MrTemple
Member
Part of the genius of British TV is they often only do one or two seasons (they call them "series") of sometimes only 4-6 episodes.
There's a real distillation of greatness happening, then they move on to other wonderful projects!
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Part of the genius of British TV is they often only do one or two seasons (they call them "series") of sometimes only 4-6 episodes.
There's a real distillation of greatness happening, then they move on to other wonderful projects!
I have yet to visit those Superchargers, but hope too in a few months. Are they so busy that they need an expansion at an additional site in the same town?
KootsChewt
Member
Th
The Hope charger was pretty busy when I visited several times in 2019. Merritt I've visited several times since it has opened and it wasn't as busy. The city that really needs a second one (or an expansion) is Revelstoke - I've been there probably a dozen times and 1/2 of the time it is full, and a few times I've had to wait or watch people wait for one to open up.
It would be interesting to see the rationale for a second site in Merritt. I can see the need for more capacity in Hope since any Tesla heading from Greater Vancouver to the BC Interior, Alberta, etc. pretty much has to pass through Hope. Most of that traffic would flow through Merritt with lesser volumes along Hwy 3 to Princeton and up Hwy 1 to Cache Creek (once that SC opens). However many would be able to skip Merritt and drive straight through from Hope to either Kamloops or Kelowna. Kamloops probably needs more than 6 stalls in the near future, particularly if sites open north along Hwy 5 to Jasper. Once we get past the Covid restrictions, there could be some pent up interest in the Trans Canada trip (which will mostly involve Hope, Merritt, Kamloops and perhaps Cache Creek).
Merritt can get very busy.
Even in ideal weather you cannot skip Merritt in an SR+ when travelling to or from the Okanagan, unless you want to roll in on 0% from 100%. After a trip last week I was musing on one of these forums about how I wish the West Kelowna charger had been placed nearer the 97/97C junction for exactly this reason.
Agreed, most people can skip Merritt when traveling from Hope to those destinations. But for me, when towing my trailer, I can’t make if from Hope to Kamloops without charging even in fair weather (no rain) and at an average speed of 85kmh or even 80. So more charging stalls at Merritt are welcome.
I hope that someday Tesla extends the Superchargers all the way to Prince Rupert.
I sure can't in my SR+ even without a trailer. Seeing as multiple people have said its possible though, I double checked it in ABRP and it tells you you need to charge. That's with a 100% charge in Hope too and getting that last 10% at a supercharger is both painful, and takes up a charger that someone could make much better use of.
Even here, this is optimistic. Any wind or anything and you will be white-knuckling it into the Okanagan.
Seeing as the SR+ vehicles are what's flying off the shelves in the lower mainland, most people need the Merritt charge even though its only a few minutes. It would have been so nice if the West Kelowna charger was near the junction of Hwy 97/97c, or if Merritt was nearer the junction of Hwy 5/97c
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We haven't driven the Okanagan Connector in our Model 3 but figured that the critical point (for an eastbound trip) was being able to get to the Pennask Summit with some battery capacity remaining. From there down into West Kelowna would figure that the battery range would increase (in most driving situations).
The "issues" you will run into are wind and the high posted speed (110km/h). The wind is consistent on this route (there is a wind farm in the area) and at 110km/h+ the drag really starts to factor in.
You then need to get through West Kelowna in the stop-go traffic or head south to whatever destination. I've done the drive a few dozen times and only once was I able to skip Merritt and that was coming back to the Coast. The car was basically brand new (no degradation) and I was travelling alone with no luggage on a calm summer day.
It is interesting that your real world experience on that route is quite different than what our Model 3 LR RWD tells me right now sitting in our garage. Asked it to navigate to Peachland (so that it picks the route through Merritt) rather than down through Vernon and Kelowna. Car shows range of 298 km (63%) and shows me getting to Peachland with 8% remaining; overall battery drain of about 55%. Overall distance is shorter than the Hope-Kelowna route by about 25 km but the elevation profile of the route is pretty similar. We have a larger battery but not that much larger. On other trips through mountainous terrain (eg Kamloops to Whistler) the battery use projections by our car have been pretty accurate in the past.
The LR has ~1/3 more range (568 km vs. 423 km ) so it's a fairly big deal. I know from talking to LR owners they can make it but between actual drives and what ABRP shows, it is not surprising to me it doesn't work in an SR+. I'd love to hear from other SR+ drivers though.I will add though that I did not get this car to hypermile. I drive it to get around and will not crawl along at 10km/h under the limit to keep the efficiency up.
My 100% range seems to be in the area of 475km right now, only about 50 km more than what is advertised for a new SR+. It was supposed to be around 499 when we bought it three years ago but not recently. There has probably been some degradation since it was new. I've never seen it show a range of over 500 km although I've rarely tried to charge to 100%.
I will add though that I did not get this car to hypermile. I drive it to get around and will not crawl along at 10km/h under the limit to keep the efficiency up.
I agree completely. In my SR+, I can't risk going from Hope to Kelowna. Maybe from the new Hope one to the West Kelowna one but then I'd have to drive a lot slower than I like.
I think the average net I've seen is about a 5% drain from the top of the hill to the West Kelowna supercharger. ABRP also shows that. There is a decent period of regenerative charging but the freeway levels out at the bottom and then you have to contend with city driving and all the lights. At 110km/h the drag starts to limit the regen efficiency as the motor works harder to maintain speed.
Supercharger - Merritt, BC
Merritt is getting eight more locations. At the Esso Across from the existing superchargers. Its mostly built but still fencing around it. Saw it at noon today. Now there will be 8 150KW chargers (existing at Best Western) and 8 250KW chargers (new) in Merritt. should prevent lineup issues in...
teslamotorsclub.com
richteer
Member
I've driven from Hope to Kelowna (where I live) in my SR+ without charging in Merritt. This was in mid-late September, so not ideal conditions. Granted, I arrived at my house 3% charge remaining, exactly as the car predicted! While not hypermiling, I did slow down a bit on the Connector. Hooray for Brenda Mine Hill!I agree completely. In my SR+, I can't risk going from Hope to Kelowna. Maybe from the new Hope one to the West Kelowna one but then I'd have to drive a lot slower than I like.
Not sure where in Kelowna you live but in most cases the new Supercharger in West Kelowna will provide an option if your battery is really low (3% is really low in my world). In certain situations there is a trade-off in stopping to charge (such as in Merritt in this case) versus slowing down a bit; driving slower could get you to your destination sooner if you can avoid a charging stop, more so if the charger has a wait. Do you recall what % charge you had leaving Hope? Of course charging to 95-100% takes time in itself but might not be an issue when charging at home; in your case if you were driving from Kelowna to Hope.
After seeing the news article today about how busy the Merritt site is, it would be really nice to get that new v3 charger up and going. When I drove back from Vancouver to south of Calgary where I live, end of March 2021, there was only 1 other Tesla there charging. Actually there was either 1 or 0 other Tesla’s charging at each station on the way back. Guess I just lucked out!
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