Vancouver to Alberta Trip Planning

[Nappe]

I quickly started playing around with MyMaps. I'll try to hone my skills later, but this map is my planned route. Thanks for the tip. I should be able to charge for a couple of hours at the Jasper/Hinton KOA for a small fee. They're getting back to me, but they have outlets always accessible (not only in reserved RV sites). If it works out, I'll ask them if I can add them to Plugshare. I think it would be helpful since that stretch is a Plugshare desert. I leave Vancouver July 11th.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zl-CiQE0osTU.kz4M9n3QoFys&usp=sharing

That's quite the start! It is quick and easy to get up and running with a useful map.

We are in the Lake Louise campground tonight and it is quite nice.

 

[pairtrader]

We are in the Lake Louise campground tonight and it is quite nice.

Are you plugged in at your site? I was under the impression that you couldn't plug in at the tent sites, but would be pleasantly surprised if it's possible.

 

[Nappe]

Are you plugged in at your site? I was under the impression that you couldn't plug in at the tent sites, but would be pleasantly surprised if it's possible.

No plug-ins at the tent camp sites. We charged to 100% in Canmore over dinner at Crazy Weed, camped one night, as pictured above, and hiked the next day. Even with preconditioning the car to cool it off on the walk back, we left Lake Louise with 80% charge. We even skipped Golden and arrived in Revelstoke with 30% remaining. The trip prediction was bang on, even in the 34° heat.

 

[tomanik]

No plug-ins at the tent camp sites. We charged to 100% in Canmore over dinner at Crazy Weed, camped one night, as pictured above, and hiked the next day. Even with preconditioning the car to cool it off on the walk back, we left Lake Louise with 80% charge. We even skipped Golden and arrived in Revelstoke with 30% remaining. The trip prediction was bang on, even in the 34° heat.

How was Crazy Weed, we wanted to try it however they did not open until 5 the night we were there? You family camping trip looks awesome!

 

[Nappe]

How was Crazy Weed, we wanted to try it however they did not open until 5 the night we were there? You family camping trip looks awesome!

We really enjoyed our meal. Hipster vibe—like it or not—friendly service, and creative food.

 

[Nappe]

Road-trip update: we are pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to destination charge. We arrived in Burnaby on Saturday, charged at 110 V for like 16 hours after finding a pillar in the parkade with a plug in on it. We've gone days between charges and only charged when it was convenient, like at a mall or parkade. Now we are below 50% and we plan to charge to 90 before heading to Nanaimo. We chose a hotel with an AddEnergie charger, but at 197 V and 30 A, we'll need 6 hours to get to 90%, whereas if we walked to dinner, we could have charged almost as much from a plain-old 110 V plug from when we got back from the beach at 4 PM until tomorrow morning at 10 AM.

I guess what I'm saying is road-trip charging is easier than I thought. For general driving about at the destination—but not while logging the highway miles, where energy needs are much greater—one could comfortably get away with overnight 110 V charging if one charged every night.

 

[Doug_G]

I guess what I'm saying is road-trip charging is easier than I thought. For general driving about at the destination—but not while logging the highway miles, where energy needs are much greater—one could comfortably get away with overnight 110 V charging if one charged every night.

In the summer, sure. But if you were directly exposed to -20C weather you might not get any range from 110V.

One nice thing about the Roadster, a full day on 110V will fill it. Model S takes a couple of days.

 

[pairtrader]

I'm at the Lake Louise Campground (serviced sites) and my 30A adapters aren't compatible with the 30A outlet. I had the same issue at RV parks during my US road trip last summer. 50A works, but 30A sites are much more common. Has anyone figured this out? Is there another adapter available that I'm missing? No luck with these adapters.

 

[beeeerock]

I'm at the Lake Louise Campground (serviced sites) and my 30A adapters aren't compatible with the 30A outlet. I had the same issue at RV parks during my US road trip last summer. 50A works, but 30A sites are much more common. Has anyone figured this out? Is there another adapter available that I'm missing? No luck with these adapters.View attachment 87147

I think that's a NEMA TT-30R, which is designed for RV's but is intended for 120 volt supply, not 240. I don't honestly know if the Tesla charger could take advantage of this if an adapter was available? At best, you'd manage twice the charge rate as you would with your normal 120 volt adapter!

 

[Cottonwood]

I think that's a NEMA TT-30R, which is designed for RV's but is intended for 120 volt supply, not 240. I don't honestly know if the Tesla charger could take advantage of this if an adapter was available? At best, you'd manage twice the charge rate as you would with your normal 120 volt adapter!

You just need an adapter, but be careful; an RV TT-30 to 14-50 will not work for a Tesla and a Tesla TT-30 to 14-50 adapter will not work for an RV. The RV TT-30 to 5-20 adapter will work for a Tesla, but you can't get full power.

This is a good adapter: NEMA 14-50R to TT-30P RV Plug Adapter Cord. Be sure to dial the Tesla current draw back to 24 Amps so you don't blow a breaker at the RV park. With new Model S's you will get 120 Volts at 24 Amps; older Model S's will only draw 20 Amps. 120V*24A=2.9kW or about 12 rated km per hour.

Here is a good discussion thread on TMC: what to use for 30 amp campground hookup?

Good Luck!

 

[Greenextreme]

I am envious, got my model S a bit too early - no gen 2 seats, no P85D were available. I will be coming from Victoria to Calgary this Tuesday, July 14th night, obviously having charged in Canmore. Tried to look for chargers around Calgary on plugshare, sadly still very limited. Truly appreciate this extra opportunity offered by you. Planning to play it by the ear, I may call... Would naturally return favor in Victoria, even though your best bet on the Island would likely be CHADEMO, if you have plug converter, or more likely one of the destination chargers, which always provide high charge levels for the morning, or in worst case accepting level 2 charging they are plentyful. My level 2 charger in garage is 30 Amp, charges the 85 kW battery always to 80%/100% overnight.

Arno Keinonen, cell. 250 213-3992

 

[pairtrader]

You just need an adapter, but be careful; an RV TT-30 to 14-50 will not work for a Tesla and a Tesla TT-30 to 14-50 adapter will not work for an RV. The RV TT-30 to 5-20 adapter will work for a Tesla, but you can't get full power.

This is a good adapter: NEMA 14-50R to TT-30P RV Plug Adapter Cord. Be sure to dial the Tesla current draw back to 24 Amps so you don't blow a breaker at the RV park. With new Model S's you will get 120 Volts at 24 Amps; older Model S's will only draw 20 Amps. 120V*24A=2.9kW or about 12 rated km per hour.
Good Luck!

Thanks. I ordered the adapter. It should arrive in Edmonton before I drive back to Vancouver, so I'll give it a try in the Jasper area. In the meantime, I'll relax and enjoy the slow charge.

 

[Kenypowa]

Thanks. I ordered the adapter. It should arrive in Edmonton before I drive back to Vancouver, so I'll give it a try in the Jasper area. In the meantime, I'll relax and enjoy the slow charge.View attachment 87233View attachment 87234

Did you arrive the Lake Louise campground Friday evening around 10pm ish? I saw a Tesla stopping at the entrance booth. It was dark so I couldn't make out whether the car is black or blue. I was the car ahead :wink:.

 

[Zapped]

I would have thought it's hard to get a powered campsite in the mountains this time of year !
You campsite looks empty.

 

[pairtrader]

Did you arrive the Lake Louise campground Friday evening around 10pm ish? I saw a Tesla stopping at the entrance booth. It was dark so I couldn't make out whether the car is black or blue. I was the car ahead :wink:.

I didn't arrive until Saturday night, about 7pm. Teslas everywhere now!

- - - Updated - - -

I would have thought it's hard to get a powered campsite in the mountains this time of year !
You campsite looks empty.

The campground was fully booked. This is two connected sites, but my neighbour didn't show up the first night. I had to book two weeks in advance to grab one of the last serviced sites.

 

[pairtrader]

June 24th I'll attempt to drive back from Edmonton to Vancouver through Jasper (then south to Golden) It's 385km from Edmonton to Wabasso Campground, so I wouldn't be comfortable attempting it without a place to charge for a couple of hours. I contacted the Hinton/Jasper KOA (299km from my Edmonton location) and they said they would allow me to use a 50Amp outlet for a few hours if I made a contribution to a children's cancer charity that they support. It's in an RV site that will likely be occupied later in the day, so Ive been encouraged to arrive early. I'll post an update afterwards, since it could be helpful for a few more summers. I think we can agree that a Supercharger in that area is a long ways off. Hinton / Jasper KOA | Camping in Alberta | KOA Campgrounds

Has anyone charged successfully between Edmonton and Jasper?

 

[pairtrader]

July 24th I'll attempt to drive back from Edmonton to Vancouver through Jasper (then south to Golden) It's 385km from Edmonton to Wabasso Campground, so I wouldn't be comfortable attempting it without a place to charge for a couple of hours. I contacted the Hinton/Jasper KOA (299km from my Edmonton location) and they said they would allow me to use a 50Amp outlet for a few hours if I made a contribution to a children's cancer charity that they support. It's in an RV site that will likely be occupied later in the day, so Ive been encouraged to arrive early. I'll post an update afterwards, since it could be helpful for a few more summers. I think we can agree that a Supercharger in that area is a long ways off. Hinton / Jasper KOA | Camping in Alberta | KOA Campgrounds

Has anyone charged successfully between Edmonton and Jasper?

Unfortunately I had to drive home early for a personal matter, so no drive through Jasper this time. The good news is that it took about 16.5 hours from Edmonton to downtown Vancouver without driving like a madman. Traffic between Kamloops and Vancouver is amazing after midnight!

If anyone drives to Jasper, especially between Jasper and Banff, I'd like to hear about it. I bought the adapter for 30A RV outlets, so I'm looking forward to my next road trip.

 

[beeeerock]

Traffic between Kamloops and Vancouver is amazing after midnight!

Not entirely related to trip planning in this corridor, but related to the corridor itself... has anyone had *any* success with the on-board camera recognizing the 120 km/h signs on the Coquihalla? My experience has been largely with the Merritt-Kamloops section (both directions). I like to set the cruise and watch the limit marker on the speedo... it has not correctly read any of the signs along that route, ever, that I've noted.

Yesterday, heading north, it decided the limit was 60 km/h around the top of the climb out of Merritt (about opposite the southbound brake check)! I didn't actually see the sign that might have triggered that. No other roads around to add confusion.

The nav system seems to rely upon the Google information, which apparently still shows the highway as 110 km/h. I'm actually starting to wonder if there is a speed above which it simply ignores the signs, because they're big, relatively close to the highway and very clearly marked. It's successfully read far worse.

I've had pretty good luck with the recognition system on other highways and byways in the region, but the Coq is apparently a complete enigma for it.

Anyone else taken note?

 

[Footbag]

Not entirely related to trip planning in this corridor, but related to the corridor itself... has anyone had *any* success with the on-board camera recognizing the 120 km/h signs on the Coquihalla?
The nav system seems to rely upon the Google information, which apparently still shows the highway as 110 km/h. I'm actually starting to wonder if there is a speed above which it simply ignores the signs, because they're big, relatively close to the highway and very clearly marked. It's successfully read far worse.

I've had pretty good luck with the recognition system on other highways and byways in the region, but the Coq is apparently a complete enigma for it.

Anyone else taken note?

On my recent drives on the Coq, indeed it ignored the 120 signs.

 

[Nappe]

Not entirely related to trip planning in this corridor, but related to the corridor itself... has anyone had *any* success with the on-board camera recognizing the 120 km/h signs on the Coquihalla? My experience has been largely with the Merritt-Kamloops section (both directions). I like to set the cruise and watch the limit marker on the speedo... it has not correctly read any of the signs along that route, ever, that I've noted.

Yesterday, heading north, it decided the limit was 60 km/h around the top of the climb out of Merritt (about opposite the southbound brake check)! I didn't actually see the sign that might have triggered that. No other roads around to add confusion.

The nav system seems to rely upon the Google information, which apparently still shows the highway as 110 km/h. I'm actually starting to wonder if there is a speed above which it simply ignores the signs, because they're big, relatively close to the highway and very clearly marked. It's successfully read far worse.

I've had pretty good luck with the recognition system on other highways and byways in the region, but the Coq is apparently a complete enigma for it.

Anyone else taken note?

I made the same observation, and worse, sometimes the speedometer indicated the speed was 20 km/h. It's like it can't believe its eyes.

How do we report this? It's important to fix before giving autopilot more control over the speed.