Trip Planning - Toronto to Victoria

Biker said:

Any good suggestions? There is such a big blank spot in Canada from Barrie, ON to Alberta, so I expect to go through the US for a big portion, but would like to get back up into Canada when it is practical again.

Of course, the Tesla route planner has me going through Northern California.

I'd like to Supercharge as much as possible, but 2 or 3 stops at 80 amp chargers would be doable.

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Go through the Detroit area, across to Chicago, (toll roads around Chicago though) and follow either the south or northerly route to the West coast either through Seattle or Las Vegas. it will be a grand trip.
Unfortunately, there aren't enough Canadian superchargers on route but next year there will be a few up towards Winterpeg and also from Montana through to Calgary.

I drove from Victoria to Toronto (and Ottawa and Quebec City) last year, and from Victoria to Ottawa this year (I'm currently in Toronto). The route this year was 2000 km shorter than last year!

It is actually very easy to do it now, as there are Superchargers all the way on I-90. There is only one missing now (Gillette, WY), so be very very careful trying to get from Rapid City, SD to Sheridan, WY. There is no way you will make it if you go the speed limit of 80 mph (128 km/h). A good alternative, and one that I had to use since Sheridan opened just as I passed, is to stay over at the Quality Inn in Buffalo, WY: Quality Inn | Buffalo, WY | Electric Car Charging Station | PlugShare

They have two 80A HPWCs there. It spans the gap nicely.

It is quite feasible to make it from Comber, ON to St Joseph, MI on one charge (in the summer). There is no toll on I-94. It is possible to get through Chicagoland without paying a toll, but it isn't easy. The best route I think is I-94 until it becomes a toll road just north of Chicago. At that point take highway 41. Then you can either charge at Highland Park (Tesla service centre - LOTS of Model Ss on the lot!) or probably skip it and charge at Pleasant Prairie, WI.

Google Maps

It probably goes without saying that you can expect to hit epic traffic jams in Chicago, unless you go through at midnight or thereabouts.

The scenery on I-90, especially in Wyoming, Montana, and Washington state, is absolutely spectacular.

I actually plan to try going back through Canada, but it's really an all-or-nothing decision. There is no reasonable route I can think of that does a bit of both, unless you go through Duluth, MN. There's a Supercharger there now. That adds a lot of extra distance to the route, however.

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Oh, also - if you want a break from the Interstate, take highway 12 from Pleasant Prairie toward Madison, WI. Fort Atkinson I thought was a particularly nice little town. It's a shorter distance, and more pleasant drive (in my opinion), but takes longer.

Biker said:

Poweredbyrain, Thanks for the awesome reply. One way or another I wanted to see Yellowstone, so Wyoming sounds very good. If I hear you correctly, the only non-SC stop could be at Buffalo WY. If that's correct then I'm pretty excited about this trip.

BTW, is it correct for me to assume that charging in Victoria will not be too difficult?

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There are lots of public chargers in Victoria. As far as I know they are all free. Most are 30A, but... free is free! You will need a VERnetwork card for most of them - see Home
A few are Chargepoint - see Join ChargePoint - ChargePoint

To see a map of chargers, view PlugShare - EV Charging Station Map - Find a place to charge your car!

Note in particular that city of Victoria parkades downtown have free charging (VERnetwork) and the first hour of parking free. It's hard to beat that!


Yes, if you go through the U.S. you can get there entirely using Superchargers. You may even be able to span the Rapid City to Sheridan gap, but you'd probably have to go 100 km/h or slower on a road with a speed limit of 128 km/h. I'd just plan to stay over in Buffalo, WY.

As for Yellowstone - that's going to be expensive. It's far enough off of I-90 that you'll need to charge at a hotel at the park. Have you checked out the cost of hotels at Yellowstone in the summer? I have. I decided not to go to Yellowstone.

It is quite feasible to make it from Comber, ON to St Joseph, MI on one charge (in the summer).

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I see 358 km, hoping for no problems (weather, detours, hills (!), etc.)…regardless of the edgy feasibility, those Ann Arbor SCHs are very important. Really soon now…

rapoport3a said:

I see 358 km, hoping for no problems (weather, detours, hills (!), etc.)…regardless of the edgy feasibility, those Ann Arbor SCHs are very important. Really soon now…

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Edgy? There's no significant elevation difference (according to Wikipedia 192 m at St Joseph, 188 m at Comber), so as long as you're not driving into a huge headwind it's not even close to a problem. You do have to go the speed limit or slower, however - if you want to go 130 km/h everywhere, then yeah, you won't make it.

Just start out slowly, and judge as you go along.

When travelling on I-90, I would avoid staying overnight at the "Quality" Inn in Buffalo, WY as the hotel is quite poorly maintained. I would just pay the hotel $20 to charge enough to get further along. On the way west we stayed there, on the way east we made it from Sheridan, WY to Custer, SD where there are a variety of destination chargers in close proximity to the Black Hills sights.

If you are interested in driving through B.C., it is not that difficult to connect the I-90 and the B.C. supercharger networks. Heading north, we drove from Missoula to Kalispell (where we overnighted and charged at an RV park), to Invermere (charged at Kicking Horse Café while having lunch and buying groceries) and then to Golden. Going south, we overnighted in Invermere and drove to the Coeur d'Alene Supercharger.

Here are some other recommendations:

• Bozeman, MT was the nicest town/city that we stopped at from Idaho to Chicago, with a wide variety of good dining options, an excellent museum, and reasonable proximity to Yellowstone.
• Of all the different supercharger locations, the nicest effort by a host was by Range Country Lodging in Murdo, SD. So if you are looking at locations to overnight that is one that I would recommend, and it allows easy access to a loop through the badlands. http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Hotel_Review-g54726-d104145-Reviews-Range_Country-Murdo_South_Dakota.html
• The supercharger in Worthington, Minn is in the parking lot of a pretty good burger restaurant that made a decent stop for dinner.
• If you are charging in Comber to a high % in order to drive to St. Joseph, walk into town and eat at Peter's Kitchen with the locals.

Biker said:

Thanks everyone. The info is great. Re the Quality Inn's non-quality, we like to camp when we can. I would think that there will be campgrounds where we can plug in around or in Yellowstone. Does that make sense?

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Yes, of course, it was just a question of availability. Originally I was assuming you were asking about the summer. Just look at plugshare.com - there are four RV campgrounds listed in West Yellowstone.


The Quality Inn was perfectly fine for me, but maybe my standards are lower than other people's. The bed was comfortable and the shower worked. It isn't right up against a road with a lot of noise. The breakfast was very good.

Biker said:

Poweredbyrain, Thanks for the awesome reply. One way or another I wanted to see Yellowstone, so Wyoming sounds very good. If I hear you correctly, the only non-SC stop could be at Buffalo WY. If that's correct then I'm pretty excited about this trip.

BTW, is it correct for me to assume that charging in Victoria will not be too difficult?

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We also have a province-owned CHAdeMO charger you can use. It's not free though.

Koryin said:

We also have a province-owned CHAdeMO charger you can use. It's not free though.

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I presume this is the one they were going to install at Uptown. Correct? So they charge the standard 35 cents per kWh, eh?

It doesn't appear on plugshare.com

Biker said:

I would think that there will be campgrounds where we can plug in around or in Yellowstone. Does that make sense?

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The Fort Jax RV park in West Yellowstone was Tesla friendly for charging and was within walking distance of a number of motels, but it was a long-term housing place and not somewhere for a tent. From what I could tell, the West Yellowstone RV parks in general were not exactly tent friendly places (look for yourself on Google street view). Inside Yellowstone, there are lots of camping options but EV charging is not yet available, there is some EV charging in Grand Teton and Jackson.

I was considering driving straight east from Yellowstone to Sheridan, with a charge at a beautifully maintained KOA in Greybull, WY; but in the end we opted to drive the Beartooth Hwy to the Northeast and Billings.

PoweredByRain said:

I presume this is the one they were going to install at Uptown. Correct? So they charge the standard 35 cents per kWh, eh?

It doesn't appear on plugshare.com

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This site has been active for a while. I used it several times when I was there in June for the E-mazing Race. Even though it cost about $10 each time, the speed was very nice. A slight delay versus most of your day spent charging.

There's also free parking(!)

PoweredByRain said:

Edgy? There's no significant elevation difference (according to Wikipedia 192 m at St Joseph, 188 m at Comber), so as long as you're not driving into a huge headwind it's not even close to a problem.

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Elevation isn't the only item in the altitude question. Many steep ascents will negatively affect range, steep descents not recovering all the charge used on ascents. However, there aren't many of either between Comber and St. Joseph, there being no Mt. Michigans in the way.

Even if that should be drivable nonstop in good summer weather, the question is close to moot, now that the Ann Arbor SChs have opened (Aug. 20).

rapoport3a said:

Many steep ascents will negatively affect range, steep descents not recovering all the charge used on ascents.

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True, though I have been amazed at just how little is lost on hilly terrain. The regenerative braking is incredibly good. I think if you want to be particularly energy conscious, slow down as you approach the top of the hill, and coast (hold the pedal so that you get zero power) most or all of the way down.

rapoport3a said:

Even if that should be drivable nonstop in good summer weather, the question is close to moot, now that the Ann Arbor SChs have opened (Aug. 20).

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Yay!

On the question of whether a CHAdeMO adapter is useful just for visiting Victoria - in my opinion, no, assuming that you have somewhere to plug in overnight. Also, there are some higher-power, free plug-ins, e.g. the one just off the main street in Sidney is 72A on a 240V line (sags to about 220-something), or about 16 kW in practice. Third Street Parking Lot | Sidney, BC | Electric Car Charging Station | PlugShare

PoweredByRain said:

I presume this is the one they were going to install at Uptown. Correct? So they charge the standard 35 cents per kWh, eh?

It doesn't appear on plugshare.com

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Aye, thats the one. Its been there months now and does indeed show up on plugshare.com. I charged there when I first got my Tesla. There is also one in Duncan and another in Nanaimo.

Do you, by chance, have the High Powered Stations option unchecked?

EDIT: http://api.plugshare.com/view/location/61325

Koryin said:

Aye, thats the one. Its been there months now and does indeed show up on plugshare.com.

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You are correct. I am not. I am dumb. I forgot that I had turned off CHAdeMO as one of the options under "More Options". The map page shows "High Power Stations" checked but it's only Superchargers shown. I did that at one point to remove clutter, because it isn't worth it to me to buy a CHAdeMO adapter.