Experiences travelling in Canada ?

[adaviel]

We recently bought a 2016 Leaf. Our primary use is commuting, shopping etc. in the city so no problem doing that charging at home, even with just a Level 1 EVSE.

But I feel I was slightly misled by media stories, or my own naivety, about the practicality of long distance travel. I had read, for instance, several years ago, that it was possible to drive an EV across Canada using available charging stations, and assumed the situation now would be better. The impression given was that it would take a couple of hours a day to charge the car and by combining that with meals it would not add much to real travel time. Maybe that was for a Tesla with a 400km range.

When I look online now, it seems that CHAdeMO stations are few and far between, and charging on Level 2 takes 6 hours. Prince George to Dawson Creek is 400km with no public chargers at all (and not a lot of towns, either).

How do EV users manage travelling ? Is it possible to beg or buy 120V or 240V from businesses such as hotels, restaurants, gas stations ? What are your experiences ?

 

[jjeff]

How do EV users manage travelling ? Is it possible to beg or buy 120V or 240V from businesses such as hotels, restaurants, gas stations ? What are your experiences ?

I only use my Leaf in town, we use our Prius out of town or for long trips. While it may be possible to travel with a Leaf in areas of CA thats by far the exception rather than the norm. You might find a few businesses that will let you plug into a 120v 15a outlet but at 20hrs for a full charge I doubt they'd want you there all day nor would you want to be there all day. No IMO the Leaf makes a great little city car, I can even drive all the way across town and back, but it's not a road car.
AFA finding 240v out and about, I've never ran across one. You might find a friend or relative who has a 240v outlet in their garage but more than likely it will be a standard that you don't have. You see there are many different types of 240v outlets(easily more than a dozen) so even if you found one, chances are you wouldn't be able to plug into it.

 

[Turnover]

I've been traveling to British Columbia since 2013. Its gotten easier over this time as DCQC and L2 facilities have flourished there. Originally, we had a 2012 Leaf and had to stop for charging a lot more frequently than we do now in our 2013. I used to take about twice as much time to travel distances as it did in our Subaru. With the 2013 it takes about 2/3 of the time. With your 30 kWh battery I don't think you will have much of a problem. Of course you will need to do some preplanning by running your proposed route through PlugShare so you will have a plan and can arrange memberships in their charging companies before traveling. Some of these companies (Green Lots for instance) are international and have US chargers. Some you will need to order a card though their websites.

 

[adaviel]

AFA finding 240v out and about, I've never ran across one. You might find a friend or relative who has a 240v outlet in their garage but more than likely it will be a standard that you don't have. You see there are many different types of 240v outlets(easily more than a dozen) so even if you found one, chances are you wouldn't be able to plug into it.

I guess I could make a few adapters. 14-30R, 6-50, TT-30 with 50 foot of #6 welding cable as an extension cord, with an OpenEVSE multi-current unit to run to a laundry room. Probably never going to happen, I'm probably just going to use my truck for trips up north (certainly if we take a travel trailer). Seems like there's a rebate this month through Nissan for a Chargehub EVduty-40, so I'll try to get that for home.

Incidentally I found this crazy thing online: https://www.evseadapters.com/collections/ev-chargers-and-evses/products/portable-chademo-quick-charger - a CHAdeMO adapter for $3500 that says it will get the fastest charge from any supply.

 

[webeleafowners]

Also remember that most campgrounds have 50 amp 220 outlets as they are pretty much standard hook up for many RV's now. I would probably buy a portable 40 amp EVSE that you can throw in the truck. We just bought a Juicebox 40 pro and although we haven't had it long yet I know the portability and 50 amp plug will come in handy on the road. We mounted ours temporarily in the motorhome but rally it belongs in our garage. However they include this really neat hangy bracket thing that makes it really easy to just remove from wall. Just pick it up and its free of the bracket. Handy. Looks like this. You'll have to talk to the campground owner and negociate a price for the power you need. Our EV, smart ED, comes with us on a trailer behind the motorhome.

 

[achewt]

AFA finding 240v out and about, I've never ran across one. You might find a friend or relative who has a 240v outlet in their garage but more than likely it will be a standard that you don't have. You see there are many different types of 240v outlets(easily more than a dozen) so even if you found one, chances are you wouldn't be able to plug into it.

I guess I could make a few adapters. 14-30R, 6-50, TT-30 with 50 foot of #6 welding cable as an extension cord, with an OpenEVSE multi-current unit to run to a laundry room. Probably never going to happen, I'm probably just going to use my truck for trips up north (certainly if we take a travel trailer). Seems like there's a rebate this month through Nissan for a Chargehub EVduty-40, so I'll try to get that for home.

Incidentally I found this crazy thing online: https://www.evseadapters.com/collections/ev-chargers-and-evses/products/portable-chademo-quick-charger - a CHAdeMO adapter for $3500 that says it will get the fastest charge from any supply.

We bought an OpenEVSE unit with a 14-xx plug and a TT-30 adapter. I didn't bother with 6-50 as I didn't really want to bug garages/welders to use their outlets. I wanted to be equipped to plug into campgrounds primarily and pull maximum juice (24A at either 120 or 240V; hence the OpenEVSE instead of an EVSE Upgrade unit). If I end up using someones garage/range plug that is ok too. Since buying the unit, we've done several trips where it has come in handy. We've had our Leaf since mid 2014 and there was zero charging infrastructure in our neck of the Kootenays at that point.

I've written quite a bit about trip planning and using the charger off the beaten paths... check out this blog post http://kootenayevfamily.ca/a-tale-of-two-journeys-part-1/ in particular, my page on "Charging", and the road trips category http://kootenayevfamily.ca/category/travel/roadtrips/.

I'm actually from PG, and am coming home for Christmas. Would be happy to meet up and chat tips and tricks if desired.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[paulgipe]

http://www.myelectriccarforums.com/redirect.php?url=https://www.evseadapters.com/collections/ev-chargers-and-evses/products/portable-chademo-quick-charger

I've seen John use that at our house on our HSC 40. He was pulling full rated power and charging DC.

Paul

 

[abasile]

I had read, for instance, several years ago, that it was possible to drive an EV across Canada using available charging stations, and assumed the situation now would be better. The impression given was that it would take a couple of hours a day to charge the car and by combining that with meals it would not add much to real travel time. Maybe that was for a Tesla with a 400km range.

Yes, that had to have been with a Tesla!

Sun Country Highway (SCH) in particular has been known for installing higher-power Level 2 charging stations along major highways in Canada and more recently in the US as well. For EVs driving through the Prairies, Western Ontario, and the Maritimes, the SCH network has been critical. Tesla vehicles with 70-80A Level 2 charging capability can often charge using SCH at a rate of about 50-60 miles / 80-95 km of range per hour. While the Tesla Supercharger network is growing, it's great to have SCH and others to at least partially fill in the many gaps in rural North America.

 

[powersurge]

Rather than spending $3,500 on a charger, I have seen that some high end EVSEs come with additional pigtail outlet converters which can let you plug into ANY 240 volt outlet. If you are interested in traveling long distances, I would get an electrician or DIY for a bunch of different 240 volt plugs and then you would be "the universal connector receiver".....

 

[adaviel]

I've written quite a bit about trip planning and using the charger off the beaten paths... check out this blog post http://kootenayevfamily.ca/a-tale-of-two-journeys-part-1/ in particular, my page on "Charging", and the road trips category http://kootenayevfamily.ca/category/travel/roadtrips/.

Cool! I keep forgetting to check back or make sure I set email notification.

I've now got the Elmec EVC30T-05 EVSE; still waiting for the rebate. I had to drill the rivets out and change the power cord - I'd already pre-wired a NEMA 14-50 outlet and it came with a 6-50 plug. I thought of changing the outlet but it has a larger box and then I could only find a moulded stove plug+cord in the local hardware store. Anyway, I now have a 6-50 plug to start my collection. I've ordered an OpenEVSE kit and was thinking of scavenging the cable from the L1 EVSE that came with the car.