VA to Canada .. is this route a realistic plan?

[Pezpunk]

Hey everyone. This summer, I plan on driving my P100D from my home in Bristow, VA to Low, Quebec. It's about 615 miles. I haven't taken any long trips or even publicly charged my car before, so I'm open to any tips or suggestions.

Here's what I have come up with after fiddling around with EV Trip Planner: EV Trip Planner

I'm mostly concerned about the first leg up to Moosic, which is 247 miles. I know my P100D is rated for over 300, and I will be travelling in warm weather ... but will i realistically make it that far without risk? it's somewhat mountainous through parts of PA. (more concerned about hills sapping range than cold, since i'll probably be driving in July or August.)

By the way, I had to add in that stop in Aldie just to get the map to take me up Route 15 -- without it, it wants to take me East on 66 to the DC beltway .... Which is a truly, truly terrible idea on a weekday morning. Trust me.

Can I make this trip only stopping twice? That would be cool. Is there a good reason to add more supercharger stops to the journey? Thanks for your input!

 

[Max*]

While it seems possible, you may want to play with EVtrip planner to add charging stops. It takes a lot less time to charge 0-50% than it does 50%-100%.

It may even out, since it takes time to pull off the highway, go to the supercharger (many are a couple miles off the highway), charge, drive back to the highway, etc.

 

[Pezpunk]

well, the first leg it will already be charged to 100% in my garage. put perhaps adding stops after Moosic would actually save time. hmm.

 

[hacer]

...
Can I make this trip only stopping twice? That would be cool. Is there a good reason to add more supercharger stops to the journey? Thanks for your input!

Making it in two stops depends on your bladder! Personally I don't like to drive for 3 straight hours with out some kind of break, but I don't think you'll have any problems with respect to charge unless you're really a lead-foot driver, which according to your speed multiplier selection in the trip planner you aren't. I'm not sure of your charging/driving plans in Low, but if you do the short charge duration at Watertown you won't have much range upon arrival at your destination.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

easy day i did the Centerville VA to Toronto trip in the winter

 

[Drone Flyer]

Making it in two stops depends on your bladder! Personally I don't like to drive for 3 straight hours with out some kind of break, but I don't think you'll have any problems with respect to charge unless you're really a lead-foot driver, which according to your speed multiplier selection in the trip planner you aren't. I'm not sure of your charging/driving plans in Low, but if you do the short charge duration at Watertown you won't have much range upon arrival at your destination.

Watertown is way out of the way if you're going to Quebec.
Once you hit New York, stay on 87 and it takes you right into Montreal with SC stops in Albany and Plattsburgh.
Montreal has two Sc locations as well, one ofwhich only has two stalls, but it is at the service centre dealer which, by the way, is the largest in North America!

 

[hacer]

Watertown is way out of the way if you're going to Quebec.
Once you hit New York, stay on 87 and it takes you right into Montreal with SC stops in Albany and Plattsburgh.
Montreal has two Sc locations as well, one ofwhich only has two stalls, but it is at the service centre dealer which, by the way, is the largest in North America!

Well, since the OP's going to Low which is almost due North of Ottowa, I think going to Montreal is actually way out of the way.

 

[Hugh Mannity]

Did you check PlugShare? Ottawa likely has a few destination chargers you can top up at.

 

[Pezpunk]

Well, since the OP's going to Low which is almost due North of Ottowa, I think going to Montreal is actually way out of the way.

Right. thank you, Drone Flyer, for responding, but I'm not going anywhere near Montreal. i've made this trip dozens of times with ICE cars. Route 81 is the way to go.

Making it in two stops depends on your bladder! Personally I don't like to drive for 3 straight hours with out some kind of break, but I don't think you'll have any problems with respect to charge unless you're really a lead-foot driver, which according to your speed multiplier selection in the trip planner you aren't. I'm not sure of your charging/driving plans in Low, but if you do the short charge duration at Watertown you won't have much range upon arrival at your destination.

yeahhh in the past, i always drove the trip as fast as i could get away with (75 to 85 mph most of the way) but the Tesla changes the dynamics of saving time. According to other threads on here, it's faster overall to drive the speed limit, because then you spend less time charging up. i think i can do that without going crazy.

once I get to my destination, it will be interesting. it's the middle of nowhere. i'll be in a literal log cabin with extremely limited technology. the phone lines don't even support touch-tone. pulse only! a 120 volt outlet will probably be all i have access to. I'll have to drive 40 minutes into Ottawa to fully charge up.

 

[Max*]

According to other threads on here, it's faster overall to drive the speed limit, because then you spend less time charging up. i think i can do that without going crazy.

That's not what I've seen in other threads. It highly depends on distance, but the sweet spot that reduced overall travel time (drive time + charge time) was somewhere around 70-75mph.

 

[AllenWong]

I have done Florida to NYC to Toronto to NYC To Florida to NYC before. Sweet spot is whatever the speed the large trucks are going at, because I find that you can maximize your range by coasting right behind the large trucks (large SUVs work, too but not as well). If you have autopilot/active cruise control, just set the autopilot to the closest possible setting to the car in front of you. I managed to beat Tesla's rated range using this method even though I was cruising at 70-80 mph.