What I learned on my Second Road Trip - Francis Lau

Francis Lau · Jan 7, 2013

I recently took my second major road trip from Bellevue, WA to Richmond, BC (Few miles south of Vancouver BC). This is about 140 miles each way.

Here are a few more things I learned:

1. Model S from the US do not get 3G access in Canada
Once I was about 5 miles past the border, I lost 3G access. Slacker and Maps no longer works. See next lesson below.

2. How the Map and Nav works without 3G
This is probably a good indicator of how maps and nav works with tech package and without 3G data plan. First, there was no POI searching, only search by address. Second, the nav on both screens still works but no map images on center panel. See below for pics:

Searching by Address Only

Works as Usual for Console Display

No Maps on Center Panel but Nav still Works

3. On overnight trips, life is less stressful if you can charge while you sleep
However, there aren't any hotels with chargers in Richmond BC that I can find on Plugshare. We really need more hotels with chargers

4. 110V charging is very slooooow
I only got 2 rated miles per hour but at least I am not losing miles. The folks at Sheraton were very helpful and allowed me to park at their reserved spot next to the 110V.

5. The Plugshare.com website and app are very useful
Nothing more to say here

6. Not sure if it is always the case but Aerovironment is faster than Chargepoint
At the Burlington, WA location, There were 2 Chargepoint chargers next to an Aerovironment charger. I charged for sometime on both and the Aerovironment was faster than Chargepoint - 17 vs 12 rated miles per hour. Note the voltage difference in the pics below.

Aerovironment

Chargepoint

7. Use the Rated Miles Setting and not Ideal; Don't cut it too Close!
After 2 road trips, when comparing Rated vs Ideal, the former is more realistic. Even then, allow for a buffer since you never really achieve rated. I charged up to 80 rated miles and only got 66 miles to Bellevue Square mall. I was planning to have dinner there anyway but I got to the charger with 4 miles left.

8. How to prevent fogging
Keeping temperature at 70F prevented the fogging issues I saw on my Leavenworth trip. I think cleaning the insides of the windows several times before the trip helped too; this was recommended by @FlasherZ. Word!

9. Other Minor Tips

To keep your trunk clean, bring a trash bag to store your charging cable as mine got muddy
Bring a iPad or smart phone with Internet connectivity and mapping app as a backup for your trips
Bring a headlight such as the one below as it helped tremendously when plugging in at night

Lyon · Jan 7, 2013

Just a note on the chargepoint v. aero... notice the voltage difference between the two. I'm not sure if they're all like that but 200v is going to be noticeably slower than 240 at the same amperage.

Great info, btw, thanks for sharing!

*edit* you pointed out the voltage difference. I guess that's what I get for posting while tired. :/

hvb · Jan 8, 2013

Great tips, Francis! I love that you're in my area and taking all the road trips I'll soon be doing.

yobigd20 · Jan 8, 2013

I thought their warranty stated if you leave the country with your Model S that it voids the warranty? (sorry to be the debbie downer lol) I assume the reason their warranty says that is because different countries have different power voltages etc and that it could damage the car if plugged in. I haven't been to Canada since I was like 10 yrs so so I have no idea what their power is like. Is it the same as U.S. or is it like European countries? Can you plug a U.S. Model S into a different power source like that? I would assume the built-in chargers are different in the U.S. vs European model S for that reason. Or is Tesla ok with going between U.S. and Canada and the warranty will stay intact? Please enlighten me

Jgdixon · Jan 8, 2013

Aw come on, Canada has the exact same power as the US.
Weird your 3G didn't work, we're using AT&T here too but they don't operate in Canada!
Try suncountryhighway.ca they have a system if chargers set up. They have chargers in the Burnaby area.

dsm363 · Jan 8, 2013

There was a thread on this a while back but that was about an extended stay in Mexico, not Canada.
Why can't you drive into Mexico without voiding the warranty?

Robert.Boston · Jan 8, 2013

yobigd20 said:
I thought their warranty stated if you leave the country with your Model S that it voids the warranty? (sorry to be the debbie downer lol) I assume the reason their warranty says that is because different countries have different power voltages etc and that it could damage the car if plugged in. I haven't been to Canada since I was like 10 yrs so so I have no idea what their power is like. Is it the same as U.S. or is it like European countries? Can you plug a U.S. Model S into a different power source like that? I would assume the built-in chargers are different in the U.S. vs European model S for that reason. Or is Tesla ok with going between U.S. and Canada and the warranty will stay intact? Please enlighten me

It's okay; the warranty states that you can't take a car outside of the warranty region, but because that region includes both the U.S. and Canada, you're fine.

I guess it's not well known that the North American power grid doesn't pay much attention to the U.S./Canadian border. From Alberta westward, the Canadian grid is synchronized with the western U.S. grid; from Saskatchewan eastward*, the grid is synchronized to the eastern U.S. grid. By contrast, the Mexican bulk power system is not interconnected with the U.S./Canadian system, aside from the chunk just south of California.

*Other than Quebec, which, like most of Texas, is only interconnected to the rest of the bulk power system through back-to-back AC-DC-AC ties.

bob_p · Jan 8, 2013

I heard Tesla used RV hookups at a hotel in Austin for the Get Amped event there, that's how they charged the cars overnight.

There may be more hotels that already have RV hookups - but how can we found out about them? None of the apps or websites listed in the Tesla forums seem to have this listed - only RV parks, which doesn't solve the overnight charging problem.

If this information isn't online, perhaps the Tesla community could start checking hotels - and post those that do have overnight charging options, including RV outlets. Until Superchargers are widely available hotels with RV outlets may be the best option - to provide overnight charging, rather than waiting at a charging station or RV park...

sublimaze1 · Jan 8, 2013

Very nice post with detailed and important information. Thanks!

mknox · Jan 8, 2013

Robert.Boston said:
I guess it's not well known that the North American power grid doesn't pay much attention to the U.S./Canadian border. From Alberta westward, the Canadian grid is synchronized with the western U.S. grid; from Saskatchewan eastward*, the grid is synchronized to the eastern U.S. grid. *Other than Quebec, which, like most of Texas, is only interconnected to the rest of the bulk power system through back-to-back AC-DC-AC ties.

While this is true at the transmission level, it does not preclude each country or jurisdiction from having different standards and voltages at the distribution level. The fact of the matter is that, for the most part, Canada and the US have identical distribution voltages, wiring standards and connector standards. There are subtle differences that wouldn't affect Model S charging. For example 347/600v is a common commercial voltage in Canada whereas I understand 277/480v is more common in the US for similar applications.

LagunaDallas · Jan 8, 2013

bob_p said:
I heard Tesla used RV hookups at a hotel in Austin for the Get Amped event there, that's how they charged the cars overnight.

There may be more hotels that already have RV hookups - but how can we found out about them? None of the apps or websites listed in the Tesla forums seem to have this listed - only RV parks, which doesn't solve the overnight charging problem.

If this information isn't online, perhaps the Tesla community could start checking hotels - and post those that do have overnight charging options, including RV outlets. Until Superchargers are widely available hotels with RV outlets may be the best option - to provide overnight charging, rather than waiting at a charging station or RV park...

Bob --- Do you remember which hotel in Austin had the RV hookups? Thanks!

dsm363 · Jan 8, 2013

LagunaDallas said:
Bob --- Do you remember which hotel in Austin had the RV hookups? Thanks!

It think it was at the Westin Hotel at the Domain.

LagunaDallas · Jan 8, 2013

dsm363 said:
It think it was at the Westin Hotel at the Domain.

Excellent...thank you.

Doug_G · Jan 8, 2013

Francis Lau said:
6. Not sure if it is always the case but Aerovironment is faster than Chargepoint
At the Burlington, WA location, There were 2 Chargepoint chargers next to an Aerovironment charger. I charged for sometime on both and the Aerovironment was faster than Chargepoint - 17 vs 12 rated miles per hour. Note the voltage difference in the pics below.

That has to do with the source of power, not the charger. As you can see in your pictures, the voltage was different. Apparently that particular Aeroenvironment has 240V source, which is usually from single phase distribution (e.g. what most houses have). The Chargepoint has 208V source, which is usually from three phase distribution (what industrial buildings usually have). So for some reason the two chargers appear to have completely different power sources.

iridium · Jan 8, 2013

Francis Lau said:
6. Not sure if it is always the case but Aerovironment is faster than Chargepoint
At the Burlington, WA location, There were 2 Chargepoint chargers next to an Aerovironment charger. I charged for sometime on both and the Aerovironment was faster than Chargepoint - 17 vs 12 rated miles per hour. Note the voltage difference in the pics below.

Did you stop to charge in both directions? I would think you'd have no issue make the one way drive with an 85khw.. heck, I would have thought you could do it with a 60.

CarlE_P439 · Jan 8, 2013

Thanks for the post; very useful info. In 2 weeks I'll be taking a 300+ mile (one way) trip; I'll let everyone knows how it goes!

Blurry_Eyed · Jan 8, 2013

Hi Francis,

thanks for your great posts, they are always very helpful. My family also drives up to Canada and it's good to know how things went for you. I was worried about how the Nav would react to no 3G, but it sounds like it will be fine for those who have the tech package.

Did you happen to stop at the Tesla HPC at Blaine? It used to be a Roadster only charger, but it was changed out to a J1772 adaptor. Should be a 70amp charger there.

We're planning a roadtrip to Vancouver B.C. in the summer, so my thought was to go with a standard charge on the Model S (probably get about 200 miles of range if I'm careful), then stop at Blaine for an hour or 2 to get some range back and then charge at the GE Watt stations in Granville Island for about a total of 5 hours over two days while hanging out and shopping there.

I figure between the two places, I should be able to gain about 120 miles of range back for a total of about 320 miles of range for us. Then if we needed to, I could plug in at a 110v outlet at the condos we usually stay at overnight.

Also thanks for the tip about the garbage bag to hold the UMC! Do you remember about what your average watt hours per mile ended up being for the round trip?

stoked · Jan 8, 2013

Thanks for posting this. I'm considering putting a deposit down on a Model X when further details come out. Hoping to be able to make it from Vancouver to Seattle with AC/Heat on a 60kWh battery with enough buffer that I wouldn't have to keep eying the battery.

It's unfortunate that Tesla didn't incorporate a video input to the centre screen. It'd be great to be able to just plugin your phone to display maps and not worry about the car's 3G roaming etc. Another option Tesla could incorporate is data sharing from your phone via Wifi or Bluetooth tethering.

mknox · Jan 8, 2013

Curious to know why the 3G cuts out when you cross the border. My understanding from some of the early Canadian owners is that their cars are actually roaming on a US AT&T network in Canada. Cell phones roam seamlessly back and forth. My current OnStar system (also cellular based) works seamlessly back and forth. I can only hope this is an early glitch in how Tesla set up their deals with the carriers and that it will be sorted out.

sublimaze1 · Jan 8, 2013

mknox said:
Curious to know why the 3G cuts out when you cross the border. My understanding from some of the early Canadian owners is that their cars are actually roaming on a US AT&T network in Canada. Cell phones roam seamlessly back and forth. My current OnStar system (also cellular based) works seamlessly back and forth. I can only hope this is an early glitch in how Tesla set up their deals with the carriers and that it will be sorted out.

I am sure Tesla has international roaming disabled. Remember, this is their dime (for now) and they aren't stupid. If its our plan (as it will be when the freebie runs out), we will have to pay that million dollars a minute.

What I learned on my Second Road Trip - Francis Lau

P-1456

2016 S P100DL, 2016 X P90D

Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Roadster + Sig Model S

Model S VIN P01536

Active Member

8Dec2012 / Leeroy Jenkins

Well-Known Member

Member

Roadster + Sig Model S

Member

Lead Moderator

Member

Member

MS Sig #267, MX Sig # 761

Member

Well-Known Member

8Dec2012 / Leeroy Jenkins

Similar threads