AC Chargers in Alberta

[TT459S]

Hi fellow Taycan owners (especially those in Alberta),
I am planning a trip this summer from Vancouver via Hope and Kamloops and then through Alberta, staying a few nights in or around Jasper, Edmonton, Calgary and Banff, before going back via Kelowna and Hope. I noticed there are very few DC fast chargers around those cities in Alberta - I searched using the Plugshare, Electrify Canada, Chargepoint apps, Porsche Charging Service, and apart from Canmore, I don't see any fast chargers CCS/SAE (>50kW). Do you have any suggestions what map or app I should use? (I re-posted from [Banned Site].com , hoping to get more response here...)

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[W1NGE]

Have you tried ABRP - seems popular in America?

ZapMap is another but not sure they cover North America.

 

[REIL]

@TT459S I have friends in Canada that speak highly of Charge Hub. They appear to have a large network.
https://chargehub.com/en/Charging-Stations-Map.html

 

[NormF]

Hi fellow Taycan owners (especially those in Alberta),
I am planning a trip this summer from Vancouver via Hope and Kamloops and then through Alberta, staying a few nights in or around Jasper, Edmonton, Calgary and Banff, before going back via Kelowna and Hope. I noticed there are very few DC fast chargers around those cities in Alberta - I searched using the Plugshare, Electrify Canada, Chargepoint apps, Porsche Charging Service, and apart from Canmore, I don't see any fast chargers CCS/SAE (>50kW). Do you have any suggestions what map or app I should use? (I re-posted from [Banned Site].com , hoping to get more response here...)

ABRP is the best planning app (Pay for the premium subscription). It is up to date with regard to all charging stations and gives you control over stops (eg if you know where you are going to stay overnight and start the next day at 100% SOC). It also lets you set the consumption for your car and driving style.

I also suggest you have the BC Hydro app and account (especially for Hwy 5), and Petro Canada app and account (Hwy 1). You will see that there are BC Hydro chargers at Blue River and Valemount. I have found that Petro Canada chargers work consistently at fairly good speeds if the EC chargers aren’t working (example both are in Hope, Merritt, Kamloops). Have a great trip and post your experience!

 

[TT459S]

Thanks @NormF - yes I have the BC Hydro and Petro Canada apps with accounts, I use BC Hydro for free (50kW) charges at Canadian SuperStores - havent tried the PC one yet. Also installed ABRP now and its a very cool app, probably need to set it up a bit better. This is what I got as a first attempt on my itinerary (stopover in Kamloops and Hinton AB before going to Edmonton).

 

[TT459S]

Brief update: reached jasper from
Kamloops no problem; plenty chargers on the way, from free L2 to public 25kW chargers to 50kW BCHydro FAst chargers. Alberta is different- some L2 chargers in Jasper, but none beyond. Driving to Edmonton from Jasper tomorrow. 100% charged. Distance 380km. Range shows as 435km… Porsche ‘intelligent’ route planner doesn’t think I can make it all the way…. (It suggests a detour bi Calgary…). There seems to be a Tesla Destination charger halfway, so I can use my Teslatap adapter to be safe… will provide an update upon arrival…

 

[NormF]

Where did you charge between Kamloops and Jasper? I am heading to Jasper next week on the same route you took. I recently took a trip to Vernon and found that PIRM was quite accurate, but was conservative. I was driving mainly in range mode and with cruise control, 10% over the speed limit. I think you will make it to Edmonton without charging if you drive in range mode and use cruise control.

 

[TT459S]

Where did you charge between Kamloops and Jasper? ……

There were chargers on the way that I discovered with ChargeHub -
I used:
- Wire Cache Test Area - free L2
- Blue River - BC Hydro 50kW
- Valemount - BC Hydro 50kW
- Mt Robson - Information Center - free L2

Plenty L2 in Jasper (Trainstation Tesla J1772 and Library Flo ) and some hotels have them. All free.

Indeed I get better mileage than PIRM predicts!

 

[TT459S]

Well, that was easy. Leaving Jasper with 100%, PIRM estimated arrival at 6%. Arrived in Edmonton downtown without charging and 21%!! Actually about halfway PIRM predicted 41%, but after a bio-break and coffee, PIRM estimated 16% which gradually became 21%. Never exceeded the speedlimit by more than 10km/hr. Range limit was 150km/hr - although initially at the start of the journey, 130.
Great outcome. I think the range of the 4S is probably more than 500km on a flat road, normal temperatures (~21°C) and reasonably average speed of ~120km/hr.

 

[NormF]

Very good.

 

[FrozenRobert]

Anthony,

Alberta guy here. Glad to see you enjoying your trip!

Hope Edmonton is enjoyable. It's really great in the Summer, ignore the industrial stuff on the outskirts and head to the River Valley in the center of town, if you get a chance. There's even a beach!

Apologies in advance, Calgary has better coverage than we do. No PetroCan chargers here (yet), and L3 chargers are rare or usually out-of-order.

However, there are over 100+ L2 chargers, most free or minimal cost. FLO seems to have the upper hand in Alberta. ChargeHub is a great app but I've found their charge points to be extremely finicky with the Taycan, or just inoperative. The ChargeHub L3 at VW Edmonton is case in point: broken since May 2021, but the app doesn't show it.

Please keep us updated. Especially enjoyed reading that your Taycan got BETTER mileage than predicted!

Anyway, enjoy your trip!

 

[TT459S]

Anthony,

Alberta guy here. Glad to see you enjoying your trip!

Hope Edmonton is enjoyable. It's really great in the Summer, ignore the industrial stuff on the outskirts and head to the River Valley in the center of town, if you get a chance. There's even a beach!

Apologies in advance, Calgary has better coverage than we do. No PetroCan chargers here (yet), and L3 chargers are rare or usually out-of-order.

However, there are over 100+ L2 chargers, most free or minimal cost. FLO seems to have the upper hand in Alberta. ChargeHub is a great app but I've found their charge points to be extremely finicky with the Taycan, or just inoperative. The ChargeHub L3 at VW Edmonton is case in point: broken since May 2021, but the app doesn't show it.

Please keep us updated. Especially enjoyed reading that your Taycan got BETTER mileage than predicted!

Anyway, enjoy your trip!

Hi @FrozenRobert - turns out Edmonton isn’t all that bad with chargers. I found 6 L2 chargers on the middle parking level on the northwest side of the West Edmonton Mall (near London Drugs) - no signage to be seen - they are on the AmpUp network - had never heard of it. Downloaded the app and got 8kW. not bad. Also found the Harley Davidson dealer has a ChargePoint 25kW Fastcharger, and there seems to be a 50kW charger in Simons mall in Londonderry. Overnight I plug in my Mobile Connect charger in the hotel’s parkade to get as much juice as possible. Should be easy to get to Calgary next.

 

[TT459S]

Just a quick update on my trip. Coming from Edmonton at 95% and recharged at a PC station north of Calgary. Used an EC charger in Cranbrook, and did a slow L2 charge at Chateau Lake Louise. Next charged at PC in Golden (by the way Hwy 1 is closed overnight near Golden). BCHYDRO in Radium Hot Springs and again in Cranbrook. Got a very quick fast charge at Flo in Creston, and now slow L2 charging in Nelson. I am probably a bit OCD about battery level - I hardly ever went below 40-50%. Finally, the PC plugs need to be held firmly when the charging initiates, or it will fail. Apparent the weight of the cable pulls the plug loose a bit….

 

[FrozenRobert]

Just a quick update on my trip. Coming from Edmonton at 95% and recharged at a PC station north of Calgary. Used an EC charger in Cranbrook, and did a slow L2 charge at Chateau Lake Louise. Next charged at PC in Golden (by the way Hwy 1 is closed overnight near Golden). BCHYDRO in Radium Hot Springs and again in Cranbrook. Got a very quick fast charge at Flo in Creston, and now slow L2 charging in Nelson. I am probably a bit OCD about battery level - I hardly ever went below 40-50%. Finally, the PC plugs need to be held firmly when the charging initiates, or it will fail. Apparent the weight of the cable pulls the plug loose a bit….

Yes I have noticed the issue with cables as well, one day last week I thought my car was plugged in for the afternoon and returned to find nothing happened.

The weight of the cable had moved the physical connection only a tiny amount and the car did not charge.

Glad to hear your trip is going well. I feel much more confident about going on a longer-range trip after reading posts like yours.

 

[TT459S]

Final update:

We just did 4000 km in 15 days touring around BC and AB, and the car was phenomenal. Apart from the windscreen damage (got a huge stone on it while driving) and the detours (and anxiety) due to forest fires, our trip was great, and we only saw one other Taycan 'in the wild'...

Observations:
Had one occurrence (at high altitude in the middle of nowhere) where the PCM had logged me out and went to Guest mode and couldn't get in due to no reception - and I actually had to run through setup to get logged in again (but it never prompted for credentials) once we got LTE again. It might have been due to an update... We got lots of OTA updates over the last 2 weeks.
For some reason my (drivers) seat ventilation wasn't working, and the passenger's site seat ventilation came on without touching it). Sounds like a simple wiring problem ? ???
I also lost my music favorites a couple of times (mentioned elsewhere on the forum).
The Porsche Nav system sent me over some dirt roads (service roads) which I think is not acceptable - but the car can handle it!

No charging issues, although northern Alberta (Jasper/Edmonton) should really get some fast chargers; only one I found was at a Harley Davidson dealer in Edmonton!. The 4S' range is quite amazing and from Jasper (100%) to Edmonton (~380km) only took like 75% of the battery charge! Under normal conditions (good road, constant speed (within 10% over speed limit!, no heatwave) in Range mode a 4S can probably do 500 kms!
Left Edmonton with 80%; once near Calgary there are plenty of Fast Chargers, and the more west you go the more choice there is. We charged in North Calgary (PC), Canmore(EC), Lake Louise (L2 in Fairmont), Golden (PC), Radium Hot Springs (BCHydro), Cranbrook (BCHydro), Creston (Flo), Nelson (L2 Hotel), Cristina Lake (Flo), Beaverdell (Flo), Kelowna (PC). Used the L2 hotel charger in Vernon to get to 100% for our final journey back to Vancouver, and only stopped again in Hope to charge to 80% (EC) and arrived in Vancouver with ~50% left.

You will notice I charged a lot, basically combining the time for stopping for bio breaks, stretch our legs and have a snack or buy 'provisions'. The PIRM does it job well, but of course it doesn't know all the chargers along the route. I found that setting a target of 50% in the planner (rather than an automatic calculated target) gives a very practical route. If you set a very high %, your journey will almost always have a charging stop just before arriving at your destination. By the way, the PIRM doesn't think the car can reach Edmonton from Jasper (it would send you via Banff/Calgary!) - it's very pessimistic - but once we got going it gave increasingly better estimates!

The evening before the next journey, I would check the route with the ABRP app, and most importantly with DriveBC directions and TranBC Emergency Map. With the forest fires raging all over the interior, we we're robbed of many of the scenic routes we had planned via lakes and (cable) ferries.

I think over 4000km I spent a total of $30 CAD on 'fuel' (EC and PC are basically free of charge but not plentiful and the Flo/FortisBC chargers are a bit more expensive at 0.30CAD/min - compared to 0.21 for BCHydro). The same trip in a similar ICE Porsche (Macan, Panamera, Cayenne) would have costed probably around 1000$ in gas....

Below: some pictures of my broken windshield.... Claim filed with ICBC and new one will arrive in 3-4 weeks from Porsche Germany. (Thanks - Brocoglass in Langley). I had some of the damage filled by a local glass repair shop in Cranbrook so it reduced the distraction a bit and prevent further cracks.

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