Electric vehicle war, is gas soon to be toast?

[CASe333]

I just stumbled on another fast charging option for Vancouver Island to Calgary. Chevron recently opened a bunch of "On the Run" charging stations with 150kW chargers. Way better coverage across BC vs Electrify Canada or Petro Canada and its always good to have more fast options on road trips. Pairing EV charging with convenience stores and some of their locations have fast food is way more appealing than being in the back of Canadian Tire parking lots (Electrify Canada).

Its free charging for now too!

I just wish someone would put fast chargers north of Calgary. I'm planning a trip to rural central Alberta and there doesn't seem to be any options with >50kW charging north of Calgary even in Red Deer or Edmonton.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by CASe333

I just stumbled on another fast charging option for Vancouver Island to Calgary. Chevron recently opened a bunch of "On the Run" charging stations with 150kW chargers. Way better coverage across BC vs Electrify Canada or Petro Canada and its always good to have more fast options on road trips. Pairing EV charging with convenience stores and some of their locations have fast food is way more appealing than being in the back of Canadian Tire parking lots (Electrify Canada).

Its free charging for now too!

I just wish someone would put fast chargers north of Calgary. I'm planning a trip to rural central Alberta and there doesn't seem to be any options with >50kW charging north of Calgary even in Red Deer or Edmonton.

I'm in BC and we bought a PHEV minivan for 2 reasons:

1) no full electric minivan or similar
2) no charging options in northern Alberta (friends family in Edson/Grande Cache)

I don't think we'll go full electric until we see some more options for charging when we see family

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by CASe333

I just stumbled on another fast charging option for Vancouver Island to Calgary. Chevron recently opened a bunch of "On the Run" charging stations with 150kW chargers. Way better coverage across BC vs Electrify Canada or Petro Canada and its always good to have more fast options on road trips. Pairing EV charging with convenience stores and some of their locations have fast food is way more appealing than being in the back of Canadian Tire parking lots (Electrify Canada).

Its free charging for now too!

I just wish someone would put fast chargers north of Calgary. I'm planning a trip to rural central Alberta and there doesn't seem to be any options with >50kW charging north of Calgary even in Red Deer or Edmonton.

There is one in Calgary, 52nd St and 110st SE.

Haven’t confirmed that it’s online yet, but I believe that it is.

[cKy]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

There is one in Calgary, 52nd St and 110st SE.

Haven’t confirmed that it’s online yet, but I believe that it is.

I know I just recently moved back to Calgary, but i'm pretty sure SE Calgary is definitely not north of Calgary

[CASe333]

Yes, plugShare comments confirm its open and there is a Triple O's at that spot. I've never been to Triple O's but apparently its a drive thru version of White Spot which works for me. They are also opening one just off the Trans-Canada Hwy at Kananskis Tr which is a much better location for road trippers.

Its funny how they don't advertise new fast charging stations at all though. The Chevron by my work has added 150kW charging and apparently its been open for over a month. I didn't notice even though I pass by the station commuting until after I saw a comment on Reddit about someone's road trip and I looked at the On the Run map:
https://www.ontherunstores.com/ev-charging

Looking at electrify Canada's EV map they have Canadian Tire locations in SW Edmonton and in Lethbridge coming soon. That should help Alberta's coverage a lot N/S of Calgary. East of Calgary is so dismal until the great lakes though.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by cKy

I know I just recently moved back to Calgary, but i'm pretty sure SE Calgary is definitely not north of Calgary

I was referring to the “on the run” station part, not the “North of Calgary” part.

[JagrBombs68]

Tesla is introducing a LFP RWD Model Y in Canada - imported from China - to lower the base model cost of the Y which will make the other Y's eligible for the $5K iZev rebate

in Sept 2022 the Y LR was $85K with the rebate now its down to $65K .. too bad it wasn't last year when we took delivery of our Model 3 cause we would have went for the Y but the cost was too high. At least our interest rates weren't 7% or whatever crazy thing it is now

Still very happy with the 3 - in a few years we will definitely buy another EV hopefully there is some EV vans out there at a good price point by then

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by CASe333

East of Calgary is so dismal until the great lakes though.

This is in no way limited to just EV charging.

[photon]

"On an earnings call with investors, General Motors CEO Mary Barra said the company plans to cease production of the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV by the end of 2023."

https://www.engadget.com/gm-will-sto...160540118.html

[TorqueDog]

They're stopping production of those because they're on the older platform, and GM is moving to a more modern platform which will underpin all their new EVs going forward, like the Equinox EV, Blazer EV, and Silverado / Sierra EVs.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by photon

"On an earnings call with investors, General Motors CEO Mary Barra said the company plans to cease production of the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV by the end of 2023."

https://www.engadget.com/gm-will-sto...160540118.html

It’s a shame, because the Bolt is a great format and size for a vehicle.

Just needs faster DC charging capabilities.

[timun]

The Bolt is a perfectly cromulent car, but nothing more. It's not "cool" like other electric cars.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by timun

The Bolt is a perfectly cromulent car, but nothing more. It's not "cool" like other electric cars.

Do we know if something is coming in it's price point to replace next year? I am hoping to get something in the 30-50k range in the next year but pickings are sure slim this year and not sure if they will get any better. I had my eye on the bolt but with being discontinued probably smart to wait for next generation of ev's.

[greyshep]

Originally Posted by timun

The Bolt is a perfectly cromulent car, but nothing more. It's not "cool" like other electric cars.

My wife loves hers but yeah we didnt buy it to try to look cool or cutting edge. Its been super reliable and has all the creature comforts one could really want. Best of all it has saved her a lot of money in commuting fuel costs.

[kermitology]

It sucks that GM is killing the small car platform so they can build more SUV/Crossover electric vehicles. We're obsessed with these larger format vehicles which require additional battery material, add increased weight.. ugh.

[DoubleF]

I wasn't sure whether to put this post in the EV thread or a travel thread.

Sorta weird question... how does EV charging factor into a road trip scenario? I've driven EVs before, but not in rapid charging scenarios.

Is it like, find a place to charge, go out to grab a snack and then return after 20-30 minutes sort of thing for 15-20% charge? or do I need to allot more time and more frequently? I know it's not as simple as 2-3 minutes for Gasoline and then go sort of thing, but I'm trying to figure out if it's 30 minutes or 1.5 hours (ie: 45mins x 2) I should consider allotting. When I drive, I love just going for it, so the charging situation may force my hand to approach the drive in a very different manner than I usually do for road trip driving.

I'm going to SF and I might rent a Tesla Model 3. The plan is to go to big Sur, but looking at the distances, I can't do that on a single charge (300 miles round trip without stuff on the side). I just want to know how much time I may need to allot to ensure I make it back to the rental company by 5 PM. The challenge also is that big Sur is intentionally less developed, so I may have to take a look at some of the small towns at the midway point between big Sur and SF.

I am assuming access is mostly regular public charging only and I'm hoping to top up 100-150 miles for that drive.

[photon]

In the Tesla it'll work all that out for you and tell you where to stop and how much to charge.. too bad they don't have that on a website to show you.

They do have this: https://www.tesla.com/trips

But that only gives you a map and charging locations, doesn't plan the trip which is unfortunate.

https://www.tesla.com/en_CA/support/charging

That says at a Tesla Supercharger you'll get 320km in 15 mins, which not sure if that's optimistic or not.

[Fuzz]

First off, I wouldn't assume you get the car with 100% SoC(State of Charge), but you might. If you don't that last 20% is a lot slower to charge. You are better to set off and top up along the way. A 15 minute stop with something like 10-20% will give you a good boost, if you go to a Tesla supercharger and it's at full speed. If you go to one that can serve 2 vehicles, make sure to grab an empty charger if you can or it drops both vehicles to half charge rate.


If you do need that quick charge you want to pre-condition the battery, which you do on approach. Also, if it is a busy weekend those superchargers on that route can get backed up. Once a backup starts, it's a long wait.

[Hack&Lube]

Whats annoying is that in Alberta, they charge you based on time at superchargers and not on actual kilowatts added.

I think I read that was due to a law that only utilities could charge by that rate.

I heard there was a change in the laws coming to address that but last time I was at Crossiron Mills Supercharger, it dinged me $7 for 15 minutes of charging where I only got 6 kilowatts. Extremely sub-optimal and expensive.

That's typically what I get in an hour when charging at L2 charging.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by photon

In the Tesla it'll work all that out for you and tell you where to stop and how much to charge.. too bad they don't have that on a website to show you.

They do have this: https://www.tesla.com/trips

But that only gives you a map and charging locations, doesn't plan the trip which is unfortunate.

https://www.tesla.com/en_CA/support/charging

That says at a Tesla Supercharger you'll get 320km in 15 mins, which not sure if that's optimistic or not.

Yeah, I saw that too. But what I'm confused by is the real life practicality of incorporating charging into a road trip drive on a rushed schedule. The car rental is open from 7AM to 5PM. Factoring 30 minutes to 1.5 hours to have enough charge is something that I'd need to know to factor into a 6 hour round trip drive with stops.

It seems there's a supercharging station in Monterey at a shopping mall, so if I can get 100 mile top up in 15 minutes when I get a bite to eat, I think I'm good for the rest of the day.

Originally Posted by Fuzz

First off, I wouldn't assume you get the car with 100% SoC(State of Charge), but you might. If you don't that last 20% is a lot slower to charge. You are better to set off and top up along the way. A 15 minute stop with something like 10-20% will give you a good boost, if you go to a Tesla supercharger and it's at full speed. If you go to one that can serve 2 vehicles, make sure to grab an empty charger if you can or it drops both vehicles to half charge rate.

If you do need that quick charge you want to pre-condition the battery, which you do on approach. Also, if it is a busy weekend those superchargers on that route can get backed up. Once a backup starts, it's a long wait.

I have no clue what this means, but I just looked it up and it seems like it will automatically do this if I choose a Tesla supercharging station in my navigation app? Seems simple enough to do.

I didn't know about the charger thing. Good to know. Something I wouldn't notice on a regular trip, but something I'd probably notice if in a rush for a road trip.

Precondition for heat and AC to optimize usage is another thing that pops up when I look up "precondition Tesla battery".