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Edmonton Charging - West Edmonton Mall

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I'm planning my first real road trip for next month, heading to the West Edmonton Mall (WEM) for 2-3 days plus maybe some other Edmonton related tourist stuff. Since there are no Superchargers in Edmonton yet, I'll more than likely just plan on doing the 110v charging all day & night. I prefer to stay right in west Edmonton due to it's proximity to the mall, I have stayed in the south end before but it's a bit of a drive twice a day (20mins+)...

Anywho, I e-mailed WEM and they said they don't have a single 110v plug that I could use at all, they have nothing. Does anyone know of a secret spot in the massive parking lot where I could plug into 110v without getting in trouble? I was not planning on staying at the hotel across the street either.

So far looking at Plugshare, the Coast Plaza looks like a good spot to stop by and charge up @ 80A if need be (don't need to stay there to use the charger, thank you!). So the plan is to stay plugged into 110v as much as possible during my 3 days or so there, and then stop by Coast Plaza before I leave (if needed) to ensure I have a full charge before I head home.

Worst case I'll stay at Coast Plaza or Four Points by Sheraton and have the extra drive time every day.

Thoughts? Comments?
 
This may not be your desired solution, but the West Edmonton Mall Inn has a number of 110v/15a receptacles available. If you stay there building maintenance will ensure that you always have access as long as you need it. They also have higher power available from their A/C facilities, but probably will not let anybody use them outside of an emergency. If you want to take that option all you need to do is call ahead to ensure that they protect your availability. They're extremely cooperative but not really accustomed to EV's.
 
I'm trying to stay at a place with free breakfast, that works best for us. I e-mailed the hotel I usually stay at that's close by to inquire about their parking "plugs". The more I think about it, it might be worth the drive to stay at one of the hotels that have EV chargers just to support them... we'll see...
 
I'm trying to stay at a place with free breakfast, that works best for us. I e-mailed the hotel I usually stay at that's close by to inquire about their parking "plugs". The more I think about it, it might be worth the drive to stay at one of the hotels that have EV chargers just to support them... we'll see...

I'm currently on a roadtrip from Minneapolis to Quebec City and back. While cheaper hotels can usually be found in the cities we're staying in, I have generally made it a point to stay with those that offer chargers and to let them know how much I appreciate that and that without the charger I would probably not be staying at their hotel. I'm trying to "vote with my dollars", so to speak. In many cases it seems that the hotel owners or manager, etc. also has a Tesla. Regardless, putting in the charger took a leap of faith on the hotel's part and I want to reward them for it and show them that, yes, it is a good idea, in the hope that other hotels will follow.
 
Yeah I called them, the lady doesn't totally get it but she kinda confirmed guests can use the Four Points charger next door. But it's underground and they'll have to call over to get access. And it's 20+ km away from WEM.

WEM needs a few chargers IMHO.

I'm planning the same kind of trip to Edmonton from Calgary the end of the month. How did you make out with charging on your trip?
 
I'm planning the same kind of trip to Edmonton from Calgary the end of the month. How did you make out with charging on your trip?
I haven't tried it yet, but I always thought that a full charge in Red Deer should be enough for the round trip back there. Especially if you plug in to even a block heater outlet at your destination (just to limit overnight losses)
 
I've never used a charger like the one at Southgate mall. Will my Visa with the Tap feature be enough to turn it on or do I need to get the ChargePoint card?
A PayWave/Paypass credit card indeed works. If you don't have one of those or if the tap isn't working for whatever reason you can phone the number on the front of the charger and they can unlock it over the phone as well.
 
If you don't like cards, get apps

I've never used a charger like the one at Southgate mall. Will my Visa with the Tap feature be enough to turn it on or do I need to get the ChargePoint card?

An alternative to cards is to get the app and you can start your charging session from the app. I have Chargepoint, Greenlots, and RésauVER
accounts and their associated apps. The cards are handy in case of weak cell-phone service, but apps are far more convenient overall. They are pretty clever, actually, I was in a parkade in Vancouver with two RésauVER chargers, and there is an "Identify" button in the app where the charger gives you a little light show to indicate which is which. Stickers with numbers may be more practical, but it was fun and gave me confidence when I interacted with the chargers over the app.

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I haven't tried it yet, but I always thought that a full charge in Red Deer should be enough for the round trip back there. Especially if you plug in to even a block heater outlet at your destination (just to limit overnight losses)

We have done that route several times. In the winter, if you drive around Edmonton at all, you will be driving slowly to make it back to Red Deer. An overnight charge at a block heater will give you some solid margin. We use the block heater at my daughter's condo in Garneau and get like 50-60 km of range overnight.
 
This just in: my wife went to Edmonton from Calgary yesterday and returned today and it was a different experience. The -20° weather, plus lots of running around the city, necessitated more serious charging than at out daughter's 110 outlet overnight. They went downtown to the Coast Hotel parkade for charging at 16 kW and had a leisurely lunch around the corner at The Burg before parting ways. My wife stopped for a little extra insurance at the Leduc Peavy Mart before heading to Red Deer. She landed at the supercharger with 19% charge and a warning that she should charge soon, given the temperature.
 
This just in: my wife went to Edmonton from Calgary yesterday and returned today and it was a different experience. The -20° weather, plus lots of running around the city, necessitated more serious charging than at out daughter's 110 outlet overnight. They went downtown to the Coast Hotel parkade for charging at 16 kW and had a leisurely lunch around the corner at The Burg before parting ways. My wife stopped for a little extra insurance at the Leduc Peavy Mart before heading to Red Deer. She landed at the supercharger with 19% charge and a warning that she should charge soon, given the temperature.

Total how many hours of travel time from Edmonton to Calgary including the stops for charging? Charging at your daughters overnight, again at Coast hotel, then Leduc and finally Red deer?? That's a lot of stops. Must have been very stressful with range anxiety at 19%!!!
 
Total how many hours of travel time from Edmonton to Calgary including the stops for charging? Charging at your daughters overnight, again at Coast hotel, then Leduc and finally Red deer?? That's a lot of stops. Must have been very stressful with range anxiety at 19%!!!

From Calgary to Edmonton, she left home with 100% charge and topped up in Red Deer for 40 minutes over lunch.

From Edmonton to Calgary, she spent two hours each at Coast Hotel and Peavy Mart, then almost an hour in Red Deer for a total of 5 hours charging. She felt quite comfortable with the 19% margin, but not super impressed with the extended hang-out time at The Burg and Tim Hortons. She did have our other daughter with her, which helped with the boredom.

But, when I met her in the garage on her return to express my sympathy and carry her bags, I suggested that next time she take the ICE. She was not interested. "No. I'll take the Tesla next time." :)

On cold-weather trips with lots of running around Edmonton, we'll do a hotel instead of daughter's sofa—at least on the last night—so that we can get a full charge at night like we do at home.


Next year, we will need to figure out what to do when our other daughter, #1 of the three, goes to grad school in Saskatoon ...