Toronto - Montreal

[Birdman325]

Planning on Toronto - Montreal this weekend (Sunday) - which I have done a number of times since getting my 3 last October.

I would typically go from Toronto to Kingston and then stop right before Montreal (my mom lives in an apartment building with no good charging opportunities) in Point Claire but I am a little concerned about all the recent issues I have been reading about Kingston. Even in the best of times, the 6 stalls at Kingston are heavily used and as I will be rolling through on Sunday afternoon (prime shopping time at the mall), I am considering Belleville and Cornwall instead. (I am not a fan of Cornwall because I find it too far off the highway).

I know, I am not really asking a question - but curious as to people's thoughts. (I also wonder if with the cold weather and some rain predicted for Sunday I will have to charge pretty high to get from Belleville to Cornwall even with my LR AWD with 18" winters and Aero covers on)

Thx

 

[bijan]

I usually do Belleville and Cornwall. I've driven the route about 10 times so far. In summer or warmer weather there are more options as you can do Belleville to Pointe Claire and I've even done Belleville to Montreal by charging over 90% at Belleville.

If Kingston is a more convenient stop for you I'd just check the nav before Belleville and see if Kingston is pretty free and if it is busy then just stop in Belleville.

I drove Ottawa to Toronto on Monday and was planning on stopping directly at Belleville but navigation showed no one at Kingston so I stopped there instead.

 

[Birdman325]

Thx. In the 4 or 5 trips I have made I have never stopped at Belleville. That may be reason enough to try it. (Although the forecast is not great for Sunday Monday).

 

[bijan]

I have always made it from Belleville to Cornwall charging to 90% at Belleville (and vice versa). Though in bad weather I've had to slow down to about 110km/h (-12C). Should be fine on Sunday assuming the snow is not too heavy.

(I also have a LR AWD with Aeros).

 

[Birdman325]

110 km/hr. Hmmm, that’s a tough one.

 

[bijan]

110 km/hr. Hmmm, that’s a tough one.

A better route planner says you'll make it going 130km/h if it's -2 and light snow.

Edit: and no wind

 

[Birdman325]

To be continued....

 

[malou]

Avoid Kingston if you have an LR and can avoid it. Leave the few stalls for us SR+ folks

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

To be continued....

I'm doing the drive tonight. Kingston is the perfect halfway point to charge for only one charging stop in a 3LR. But breaking it down to two stops at Bellville and Cornwall allows you to pedal to the metal (more $ for charging, less driving time by a bit).

Only wish the Cornwall SuC was closer to the highway.

 

[Birdman325]

Agreed- but I don’t have great charging options in Montreal so I like to get to Montreal with a higher SoC than I would have if i just stopped at Kingston, and especially on Sunday, Kingston can be a mess / packed.

(And yes, Cornwall is too far off the highway)

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

Montreal is EV heaven , free street parking with $1/hr charging. Point-Claire is on the way in. You can always stop there and get to 70%.

 

[Birdman325]

Yes, thx for that - there are lots of street EV charging opportunities, but there is nothing walking distance from my mom's place, so charging while I run into Pharmaprix or even charging for even an hour or two at a Level 2 while I grab something to eat, does not get me very far. I typically hit Point Claire on my way out.

 

[JamstationP85D]

Those in downtown’ish Ottawa.. first drive there in the EV from Toronto (p85d).. Looking for any hotels with ample charging options for overnight parking (or adjacent lots with L2’s). I was a bit surprised at the lack of options for supercharging there.

And great advice on the Kingston stop and how busy it might be.

 

[1Step2NoGas]

Those in downtown’ish Ottawa.. first drive there in the EV from Toronto (p85d).. Looking for any hotels with ample charging options for overnight parking (or adjacent lots with L2’s). I was a bit surprised at the lack of options for supercharging there.

And great advice on the Kingston stop and how busy it might be.

Plugshare shows Westin downtown has 2 Tesla destination chargers as well as superchargers. Albert at Bay Suite Hotel shows 1 J1772. Best Western Plus Victoria Park shows 1 J1772. I haven't tried any of these, but just thought this might help. The Courtyard Marriott on Coventry shows 1 J1772 as well, though that's not downtown Ottawa.

Welcome to Ottawa!

 

[AZP85]

I'll be staying at the Albert at Bay Suite Hotel at the end of the month so I am hoping the charger there is going to be clear and not always in use.

 

[ccudmore]

Plugshare shows Westin downtown has 2 Tesla destination chargers as well as superchargers. Albert at Bay Suite Hotel shows 1 J1772. Best Western Plus Victoria Park shows 1 J1772. I haven't tried any of these, but just thought this might help. The Courtyard Marriott on Coventry shows 1 J1772 as well, though that's not downtown Ottawa.

Welcome to Ottawa!

I used the Courtyard Marriott on Coventry just before Christmas and it worked fine. It's about 15 minutes away from downtown.

 

[Kabillyhop]

I have stayed several times at the Albert at Bay (not with the EV). For what it's worth, I have never seen anyone using the charger.

 

[JamstationP85D]

This is all great to hear! We are heading up for Family day weekend and to get some canal skating in. Would be picture perfect weekend with convenient charging at a hotel.. but it could be quite a hassle if planned charging stations on the way and hotel charging isnt available. Would be tolerable if its just me or the wife and I but traveling with kids puts the stakes very high. Will close the Courtyard or the Albert based on feedback here.

Has anyone invested in a CHAdeMO? It seems all the newer stations (Petro Can, Canadian Tire, etc) are all going that way.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

This is all great to hear! We are heading up for Family day weekend and to get some canal skating in. Would be picture perfect weekend with convenient charging at a hotel.. but it could be quite a hassle if planned charging stations on the way and hotel charging isnt available. Would be tolerable if its just me or the wife and I but traveling with kids puts the stakes very high. Will close the Courtyard or the Albert based on feedback here.

Has anyone invested in a CHAdeMO? It seems all the newer stations (Petro Can, Canadian Tire, etc) are all going that way.

CHAdeMO can be helpful. Especially around Kingston's limited 6 stalls of SuC. There's a Petro in Kingston and one nearby in Napanee. At 0.33 per minute. It'll get you enough to make it to Belleville or Brockville without breaking the bank. However, the 50kW (43kW) limit make it cost as much as gasoline (more in the winter). It's a nice addition for road trips though if there is no SuC on route.

 

[Birdman325]

Did the Toronto - Montreal - Toronto route Sunday and yesterday.

I was really stressing about skipping Belleville and stopping at Kingston and was compulsively checking the SC status at Kingston. It was pretty steady 3 of 6 full for all of Sunday morning on the way to Kingston but I took a chance and skipped Belleville and committed to Kingston (Sunday at noon in an outlet mall parking lot with poor snow removal - who knows what can happen). 3 of the stalls were open but I could not get over 100 kW on the first stall so I moved to another open stall and went right up to about 135 kW (apx - I have all of the exact TeslaFi data if anyone is interested in full trip details).

Surprisingly my next stop at Cornwall also only had 2 open stalls and 2 of the cars (with an open stall between them) were so far over the line that I actually could not squeeze my car between them. (I tried, but no one was moving). I had to tuck into the stall at the end next to the shed which was almost snow blocked, but I got in and surprisingly managed very high charging speeds (about 145 kW).

All of which to say, on the way back to Toronto, I left Montreal with a little less than I would have liked, and while initial estimates had me reaching Kingston with about 20%, weather was not too cold and my speed was not excessive, (it may have been a little windy) but the estimate dropped like a stone and moved to 8 - 9 % getting to as low as 7% with over an hour of travel time remaining. I dropped my speed to 110 km/hr and even turned off the heat and it moved up a percent or so -

I almost bailed at Cornwall but decided to take a chance - (Brockville would have been perfect) and with about 55 minutes left to Kingston I slowly increased my speed and arrived at Kingston with 7%. (Kingston was empty - but this was Monday at about 10 am).

Not clear to me why the estimate was off so much and the car was using so much "power" but from Kingston (I did a short charge instead of hanging around, intending to splash and dash at Port Hope) to Port Hope and from Port Hope to downtown I was driving "with traffic" and the estimate was very very close to final arrival.