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Vancouver to Whistler Planning

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S

Seattle

Member
Dec 9, 2012
375
91
Bellevue, WA
#1
I'm trying to plan out Vancouver to Whistler, or really Seattle to Whistler. It's about 225 miles, and the challenge of course is Vancouver to Whistler. There aren't many charging stations after Vancouver.

You can get a great charge at the Blaine station, Blaine HPC - Blaine, WA - Recargo.
Using http://www.jurassictest.ch/GR/, I took the tesla roadster and switched weight to 2100kg and 3 passengers. it suggests seattle to whistler would use 85% of an 85kwh battery.

What I'd like is confidence that I could range charge in seattle, use range climate control, charge in Blaine for say an hour, drive at a reasonable moderate pace and make it with 20 miles of estimated range left.

I saw that "tojones1949" just did this trip (via checkins on recargo), charging in Blaine, a public garage at home depot in Vancouver and in Whistler. tojones1949 can you tell me your experience?
 
#2
If you are trying to model an 85kw battery, it seems you are trying to plan for a model S. Simply go to the "add new vehicle" tab in jurassictest, and select the 85kw model s. That should work better for the calculations than using a roadster and modifying it. Also, take a look at suncountryhighway.ca. They have lots of CS90 (70amp) chargers along the route, if you have a twin charger. There is also a plan by Whistler to put a row of EV chargers in Lot 1 in Whistler - I am not sure but they may already be there. This is the perfect location for day trips. I plan to do the Vancouver to Whistler run many many times after my car arrives (hopefully next month). I also plan to go to Seattle now and then, so that Blain outlet sounds useful.
 
#3
Seattle said:
I'm trying to plan out Vancouver to Whistler, or really Seattle to Whistler. It's about 225 miles, and the challenge of course is Vancouver to Whistler. There aren't many charging stations after Vancouver.

You can get a great charge at the Blaine station, Blaine HPC - Blaine, WA - Recargo.
Using http://www.jurassictest.ch/GR/, I took the tesla roadster and switched weight to 2100kg and 3 passengers. it suggests seattle to whistler would use 85% of an 85kwh battery.

What I'd like is confidence that I could range charge in seattle, use range climate control, charge in Blaine for say an hour, drive at a reasonable moderate pace and make it with 20 miles of estimated range left.

I saw that "tojones1949" just did this trip (via checkins on recargo), charging in Blaine, a public garage at home depot in Vancouver and in Whistler. tojones1949 can you tell me your experience?
Click to expand...

On the jurassictest web site you can actually select a Model S with 40, 60 or 85 kWh battery. Just select "Add Vehicle", it's in the list, then delete the other cars. Should give you more accurate results than modifying the Roadsters settings.
 
#4
Hiya Seattle, from a Model S owner in Seattle (P85 performance, 21" wheels, blah blah).

We drove the Model S up to Whistler two weeks ago, stopping twice. Once in Bellingham where there is a 230V/30A charger next to a Starbucks and charged for MAYBE 30 minutes at most. Then we stopped in Vancouver for a shopping/dinner excursion, all the while charging at a 190V/30A charger (Bank of Montreal Building downtown, on W. Georgia St). We were there probably at most 4 hours, getting about 12-13 miles/hr charging rate, which we did to get us a cushion. We arrived into Whistler with what I remember to be about 20-30 miles left. We had the heat set at 70, the cruise control set at 65, and there were 3 of us in the car. I was amazed how close the car gets on roadtrips to rated mileage - it was like 90% rated or a tad higher. Impressive!

At Whistler, we parked underneath the Convention Center right next to the village, where there are 4 dedicated spots to "EV charging", but really, dedicated to EVs that have a NEMA 14-50 plug, which happens to work great for us Model S people with that adapter. The rates were super reasonable, and the bonus is that it's covered and a tad warmer than charging it in a totally exposed spot (such as Lot 1, or at the Whistler Municipality Center). We parked/charged overnight and voila good as new.

On the way back we made NO charging stops along the route, and ended in Capitol Hill with 10 miles left. Same temp, same cruise control, but you're downhill a lot from Whistler to Vancouver.

We knew about the Blaine high-amp J-1772 charger, and if we didn't have plans to shop/dine in Vancouver on the way up and wanted to get there as fast as reasonable, we would definitely have stopped in Blaine for (at least) an hour to have a bite - that should get you the cushion you need to make that final leg. But on the way back, a stop may not be necessary, depending on temperature, etc. If you want the reassurance, the Blaine stop is the best option.

I hope that is reassuring. It was a fantastic trip and we had less range anxiety than we anticipated!
 
  • Informative
Reactions: modamoda
#8
Ok, so I'm at Whistler :)

Drove from Abbotsford -> Took a Detour through downtown Vancouver then up North Van, Along the Sea-to-Sky and Drove around a bit in Squamish to checkout the charging stations, and then to Whistler. Avg temp outside 2 degrees. Avg inside 23. Speed 90km/hour

Started with Range Charge and got here with about 60km ideal left.

Charging in Squamish... good luck. The one at the Rail Museum is only open 10am-4pm 7 Days a week. I was there at 7:30 am. There is no charging at the Visitor Center, and no charger at the Tim Hortons.

Ok, now into Whistler. My biggest beef with Sun Country. The website shows all these stations, but beware. Most of them are only for "Hotel Guests". The Hilton would not let me charge there. There's 2 other hotels... not dice either. So, you can charge under the Royal Bank/Conference Center which is good, though I have to be here for 6 hours to get a full charge. OR, you can go to the Service Works Yard where there is a 90Amp CS Charger. I'm going there next to see what sort of availability/up-time there is there.

I happened to park next to a yellow Tesla Roadster under the Bank. Nice to see 2 Tesla's together :)

Being that it is down-hill on the way home, I should get better mileage. I have to swing through Vancouver though to pick-up a colleague so we will see how I fair.
 
#9
Nleggatt,
Thanks for scoping it out for us! So are the chargers not in lot 1 yet? The bulletin I read said they would go in in December. Disapointing that the hotels were so unaccomodating. But it is nice to see you made the trip in a 60 with plenty spare. I would hate to have to wait for a good charge at the yard after a day on the slopes though...
 
#10
oh boy. ok, more to the sega.

1. the app needs to alert you when your car stops charging ASAP!!!
2. sun country pins for whistler are dead wrong. DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM (drove around and burned through 20km of much much needed range because the locations were wrong, didn't exist, or were labeled wrong). This goes for 2 in whistler, 1 in squamish that doesn't exist (so not charging after all in squamish), and 1 in Vancouver (science world). I called Sun Country and they were able to talk to the Hilton and get me in for charging.
3. plugged into the CS90, went for coffee and a meeting, 2 hours goes buy, check my car via app... NOT CHARGING any more. Only gained 40km. WHAT?!! I have to leave ASAP to make another meeting. Sitting in my car charging again, typing this. doing math over and over in my mind about when I should leave, how close I can cut it, how fast to drive to make the meeting but conserve the power etc etc. Wow. If the app had alerted me an hour ago i would be fine. If the Sun Country chargers were where they said, I would be fine, if Hilton had let me charge right away, would have been fine. All of my safety nets failed... UNBELIEVABLE. BUT, i'm firm that I will not miss my meeting because of the car. It will work, cause that's the promise I've told people. Come on Little-S!
 
#13
@MorrisTheCat just to calm your nerves:

1. Looks like you're in Burnaby, so you are a LOT closer to Whistler than I am, your trip would not be a problem.
2. I didn't give my self adequate time charge even on the 14-50 at the conference Center (though that shouldn't have mattered with the SC Stations)
3. Sun Country was very helpful and have noted the issues I called them about and are correcting things
4. I was up against a 1pm departure time and got to Whistler at 9am. Which only gives me 4 hour turn-around. I would say give your self more time to allow for suprises (though really if you had 5 hours you could just plug into the 14-50's and have no troubles at all. My trouble was driving around looking for places etc, and loosing 2hours of charge time because the charging stopped (not sure why)

Worst part is the car said "Charge Now" at the bottom of my hill to my place (it's about 4km straight up), so now I'm plugged in at a 120V at the bottom of the hill, Anyone have an idea of how much I should charge before giving the hill a try? :) Didn't want to run the battery till the car stopped as to avoid even more hassle of a flat bed :)

Oh, I also tossed in detours through Vancouver even though my charge was low already and making it home was going to be a challenge (again had I had a proper charge this would have worked out fine).

Drove my MDX today... wow, soooo noisey, drives funny, heavy, makes tons of noise going up the hill, oi.... ICE...
 
#15
Thanks nleggat.
Just to clarify, I am not worried about the car. Sounds like it performed admirably for you. From Abbotsford to Whistler is a long way, mostly up hill. That is really quite amazing actually. I think I may be able to make it to Whistler and back to Burnaby on a 60 on one charge, in the cold. I am more worried about the charging infrastructure, which is what seems like was a big fail.

I do hope Sun Country fixes some of their issues you brought to their attention. Chargers not being exactly at their pin is a big problem. Charger hosts not allowing you to charge unless you book a room is a big problem. Yes, it is fair to give them business, like in their restaurant for a meal while it charges is reasonable, or pay a parking spot rental fee, not to book a room - come on... Certain chargers being inaccessible outside of business hours is also a problem. Back and forth to Whistler is often times done during the early morning and late evening after you spend a day there, so that Squamish CS90 isn't too useful. Squamish needs another one somewhere which is more accessible. I also wonder why that charger stopped charging after some time. I have been thinking of following the SCH to Edmonton in the Summer. Unless I hear about improvements, that trip may have to be in, I dare say, our remaining ICE vehicle - ugh!
 
#16
Got home! Wow a very very slow up hill until finally got there! I was well below zero. Max power 20w/h and it just engine that could up the hill. I thought it was going to die the hill was the just to steep and it got slower and slower. Pulled into the driveway and plugged into my 14-50 and she started sucking back the milk! 49 miles per hour! Fans whirling and pumps gasping as it drank away during the first 5-10 minutes. Tomorrow we start again with another 303km :)
 
#17
One thing to note - the yellow flags on the charging map are being installed, but are not operational yet.

Also you can click on them to get some location details. I strongly recommend calling ahead when you are using a charger for the first time. You can also take the opportunity to ask if they can put a cone in the spot so you don't get ICEd.
 
#19
If i had had an ability to charge at 70 amps, i would been fine. If it had not been so cold, i would have been fine. If i had not zinged up the hill towards the junction of 1 west and SR543, i probably would have been fine. If i had not zinged up the hill out of Britannia, i probably would have been fine. So many choices ... I ran out of charge at Creekside garage. Pulled in, charged at 110, and took a taxi home. To north side of whistler. Charge to max in seattle. Stop in Blaine, have lunch or breakfast in that sweet little diner on the west side, for an hour. And then be good, no celebrating with speed. Its getting warmer. We had two persons in the car and a 80 lbs dog, we got soooo close. The parking in the convention center garage was great and free, the chargers are coming, slated for end of march at squamish. Good luck! GO FOR IT. It was our first trip, in our one-day old car.

- - - Updated - - -

The vancouver garage was on the way home. And that trip would have required a charge somewhere, probably blaine would have been fine, but we were having dinner with friends around falls creek. So, we chose vancouver.
 
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