Got the Truck yesterday Newbie

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

going to be expensive this year!

Sponsored

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

Petro Canada

do they have their own app as well?
or did you activate the petro pass via one of the other apps - ie Ford Pass or PlugShare or ChargeHub (so many!)

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

I see they had a separate PetroPass EV but the website shows this was 'retired' in Dec 2024...with what to replace it?
I will check it out tomorrow, there is a PetroCanada station near-by I can test with.

I signed up for Electrify Canada - and then saw their map ! Well now I know why I have never seen one of these ... no EC charging stations between Regina SK and Bolton ON - ie 3000km stretch without any of these in it...yeah I live in the centre of that stretch of road...oh well, maybe they are working on it. LOL Or I decide to drive to Regina one day, for fun...800 miles *1300km)

 

[potato]

do they have their own app as well?
or did you activate the petro pass via one of the other apps - ie Ford Pass or PlugShare or ChargeHub (so many!)

Last spring when I did the trip, yes PC had a separate charging app. I think they deprecated that since then though... supposedly to move to just one app for gas and electric, but the unified app wasn't ready, so we were supposed to just use a credit card to activate or something? Not sure; haven't done road trips since that debacle began lol. I don't know how it's working right now - haven't been anywhere near one.

Yes I only used Electrify Canada in the GTA while I was there. Subscription was worth it though. EC app is nice; it adds an Apple Wallet card which works by NFC, so you can just tap your phone. Unfortunately like most of them, you have to load a balance then pay out of that balance, so you'll always have a few bucks locked away. Petro Can was nicer there. They just did it like gas. Pre auth $50 or something then charge your Apple Pay whatever the actual amount was.

Prairies was mostly Flo if I recall, and 50 kW at that ? The Tesla adapter will make that part a lot faster, albeit more expensive.

With any of these networks, I would say PlugShare is a must, to see if there are any recent reports of trouble charging at the station you have in mind. For example many of the Petro Can stations were severely limited in charging speed, but still charged by the minute, so I had to avoid them. A few of them worked great (Kenora, Marathon, Sault Ste Marie) and were the cheapest.

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

Last spring when I did the trip, yes PC had a separate charging app. I think they deprecated that since then though... supposedly to move to just one app for gas and electric, but the unified app wasn't ready, so we were supposed to just use a credit card to activate or something? Not sure; haven't done road trips since that debacle began lol. I don't know how it's working right now - haven't been anywhere near one.

Yes I only used Electrify Canada in the GTA while I was there. Subscription was worth it though. EC app is nice; it adds an Apple Wallet card which works by NFC, so you can just tap your phone. Unfortunately like most of them, you have to load a balance then pay out of that balance, so you'll always have a few bucks locked away. Petro Can was nicer there. They just did it like gas. Pre auth $50 or something then charge your Apple Pay whatever the actual amount was.

Prairies was mostly Flo if I recall, and 50 kW at that ? The Tesla adapter will make that part a lot faster, albeit more expensive.

With any of these networks, I would say PlugShare is a must, to see if there are any recent reports of trouble charging at the station you have in mind. For example many of the Petro Can stations were severely limited in charging speed, but still charged by the minute, so I had to avoid them. A few of them worked great (Kenora, Marathon, Sault Ste Marie) and were the cheapest.

Thanks for sharing your experiences, I see that leaving an known area for another unknown one will mean doing some research on the avaiable charging network, and what apps are needed to activate them.
I did some online checking, looking like Petro-Canada has gone to CC DC RFID activation for their EV charging network, but I will just try one that is near-by to see for sure. I see they have a good strech of chargers all the way from my area to Toronto, so that is a plus for a 1000 mile trip (1600km) going East.

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, I see that leaving an known area for another unknown one will mean doing some research on the avaiable charging network, and what apps are needed to activate them.
I did some online checking, looking like Petro-Canada has gone to CC DC RFID activation for their EV charging network, but I will just try one that is near-by to see for sure. I see they have a good strech of chargers all the way from my area to Toronto, so that is a plus for a 1000 mile trip (1600km) going East.

Up-date - Petro Canada now use a RIFD chip from a Credit Card to activate the charger - worked perfectly first try. I see they just have a touch screen and menu - choose CC or Applepay etc. a few options, and you don't need a dedicated App or a PetroCanada Petro-pass either - just the CC is all you need. They have Chargers in the West, and in the East but no Petro-Canada chargers between Winnipg MB and Thunder Bay ON (700 km/ 438 miles)
In that stretch there are Ivy, and Tesla chargers.
Edit: there may be a couple Petro Canada chargers at 311 Main Street Ignace - they come up on some of the apps, (but not showing on Petro Canada App) I tried looking at the Google street view, but the images are from June 2024 and the station is under construction in the pictures, no chargers in sight...just the Tesla Chargers aross the street.

 

[potato]

They have Chargers in the West, and in the East but no Petro-Canada chargers between Winnipg MB and Thunder Bay ON (700 km/ 438 miles)
In that stretch there are Ivy, and Tesla chargers.

Interesting. I definitely charged at Petro Can in Kenora. By the A&W on the east end. Apple Maps still shows it, but it's not in Plugshare either now. I wonder what happened to it.

Edit: sure enough, they are "optimizing" the network, and others noticed the same gap between Winnipeg and TB.
https://electricautonomy.ca/charging/2024-07-05/petro-canada-closing-charging-stations-canada/

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

Interesting. I definitely charged at Petro Can in Kenora. By the A&W on the east end. Apple Maps still shows it, but it's not in Plugshare either now. I wonder what happened to it.

Edit: sure enough, they are "optimizing" the network, and others noticed the same gap between Winnipeg and TB.
https://electricautonomy.ca/charging/2024-07-05/petro-canada-closing-charging-stations-canada/

And then the 'chicken and egg' problem - they close EV chargers because they were under-used in an area ...who will buy an EV in an area that doesn't have chargers...and how will charger use increase if no one buys EV's in an area without chargers...

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

I decided to go for a drive today - why not - drove to Nipigon and found the two PetroCanada chargers in deep snow - no one bothered to plow it out it seems. Tried both units and neither one was working - the charger asked for my Petro Can App - which was also on the display as 'retired' Dec 2024 uh Duh... So tried twice with each of the two chargers then drove a couple km to the tourist centre where there are six Tesla chargers - all in working order...actived the charger with the app, picked "2B" and plugged in - works perfectly in less than a minute...if PetroCan want to learn a bit about optimizing charging experience...

 

[potato]

Make sure to check in on PlugShare to warn people about the failed charge attempt.

I remember reading bad reports about the PC at Nipigon and didn't even try it. I just went to Terrace Bay instead.

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

Make sure to check in on PlugShare to warn people about the failed charge attempt.

I remember reading bad reports about the PC at Nipigon and didn't even try it. I just went to Terrace Bay instead.

Great idea, I put a comment on PetroCanada contact about the problem, but I bet it will be ignored - but a comment on Plugshare will get some views.
While at the Nipigon Tesla charging area at the tourist information stop, a local lady stopped to charge her Model 3 - she said "those PC chargers haven't been working since December"

Checking on plug share there are reports that only unit #2 was working in January and Feb 2025. The site has a 10/10 score for working properly...
I might give that site another try in a few weeks when I am heading that direction - just to check and try again.

The Petro chargers are a short walking distance from Tim's Coffee shop, which would have been a nicer place to wait than the tourist information stop (closed this time of year/or because it is Sunday) so I bought some coffee and snacks to go... 20 minutes at the Tesla charger and on my way again.

Sponsored