Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Waterloo Charging Station Launch

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.

mknox

Well-Known Member
Aug 7, 2012
10,104
1,901
Toronto, ON
Couple of photos of the Waterloo Charging Station opening this evening. Met a number of new owners in the Region along with some potential owners taking test drives. Tesla had three test drive vehicles giving test drives.

IMG_0434.JPG
IMG_0433.JPG
 
No, they're Tesla destination HWPC's...hopefully 80 amp Level II's

The closest Supercharger would be Woodstock...

Correct. And there was only 1 HPWC and 1 (looks like) 30 amp J1772 at that site. I was kind of expecting a bank of HPWCs considering the big deal Tesla made of this event. I couldn't tell at what power level the HPWC was configured.
 
Thanks for the clarification on the number of charging stations Mike! From the pictures, I could only see the 1 HWPC.

@Andrew, if the HWPC is a full 100 amp install (thus delivering 80 amps), then a full charge in an 85 kwh battery would be between 5-6 hours.

To get a faster charge, you would need to go to a Level III charger (Tesla Supercharger or a ChadeMo).

Depending on the nature of your trip to London / Waterloo (i.e. are you staying overnight and charging), it probably would be easier / faster for you to use the Woodstock Supercharger.

Correct. And there was only 1 HPWC and 1 (looks like) 30 amp J1772 at that site. I was kind of expecting a bank of HPWCs considering the big deal Tesla made of this event. I couldn't tell at what power level the HPWC was configured.
 
@Andrew, if the HWPC is a full 100 amp install (thus delivering 80 amps), then a full charge in an 85 kwh battery would be between 5-6 hours.

Just to clarify, that would be contingent upon having the dual charger option in your Model S. As a rule of thumb, I find that at 80 amps, I can get a 10% increase in my SOC each 1/2 hour with my dual charger-equipped car.

Unfortunately, I don't know whether this particular HPWC is configured for the full 80 amps that it is capable of. I'm starting to see many others that are set to deliver 40 amps, and in some cases, less.

Depending on the nature of your trip to London / Waterloo (i.e. are you staying overnight and charging), it probably would be easier / faster for you to use the Woodstock Supercharger.

Downtown Waterloo to Woodstock is about an hour's drive (+/- 60 km) so it's a bit out of your way if you're going from, say Toronto to Waterloo. It is right on the way to London, though.

I find that PlugShare is an excellent app for finding charging stations. There are quite a number in the Waterloo Region. And they do have a Tesla-specific version that works quite well in the Model S browser.
 
Thanks again for the clarification about twin chargers Mike...driving electric for almost 5 years now...simply can't imagine anyone up here not ordering twin chargers (due to a lesser number of Super Chargers and a robust Level II charging network in Canada)...:wink:
 
Thanks again for the clarification about twin chargers Mike...driving electric for almost 5 years now...simply can't imagine anyone up here not ordering twin chargers (due to a lesser number of Super Chargers and a robust Level II charging network in Canada)...:wink:

Oh, I agree, but it seems even Tesla is de-emphasizing dual chargers. It's no longer a "factory" option and you would have to know to ask for it from a Service Center. It seems like Tesla is emphasizing Superchargers for "on the road" charging and are pushing Destination Chargers for stops where you are staying somewhere. And if, for instance, you're staying over at a hotel, a 40 amp charger with a single charger-equipped car is all you really need.

But again, I agree. I can't take advantage of them at home, but the dual chargers are well worth it to me in my travels.
 
Seems like a big fuss for one HPWC that may not even be operating at full amperage.

There were a couple of things "odd" about it. The Tesla copy (linked to in my first post) says it is the Region's first Destination charger. It isn't. There is at least one other with the identical paired HPWC/J1772 setup that I am aware of. I was expecting maybe a bank of chargers. I think it was really more about the test drives. They had the red carpet out (literally) and had three company cars taking people for test drives. It was, at the end of the day, a nice reception with food and lots of other Tesla owners to talk to. They apparently have had a lot of sales in the Region and there were quite a few folks there who were very recent purchasers.
 
Was the J1772 a Sun Country unit? I've seen several installations lately with a Sun Country unit next to a HPWC. Evidently there was some sort of arrangement in place - out this way at least. I gather that experiment is over with now though.

It sure would be nice if these stations were always 240 volt instead of 208... It knocks your charge rate back just enough to to make you sigh...!
 
completely ICE'd

Yes, and the spots are well marked including pavement markings! The Wildcraft owners seemed very enthusiastic about this too, so you'd think there'd be better enforcement.

- - - Updated - - -

It sure would be nice if these stations were always 240 volt instead of 208... It knocks your charge rate back just enough to to make you sigh...!

True, but most commercial electrical services are 120/208 volt 3-phase, 4-wire so when you take two 120 volt phases (120 degrees out of phase) you only get 208 volts nominally at the EVSE. Space and cost considerations generally make installing a small dry-type transformer to bump the voltage up impractical.