Canuck
Well-Known Member
That's what I said to him and he replied that they probably don't tell him because of people like me always asking him.
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That's what I said to him and he replied that they probably don't tell him because of people like me always asking him.
Is the expansion there needed or is this in anticipation of future demand from the Model 3? I don't use SCs a lot but other than the one at the Toronto Service Centre I have never seen a SuperCharger site even 50% occupied (my limited experiences are at Woodstock, Barrie, Huntsville, Port Hope and Grimsby).
Canuck
Well-Known Member
I charge there most weekends, often at peak times, since it's half way to my cabin, and it's never been full but lately it's been getting close. It seems to me that even without the Model 3 it would be needed soon but only for peak times, since there's a lot more Ss and Xs on the road than when it first opened (and there were no Xs at all). I'm really impressed with Tesla getting out ahead of it, and making the additions now rather than later when it would have subjected us to wait times.
Having driven an EV for close to 4 years now, I can say that the days of open public chargers in BC are practically over. I was at Oakridge mall last week and every HPWC and J1772 were full. That was right after coming from an office building downtown that always had open chargers (or EVSEs for the purists) but now they're practically always full. And it's the same with the ones at Surrey Place Mall and Guildford Mall in Surrey. I've never seen those ones full until recently where now you're lucky to get a spot. Even the public charger across from the Blue Moose in Hope was occupied when I was there twice this past weekend and it used to be rarely full. There's a lot of plug-in hybrids now and I said to my wife they should be banned from public charging if they contain a gas tank....
Fortunately, Tesla sees the growing demand and is expanding to meet it. The public ones are not expanding fast enough and that's going to make travelling in a Bolt or other long range EV really difficult and nerve racking even if you get open chargers just worrying about it. The problem is that like our daily commute and rush hour, most people long distance travel at the same times, and arrive at chargers around the same times -- Fridays and Mondays on long weekend, for example, and no one wants to wait to charge when going on holidays, or coming home on a long weekend. Then there's all the locals getting free charges because most of the public chargers here are free. Thankfully, people in the Model 3 will have to pay to supercharge, including myself when I get one. It's a small price to pay to help keep them open. It's hard enough for some people (my wife included) just waiting for the charge at a fast supercharger. Having to wait to charge would make long distance travel unbearable for most. Just coming back from a trip to Seattle recently with my wife and daughter, and stopping once at the Burlington WA supercharge on the way home, my wife and daughter both said how annoying it was to charge. It doesn't bother me but it does for a lot of people which is likely why this thread has over 40k views...
Be honest: is SCing on a long trip annoying?
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Thanks - you are right that having to wait would be really annoying and you are correct that everyone is going to hit the SCs around the same time, although I don't know that it is Friday night as much as most people would (or at least should) do a range charge before setting out. I don't take long trips in my car - the furthest that I would do is London, ON and back from Toronto which is about 400km. I could potentially see myself driving to Montreal or Ottawa in certain circumstances but that would only be one stop. But stopping once on a four hour trip for 15-20 minutes is not a big deal and not materially different than stopping for gas in an ICE, particularly if you are getting food and taking a bio break.
Canuck
Well-Known Member
In theory stopping once ever four hours makes sense but in reality it doesn't work that way. For example, on long weekends most of the holiday traffic heads towards destinations in the Okanangan, most of which you can't get to on a range charge. So it's Friday afternoon to evening that most stop in Hope to charge to get that extra range to make it to their destination despite a range charge and still having 50% or so left in the battery -- you still need to top up to get where you're going.
Again, the problem is that it doesn't always work that way when you travel since superchargers are not always placed right when you run out. For example, my wife and daughter asked me to take them to Nordstrom Rack, in Lynwood, just north of Seattle last week, and I was told I can't charge on the way down because it was closing at 9 pm and we left at around 6 pm. So I range charged and took them there, then on the way back I had to charge -- but we hadn't driven for three or four hours straight, given the break we had while they shopped for a few hours. So we had to stop on the way back after driving for only about an hour and no one needed a break for any reason. My wife and daughter found it annoying because it was late and they just wanted to get home. That's the reality of travelling in an EV even with superchargers.
I'm planning a trip right now with my family -- we leave on Wednesday to go to Osoyoos and then down into the States, where it's supercharger barren around Oroville, WA. I need to top up whenever I can to make it and it's a bit nerve racking if the few chademos on the route are busy, or out of service, since I will have to rely on L2s instead. Then I'll really see my family complain! It's as if I'm making the trip in a Bolt after I leave the Hope Supercharger. I sure hope Tesla stars building superchargers in southeastern BC and northern central and eastern Washington State.
I guess going to the Okanagan is an issue. Here in Southern Ontario we don't have quite the same issue as getting to cottage country can can easily be done on a range charge. The problem is more on the way back home, although 48 hours on a 240V plug should be good for most folks or even 48 hours on a 120V/12A plug which should give you 240km or so of range.
Is Edmonton actually live? BlueShift is showing it so on Supercharge.info, but I haven't seen any comments here by someone who has charged there, and it's not live on the Tesla map yet.
SMSMD
Active Member
SMSMD
Active Member
1.21 Jiggawatts
Member
Any action in sicamous? The teslarati map shows a supercharger there, but I'm guessing they just put in a dot according the "2017 tesla supercharger planned location"
Also, mixmaster elon, please get superchargers in swift current and medicine hat.
Also, mixmaster elon, please get superchargers in swift current and medicine hat.
[snicker] and my daughter-in-law will have to receive more visits from her in-laws.
Full disclosure: attempt at humour only. In reality she's absolutely wonderful and as in-laws go we're not half-bad. No really.
3s-a-charm
Active Member
Fort MacLeod has been used a lot recently and there seem to be a lot of owners looking forward to a good connection to Butte, MT so we can travel N-S. That will open up many great road trip adventures for us!
My last visit to Fort MacLeod there were four Tesla's charging (including us) and all four were on road trips to or from California! Pretty cool to see so many electric car owners enjoying the long range and Superchargers to do road trips.
My last visit to Fort MacLeod there were four Tesla's charging (including us) and all four were on road trips to or from California! Pretty cool to see so many electric car owners enjoying the long range and Superchargers to do road trips.
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