# My Model 3 trip from Toronto to Kenora, Ontario



## d2cheung (Jul 1, 2020)

Below is a summary of our road trip from Toronto to northern, Ontario. It still blows my mind that we drive for 24 hours and you barely leave the province!

Left on Saturday, July 4, 6:30 AM
Arrived, Kenora, Ontario, Monday, July 6 @ around 4:30 PM
Tesla: Model 3 SR+

*Day 1: Toronto, Ontario to Lake Superior Provincial Park*

1st Supercharger: Perry Sound, Ontario ($6.88)
2nd Supercharger: Sudbury, Ontario $10.84)
3rd Supercharger: Blind River, Ontario 
4th Supercharger: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario ($5.28)
Overnight stop: Lake Superior Provincial Park, Agawa Campground Arrived around 7:30 PM

Summary of first day:

Good drive overall, probably because we were still fresh. We did noticed that we stayed longer at each supercharger for bathroom or get something to eat
Overnight at the campground was nice. Lake Superior Provincial Park is a wonderful campground. 30 AMP service and 15 AMP service available.

What we didn't anticipate was energy required for camper mode. Charging rate at 30 AMP was about 14-16 km per hour. But that was cut in half with camper mode turned on. So we didn't get the full charge we were expecting. So if you are charging with expectation of a full battery, arrive early and hope it's not too cold or hot outside.

Autopilot wasn't perfect. At Barrie, Ontario, during a good curve in the highway, it veered left and I had to fight to bring it back to stay in the lane as it veered right to compensate. Scary moment. I sent a bug report, but that was potentially an accident to happen if I wasn't paying attention and had both hands on the wheel. Thankfully my wife and I switched as drivers just a few minutes earlier, so I was alert.

Total distance travelled on Day 1: About 888 KM

*Day 2: Lake Superior Provincial Park to Sleeping Giant Provincial Park*

5th Supercharger: Wawa, Ontario (supposedly not in service) ($6.48)
6th Supercharger: White River, Ontario ( Winnie-the-Pooh, memorial) ($6.24)
7th Supercharger: Terrace Bay, Ontario ($12.96)
Overnight stop: Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Marie Louise Campground, Arrived around 6:30 PM
Summary of 2nd day:

Learned that when it says not in service, it may not mean entirely out of service. At least one supercharger was working. at Wawa, Ontario. This was helpful since we only had 155 km of range to start off with.

At the 2nd campsite, we plugged into 30 AMP service which kept faulting out after several minutes. Not sure why. I didn't reduce it to 24 amps at first time I plugged in, but after the 1st attempt, I switched it to 24 amp. After it faulted out a second time, I used the neighbours' 30 amp service and the same thing occurred. I eventually switched to 15 amp (household) service.

Recharging at 15 amp service with camper mode almost yielded zero km gained. I tinkered with the temperature controls and eventually turned off the A/C to get eek out to 8km an hour. Using the fan without the A/C doesn't appear to be a huge power draw.

Lesson -- where possible have a backup plan charging plan in place. If we didn't have a 2nd charging method, we would have been challenged to use camper mode and make it to our next Supercharger. I suspect that from now on, when I'm just camping just one night, I will select campsites that are close to a Supercharger.

Total distance travelled on Day 2: About 494 KM

*Day 3: Sleeping Giant Provincial Park to Trout Lake, Ontario*

8th Supercharger: Thunder Bay ($11.52)
9th Supercharger: Ignace, Ontario $9.12)
10th Supercharger: Kenora Ontario ($11.05)
Final Destination: Trout Lake, near Minaki, Ontario (household electricity available)

Summary of 3rd day:

We filled up almost to 100% in Thunder Bay since we purchased groceries here. We also filled up to 90% in Kenora, Ontario, since we weren't certain what the charging abilities were at the cottage.

We were sick of driving at this point. 7 hours was a long time for us on the third day. Lots of constructions along the Trans-Canada highway, causing numerous delays. Autopilot was okay. Had a couple of false-positives, especially in construction zones. It would break suddenly before resuming.

Thanks to TrevP for loaning me his 30 Amp TT-30 adapter. It worked the first night, but not so much about the 2nd night. I'm not certain with this adapter if the car automatically switches to 24 amp service. Gotta watch out for that.

I'm not sure if filling to 100% makes sense since it didn't make a significant change to the charge time for subsequent stops.

Total distance travelled on Day 3: About 550 KM


----------



## LabiPissing (May 1, 2021)

Thank you for your post!
I’m planning for something similar this summer and my biggest concern is between Sault Ste.Marie to Wawa.
Google map says there is distance of 220km between these super chargers with lots of elevation change.
I am a little worried about the range, I have a SR+ Model 3.
Do you think I could make it?
Thanks for your help!


----------



## mrau (Nov 22, 2018)

Appreciate your post. 
Many campgrounds offer 50 amp sites that have a 14-50 plug, usually for a couple of dollars more. Those sites are normally used by big motorhomes and 5th wheels. Might be worth the extra cost since a 14-50 @ 220 volts will charge about 5 times the rate of a TT-30 @ 110 volts. Should provide a full charge by the next morning.


----------



## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

LabiPissing said:


> Thank you for your post!
> I'm planning for something similar this summer and my biggest concern is between Sault Ste.Marie to Wawa.
> Google map says there is distance of 220km between these super chargers with lots of elevation change.
> I am a little worried about the range, I have a SR+ Model 3.
> ...


When you say lots of elevation change, what do you mean? Ups and downs aren't really a big concern. You'll regain most of your UP inefficiency on the DOWNS. If your overall trip doesn't change elevation, then the ups and downs might hurt efficiency by a few percent. The start to finish elevation change is much more important. I'm not familiar with the SR+, but 220km (136 miles) should be VERY easy in summertime. Regardless of your trip, have Plugshare or similar app handy, listen to the car's charging warnings, use a bit of common sense and you'll be fine. Experience will trump range anxiety every time.


----------



## Theos1 (Oct 6, 2018)

d2cheung said:


> Below is a summary of our road trip from Toronto to northern, Ontario. It still blows my mind that we drive for 24 hours and you barely leave the province!
> 
> Left on Saturday, July 4, 6:30 AM
> Arrived, Kenora, Ontario, Monday, July 6 @ around 4:30 PM
> ...


when your AP failed, was the road painted on both sides of the lane you were driving in? i never had that happen to me.


----------

