First road trip questions - planning charging stops

[ChasingCoral]

Used to be, yes. Not now. That changed last September.

Still is in some states. Driving down to FL, NC, SC, and GA all require EA to charge by the minute, not the kWh.

Sponsored

 

[ChasingCoral]

Why? The MME is only rated for 150kW, no?

I found that the Mach E charges at higher rates on 350 kW chargers across the entire charging curve than it does on 150 kW chargers.

 

[Lenni]

This is all good to learn - thanks all.

I will try the 350 kWh charger again. I'm also going to try getting the app going before plugging in at EA.

 

[dbsb3233]

Still is in some states. Driving down to FL, NC, SC, and GA all require EA to charge by the minute, not the kWh.

But even in those those states, they drastically lowered the per-minute rates compared to what they used to be.

 

[eastern refugee]

I find the FordPass/Sync 4A navigation to be more accurate for the Mach E than ABRP at this point.

The navigation is great. It gives you 3 choices. The fastest choice is not always the BEST choice. The best choice is to look at every charge site to make sure that you are getting an EA site. It takes preparation to plan the route correctly.

 

[dbsb3233]

The navigation is great. It gives you 3 choices. The fastest choice is not always the BEST choice. The best choice is to look at every charge site to make sure that you are getting an EA site. It takes preparation to plan the route correctly.

I'll be doing all that charger research on my home computer and/or cell phone before I get in the car to head out on a road trip. Since Google Maps is my go-to for mapping, Android Auto is my go-to in the MME now. I just flag the chargers I plan to use on my computer, and they automatically show up in the MME too. I'm thrilled to finally have Google Maps in the car! My previous cars couldn't.

At some point I guess I should probably look at the native maps system in the MME too for the rare time I'm somewhere without cell service, but the value of having a single map common to all my platforms (desktop+phone+car) is too great not to stick with that.

Plus, the voice interface for Google is usually far superior (and far more forgiving) than anyone else's.

 

[Bookworm214]

But even in those those states, they drastically lowered the per-minute rates compared to what they used to be.

NC is per kwh according to the EA app.

 

[eastern refugee]

I'll be doing all that charger research on my home computer and/or cell phone before I get in the car to head out on a road trip. Since Google Maps is my go-to for mapping, Android Auto is my go-to in the MME now. I just flag the chargers I plan to use on my computer, and they automatically show up in the MME too. I'm thrilled to finally have Google Maps in the car! My previous cars couldn't.

At some point I guess I should probably look at the native maps system in the MME too for the rare time I'm somewhere without cell service, but the value of having a single map common to all my platforms (desktop+phone+car) is too great not to stick with that.

Plus, the voice interface for Google is usually far superior (and far more forgiving) than anyone else's.

You can set up in I think it is Ford pass which networks you want to use as well as the charging speeds. In EA I set it up to a minimum of 150 and the only charging networks I would use were changepoint and EA. Saying that I found changepoint to be crap, EA customer service was awesome. I also used ER-go I think was the name and they were equal to EA. In Oklahoma and parts of Texas was Francis Energy. They were great as well. They were located on the turnpikes along with gas stations.

What I noticed about MME navigation is that it ALWAYS directed me to both HOV and toll lanes regardless of the state. I never paid a penny on the toll roads so either it recognizes BEV cars or I will take some welcome cards from the various states in the future

 

[SeanE]

Just be cautious relying very heavily on ABRP. Their model of the Mach E's consumption is very much in alpha, not even beta, testing at this point

Thank you for the heads up. I noticed that ABRP has changed a route that I've been planning for quite some time that's around 525 miles. It used to have three stops, now there are four, with most of them charging from 10 to 50% ish. Guessing it's related to your mention of ABRP being alpha for the Mach E (they likely don't have enough data to have confidence in their numbers yet). Still thinking through why not charge up closer to 80% and drop back down to 3 stops.

To get an accurate miles / kWH on the highway, do I need to reset the trip when on the highway? Perhaps entering it into ABRP will give me more accurate results on future trips. AWD extended range.

My plan is to print out the results from ABRP desktop and then enter those destinations into Waze or Google Maps. I like the notifications from Waze along the way and it works well with Android auto and Carplay.

This article has some interesting stats from a guy that made a nice 70 mph highway drive in his Mach E. Speed seems to be the most important factor in determining highway range.

 

[eastern refugee]

I have apple and STILL have to call EA when I charge. I have done EVERY work around but still have to call to get the charge started. Does it stop me from traveling?? No. I just accept that my charging will take like 5-8 minutes longer.

I found a difference on which driving mode I use and I have tried all 3.ENGAGE gives me my best battery life. Also 75 MPH seems to be the breaking point as far as distance goes. Above that battery distance starts to fall off a cliff.

the other thing to watch is your miles/KWH If you are below 2.0 you will be charging more often. Once you stay above 2.0 it makes a huge difference. I have noticed in both stop and go and city driving with traffic lights 3.5 and up is an every day norm. Check you computer out and make sure everything g is pushed to yes. I like the lateral wind warnings as well as bill and curves especially going thru mountains. It makes you prepared. The cruise control is THE bomb. I went from 75 to immediate bumper to bumper and the car came to a complete stop. As traffic started and stopped so did the MME with my foot no wear near the pedal. Once traffic let up the car took off.

 

[dbsb3233]

Thank you for the heads up. I noticed that ABRP has changed a route that I've been planning for quite some time that's around 525 miles. It used to have three stops, now there are four, with most of them charging from 10 to 50% ish. Guessing it's related to your mention of ABRP being alpha for the Mach E (they likely don't have enough data to have confidence in their numbers yet). Still thinking through why not charge up closer to 80% and drop back down to 3 stops.

To get an accurate miles / kWH on the highway, do I need to reset the trip when on the highway? Perhaps entering it into ABRP will give me more accurate results on future trips. AWD extended range.

My plan is to print out the results from ABRP desktop and then enter those destinations into Waze or Google Maps. I like the notifications from Waze along the way and it works well with Android auto and Carplay.

This article has some interesting stats from a guy that made a nice 70 mph highway drive in his Mach E. Speed seems to be the most important factor in determining highway range.

Nothing wrong with charging up to 80%. It's a little slower charging from 70% to 80% than it is from 40-50%, but not drastically so. The Mach-E charge curve seems flatter in that area than some BEVs are. Just don't count on DCFCing past 80% because the power drops like a rock at 80%.

To get a miles/kWh reading for a single trip leg, you can either reset one of the trip meters, or just use the "This Trip" reading that automatically starts over each time you start the car.

Because one's mileage varies so greatly base on speed, terrain, outside temp, and inside climate control use, ABRP will never have a single number that works without significant variability. But yes, if you drive some under the same conditions you expect to drive the trip in, you can use that miles/kWh in ABRP.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Having put over 4,000 miles on Marlin, most of it driving from MD to FL, around FL, and back, I can tell you that the native navigation in the Mach E is excellent. It did a better job of route planning than ABRP when I compared head-to-head. Just plug in your destination and it calculates the charging sessions, both where and for how long. You can then use other tools like PlugShare and Google Maps if you want to deviate to a stop with better amenities or for free overnight charging at a hotel. You can either add those to the route (in the car, not on the app) or just recalculate after your stop.

 

[eastern refugee]

Having put over 4,000 miles on Marlin, most of it driving from MD to FL, around FL, and back, I can tell you that the native navigation in the Mach E is excellent. It did a better job of route planning than ABRP when I compared head-to-head. Just plug in your destination and it calculates the charging sessions, both where and for how long. You can then use other tools like PlugShare and Google Maps if you want to deviate to a stop with better amenities or for free overnight charging at a hotel. You can either add those to the route (in the car, not on the app) or just recalculate after your stop.

I am at 5800. I agree the Ford Pass app is the best. I was able to limit the chargers to EA which I find the best when issues occur. I have chargepoint listed but prefer EZ as THE choice. Plug share and the others seem incredibly slow. EVGO I found was also really good but I only found them in Oklahoma and parts of Texas. You can also set the distance maximum at what point you want to stop and charge. My car came with a preset of 50 miles. The BEST part about the Ford Pass app is that it directs you not just to EA but to the exact place in the parking lot where the charges are at.

 

[dbsb3233]

I am at 5800. I agree the Ford Pass app is the best. I was able to limit the chargers to EA which I find the best when issues occur. I have chargepoint listed but prefer EZ as THE choice. Plug share and the others seem incredibly slow. EVGO I found was also really good but I only found them in Oklahoma and parts of Texas. You can also set the distance maximum at what point you want to stop and charge. My car came with a preset of 50 miles. The BEST part about the Ford Pass app is that it directs you not just to EA but to the exact place in the parking lot where the charges are at.

EA has the only chargers that I would trust to blindly tell the car nav (Android Auto in my case as I prefer it) to navigate to without prior research and planning. Nearly every alternative to EA is all over the map on pricing, power levels, access controls, etc. I wanna know what I'm getting into before I get there. Thankfully EA offers that consistency, and has the best coverage on key road trip routes.

 

[eastern refugee]

EA has the only chargers that I would trust to blindly tell the car nav (Android Auto in my case as I prefer it) to navigate to without prior research and planning. Nearly every alternative to EA is all over the map on pricing, power levels, access controls, etc. I wanna know what I'm getting into before I get there. Thankfully EA offers that consistency, and has the best coverage on key road trip routes.

I agree. Chargepoint which I have for my home charge is great. Chargepoint on the road is crap. EA even though I have Apple issues with it is still by far the only one that I trust. This is why before picking a route I check ALL of the chargers on the Ford Pass app to make sure that they are all EA.

Sponsored