Supercharger - Owen Sound, ON

[wayner]

There's supercharging at Sudbury already I thought, so why build at Espanola, which is only 50 km away? SSM is key because it's the pivot point to either Michigan in the south, or further up north. Superchargers at 300 km apart is doable comfortably at the slow 90kph speed along that part of the highway on the CA side, but of course closer would be better too.

Yes, there is a SuperCharger at Sudbury.

Methinks you haven't seen the official Tesla SuperCharger site which has shown these locations for about two years:

 

[RiverBrick]

It would be but it might make sense to build the ones at Espanola and Blind River first so that the run to SSM isn't too long. It is 309km from the Soo to Sudbury according to Google Maps.

309 km, but cruising speed and consumption are much lower than on divided highways. If the distance scares people, reaching the Soo by going through Michigan may be an option.

I would prefer they build Superchargers 300 km apart and only backfill to 150 km once they've linked the coasts. However, they seem to prefer the slow baby-step approach.

 

[PLUS EV]

I would prefer they build Superchargers 300 km apart and only backfill to 150 km once they've linked the coasts. However, they seem to prefer the slow baby-step approach.

If they did that, they'd constantly be getting calls from people who come up short and need a tow. I mean I agree that that would be GREAT for us, but they have to plan for the masses and among the masses are people with smaller battery packs and morons who don't plan properly for weather and elevation changes.

 

[Eco Capitalist]

There's supercharging at Sudbury already I thought, so why build at Espanola, which is only 50 km away?

To cover people heading to Manitoulin Island.

 

[Eco Capitalist]

I agree that that would be GREAT for us, but they have to plan for the masses and among the masses are people with smaller battery packs

I recall reading, many years ago, that spacing must allow for an S60 to be able to travel from A to B. I don't recall there ever being an X60D in Canada, though I've noticed a few Americans with X60D in their signatures, so I would think it represents the lowest common denominator when planning Super Charger spacing.

 

[SmartElectric]

there are absolutely X60Ds in Canada.

I helped an owner understand the delay for supercharging to start on her X60D that was at 0% SOC on a -10C evening.

It took 20 minutes before her X would begin charging.

300 km cannot be a reasonable distance for the X60D or indeed for older 60 RWD S that have battery degradation after 6 years.

 

[Lukez]

there are absolutely X60Ds in Canada.

I helped an owner understand the delay for supercharging to start on her X60D that was at 0% SOC on a -10C evening.

It took 20 minutes before her X would begin charging.

300 km cannot be a reasonable distance for the X60D or indeed for older 60 RWD S that have battery degradation after 6 years.

Or even a 75 or 85 in the winter, don't forget about the temperature.

 

[wayner]

300 km cannot be a reasonable distance for the X60D or indeed for older 60 RWD S that have battery degradation after 6 years.

Agreed. I have a 4+ year old Model S P85D and in very cold winter locations I would not make anywhere near 300km. And so far I don't appear to have suffered much, if any, battery degradation as I still show close to 400km when 100% charged.

 

[RiverBrick]

If they did that, they'd constantly be getting calls from people who come up short and need a tow. I mean I agree that that would be GREAT for us, but they have to plan for the masses and among the masses are people with smaller battery packs and morons who don't plan properly for weather and elevation changes.

The World didn't end when Aulac went into service about 500 km away from RDL and Brewer. The worse that can happen with a 300-km gap is a tow, but it will occur less nowadays because the in-car route planner is actually OK as compared to being worse-than-useless three years ago.

I understand the argument about planning for the masses, but it doesn't have to be a strict rule. After all, the consequences of misusing AP are worse than the impact of overestimating range. So, if Tesla were overly concerned about the lowest-common denominator, they wouldn't even offer AP, or at least require people to pass a test before being allowed to use AP.

Even if, in general, you think they should complete the Transcanadian in 100 km - 150 km steps, they should still make places like Sault-Ste-Marie an exception since it links up with more than one node (Sudbury, ON and Gaylord, MI in this case).

 

[wayner]

True, but it still makes sense to do these in some sort of order. There isn't much point in building the sites along the north shore of Lake Superior, that are shown in the map at the top of this page, before doing the Soo, or Thunder Bay.