My Buddy does a driving trip every year to visit Family in Nova Scotia, driving from Toronto along the 401, stopping overnight in Quebec City before continuing on the next day. As discussed in a prior post, long road trips like this are not ideal in EVs. But how bad would it be, lets use our performance model to see how economics and drive times compare in my 2018 Nissan Leaf on the way from Toronto to Halifax NS. Indeed, the Leaf can make it as there is ample fast charging along the way, but several charging stops are required making for a very long duty day, particularly on the leg from Quebec City to Halifax.
Its an epic 1800 km run from Toronto to Halifax NS. Let’s assume my buddy manages a 90 km/hr average speed. Note that’s an average of traffic clogged big city 401 stop-and-go driving, and the more eh, free-footed, freeway driving along the empty stretches of the 401. In which case, were looking at 9 hours of driving on day 1 from Toronto to Quebec city, and 11 hours on day 2. Add in a couple of stops and lets say 10 hour duty day on day 1, and 12 hours on day 2. Long days for sure, but certainly doable, particularly if your kids are able to amuse themselves for the long drive, and you pick your stops carefully.
To the 2018 Leaf. On a long driving day, I can usually get 200 km on the first leg, then 150 km there after, that way we can stop the charge at about 80-90% as after that the charging speed slows down considerably. This assumes I can snag an overnight L2 charge and start with a reasonably cool battery. On day 1, I would stop in Bellville, Brockville, Just past the Quebec/Ontario border, then Drummondville and after that I can make it into Quebec City. Next day would bring charging stops in Riverie-du-loop, Grand Falls, Meductic, Youngs Cove, Aulack before Halifax.
How long would all of this take? Well, I would drive a little slower to begin with, as with many charging stops, you need to manage battery heat very carefully. That means slowing down slightly, actually gets you there faster, as the Leafs battery stays cooler. On the highway, optimum speed is around 90 km an hour, so lets say 80 km/hr average speed. So we have 10 hrs of driving on day 1, 4 charging stops. An hour each as a “nice-round-average” number, in reality, the first one would be shorter, but later ones longer as the battery starts to heat, also I would weave some activities into the charging stop, to keep the kids from rebelling. So that’s 14 hour duty day on day 1. Day 2, that’s 1000 km, again using 80 km/hr as our average, we get 13 hours of driving, 5 charging stops, an hour each, that’s an epic 18 hour duty day.
Can I do this in my 2018 Nissan Leaf? Sure, but as with the gas car, its two really long days, The 800 km leg is quite doable, the Leaf requires a 14 hr duty day, compared to a 10 hour duty day for my buddy in the gas car, the following 1000 km leg on the other hand’s 18 hour duty day probably needs to be broken up into two.
And why not, personally I have yet to visit many places along the route. Why not use the opportunity to explore the Gaspe? The Eastern townships in Quebec? Or dip into Maine? There are so many wonderful places along the route that this road trip would give you an amazing opportunity to explore. The 200 year old Rideau canal begs exploring too. Kingston is brimming with history (and charging stations).
Electric car adventures 