Visiting the Woodstock, Ontario assembly plant

[jimbo69ny]

I would go from my house, to my moms in rochester (121 miles), to the house in Hamilton (118 miles), to the plant (52.8 miles), back to the house in Hamilton (52.8 miles), back to my moms (118 miles), then home (121 miles).

Sounds like a great plan. Now, while you're waiting to charge, go to Home Depot with an oil car and get enough goodies to put an RV outside outlet NEMA 14-50R (about $50), some 6 gauge wires and a 50 amp breaker and you're good to go in the future.

Thanks Tony. I think the route will be easy and stress free. They are all perfectly spaced.

I already have that at two of the locations Tony. Here is the one at my house, my starting point. I also have one at my moms house in Rochester.

I also have dual charging stations at my rental properties but those are limited to 24 amps right now. I could go higher but thats just what the cap is set at currently.

They have both been there and working well since 2012.

I also have this one in addition to the 14-50. The 14-50 can be shared with both tenants in the duplex but the one in this photo is just for the tenant in apt A

 

[mikegerard]

Once you get to Canada there are a bunch of chargers. And many of the Sun Highway ones are 10kw.

I could almost make it on an extended charge from here. As far as I know that plant does not offer tours to the public and without contacts there I don't think you would be able to see much.

-Mike

 

[jimbo69ny]

OOps I had EV Plug (Type 3) Selected and not EV j1772. That was the problem.

Regardless, I have enough 14-50's to make the trip. I just dont know what I will see when I get there.

Has anyone else here been to the factory before? Am I going to see a barbed wire fence and a guard at a gate?

 

[mikegerard]

I used to drive by that area about 10 times a year back in the 90s. It's pretty easy to see the Woodstock plant but the tour is at another plant... Maybe show up in the ev and do the tour and see if you can schmooze your way into a private tour at Woodstock (if you can turn yourself into a 25 year old female for the day that might help).

One thing to remember is we have fewer charging stations than California but we have a lot fewer cars too. I don't charge in public often but I can always get a charge when I need one. You'll find some crazy spots that are never used... For example the electrical workers Union building near Geneva has 2 in the back of their parking lot... My guess is I'm the only person who has ever driven an ev back there.

 

[mikegerard]

Your route looks good except that cars love to fly on that stretch of 90 ... it's really hard to resist pressing down the pedal and passing everyone... Not very good for your range or your driving record after you've been pulled over.

I try to find 55 roads when I can. Going through Geneva and Canandaigua won't cut any miles off for you but it is much more scenic.

Mike

 

[jimbo69ny]

Yeah it will be hard to not speed on 90. I'll have to keep the cruise on at 60. With people doing 75-80 past me.

I'll probably take ridge road (104) instead.

Mike, check your pm's

 

[jimbo69ny]

I never know if I should post a new thread or slightly change the subject in a new post. Tony seems to rearrange my posts however he sees fit.

This is trip related so I figured Id post it here.

I just made the 125ish mile trip home (Ithaca to Rochester) to see my mom. I made it the whole way with ease! I still had a few bars left when I arrived. The interesting part is that I drove much faster this time than my last trip to Albany. To Albany I drove 47 - 50 on the highway and my efficiency was 3.5, this time I drove 60 - 65 and my efficiency was 3.9. Im not sure why other than I drafted a semi about half of my journey on route 90. I was surprised that speeding up to 65 and drafting resulted in better efficiency than keeping the cruise set at 50.

I really love this car!!!

Sorry its vertical. I corrected it on photobucket but it still shows up this way.

 

[dstjohn99]

Yeah! Jimbo finally got his Rav!! It's such a great car. I hope you have a lot of fun. Be sure to look some of us up when you come to California for service (LOL). Hopefully you'll work that out - let us know. You'll probably need a new thread for that one.

 

[jimbo69ny]

Haha! Yeah, hopefully that will be one thread thats not needed.

I just gave the car the Zaino treatment. If you guys havent ever used it before check out http://www.zainostore.com/. Its awesome stuff. Ive used it on all of my cars and bikes.