Western Canada Superchargers

[JSergeant]

I'm from NJ on a road trip to Edmonton via Seattle. We stayed in Canmore a couple of nights and used the Supercharger there on three different occasions. The first time, when we arrived, we got a max charging rate of about 124 mph and the next two times only 90 mph or less. On other Superchargers on our trip we normally get about 290 mph if we are the only Model S there. I'm just wondering if local owners know if this is a lower amperage SC or is there some issue with it?

 

[nleggatt]

And City of Kelowna is also unaware of any activity. However, if it's not going on municipal land, they could be out of the loop until the last moment when a building permit application comes in... and that permit might not be necessary either if it's really just an electrical connection and arrangements with the power authority. It would be good to understand the background design and permitting process better, because this is the sort of thing that isn't really a construction project from a typical permit perspective. There is no actual building, just some electrical infrastructure with a wooden fence around the parts... and the 'electron pumps'... I'm not convinced the municipality would become involved unless there was a zoning concern with the intended usage.

FWIW, the Kelowna person I spoke to is going to do some digging and perhaps contact Tesla directly. I'll update if anything comes to light.

Any news kinda seems odd they want to open 3 or 4 more in BC but we see no movement anywhere

Can a bunch of ppl text/email robin and find out what's going on? I almost hate seing sc updates for Europe and USA cause I feel like we are neglected. Considering BC will be a huge suv market this might become an issue.

 

[wayner]

Can't help you directly but the same thing is going on in Eastern Canada- there were a few openings earlier this year and there are a few more slated for later this year but it looks like everything has gone very quiet for the time being which makes you doubt whether they will achieve the 2015 build out plan.

 

[beeeerock]

Any news kinda seems odd they want to open 3 or 4 more in BC but we see no movement anywhere

Can a bunch of ppl text/email robin and find out what's going on? I almost hate seing sc updates for Europe and USA cause I feel like we are neglected. Considering BC will be a huge suv market this might become an issue.

From comments made, I understand Tesla people were actually walking possible sites a while back, but it evidently hasn't gone further than that.

Good to know they were serious enough to do site visits - that's a good sign. It may simply be a case of building the higher priority areas first... although I'd say Kelowna should be a high priority as it's a hub for the Okanagan valley.

I'll reach out to my friends again to see if there is anything new to report.

 

[pairtrader]

Busy day in Squamish today. Great to see the Superchargers being used. I imagine we could start seeing wait times by next summer at peak times at this site.

 

[pairtrader]

From comments made, I understand Tesla people were actually walking possible sites a while back, but it evidently hasn't gone further than that.

Good to know they were serious enough to do site visits - that's a good sign. It may simply be a case of building the higher priority areas first... although I'd say Kelowna should be a high priority as it's a hub for the Okanagan valley.

I'll reach out to my friends again to see if there is anything new to report.

I received an email response about Kelowna. Nothing imminent.

"Thank you for your email. We are actively scouting for locations near Kelowna, but we are still in the initial stages of deployment for a site in that area. "

I noticed they said "near Kelowna". With Elon's recent comments about people abusing the "local" Superchargers, they may now be a bit more concerned about keeping them slightly less accessible to locals.

 

[Nappe]

I noticed they said "near Kelowna". With Elon's recent comments about people abusing the "local" Superchargers, they may now be a bit more concerned about keeping them slightly less accessible to locals.

Makes sense. A good spot might be north of Peachland, to serve drivers going down to Penticton or up to Kelowna/Vernon.

 

[KenN]

FWIW, I was working in Merritt last week and had a bit of time, so I went on a little scouting mission. Looked around at the more obvious areas near the highway with easy access to stores and services.

Nothing to report ... not plywood boxes with the Tesla logo, or signs of an electrical installation about to go in.

 

[Canuck]

A good spot might be north of Peachland, to serve drivers going down to Penticton or up to Kelowna/Vernon.

Please not Peachland. I don't want to backtrack going to Kelowna. Somewhere north of 97C as you arrive in the outskirts of West Kelowna where the new big box stores and fast food restaurants are would be great. The people living in Kelowna likely won't travel there just for a charge and it's not too out of the way for the people going south of 97C.

 

[Zapped]

The supercharger location decision should not be based on avoiding the possibility of locals charging. It has to be convenient for the long-distance traveler on a high usage route.

 

[Canuck]

The supercharger location decision should not be based on avoiding the possibility of locals charging. It has to be convenient for the long-distance traveler on a high usage route.

Why can't it be both avoiding locals charging and a convenient location on high usage routes? I don't see those as mutually exclusive.

 

[Nappe]

Why can't it be both avoiding locals charging and a convenient location on high usage routes? I don't see those as mutually exclusive.

I don't think they are. The north end of Peachland and the south end of West Kelowna are each just 2 km from the junction between 97 and 97C, which covers a variety of routes, and neither location looks very convenient to regular users.

 

[chongov]

But that's just a dumb way to regulate overuse of the Superchargers. They could easily just limit the number of times per week/month/year someone is allowed to charge at stations near their own home.

 

[Nappe]

We had a funny ICE situation in Squamish today. My daughter's SnapChat says it all. He wasn't there long, and there were still two spots open for us, but, after seeing a few ICEings along the trip, these teenaged girls loved the drama.

 

[nleggatt]

FYI I sent robin in Vancouver an email to ask about the 2015 sc's

 

[KenN]

Not supercharger related, but I just got an email from greenlots that DCFC charging at the Langley and Merritt chargers will be $0.35 per kWh starting July 20.

 

[Canuck]

But that's just a dumb way to regulate overuse of the Superchargers. They could easily just limit the number of times per week/month/year someone is allowed to charge at stations near their own home.

It's not that easy when Supercharging has been advertised as unlimited and free -- but that's a whole other discussion which is the subject of another thread here.

 

[beeeerock]

Not supercharger related, but I just got an email from greenlots that DCFC charging at the Langley and Merritt chargers will be $0.35 per kWh starting July 20.

I understand that Hydro is building out the SI Fast Charge Loop which is supposed to mean DC fast charge systems throughout the southern interior. I have a PDF of the blurb from them at the office... but if I recall correctly, it will be free and Merritt will get one. I don't know what that will do to Greenlot's plans!!

Edit... looks like Greenlots is in on this? Perhaps the Merritt one is part of that network already in place? The pricing doesn't fit my recollection of how I understood this to work however...

 

[KenN]

Yes, as I understood it, Greenlots is the operator and BCH is the owner of the BC DC fast chargers. New sites start out free to use, the move to a fee schedule as they see increased use.

On the island, there are chademo sites in Victoria, Duncan and Nanaimo. Only the Duncan site is still free to charge.

I'm kind of surprised that the North Vancouver chademo is still free.

 

[dasRad]

And how many of these BC Hydro CHAdeMO DCFC units have more than one charging head? This spring their DCFCs in both Kamloops and Squamish were out of commission for over a month. That's an awfully long time to wait to get a charge....