Toronto Pearson Parking

[leaningtree]

Hi,

The threads I've seen on parking at Pearson are over a year old so am wondering if anyone flies in and out of there regularly and had any suggestions on where to park?

Right now, I think I'm good with range but just in case I end up there with less than I need - I need a back up plan.

Thanks

 

[alexhoff]

I park at the airport very regularly.

For short terms, I park at T1 self park (no charge) or valet so that my car is charged when I get home, especially in the winter as my drive is ~110km home.

For longer terms (i just did a 3 week one), I use Park & Fly Valet. If you go online you can get a nice coupon to cap the cost at ~ 140$ for anything over 10 days. They will charge your car as well.

 

[leaningtree]

Thanks! Much appreciated.

 

[Struja]

Hi,

The threads I've seen on parking at Pearson are over a year old so am wondering if anyone flies in and out of there regularly and had any suggestions on where to park?

Right now, I think I'm good with range but just in case I end up there with less than I need - I need a back up plan.

Thanks

I was just at Pearson yesterday and charged for a bit over an hour. Terminal 1, P4, very conveniently located right outside the ramp to the terminal. There are a bunch of Chargepoint chargers.

Parking is short term, $5 per 30 minutes to a max of $50 per day, which is insane (charging was free).

Long term options also, but I think those in are in Terminal 3 at bettter parking rates.

Still don't quite understand why they don't offer a regular wall plug in the long term parking. I could bring my Tesla in with 40km of range and get my 7-8km of range per hour and get full charge after about 2.5 days. No need for a lot of L2 chargers at the airport.

 

[leaningtree]

I was just at Pearson yesterday and charged for a bit over an hour. Terminal 1, P4, very conveniently located right outside the ramp to the terminal. There are a bunch of Chargepoint chargers.

Parking is short term, $5 per 30 minutes to a max of $50 per day, which is insane (charging was free).

Long term options also, but I think those in are in Terminal 3 at bettter parking rates.

Still don't quite understand why they don't offer a regular wall plug in the long term parking. I could bring my Tesla in with 40km of range and get my 7-8km of range per hour and get full charge after about 2.5 days. No need for a lot of L2 chargers at the airport.

Makes total sense. Don't think people have a clear idea of what EV's are really about.

 

[martind3]

Still don't quite understand why they don't offer a regular wall plug in the long term parking. I could bring my Tesla in with 40km of range and get my 7-8km of range per hour and get full charge after about 2.5 days. No need for a lot of L2 chargers at the airport.

I agree - Ottawa has a few of those but not enough as EV ownership increases. You aren’t worried about losing your mobile connector leaving it there for 2 + days?

 

[ilyak]

I park at the airport very regularly.

For short terms, I park at T1 self park (no charge) or valet so that my car is charged when I get home, especially in the winter as my drive is ~110km home.

For longer terms (i just did a 3 week one), I use Park & Fly Valet. If you go online you can get a nice coupon to cap the cost at ~ 140$ for anything over 10 days. They will charge your car as well.

Second Park&Fly Valet. I use it in winter as I have a long drive back to NY after arriving.
There's also a trick that reduces the cost beyond the already significant discount available with an online coupon: just print yourself a coupon for the Economy lot. On that coupon, there should be an offer to upgrade to valet at a flat rate of CAD 30 on top of the Economy lot rate. Then you just show that at the Valet lot and they will match the Economy quote + CAD 30. I've been able to park for 8 days for under CAD 100 using this trick.

 

[wayner]

I always use Valet at the terminal. If you have an Amex platinum the valet fee is waived. Just tell them to charge it before you return.

 

[electricM3]

Do y'all turn on valet mode so the cars aren't taken for joyrides?

 

[Casmium]

I always just park at the value park garage, then you just hop on the monorail to get to whichever terminal you need, that way it's at least covered from the sun and snow and i don't have to worry about someone else driving it, just got on the airport parking email list to get coupon codes.
Even between Christmas and new year only lost about 6% battery after a week.

 

[Struja]

I agree - Ottawa has a few of those but not enough as EV ownership increases. You aren’t worried about losing your mobile connector leaving it there for 2 + days?

Not really. Theft is theft, so I am about as concerned as someone breaking a window and stealing something from inside the car.

 

[pcons]

Terminal 1 does have a bunch of spots marked EV charging/parking only with 110V outlets you can plug your mobile connector into. There are 2 of these per parking level from what I could tell. There are also other places with 110v plugs and non marked EV spots on each level. I noticed them a few times and the last work trip I made a few weeks ago I tried using them. I had mixed results....

Many of the plugs were not active, but eventually I found one that was on (was not in a marked EV charging spot, but plug was in the same location as other spots marked). I used a trick from my old days when I used to charge my volt in the wild on 110V: loop the charge cable through the tire rim and padlock it so it can't be stolen without cutting straight through the cable.

I arrived with around 120km of range and fully charged over the next 3 days while on the work trip. It was kind of hilarious to watch it charge that slowly. Overall it worked well, but to be honest they should really have more dedicated spaces and outlets that are working.

Still, if you are flying terminal 1 and want to give it a try, just hunt around for them. They exist, and when I returned to my car I even checked all the Sentry mode footage and no one messed with the charger at all.

The main reason I liked this is because it let me leave Sentry mode running. Without being plugged in Sentry mode would have drained 50km/day or more, and it shuts off automatically at 100km of range. That means even if you show up fully charged (in a LR model 3 like mine) when you aren't plugged in you have about 1 week with Sentry mode on...less if you have a SR+.

Parking long term at an airport is the perfect use case for Sentry mode....but not having a way to plug in is counter productive to its use....

 

[I am 3LECTRIC]

Terminal 1 does have a bunch of spots marked EV charging/parking only with 110V outlets you can plug your mobile connector into. There are 2 of these per parking level from what I could tell. There are also other places with 110v plugs and non marked EV spots on each level. I noticed them a few times and the last work trip I made a few weeks ago I tried using them. I had mixed results....

Many of the plugs were not active, but eventually I found one that was on (was not in a marked EV charging spot, but plug was in the same location as other spots marked). I used a trick from my old days when I used to charge my volt in the wild on 110V: loop the charge cable through the tire rim and padlock it so it can't be stolen without cutting straight through the cable.

I arrived with around 120km of range and fully charged over the next 3 days while on the work trip. It was kind of hilarious to watch it charge that slowly. Overall it worked well, but to be honest they should really have more dedicated spaces and outlets that are working.

Still, if you are flying terminal 1 and want to give it a try, just hunt around for them. They exist, and when I returned to my car I even checked all the Sentry mode footage and no one messed with the charger at all.

The main reason I liked this is because it let me leave Sentry mode running. Without being plugged in Sentry mode would have drained 50km/day or more, and it shuts off automatically at 100km of range. That means even if you show up fully charged (in a LR model 3 like mine) when you aren't plugged in you have about 1 week with Sentry mode on...less if you have a SR+.

Parking long term at an airport is the perfect use case for Sentry mode....but not having a way to plug in is counter productive to its use....

There's no need to secure your Mobile Connector. While plugged in with vehicle locked, the charge port is locked and no one can just press the release button to remove the Mobile Connector and steal it. Anyone can, however, unplug your Mobile Connector and then steal the short power cable (NEMA 5-15 etc) if they wish. That's why Tesla designed the Mobile Connector this way. Same goes with J1772 adaptor. Anyone could unplug the J1772 charger from your Tesla, but the J1772 adaptor is locked into the charge port unless the car is unlocked and you select Unlock Charge Port from the car or app.

Side note though is that with the Winter Improvements update last year and issues with charge port locking pin freezing stuck, the Model 3 will disengage the locking pin when charging is complete to prevent the charger to get stuck frozen in the port. This happens automatically when the car detects ambient temperatures drop below a certain threshold. Not quite sure the exact temperature, but that's the only instance when someone could steal your Mobile Connector after your charge is complete.

 

[pcons]

There's no need to secure your Mobile Connector. While plugged in with vehicle locked, the charge port is locked and no one can just press the release button to remove the Mobile Connector and steal it. Anyone can, however, unplug your Mobile Connector and then steal the short power cable (NEMA 5-15 etc) if they wish. That's why Tesla designed the Mobile Connector this way. Same goes with J1772 adaptor. Anyone could unplug the J1772 charger from your Tesla, but the J1772 adaptor is locked into the charge port unless the car is unlocked and you select Unlock Charge Port from the car or app.

Side note though is that with the Winter Improvements update last year and issues with charge port locking pin freezing stuck, the Model 3 will disengage the locking pin when charging is complete to prevent the charger to get stuck frozen in the port. This happens automatically when the car detects ambient temperatures drop below a certain threshold. Not quite sure the exact temperature, but that's the only instance when someone could steal your Mobile Connector after your charge is complete.

Yeah, that's why I still recommend the padlock idea. The only time it really makes sense to do 120V charging is when its gonna sit for a long time, so taking the extra 30 seconds to padlock it is worth it IMO.

 

[InfinitiGuy]

Yeah, that's why I still recommend the padlock idea. The only time it really makes sense to do 120V charging is when its gonna sit for a long time, so taking the extra 30 seconds to padlock it is worth it IMO.

How does one padlock the mobile connector? Any pictures?

 

[I am 3LECTRIC]

Yeah, that's why I still recommend the padlock idea. The only time it really makes sense to do 120V charging is when its gonna sit for a long time, so taking the extra 30 seconds to padlock it is worth it IMO.

Good idea with the padlock, but it doesn't offer any extra protection in the warmer months. It's only securing your Mobile Connector in the cold months when the charge port locking pin disengages after charging

 

[Struja]

How does one padlock the mobile connector? Any pictures?

He described it above, by wraping the cable through the wheel prior to connecting.

 

[InfinitiGuy]

He described it above, by wraping the cable through the wheel prior to connecting.

Oh, I've got aero wheels. Can't do that.

 

[GarthG]

Oh, I've got aero wheels. Can't do that.

Just gently pull the hubcap off and you've got a wheel under it with plenty of spokes for wrapping.

 

[Zirak]

There's no need to secure your Mobile Connector. While plugged in with vehicle locked, the charge port is locked and no one can just press the release button to remove the Mobile Connector and steal it. Anyone can, however, unplug your Mobile Connector and then steal the short power cable (NEMA 5-15 etc) if they wish. That's why Tesla designed the Mobile Connector this way. Same goes with J1772 adaptor. Anyone could unplug the J1772 charger from your Tesla, but the J1772 adaptor is locked into the charge port unless the car is unlocked and you select Unlock Charge Port from the car or app.

Side note though is that with the Winter Improvements update last year and issues with charge port locking pin freezing stuck, the Model 3 will disengage the locking pin when charging is complete to prevent the charger to get stuck frozen in the port. This happens automatically when the car detects ambient temperatures drop below a certain threshold. Not quite sure the exact temperature, but that's the only instance when someone could steal your Mobile Connector after your charge is complete.

They've also done another hardware revision for the charge port, I believe V2 was released earlier this year (Jan/Feb?), a mobile service tech came last week to fix a couple things and he replaced my charge port with a new V3 part. Apparently the locking slot is much wider than the one in V2 which helps lock the J1772 in place. I believe the motor is also more powerful and will still unlock in ice. So I'm not sure if that'll still be the case with anyone with the new part installed.

They also replaced the two little plastic cylinders that go around the two metal prongs for power in the charge port, apparently there was a design change for that as well, since the plastic cylinders would snap out if the charging cable tugged on it during disconnection.