At last, I take time to write about my experience with my Model S in the coldest winter of the last 20 years according to a senior Climatologist at Environment Canada: Winter 2013-2014!
In a few words, buying the car was the best decision I ever made, regardless of the weather conditions! It actually helped me go over our crazy winter (Getting into a warm car in winter is priceless). I am also amazed at how precise the direction is in the snow, even more than our 4×4. It is almost impossible to lose control and believe me, I tried a few times.
Last summer, we proved that in 2013, it was possible to do a long distance trip without using TESLA super charging stations, for free, thanks to Suncountryhighway (See our 2013 family summer trip).
Now, how about doing long distances during extreme cold weather conditions? We planned a family roundtrip from Gatineau/Ottawa to Sherbrooke with temperature ranging from -15 to -30 degrees celsius with the car fully packed. In the cold weather we needed a relatively fast charging station like the one I have in my garage. (80 amps @ 240 volt which gives us about 90km per hour of charge)
Thanks to the Model S charging network family, this trip was made possible. Many Model S owners, enthusiasts like me, share their home charging station on plugshare.
All the little blue houses are Model S chargers shared by owners. The red arrows is where we stopped charging. You can see mine in Gatineau 🙂
During our trip, we stopped in Vaudreuil-Dorion (Thank you Dominic!) and ate at a nearby restaurant, while waiting for the car to charge. We then continued to Sherbrooke without any issues with 8 km of rated range left. The most interesting part of the story, is on our way back, which I will share in my next post.
Ma Model S / My Model S 