Long distance EV travel is now very feasible in much of Canada because of the recent proliferation of high rate Level 3 chargers. 

The graphs show data for a May 24-25, 2022 Sydenham, Ontario to Peggy’s Cove trip. A total one-way distance of 1631 km over two days. Both days were mild and dry, ideal conditions. 

Notes from experience about long distance EV trips:

• For long distances, you need a cell phone to use the various apps that are required to find and operate the chargers you will encounter.  Petro Canada chargers will take a credit card with no app, many others do not.  I used “A Better Route Planner” and “Plugshare” apps along with the individual charging company apps. 

• You might initially think that on a long trip you’ll drive the full range of your EV on each charge.  However, you’ll pull into a charger before “0” km range are left, and you’ll only charge to maybe 70% state of charge (SOC). The reason you’ll leave before the battery is full are twofold

  • 1/ You won’t charge to “full” because all EVs reduce the charging rate as the battery becomes more charged.  The chargers charge by the minute (Utility Regulations) so once the charge kW are reduced at higher states of charge, you are paying more for each kWh.  If you wait for the last few kWh to get an EV to 100% , you’re paying much more for those last few kWh of energy. This is an imperfect system and let’s hope the rate structures evolve to be more optimal.

  • 2/ Additionally, once the charge rate drops off, you are getting fewer km of range for each minute you sit at the charger. That means it could take a very long time ot get to 100% SOC. I found with the 2019 Chevy Bolt, at about 60%-70% charged, it made sense to start driving again.

• For this trip three apps were used. “PlugShare” to find chargers, then the apps to pay using “Electrique Circuit” and “Flo”.  On my first few longer trips I had to do more thinking and learning, but now on this trip I found I did much less planning around charging, it is just easier having done it a few times.

• Some charging companies are allowing their charge cards to be used on other systems, but it can be a bit confusing to the initial user. So, plot your route, check out the brands of chargers you’ll be using, and load the required apps. 

• Cold, snow, rain, altitude gain, high speeds or a heavy vehicle load will increase your energy consumption, possible quite significantly.  These conditions of course also impact a gasoline car fuel consumption, but we don’t notice it as much. An EV with a 400 km highway range in ideal conditions may have a 200 km range at highway speeds in heavy snow and cold weather. See below for results of the same Sydenham to Peggy’s Cove trip in terrible weather.

• If your hotel has a Level 2 charger, it is great to charge overnight, but if they are charging an hourly rate, it may result in a higher cost than a shorter charge at a Level 3 station.  Many Level 2 chargers are $1.50 per hour. The advantage of the Level 2 charge is that the car will have a 100% full battery in the morning. On this trip the hotel had a free Level 2 so we were able to leave with a 100% SOC battery. It probably cost the hotel about $3-5, many hotels with chargers just absorb this cost.

• At the charging stops I would walk and stretch, do my email, get a snack, use a washroom and by the time I did these things, 20-45 minutes had elapsed and the car was 70% charged, so off we went. 

• The 1631 km trip cost $43.98 in billing from the Level 3 chargers.  At the destination AirBNB the charging was again free.

• When planning the Level 3 charging, you’ll likely stop when the car’s remaining range is 40-70 km, that way if for any reason the chosen charger isn’t working, or there are several people waiting to use it, I would likely be able to get to the next available charger.  On this May trip, there was no waiting at any charger.

• Conclusion.  Long distance travel is an EV is entirely possible, but you need to understand your car range, allow for the charge rate of your car, know the charger networks and apps and choose a charger with the idea that you may need to have a plan B.  

• Ontario and Quebec have very low GHG intensity to their electricity production, while New Brunswick and Nova Scotia still have quite a bit of fossil fuel fired generation. All the data supports EVs being better on GHG than ICE cars even on coal fired electricity, so I rest easy knowing the EV trip produces far fewer GHGs. 

• Tesla owners use of the Tesla Supercharger network and Tesla has done a good job of providing many Superchargers across Canada. Tesla may open the network to non-Teslas, they have already done so in selected EU countries, so watch for that news.