TOFINO - TESLA CHARGING OPTIONS?

[spacemanrick]

We are staying at Tofino in B.C. this weekend at a hotel that doesn’t have a Tesla charger and wondering what our best Tesla charging options are? This is our first time travelling with our 2019 Tesla model 3 performance and we are not really up to speed on the best charging options on our trip to Tofino. Once we arrive at Nanaimo from the Vancouver ferry we plan to charge up at the Nanaimo Tesla charging station and drive the 210 km to Tofino. Once we get to Tofino we will have the standard Tesla charger with us that we used at home on our 110 volt outlet before we bought our home Tesla charger.

I know there are 3 or 4 Tesla chargers around Tofino at certain hotels and restaurants but I assume you have to be a guest at those hotels and businesses for you to use their chargers. What are the best charging options around Tofino with the standard Tesla charger that came with out 2019 model 3?

Thanks for any advice offered!

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Obligatory suggestion: Have you checked PlugShare?

 

[bolero]

We are staying at Tofino in B.C. this weekend at a hotel that doesn’t have a Tesla charger and wondering what our best Tesla charging options are? This is our first time travelling with our 2019 Tesla model 3 performance and we are not really up to speed on the best charging options on our trip to Tofino. Once we arrive at Nanaimo from the Vancouver ferry we plan to charge up at the Nanaimo Tesla charging station and drive the 210 km to Tofino. Once we get to Tofino we will have the standard Tesla charger with us that we used at home on our 110 volt outlet before we bought our home Tesla charger.

I know there are 3 or 4 Tesla chargers around Tofino at certain hotels and restaurants but I assume you have to be a guest at those hotels and businesses for you to use their chargers. What are the best charging options around Tofino with the standard Tesla charger that came with out 2019 model 3?

Thanks for any advice offered!

Lots of L2 charger also BCHydro Chademo station if you have an adapter..

 

[spacemanrick]

I have had our model 3 now for 9 months and have always just charged at home on my Tesla charger. I only used the Tesla supercharger for the very first time 3 weeks ago and I am pretty green to the other charger optionsView attachment 566815 View attachment 566816 .

I have attached a photo of the charger adapter that I used to charge at my house on the 110 volt garage outlet for the first week before my Tesla charger was installed.

Will I need a different special adapter to use the L2 charger stations, BCHydro Chademo stations, and other plugshare stations around Tofino? Is it safe to assume that it is proper protocol and courtesy that in order to use the Tesla charging stations at a particular business that you are supposed to be staying at that hotel?

 

[ccudmore]

Will I need a different special adapter to use the L2 charger stations, BCHydro Chademo stations, and other plugshare stations around Tofino? Is it safe to assume that it is proper protocol and courtesy that in order to use the Tesla charging stations at a particular business that you are supposed to be staying at that hotel?

If you're using a Level 2 charger (assuming J1772) you'll need the small adapter that's in the top-right of the picture you included. You attach it to the end of a Level 2 J1772 charger cable and then it fits into the charging port on your car. Pro tip: Don't forget to detach it and take it with you when you're done. Here's a video you can watch on how to use J1772 charging.

If you're using a BC Hydro Chademo charger you'll need to buy a Tesla/Chademo adapter from Tesla. They run about $602 and are available at CHAdeMO Adapter. Or if you ask nicely on your local Tesla owners Facebook group there's a good chance you'll find someone who will lend you one for a weekend. Also some Tesla clubs across the company have adapters you can borrow if you're a paid member.

As for charging protocol, it really depends on the location. Some are for guests only and some are open to the public. If you look up particular charging locations on PlugShare.com it usually says who can use them. Many hotels installed Tesla destination chargers as part of a Tesla promotion where Tesla gives them the charger for free (and paid for their electrician bill) on the condition that the hotel pays for the electricity and allows anyone to use the charger for free. I've never found a hotel that had Tesla destination chargers that didn't let me charge for free if I asked.

Also keep in mind that Level 2 and Chademo charging are slower than Supercharging. Totally rough estimates are that Level 2 charging is the same speed you'd charge at home and Chademo is about 1/3 to 1/2 the speed of a supercharger (can even be significantly slower than that).

EV charging is like being a Mac laptop owner - you end up with a whole pile of adapters over time.

 

[bpjod]

Looked on PlugShare - it appears the Municipal Office has a couple of chargers, although one seems to be down at the moment. They are free to use and will require the J1772 adapter in your charging kit.

For future travels, may I recommend staying in hotels/motels/B&Bs with chargers, then let the proprietor know that the charger is the reason you chose to stay there. I know I go out of my way to support locations that supply chargers for their guests. When that option isn't available, I talk to the owner and suggest they look into providing chargers. When you think of the $10 they spend on electricity to recharge my car, I'm sure they would consider $10 to be a good investment to get the kind of client that can afford to purchase a Tesla.

Final thought, call the location you're staying. Oftentimes they have an outlet that they're happy to let you plug into overnight during your stay. It might only be 120V/15A, but it's at least something.

 

[augkuo]

There are also RV campgrounds nearby that you can use your mobile charger to get juice faster than a Level 2 charger. You can call them up and show them this pic to see what kind of outlets that have available. Gen 2 NEMA Adapters
It might be better to camp there days anyway!

 

[spacemanrick]

Wow thank you everyone for all your incredibly helpful and useful information!

Armed with your responses I have located several Tesla charging stations that I will use to top off our model 3 when we are in Tofino this weekend!

Thanks again everyone! I truly appreciate that you took the time to respond and help me out.....

 

[bolero]

you can also download BC Hydro EV app to activate some of the station including Greenlots, Flo and Chargepoint..Some station doesn't need it . check plugshare for info about the station you are going to use...

 

[maxx2hayre]

HI This is our first trip with our Tesla going to Tofino, is there any issues with the road construction and being able to go the distance from Nanaimo to Tofino after we charge up in Nanaimo. From the road report there is delays?

 

[bolero]

HI This is our first trip with our Tesla going to Tofino, is there any issues with the road construction and being able to go the distance from Nanaimo to Tofino after we charge up in Nanaimo. From the road report there is delays?

check drivebc.ca for updated road condition..