Goodbye Mach E

[Applecross]

It’s time to say good bye to my Mach E.

I bought a SR RWD in October. Yesterday I sold the car to WBAC.

I enjoyed my time with the MachE. However what killed the relationship was being unable to use the car for long drives. I’m based in South Devon and regularly drive to Norwich or into Cornwall. Being only able to manage 170 miles between charges at this time of year plus not being able to find fast chargers has killed the experience.

The car itself is great. However it felt wasteful to only be able to use the car as a local run around while using a fossil car for longer drives.

My key takeaway is that in the UK, there needs to be a massive investment in fast chargers located on Motorways and main trunk routes for EVs to be reliably used on a regular basis for long drives.

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[RickMachE]

It's unfortunate that you had to go through this. Cold weather impact on EVs is not a secret, nor is the location of fast chargers.

 

[2FlyMache]

Sorry to hear and yes cold weather is a decision factor if you have to use public chargers. Hopefully with Tesla opening their chargers in the UK that will at least give more options.

 

[Vaquero]

Sorry to hear that. In Spain the same thing happens to us with fast chargers. There are very few and low speed charging 50kWh.

 

[Andeh]

Sorry to hear, but I disagree. 10,000 miles in the last seven months, lots of use of the motorway network and no issues depsite living in very rural Cumbria.

It's what you make of it.

 

[Wonky_Donkey]

It’s time to say good bye to my Mach E.
…
I’m based in South Devon and regularly drive to Norwich or into Cornwall. Being only able to manage 170 miles between charges at this time of year plus not being able to find fast chargers has killed the experience.
…
My key takeaway is that in the UK, there needs to be a massive investment in fast chargers located on Motorways and main trunk routes for EVs to be reliably used on a regular basis for long drives.

Not sure what route you were taking but I live in Norwich and have done the reverse trip of yours to Weymouth a few times. Absolutely no issues with finding ultra rapid chargers along the route that will top you up in 20mins while you grab a coffee.

Yes infrastructure will need to be improved as more electric vehicles come into use, but you make us sound like a 3rd world country when it comes to charge infrastructure - and that is so not the case!

 

[Jjsb70]

Not sure what route you were taking but I live in Norwich and have done the reverse trip of yours to Weymouth a few times. Absolutely no issues with finding ultra rapid chargers along the route that will top you up in 20mins while you grab a coffee.

Yes infrastructure will need to be improved as more electric vehicles come into use, but you make us sound like a 3rd world country when it comes to charge infrastructure - and that is so not the case!

Sorry but south Devon /torbay area has 3 50kw chargers morrisons totnes kinda works when it feels like it , the riviera petrol station is usually spot on , the third in a pub Car park but is pay as go open to the public the ccs has been out of order for three weeks despite being reported many times and showing available, local asda has 7 kw which at best is useless but I've never seen more than 3.2kw at it , so unless you've got two days to charge your car again pointless so unless you can home charge it's difficult,
I feel his pain I wanted to love the Mach e it's got a lot going for it , fit, finish and looks but it's miles behind tesla in terms of real world efficiency and charging I just wish tesla would up the quality instead of stupid gimmicks.
plus the super charge network one of which is just a few miles away is a huge draw .
I know that looks like being opened up to everyone and although I haven't tried it I'm pretty sure no tesla cable will reach the charge point on a Mach e with out parking sideways across the bays , I still puzzle why some manufacturers chose to put the port halfway down the car instead of either end it makes no sense
Not quite sure of the Weymouth reference as it's 90 mile 2 hr drive away from south Devon

 

[Tnuctihs]

I'm curious to know if you knew about the long journey you now have to make, the range that the SR model travels in winter, and the lack of adequate charging options along your route, before you bought the car?

 

[Applecross]

I'm curious to know if you knew about the long journey you now have to make, the range that the SR model travels in winter, and the lack of adequate charging options along your route, before you bought the car?

A good question!

For the range, I knew the WTLP figure of 270 miles was incorrect. I assumed the summer range would be 230 miles based on the EPA rating and a test performed by a US YouTube channel that acheived in excess of 230 miles on summer freeway driving. For winter I assumed 200 miles based on extrapolating Tesla Bjorns winter test of the AWD ER and changing the range to account for the difference in the battery size and RWD efficiency over AWD.

So I was confident on getting 200 miles in winter. However I was averaging 160/170 miles. I put down to 2 reasons that I didn’t account for;

- Rain. This seems to have an affect on range as the car has to displace the water on the road. There is a lot of rain in Devon
- Hills. I drive a lot on the A38 south of Exeter. The rolling hills have an adverse affect that wouldn’t be apparent if you live on flatter terrain.

I knew before I got the car that speed affects the range. I was expecting to achieve over 200 miles in winter driving while going at 62 to 65 mph on the dual carriageway. Unfortunately that hasn’t been the case.

On the car charging side, I wasn’t aware of the 80% cliff edge before I got the car. This proved to be a major pain on long drives as it restricted the distance between charges. It probably removed the ability to quickly add 30+ miles charge. However, I know this issue has been resolved now if you can get the software updated or have a later version (my car was an April 2021 build).

On the infrastructure side, I used ZapMap to research the chargers on the routes I typically do. For example, my parents live near Hawkhurst, Kent. From Devon I knew I could get up to Amesbury, use InstaVolt to top up the car to 80%. Then I would stay with my parents, do some local driving around their area, top up the car using a GeniePoint charger in Hawkhurst. On the return journey top up at InstaVolt. The reality was on the occasions I did this drive, it was hit or miss whether the 4 chargers at Amesbury were available. Once I used Cobham services which is an IONITY site. This was brilliant. They had 7 working chargers and 2 free spaces. However when I left, it was full with 3 cars waiting. It’s a busy site and is an indication of the future growth in the demand for chargers.

In Hawkhurst, I never managed to get the car charged. The single GeniePoint charger was offline on one occasion and on 2 other occasions it was in use for >1 hour. So I ended up topping up at my parents for several hours on the 2.3kw charger before getting enough range to go out at night and hunt for chargers around Tonbridge.

Cornwall proved to be extremely problematic. I often go to St Ives. The round trip is 200 miles which I originally thought I could do with out needing to charge. However as I needed to charge, my options to top up have been;

- Trerulefoot - 3 fast chargers. Installed in September 2020 at a BP station, none of them yet working
- Okehampton - single GeniePoint charger. Tried my car there and my wife’s Honda E. Still not managed to successful charge
- Cornwall services - 2 ecotricoty. Often full or not working
- Penhale - good site with 2 chargers. However often full
- Cartland Cross - single charger. Not managed to get it to work with the MachE although the charger was saying it was online.
- St Erth train station. Single charger. Used it once. Two other times in use.
- Ivybridge.Single Swarco charger. Managed to use it successfully once.Also had 2 unsuccessful chargers there. One failure included the MachE reporting a failure of the charge point and advising to take the car to a garage. This fault cleared after leaving the car to sleep.

So for a trip to Cornwall, I thought I could manage it but instead it’s become an experience each time going to different sites to see what is available and working. My experience has been over the autumn and winter. I haven’t experienced trying to charge in Cornwall with the jump with the holiday traffic

The biggest thing that killed the experience was that constant fear of whether I could charge the car and get home. It came to dominate each long drive.

As mentioned above, my wife has an Honda E. So I came into this knowing the benefits of an EV;

- perfect for local driving where you return to base each night to top up
- fantastic driving experience
- no tail pipe emissions (I do wonder how much damage we have done to our kids lungs as a society driving diesel vehicles)

Overall the MachE is a great car. I test drove an EV6, Ioniq5, ID3 and Model 3. If I was to buy an EV again, I would still pick the MachE. I purchased the MachE hoping I could overcome the charging challenges. I really wanted it to work and I’m ready to move on from driving a diesel

We knew the challenges of charging the MachE before I got it. However the number of chargers either not working or being full has surprised me.

The key is that as a society we need a lot more EV chargers to guarantee you can make a long drive successfully and stress free. That’s what we need to be pressing government and the charging providers for.

 

[shadowsjc]

Not sure why people treat posts like this as a personal disrespect to their self being. It's an honest and realistic take on the current state of EVs. Things have gotten better but it will be years before things improve to the level needed to support widespread adoption.

 

[Pushrods&Capacitors]

A good question!

For the range, I knew the WTLP figure of 270 miles was incorrect. I assumed the summer range would be 230 miles based on the EPA rating and a test performed by a US YouTube channel that acheived in excess of 230 miles on summer freeway driving. For winter I assumed 200 miles based on extrapolating Tesla Bjorns winter test of the AWD ER and changing the range to account for the difference in the battery size and RWD efficiency over AWD.

So I was confident on getting 200 miles in winter. However I was averaging 160/170 miles. I put down to 2 reasons that I didn’t account for;

- Rain. This seems to have an affect on range as the car has to displace the water on the road. There is a lot of rain in Devon
- Hills. I drive a lot on the A38 south of Exeter. The rolling hills have an adverse affect that wouldn’t be apparent if you live on flatter terrain.

I knew before I got the car that speed affects the range. I was expecting to achieve over 200 miles in winter driving while going at 62 to 65 mph on the dual carriageway. Unfortunately that hasn’t been the case.

On the car charging side, I wasn’t aware of the 80% cliff edge before I got the car. This proved to be a major pain on long drives as it restricted the distance between charges. It probably removed the ability to quickly add 30+ miles charge. However, I know this issue has been resolved now if you can get the software updated or have a later version (my car was an April 2021 build).

On the infrastructure side, I used ZapMap to research the chargers on the routes I typically do. For example, my parents live near Hawkhurst, Kent. From Devon I knew I could get up to Amesbury, use InstaVolt to top up the car to 80%. Then I would stay with my parents, do some local driving around their area, top up the car using a GeniePoint charger in Hawkhurst. On the return journey top up at InstaVolt. The reality was on the occasions I did this drive, it was hit or miss whether the 4 chargers at Amesbury were available. Once I used Cobham services which is an IONITY site. This was brilliant. They had 7 working chargers and 2 free spaces. However when I left, it was full with 3 cars waiting. It’s a busy site and is an indication of the future growth in the demand for chargers.

In Hawkhurst, I never managed to get the car charged. The single GeniePoint charger was offline on one occasion and on 2 other occasions it was in use for >1 hour. So I ended up topping up at my parents for several hours on the 2.3kw charger before getting enough range to go out at night and hunt for chargers around Tonbridge.

Cornwall proved to be extremely problematic. I often go to St Ives. The round trip is 200 miles which I originally thought I could do with out needing to charge. However as I needed to charge, my options to top up have been;

- Trerulefoot - 3 fast chargers. Installed in September 2020 at a BP station, none of them yet working
- Okehampton - single GeniePoint charger. Tried my car there and my wife’s Honda E. Still not managed to successful charge
- Cornwall services - 2 ecotricoty. Often full or not working
- Penhale - good site with 2 chargers. However often full
- Cartland Cross - single charger. Not managed to get it to work with the MachE although the charger was saying it was online.
- St Erth train station. Single charger. Used it once. Two other times in use.
- Ivybridge.Single Swarco charger. Managed to use it successfully once.Also had 2 unsuccessful chargers there. One failure included the MachE reporting a failure of the charge point and advising to take the car to a garage. This fault cleared after leaving the car to sleep.

So for a trip to Cornwall, I thought I could manage it but instead it’s become an experience each time going to different sites to see what is available and working. My experience has been over the autumn and winter. I haven’t experienced trying to charge in Cornwall with the jump with the holiday traffic

The biggest thing that killed the experience was that constant fear of whether I could charge the car and get home. It came to dominate each long drive.

As mentioned above, my wife has an Honda E. So I came into this knowing the benefits of an EV;

- perfect for local driving where you return to base each night to top up
- fantastic driving experience
- no tail pipe emissions (I do wonder how much damage we have done to our kids lungs as a society driving diesel vehicles)

Overall the MachE is a great car. I test drove an EV6, Ioniq5, ID3 and Model 3. If I was to buy an EV again, I would still pick the MachE. I purchased the MachE hoping I could overcome the charging challenges. I really wanted it to work and I’m ready to move on from driving a diesel

We knew the challenges of charging the MachE before I got it. However the number of chargers either not working or being full has surprised me.

The key is that as a society we need a lot more EV chargers to guarantee you can make a long drive successfully and stress free. That’s what we need to be pressing government and the charging providers for.

Good post. Your mileage assumption of 200 in the winter for an SR RWD was overly optimistic, as you learned. Seems like you’ll take a >= 30% range hit in winter if you see temps in the 20-50F (-7-10C) range. You’d probably be fine in an EX RWD or AWD, but, such is life. Can you just get an ER Mach E since you liked it otherwise?

 

[Tnuctihs]

A good question!

For the range, I knew the WTLP figure of 270 miles was incorrect. I assumed the summer range would be 230 miles based on the EPA rating and a test performed by a US YouTube channel that acheived in excess of 230 miles on summer freeway driving. For winter I assumed 200 miles based on extrapolating Tesla Bjorns winter test of the AWD ER and changing the range to account for the difference in the battery size and RWD efficiency over AWD.

So I was confident on getting 200 miles in winter. However I was averaging 160/170 miles. I put down to 2 reasons that I didn’t account for;

- Rain. This seems to have an affect on range as the car has to displace the water on the road. There is a lot of rain in Devon
- Hills. I drive a lot on the A38 south of Exeter. The rolling hills have an adverse affect that wouldn’t be apparent if you live on flatter terrain.

I knew before I got the car that speed affects the range. I was expecting to achieve over 200 miles in winter driving while going at 62 to 65 mph on the dual carriageway. Unfortunately that hasn’t been the case.

On the car charging side, I wasn’t aware of the 80% cliff edge before I got the car. This proved to be a major pain on long drives as it restricted the distance between charges. It probably removed the ability to quickly add 30+ miles charge. However, I know this issue has been resolved now if you can get the software updated or have a later version (my car was an April 2021 build).

On the infrastructure side, I used ZapMap to research the chargers on the routes I typically do. For example, my parents live near Hawkhurst, Kent. From Devon I knew I could get up to Amesbury, use InstaVolt to top up the car to 80%. Then I would stay with my parents, do some local driving around their area, top up the car using a GeniePoint charger in Hawkhurst. On the return journey top up at InstaVolt. The reality was on the occasions I did this drive, it was hit or miss whether the 4 chargers at Amesbury were available. Once I used Cobham services which is an IONITY site. This was brilliant. They had 7 working chargers and 2 free spaces. However when I left, it was full with 3 cars waiting. It’s a busy site and is an indication of the future growth in the demand for chargers.

In Hawkhurst, I never managed to get the car charged. The single GeniePoint charger was offline on one occasion and on 2 other occasions it was in use for >1 hour. So I ended up topping up at my parents for several hours on the 2.3kw charger before getting enough range to go out at night and hunt for chargers around Tonbridge.

Cornwall proved to be extremely problematic. I often go to St Ives. The round trip is 200 miles which I originally thought I could do with out needing to charge. However as I needed to charge, my options to top up have been;

- Trerulefoot - 3 fast chargers. Installed in September 2020 at a BP station, none of them yet working
- Okehampton - single GeniePoint charger. Tried my car there and my wife’s Honda E. Still not managed to successful charge
- Cornwall services - 2 ecotricoty. Often full or not working
- Penhale - good site with 2 chargers. However often full
- Cartland Cross - single charger. Not managed to get it to work with the MachE although the charger was saying it was online.
- St Erth train station. Single charger. Used it once. Two other times in use.
- Ivybridge.Single Swarco charger. Managed to use it successfully once.Also had 2 unsuccessful chargers there. One failure included the MachE reporting a failure of the charge point and advising to take the car to a garage. This fault cleared after leaving the car to sleep.

So for a trip to Cornwall, I thought I could manage it but instead it’s become an experience each time going to different sites to see what is available and working. My experience has been over the autumn and winter. I haven’t experienced trying to charge in Cornwall with the jump with the holiday traffic

The biggest thing that killed the experience was that constant fear of whether I could charge the car and get home. It came to dominate each long drive.

As mentioned above, my wife has an Honda E. So I came into this knowing the benefits of an EV;

- perfect for local driving where you return to base each night to top up
- fantastic driving experience
- no tail pipe emissions (I do wonder how much damage we have done to our kids lungs as a society driving diesel vehicles)

Overall the MachE is a great car. I test drove an EV6, Ioniq5, ID3 and Model 3. If I was to buy an EV again, I would still pick the MachE. I purchased the MachE hoping I could overcome the charging challenges. I really wanted it to work and I’m ready to move on from driving a diesel

We knew the challenges of charging the MachE before I got it. However the number of chargers either not working or being full has surprised me.

The key is that as a society we need a lot more EV chargers to guarantee you can make a long drive successfully and stress free. That’s what we need to be pressing government and the charging providers for.

Thanks for taking the time to answer so comprehensively!

My experience with winter range and charging has been similar.

However, I went with the ER AWD, and my regular journeys are shorter, so I am personally happy with what I can achieve thankfully.

With hindsight, I'm also happy I got the car in the winter, so now I know it can only get better!!

 

[Logal727]

Sorry you can’t keep the pony. I definitely thought there was a broader charging system there than the US, I guess not.

 

[Pushrods&Capacitors]

Not sure why people treat posts like this as a personal disrespect to their self being. It's an honest and realistic take on the current state of EVs. Things have gotten better but it will be years before things improve to the level needed to support widespread adoption.

I haven’t seen one post in this thread that matches your description. The OP purchased an SR MME based on a flawed cold weather range estimate and no one has skewered him or been disrespectful, however, there are counterpoints being made. And it seems like the OP is even aware of their own range miscalculation.

 

[coolshades]

A good question!

For the range, I knew the WTLP figure of 270 miles was incorrect. I assumed the summer range would be 230 miles based on the EPA rating and a test performed by a US YouTube channel that acheived in excess of 230 miles on summer freeway driving. For winter I assumed 200 miles based on extrapolating Tesla Bjorns winter test of the AWD ER and changing the range to account for the difference in the battery size and RWD efficiency over AWD.

So I was confident on getting 200 miles in winter. However I was averaging 160/170 miles. I put down to 2 reasons that I didn’t account for;

- Rain. This seems to have an affect on range as the car has to displace the water on the road. There is a lot of rain in Devon
- Hills. I drive a lot on the A38 south of Exeter. The rolling hills have an adverse affect that wouldn’t be apparent if you live on flatter terrain.

I knew before I got the car that speed affects the range. I was expecting to achieve over 200 miles in winter driving while going at 62 to 65 mph on the dual carriageway. Unfortunately that hasn’t been the case.

On the car charging side, I wasn’t aware of the 80% cliff edge before I got the car. This proved to be a major pain on long drives as it restricted the distance between charges. It probably removed the ability to quickly add 30+ miles charge. However, I know this issue has been resolved now if you can get the software updated or have a later version (my car was an April 2021 build).

On the infrastructure side, I used ZapMap to research the chargers on the routes I typically do. For example, my parents live near Hawkhurst, Kent. From Devon I knew I could get up to Amesbury, use InstaVolt to top up the car to 80%. Then I would stay with my parents, do some local driving around their area, top up the car using a GeniePoint charger in Hawkhurst. On the return journey top up at InstaVolt. The reality was on the occasions I did this drive, it was hit or miss whether the 4 chargers at Amesbury were available. Once I used Cobham services which is an IONITY site. This was brilliant. They had 7 working chargers and 2 free spaces. However when I left, it was full with 3 cars waiting. It’s a busy site and is an indication of the future growth in the demand for chargers.

In Hawkhurst, I never managed to get the car charged. The single GeniePoint charger was offline on one occasion and on 2 other occasions it was in use for >1 hour. So I ended up topping up at my parents for several hours on the 2.3kw charger before getting enough range to go out at night and hunt for chargers around Tonbridge.

Cornwall proved to be extremely problematic. I often go to St Ives. The round trip is 200 miles which I originally thought I could do with out needing to charge. However as I needed to charge, my options to top up have been;

- Trerulefoot - 3 fast chargers. Installed in September 2020 at a BP station, none of them yet working
- Okehampton - single GeniePoint charger. Tried my car there and my wife’s Honda E. Still not managed to successful charge
- Cornwall services - 2 ecotricoty. Often full or not working
- Penhale - good site with 2 chargers. However often full
- Cartland Cross - single charger. Not managed to get it to work with the MachE although the charger was saying it was online.
- St Erth train station. Single charger. Used it once. Two other times in use.
- Ivybridge.Single Swarco charger. Managed to use it successfully once.Also had 2 unsuccessful chargers there. One failure included the MachE reporting a failure of the charge point and advising to take the car to a garage. This fault cleared after leaving the car to sleep.

So for a trip to Cornwall, I thought I could manage it but instead it’s become an experience each time going to different sites to see what is available and working. My experience has been over the autumn and winter. I haven’t experienced trying to charge in Cornwall with the jump with the holiday traffic

The biggest thing that killed the experience was that constant fear of whether I could charge the car and get home. It came to dominate each long drive.

As mentioned above, my wife has an Honda E. So I came into this knowing the benefits of an EV;

- perfect for local driving where you return to base each night to top up
- fantastic driving experience
- no tail pipe emissions (I do wonder how much damage we have done to our kids lungs as a society driving diesel vehicles)

Overall the MachE is a great car. I test drove an EV6, Ioniq5, ID3 and Model 3. If I was to buy an EV again, I would still pick the MachE. I purchased the MachE hoping I could overcome the charging challenges. I really wanted it to work and I’m ready to move on from driving a diesel

We knew the challenges of charging the MachE before I got it. However the number of chargers either not working or being full has surprised me.

The key is that as a society we need a lot more EV chargers to guarantee you can make a long drive successfully and stress free. That’s what we need to be pressing government and the charging providers for.

All the best with your next vehicle. Will love to know what trade in price you got for your MME if you can share.

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