Vancouver to Whistler, BC Canada – 125KM (78M)

Monday morning, Feb. 18th, Yair drops me off at Vancouver City Hall to pick up the Tesla.   The car is fully charged to 497 km. (308 miles), thanks to the free Chargepoint charger which charged at 230V 30Ah.    We have already booked a hotel in Whistler, so off we go.  The weather along the route is just above freezing, the road is wet, we encounter drizzly rain for most of the route and the car handles just fine.  We do have a little difficulty finding a good balance between the temperature in the passenger cabin and the front windshield defroster control.  Pressing the front defroster keeps putting the blower on high and it quickly becomes too hot in the car.  We find a comfortable median after playing with the fan speed controls- leaving it on speed 2 and positioning side air vents towards the front side windows.

The Sea to To Sky Highway (Rt. 99) from Vancouver to Whistler offers us stunning scenic views throughout the short route.  On the left is Howe Sound for much of the route and on the right are the mountains.   Approximately at the half way mark is Squamish, the largest town on the route.  We stop first at the Visitor’s Center and then sight see around downtown, stopping at an excellent, local health food spot the Zephyr Cafe.  Wish they had something like this in South Beach.

Upon arriving to Whistler village we scout out the EV charging stations which we have found on our charger apps.  There are two stations at city hall, next to the police station and then four more stations in a day public lot just across the street from out hotel.    Over the course of the next two days, we end up using the chargers in both locations, because the lot across from the hotel is not open 24 hours.   At the public lot, the day parkers tend to ignore the signage prohibiting non-EV cars from parking in the EV spaces, perhaps because they are primo spots.  All the spaces in front of the EV chargers are occupied by non-EV cars.  Fortunately I’m only waiting 7 minutes before one of the offending vehicles is  ready to leave.   Seems there are more chargers in the small town of Whistler than in all of Miami Beach.   Time to enjoy Whistler and spend 1-2 days skiing and having fun.

Vancouver City Hall ChargePoint charger was Free!!

No, it’s not a Tesla on steriods, the 497 reading range is in kilometers.

Approaching Whistler BC

Scary!!! How far away are we from Miami Beach, FL?

Refueling for free at the public lot in Whistler, compliments to a ChargePoint charger

Whistler City Hall. Juan retrieving the Tesla the next morning. Free charging and free overnight parking.

Best advice I’ve every seen on one sign.