Hurricane Milton EV "Hurrivac" trip report

New2EV said:

Nice write up. I was wondering about the experience of anyone leaving before the hurricane. I'm on the other side of the state, just south of where the hurricane exited. Since most of central FL experienced gas shortage and we didn't lose power, we've been driving mine around to avoid having to find gas for our ICE. It's been nice not having to worry about that...but it's likely a completely different story if power had gone out

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Tampamike said:

I don’t know. Buddy of mine is worried about getting gas right now because there’sa lot of stations that are out. The ones that aren’t are jammed with long lines. If I had a full charge and stayed, if I’m only driving around here, I could go for up to two weeks without recharging if the power went out.

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Tampamike said:

TLDR:
No big issues and lots of traffic. Looked easier to get a charge than to get a fill up in some places.

The longer version:

Decided to go to a friend's house near Athens, GA after a timely invitation. Left the house on Monday to beat the rush. Didn't work. The rush had already started. Left with 2 of us, lots of stuff, two ebikes on the back and a 99% charge. I75 was fulling up fast and the car's nav took us west to the coastal route north which was half highway and half secondary roads. Lots of traffic going through the towns at the lights. There were some sheriffs out there directing the northbound traffic through but not everywhere.

Charging - 4 stops, which was one or maybe two more than I would have in a normal situation. I decided to charge at targets of opportunity as I was concerned with the possibility of full stations. Checking availability with apps, there were some full, like small EA stops.
1) Tesla SC about two miles off the highway in Brooksville, FL. Wide open except for the bright red cyber monster that pulled in. Funny thing was (besides the truck) was that he was asking me charging questions as he was new to EV's and kind of didn't have a clue. Went there at only about 70% just to keep relatively topped off.
2) Tesla SC at WawWa in Crystal River - complete zoo (some WaWa's are that way a lot anyway). Cars circling for gas and heavy traffic on the roads. There were a couple empty slots at the SC but none that I could use. We got the heck out of there and kept going.
3) Tesla SC in Alachua, about 1 1/2 mile off the highway north of Gainesville. Almost empty and no problem.

I75 thinned out north of Gainesville. Saw something I hadn't seen before. They opened the inside shoulder for traffic. I think it helped but it wasn't great driving on it because it was a little narrow with rumble strips to navigate.

4) Tesla SC in Valdosta behind a gas station. Lots of empty slots with parking spots on both sides - angled on one side and straight on the other. On an angled park job the cord won't reach because of the right wheel hitting the curb.
5) Mercedes at Buc-ee's near Macon - superbly engineered electrons at a small premium. Pay through Chargepoint. If you haven't been to a Buc-ee's, it generates it's own atmosphere. Gotta see it to believe it.
So - 4 charges, one pass and no real issues.

Going home on Friday was a little different. Same traffic story. Car took the scenic route again. Saw a lot of rural Florida.
1) Buc-ee's again. It was mobbed. I think it was at capacity. Tesla and Mercedes were busy but not completely full. Took the Benz trons again because it was easier.
2) Pilot/Flying J at Tipton, GA. Worked great and it had a roof! There was a Circle K with chargers right across the street. The environment is definitely improving.
3) FPL at Lake City, FL. This was the only real problem. One unit was listed as out and two more I tried and they didn't work. Didn't have to wait as another car was leaving.
4) EVConnect at a city maintenance facility in Dunellon, FL. Pretty isolated location but they had two units with 4 useable plugs. Had a fault after a few minutes on one, so I just moved to the other and had success.

Biggest issue was traffic heading north. I think it was actually easier to charge at some locations than it was to get gas.

We lucked out. No damage or flooding, just lots of branches down. Only lost power for a few minutes. Could have been a lot worse.

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AhardFSU said:

I stayed in my home in Riverview. I put the shutters and sat thru it as the edge of the hurricane eye came through Riverview. I charged my Mach E to 80% before the hurricane came through. No damage here at the house and my neighborhood, which has 2,000 homes didn't lose power. Lot of oak trees and telephone poles down.

Glad to here that there were no major issues at your place. It's funny that you mention the FPL charging station in Lake City. I stopped there to charge in April of this year on my way to Destin. I was able to successfully charge there and all of the chargers worked. I like your strategy of avoiding stations that are likely to be full.

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Tampamike said:

Yeah, I’ve charged there before with no problem. I was surprised that I failed on two units that were not noticed “out.” In general, it seems the FPL network is pretty reliable. Some are a little slower - 80 kw’s, but not prohibitively so, as the price is right. I hope they keep building more.

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Tampamike said:

3) FPL at Lake City, FL. This was the only real problem. One unit was listed as out and two more I tried and they didn't work. Didn't have to wait as another car was leaving.

Click to expand...

Tampamike said:

TLDR:
No big issues and lots of traffic. Looked easier to get a charge than to get a fill up in some places.

The longer version:

Decided to go to a friend's house near Athens, GA after a timely invitation. Left the house on Monday to beat the rush. Didn't work. The rush had already started. Left with 2 of us, lots of stuff, two ebikes on the back and a 99% charge. I75 was fulling up fast and the car's nav took us west to the coastal route north which was half highway and half secondary roads. Lots of traffic going through the towns at the lights. There were some sheriffs out there directing the northbound traffic through but not everywhere.

Charging - 4 stops, which was one or maybe two more than I would have in a normal situation. I decided to charge at targets of opportunity as I was concerned with the possibility of full stations. Checking availability with apps, there were some full, like small EA stops.
1) Tesla SC about two miles off the highway in Brooksville, FL. Wide open except for the bright red cyber monster that pulled in. Funny thing was (besides the truck) was that he was asking me charging questions as he was new to EV's and kind of didn't have a clue. Went there at only about 70% just to keep relatively topped off.
2) Tesla SC at WawWa in Crystal River - complete zoo (some WaWa's are that way a lot anyway). Cars circling for gas and heavy traffic on the roads. There were a couple empty slots at the SC but none that I could use. We got the heck out of there and kept going.
3) Tesla SC in Alachua, about 1 1/2 mile off the highway north of Gainesville. Almost empty and no problem.

I75 thinned out north of Gainesville. Saw something I hadn't seen before. They opened the inside shoulder for traffic. I think it helped but it wasn't great driving on it because it was a little narrow with rumble strips to navigate.

4) Tesla SC in Valdosta behind a gas station. Lots of empty slots with parking spots on both sides - angled on one side and straight on the other. On an angled park job the cord won't reach because of the right wheel hitting the curb.
5) Mercedes at Buc-ee's near Macon - superbly engineered electrons at a small premium. Pay through Chargepoint. If you haven't been to a Buc-ee's, it generates it's own atmosphere. Gotta see it to believe it.
So - 4 charges, one pass and no real issues.

Going home on Friday was a little different. Same traffic story. Car took the scenic route again. Saw a lot of rural Florida.
1) Buc-ee's again. It was mobbed. I think it was at capacity. Tesla and Mercedes were busy but not completely full. Took the Benz trons again because it was easier.
2) Pilot/Flying J at Tipton, GA. Worked great and it had a roof! There was a Circle K with chargers right across the street. The environment is definitely improving.
3) FPL at Lake City, FL. This was the only real problem. One unit was listed as out and two more I tried and they didn't work. Didn't have to wait as another car was leaving.
4) EVConnect at a city maintenance facility in Dunellon, FL. Pretty isolated location but they had two units with 4 useable plugs. Had a fault after a few minutes on one, so I just moved to the other and had success.

Biggest issue was traffic heading north. I think it was actually easier to charge at some locations than it was to get gas.

We lucked out. No damage or flooding, just lots of branches down. Only lost power for a few minutes. Could have been a lot worse.

Click to expand...

Tampamike said:

TLDR:
No big issues and lots of traffic. Looked easier to get a charge than to get a fill up in some places.

The longer version:

Decided to go to a friend's house near Athens, GA after a timely invitation. Left the house on Monday to beat the rush. Didn't work. The rush had already started. Left with 2 of us, lots of stuff, two ebikes on the back and a 99% charge. I75 was fulling up fast and the car's nav took us west to the coastal route north which was half highway and half secondary roads. Lots of traffic going through the towns at the lights. There were some sheriffs out there directing the northbound traffic through but not everywhere.

Charging - 4 stops, which was one or maybe two more than I would have in a normal situation. I decided to charge at targets of opportunity as I was concerned with the possibility of full stations. Checking availability with apps, there were some full, like small EA stops.
1) Tesla SC about two miles off the highway in Brooksville, FL. Wide open except for the bright red cyber monster that pulled in. Funny thing was (besides the truck) was that he was asking me charging questions as he was new to EV's and kind of didn't have a clue. Went there at only about 70% just to keep relatively topped off.
2) Tesla SC at WawWa in Crystal River - complete zoo (some WaWa's are that way a lot anyway). Cars circling for gas and heavy traffic on the roads. There were a couple empty slots at the SC but none that I could use. We got the heck out of there and kept going.
3) Tesla SC in Alachua, about 1 1/2 mile off the highway north of Gainesville. Almost empty and no problem.

I75 thinned out north of Gainesville. Saw something I hadn't seen before. They opened the inside shoulder for traffic. I think it helped but it wasn't great driving on it because it was a little narrow with rumble strips to navigate.

4) Tesla SC in Valdosta behind a gas station. Lots of empty slots with parking spots on both sides - angled on one side and straight on the other. On an angled park job the cord won't reach because of the right wheel hitting the curb.
5) Mercedes at Buc-ee's near Macon - superbly engineered electrons at a small premium. Pay through Chargepoint. If you haven't been to a Buc-ee's, it generates it's own atmosphere. Gotta see it to believe it.
So - 4 charges, one pass and no real issues.

Going home on Friday was a little different. Same traffic story. Car took the scenic route again. Saw a lot of rural Florida.
1) Buc-ee's again. It was mobbed. I think it was at capacity. Tesla and Mercedes were busy but not completely full. Took the Benz trons again because it was easier.
2) Pilot/Flying J at Tipton, GA. Worked great and it had a roof! There was a Circle K with chargers right across the street. The environment is definitely improving.
3) FPL at Lake City, FL. This was the only real problem. One unit was listed as out and two more I tried and they didn't work. Didn't have to wait as another car was leaving.
4) EVConnect at a city maintenance facility in Dunellon, FL. Pretty isolated location but they had two units with 4 useable plugs. Had a fault after a few minutes on one, so I just moved to the other and had success.

Biggest issue was traffic heading north. I think it was actually easier to charge at some locations than it was to get gas.

We lucked out. No damage or flooding, just lots of branches down. Only lost power for a few minutes. Could have been a lot worse.

Click to expand...

67 Stang Convertible said:

Going home on Friday was a little different. Same traffic story. Car took the scenic route again. Saw a lot of rural Florida.
1) Buc-ee's again. It was mobbed. I think it was at capacity. Tesla and Mercedes were busy but not completely full. Took the Benz trons again because it was easier.

Click to expand...