I was running things" I'd be tempted to dead-end at Medicine Hat for now and instead build the Regina-Saskatoon-Kindersley route to Rockyview. It's a low percentage longer than direct Regina to Calgary, and it pulls together so much more of the province for just those 3 stations. You'd then even be able to handily make that route from Saskatoon to Calgary without relying on my backwoods path via Dorthy -> #848 -> #564. ;)

Even better Kindersley might be able to leap to Red Deer with a Model 3 LR? I'd have to recheck the map, because you're going a bit North and it's kinda awkward with a lot of square turns. I think you go via Three Hills unless you're ready to take on secondary highways to get to the QE2? Been a lot of years since I drove that route. That would make a pretty decent Saskatoon -> Edmonton path. Battlefords area could tie in via Kindersley, P.A. (and something of a circle to the East) via Saskatoon.

Doesn't really address the East side of the province above the #1, so Yorkton might remain sad and sorry Gull Lake, but it'd be more inclusive faster than their current grey pin plan. Saskatoon is still the biggest city, right?
Hence the reason that the saskatchewan electric vehicle association is actively lobbying saskpower to build a level 3 charging network in Saskatchewan. We will always be thankful for suncountry in this province but we really need expansion for long distance travel to become feasible. Tesla supercharger network or not.

The big issue for me is a 30 amp level 2 in Davidson. This is directly between our two biggest cities and needs something bigger to accommodate the increased EV traffic. I realize that the network is based upon voluntary participaton but we need at least an 80 amp level 2 in Davidson. Obviously a level chademo or CCS would also be nice haha
 
Hence the reason that the saskatchewan electric vehicle association is actively lobbying saskpower to build a level 3 charging network in Saskatchewan. We will always be thankful for suncountry in this province but we really need expansion for long distance travel to become feasible. Tesla supercharger network or not.

The big issue for me is a 30 amp level 2 in Davidson. This is directly between our two biggest cities and needs something bigger to accommodate the increased EV traffic. I realize that the network is based upon voluntary participaton but we need at least an 80 amp level 2 in Davidson. Obviously a level chademo or CCS would also be nice haha
No love for Kenaston? I understand the #11 to #20 leg of #15 gets all sorts of bedroom-under-the-stairs treatment from Highways but #15 is historically a semi-important cross-province corridor.

Davidson is closer to mid-point between Regina and Saskatoon but it's not so much a crosspoint as it is an access point towards Diefenbaker (which itself seems a pretty good candidate for a destination endpoint).

Similar is Chamberlain. Off-center but crossroads that connects Moose Jaw (and points West) though to P.A. I guess thinking about that, it's very long haul up the #2 and near the north end you're running parallel with a small gap between the #6 and #11. However if you're only going to Watrous/Manitou, and this is a huge Peavey Mart gap, it's a wide, awkward mid-point between #6 and #11. Just getting to #16 and perhaps a dead-end at Humboldt (with it's Peavy Mart) would be enough?

EDIT: Keeping in mind it's been nearly 30 years since I've lived in the province. During visits I haven't seen mucho suggest that traffic patterns are all that much different?

EDIT2: Looking again at distances maybe #15 & #20 crossroads is the answer to both? It's just that is an empty fields crossroad. Simpson is only 4 miles south, so maybe there? And then Outlook on the other side (another access into Diefenbaker but from the North), and that'd be enough to get you over to Raymore on #6, and then you're close enough to Yorkton plus you help #6 going North from Regina? Foam Lake is a fairly long haul up there from Regina, and off center.
 
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Actually, I think we are now planning on starting at the science centre parking lot at 3pm and then all driving over to the ledge.

I’ll make sure the final details are locked in and posted here prior to the event (and shared to FB) but I wanted to mention this ASAP in case people needed time to fit it into their schedule... But start time is definitely 3pm Sunday October 21.