The truth about Electrify America's progress and Traveling with the Mach E

[Badger_Prof]

a $50,000 purchase for just "local" driving? Wouldn't a cheaper BEV (Bolt?) make more sense or even going with a PHEV which I have had for several years? PHEV means no range anxiety or charger issues.

For us, the longest road drive we do is Madison to Chicago, which is 300 miles round trip. Anything longer than that and we support Kamuelaflyer's industry to help him pay for his Mach-E. I never bothered driving my Leaf to Chicago because of its limited range (used my wife's hybrid RAV-4). But, my Bolt EV has made a number of trips to Chicago. What I usually do is make a 20 minute stop on the way to Chicago at a service area for a quick DC top up, toilet stop, and a Diet Coke. That is enough to let me comfortably make the rest of the trip to Chicago and back to Madison all at highway speeds without worrying about range. I would anticipate that the Mach-E should have at least the range of my Bolt and a top up DC charge should be even quicker than with the Bolt. My Mach-E will be used mostly for local driving and I could not be more pleased to have the upgrade to a more comfortable, more featured, more spacious, nicer looking EV even though it is very unlikely I will ever drive it on a trip longer than 300 miles. That said, if I were a road tripper like a lot of others on this forum seem to be, I would have concerns similar to those expressed by others. As has been noted many times on this forum, we all have our own preferences, priorities, and opinions and that is part of what makes it fun to read comments in the forum.

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[Kamuelaflyer]

And if it were just about getting a vehicle that gets them around at the cheapest price, it wouldn't be a $35k Bolt either. It would be a $18k Chevy Sonic or Toyota Yaris or something.

Or that Ugly Chinese thing. What did that cost? negative $10,000 or something?

 

[timbop]

Seems to me that you're making that decision a tad bit early. Its only August and you're talking about a road trip next year? (more than likely spring/summer next year?) Just a few more chargers may go in before that time, EA could get more reliable, tons of things could change between now and then that would affect your decision...

Just say'in.

I'm seeing that thought pattern a lot in here: People with no experience owning an EV and just saying "welp my estimate/calculation/etc. says this isn't doable so I'm just going the throw in the towel". Having had 2 BEV's now and 1 PHEV...wait until you actually have the car in hand and have driven it for a few weeks before you completely give up on the whole BEV thing...sheesh

Off soapbox...again...

Yes, I get that EA could get better - but the same issues with reliability have been raised for a long time now. The trip I'm planning is a bucket list kind of thing (swimming with whale sharks at georgia aquarium) combined with a cruise out of port canaveral. If it was just a trip to see relatives or something, I would be less critical. But, I certainly do not want to miss an once-in-a-lifetime adventure (aquarium) that has to be booked months ahead of time, nor miss the ship departure. As it is, the whole thing combined is more expensive than any vacation I've ever had and I'm already taking 2 weeks off with an extra day built in "just in case". I would really HATE to miss any part of it because I got stuck charging my car when I could have driven an ICE with no issues.

 

[dbsb3233]

The SR battery has 115kw max charge rate, so it is the middle tier of EA.

That's the assumption but I do wonder if EA will actually administer that properly, or just treat all MMEs the same.

 

[dbsb3233]

combined with a cruise out of port canaveral

The other factor to be a little concerned with for something like that is leaving the car parked for a long time on a low charge, as apparently they slowly drain a little each day just sitting.

Cruises out of Port Canaveral are usually only a week so it's probably not much risk there. We've done 2-3 cruises out of that port, although most of our cruises now are international ones for 2 weeks + some hotel days on each end, where the car is parked at the airport for 19-20 days. I don't think I'll drive the MME for those.

 

[dbsb3233]

My Mach-E will be used mostly for local driving and I could not be more pleased to have the upgrade to a more comfortable, more featured, more spacious, nicer looking EV even though it is very unlikely I will ever drive it on a trip longer than 300 miles.

That's really the key -- how long the road trip is. The first ~200 miles (ER) should be easy (assuming you have a good destination charger to use for the drive back). But each ~150 miles you add to that means another long charging stop. One is no big deal (lunch stop). But start adding multiples to that and it can be a PITA.

300 miles looks like a good rule-of-thumb limit. For anything longer we'll just drive our Escape (or if it's somewhere without acceptable route and destination charging).

 

[ClaudeMach-E]

That's the assumption but I do wonder if EA will actually administer that properly, or just treat all MMEs the same.

About the SR battery being limited at 115kW was at the beginning but was change and it's now 150kW for all models and SR and ER batteries according to the last spec sheet online.

 

[Badger_Prof]

The other factor to be a little concerned with for something like that is leaving the car parked for a long time on a low charge, as apparently they slowly drain a little each day just sitting.

Cruises out of Port Canaveral are usually only a week so it's probably not much risk there. We've done 2-3 cruises out of that port, although most of our cruises now are international ones for 2 weeks + some hotel days on each end, where the car is parked at the airport for 19-20 days. I don't think I'll drive the MME for those.

I have left my Bolt parked for up to five weeks at a time without being plugged in and have never had a problem. I don't think I have ever lost more than 10-15% of the charge during those long parked periods. But those long trips have typically been in the fall when neither high nor low temps were a problem. The heat of summer or winter cold of Wisconsin winter might change that.

 

[JamieGeek]

Yes, I get that EA could get better - but the same issues with reliability have been raised for a long time now. The trip I'm planning is a bucket list kind of thing (swimming with whale sharks at georgia aquarium) combined with a cruise out of port canaveral. If it was just a trip to see relatives or something, I would be less critical. But, I certainly do not want to miss an once-in-a-lifetime adventure (aquarium) that has to be booked months ahead of time, nor miss the ship departure. As it is, the whole thing combined is more expensive than any vacation I've ever had and I'm already taking 2 weeks off with an extra day built in "just in case". I would really HATE to miss any part of it because I got stuck charging my car when I could have driven an ICE with no issues.

Yeah I get that: Have to admit that we've take a couple of trips where I planned to take the Bolt. Did all the investigation, located all the local chargers, etc. The trips also had "hard stops" in them that we had to make timing, etc. I figured there was a very small chance that something wouldn't be available.

We ended up taking an ICE and in both cases it wasn't warranted as the destinations ended up having way more chargers than I had accounted for (with almost no one using any of them). Of course either trip could have gone the other way (e.g. attempt to take the Bolt and find nowhere to charge) but they didn't and, sadly, we didn't take the Bolt LOL.

Of course, had we had the Mach-E with its extra range over the Bolt we would have taken it--we still would have needed to charge before coming home but that extra range was enough for some extra driving at the destination before the overnight charge.

 

[ClaudeMach-E]

That's really the key -- how long the road trip is. The first ~200 miles (ER) should be easy (assuming you have a good destination charger to use for the drive back). But each ~150 miles you add to that means another long charging stop. One is no big deal (lunch stop). But start adding multiples to that and it can be a PITA.

300 miles looks like a good rule-of-thumb limit. For anything longer we'll just drive our Escape (or if it's somewhere without acceptable route and destination charging).

I had posted one day that I had planned on ABRB for the fun of it 2 extra long road trips, one from my home to Orlando, Fl and one from my home to Banff, Al and here's the break down of each. 800km=500mi. MME Premium SR AWD

Home to Orlando, Fl 3 days hotel recharge to 100% each night
We have family in Florida

Day Charge Stops Time to Charge Distance km Total Duration(incl recharge)

1 4 1:55 931 11:04
2 3 1:30 644 7:19
3 4 1:54 733 9:18

Home to Banff, Al 5 days hotel recharge to 100% each night
For the beauty of it's landscape

Day Charge Stops Time to Charge Distance km Total Duration(incl recharge)

1 3 1:39 730 8:21
2 2 0:58 791 9:24
3 2 1:01 687 8:19
4 3 1:31 864 9:53
5 3 1:33 813 9:36

Has you can see it's not that bad. Difference in distance done and number of stops and time to charge is explained by the road that might be different(elevation like) and the fact that sometimes only 50kW chargers are available. The time to charge average goes from 20 min to 40 min max. I am well aware that in some US area the charging infrastructure is not yet to where it should be but it will come. Only a year ago I would not have been able to go to any of those 2 destination with an EV.

 

[timbop]

If it was only 500 miles with 2-3 stops I would be OK with it (still having a day's buffer), but NJ to Port Canaveral via Atlanta is more than a dozen stops over 1400 miles. That's just too many points where something can go wrong, particularly since as of right now 4 of the 5 EA stops between maryland and atlanta are reporting as 50kw max (stafford VA, Henderson NC, hillsborough NC, and Charlotte NC). It would be one thing if a single spot had issues, but 80% is pretty bad.

 

[dbsb3233]

Of course, had we had the Mach-E with its extra range over the Bolt we would have taken it--we still would have needed to charge before coming home but that extra range was enough for some extra driving at the destination before the overnight charge.

I'm not entirely sure it's really gonna have extra range over the Bolt at high speed though (depending on which year and battery). Sounds like the Bolt does better than most at maintaining range, even at high speed. Here's a few reports of 220+ miles. Although that's running it to 0%, so gotta subtract 10% for a more reasonable stopping point. So roughly 200 practical at 70 MPH.

https://insideevs.com/reviews/423144/chevy-bolt-ev-70-mph-range-test/

I'm not really expecting much better in the MME AWD ER. 270 minus 10% arrival safety buffer = 243. Sounds like 10-20% loss is to be expected at high speed, and the MME is a bigger/heavier vehicle than the Bolt. So 20% loss wouldn't surprise me. That would be 194. (10% better on the RWD version.)

Hopefully it's better than that, but I think there's a real possibility that it may about the same as the Bolt at high speed.

 

[dbsb3233]

I had posted one day that I had planned on ABRB for the fun of it 2 extra long road trips, one from my home to Orlando, Fl and one from my home to Banff, Al and here's the break down of each. 800km=500mi. MME Premium SR AWD

Home to Orlando, Fl 3 days hotel recharge to 100% each night
We have family in Florida

Day Charge Stops Time to Charge Distance km Total Duration(incl recharge)

1 4 1:55 931 11:04
2 3 1:30 644 7:19
3 4 1:54 733 9:18

Home to Banff, Al 5 days hotel recharge to 100% each night
For the beauty of it's landscape

Day Charge Stops Time to Charge Distance km Total Duration(incl recharge)

1 3 1:39 730 8:21
2 2 0:58 791 9:24
3 2 1:01 687 8:19
4 3 1:31 864 9:53
5 3 1:33 813 9:36

Has you can see it's not that bad. Difference in distance done and number of stops and time to charge is explained by the road that might be different(elevation like) and the fact that sometimes only 50kW chargers are available. The time to charge average goes from 20 min to 40 min max. I am well aware that in some US area the charging infrastructure is not yet to where it should be but it will come. Only a year ago I would not have been able to go to any of those 2 destination with an EV.

Those are good examples. Certainly possible. Whether it's preferable or not is more just a matter of each person's preference/time/money/etc. You're breaking it up into a lot of days so you don't have as many road charging stops, and relying on a lot of hotel charging. Makes sense if in no hurry to get there.

It also means a lot of things have to go right with so many chargers (road and hotel). And really limits hotel choices. And costs a lot at EA's high rates, and extra hotel nights. Pros and cons.

 

[dbsb3233]

About the SR battery being limited at 115kW was at the beginning but was change and it's now 150kW for all models and SR and ER batteries according to the last spec sheet online.

Wow, I totally missed that. Did the 38 minute 10-80% charge time on the SR go down then, since it's starting off at 150 rather than 115 now?

 

[JamieGeek]

I'm not entirely sure it's really gonna have extra range over the Bolt at high speed though (depending on which year and battery). Sounds like the Bolt does better than most at maintaining range, even at high speed. Here's a few reports of 220+ miles. Although that's running it to 0%, so gotta subtract 10% for a more reasonable stopping point. So roughly 200 practical at 70 MPH.

https://insideevs.com/reviews/423144/chevy-bolt-ev-70-mph-range-test/

I'm not really expecting much better in the MME AWD ER. 270 minus 10% arrival safety buffer = 243. Sounds like 10-20% loss is to be expected at high speed, and the MME is a bigger/heavier vehicle than the Bolt. So 20% loss wouldn't surprise me. That would be 194. (10% better on the RWD version.)

Hopefully it's better than that, but I think there's a real possibility that it may about the same as the Bolt at high speed.

I usually use around 200 miles (180 worst case) for the Bolt's highway range and since I'm getting a CA RT1 Mach-E (LR RWD so 300+ as Ford says) I'll probably use 260-270 for its highway range.

Of course, both of these trips I'm talking about were January and March around these parts so the range estimation was even less.

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