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

Central Canada Superchargers

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Just a quick followup,

We're now two thirds of the way through 2016. The "2016" SC map released last year shows 5 superchargers being added in Western Canada, and 2 in central Canada. To date there has been no evidence of any progress on a single one of them.

Still not holding my breath.

C'mon Tesla, what do you have against your Canadian owners?
 
I believe that superchargers along the TransCanada Hwy from Calgary to Southern Ontario should be a higher priority than supercharging I94 through North Dakota and Montana (given that I90 is already supercharged).

It also does not take a fully connected network for superchargers to have their biggest impact, for example it is more important to have a supercharger location in Virden, MB than to have a supercharger in either Regina or Winnipeg.

I also think that Tesla Motor's current plans for Prairie superchargers are suboptimal. For starters, I think that the three supercharger locations currently slated to connect Calgary to Montana could be better deployed to: (1) Cranbrook (connecting Calgary to Coeur d'Alene supercharger and the I90 network); (2) Medicine Hat; and (3) Swift Current. Add one more supercharger location In Virden and then you can leave Winnipeg after work, crash at a Regina motel with a level 2 charger, and then drive to Calgary the next day in time to watch the Jets play the Flames on a Saturday night.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ciaopec
I believe that superchargers along the TransCanada Hwy from Calgary to Southern Ontario should be a higher priority than supercharging I94 through North Dakota and Montana (given that I90 is already supercharged).

It also does not take a fully connected network for superchargers to have their biggest impact, for example it is more important to have a supercharger location in Virden, MB than to have a supercharger in either Regina or Winnipeg.

I also think that Tesla Motor's current plans for Prairie superchargers are suboptimal. For starters, I think that the three supercharger locations currently slated to connect Calgary to Montana could be better deployed to: (1) Cranbrook (connecting Calgary to Coeur d'Alene supercharger and the I90 network); (2) Medicine Hat; and (3) Swift Current. Add one more supercharger location In Virden and then you can leave Winnipeg after work, crash at a Regina motel with a level 2 charger, and then drive to Calgary the next day in time to watch the Jets play the Flames on a Saturday night.
Gotta disagree with you as someone who doesn't live in Regina or along the Trans-Canada. That'd be a drive down to Regina for me, then wait several hours in Regina charging, then driving on. Not optimal for those of us who live in the largest city in the province.
 
I believe that superchargers along the TransCanada Hwy from Calgary to Southern Ontario should be a higher priority than supercharging I94 through North Dakota and Montana (given that I90 is already supercharged).

It also does not take a fully connected network for superchargers to have their biggest impact, for example it is more important to have a supercharger location in Virden, MB than to have a supercharger in either Regina or Winnipeg.

I also think that Tesla Motor's current plans for Prairie superchargers are suboptimal. For starters, I think that the three supercharger locations currently slated to connect Calgary to Montana could be better deployed to: (1) Cranbrook (connecting Calgary to Coeur d'Alene supercharger and the I90 network); (2) Medicine Hat; and (3) Swift Current. Add one more supercharger location In Virden and then you can leave Winnipeg after work, crash at a Regina motel with a level 2 charger, and then drive to Calgary the next day in time to watch the Jets play the Flames on a Saturday night.

I think you need to re-check the distances involved and the numbers of Superchargers. Calgary to Crankbrook is about 390km. Calgary to Couer d'Alene is about 640km. When Tesla puts in Superchargers, they're forward-thinking and look for year-round travel, so a Supercharger in Cranbrook is not going to be enough. They'd need to add several different Superchargers. The time for Calgary, AB to Seattle, WA via Couer d'Alene, ID compared to via the TransCanada Highway seems to be a wash, and for travel to Portland, OR it cuts about an hour. On the other hand, connecting Calgary, AB to Butte, MT would provide a much more direct route to large areas of the USA, cutting multiple hours, while also "finishing" I-15 in the USA.
That connection is also more populated than the route to Couer d'Alene through Cranbrook. To me the connection to Butte looks like a much greater benefit.

The distance from Winnipeg to Virden is around 300km. Again, they'd need multiple Superchargers for year-round travel.

Manitoba is more populous than Saskatchewan and Winnipeg, MB is a much more populous area than Regina, SK or Saskatoon, SK, so it also makes sense to focus on connections to and from Winnipeg. Tesla plans to connect it to the USA's network via Grand Forks, ND and Fargo, ND. That connection would provide a faster route to Toronto than through Canada (ignoring border checks, of course), as well opening up travel to US destinations.

Once they have the Calgary, AB to Butte, MT connection, and the Winnipeg, MB to Fargo, ND connection, then Tesla could begin to add eastwards from Calgary, and westwards from Winnipeg and each new Supercharger would be of greater value than it is now, because those Superchargers would be more connected.

Also note that Tesla's 2016 map shows an additional Supercharger near Sudbury, ON, and one in Northern Michigan, which would then also put Tesla closer to making the connection across the north of Lake Huron, and then connecting Winnipeg to Eastern Canada.
 
I think you need to re-check the distances involved and the numbers of Superchargers. Calgary to Crankbrook is about 390km. Calgary to Couer d'Alene is about 640km. When Tesla puts in Superchargers, they're forward-thinking and look for year-round travel, so a Supercharger in Cranbrook is not going to be enough. They'd need to add several different Superchargers. The time for Calgary, AB to Seattle, WA via Couer d'Alene, ID compared to via the TransCanada Highway seems to be a wash, and for travel to Portland, OR it cuts about an hour. On the other hand, connecting Calgary, AB to Butte, MT would provide a much more direct route to large areas of the USA, cutting multiple hours, while also "finishing" I-15 in the USA.
That connection is also more populated than the route to Couer d'Alene through Cranbrook. To me the connection to Butte looks like a much greater benefit.

The Canmore Supercharger to Cranbrook is 299km and Cranbrook to the Couer d'Alene Supercharger is 250km. The point of the post was that relatively few additional Superchargers can greatly increase drivability in the short-term, until the optimal network has been built out.
 
I wonder if Tesla will consider the availability of other charging? The Ontario build-out will see L3 chargers along Hwy 17 all of the way to Manitoba in places like Kenora, Dryden, T Bay, Fort Frances and Wawa - so I wonder if that will cause Tesla to have less focus on this route?
 
Very true, you also have to worry about the chargers being out of service for whatever reason. But if you want to be driving across the country I think you will really need an adapter as a back up plan if nothing else. I wonder if there will be enough demand to cause waiting - I am betting that getting ICE'd will be the biggest issue as these will be at Tim Hortons or McDs.