EVTRAVEL
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- JIM
- Joined
- May 29, 2021
- Threads
- 4
- Messages
- 81
- Reaction score
- 95
- Location
- WASHINGTON
- Vehicles
- FORD F150, MACH E
- Occupation
- RETIRED
- Thread starter
- #1
First, I want to thank AC/DC, generaltso, smartino and Mach-E Vlog for answering all my questions prior to making a long trip in our
2021 MACH-E PREMIUM AWD, EXTENDED RANGE BATTERY.
One of the most relaxing, enjoyable trips because stopping to charge forced us to take our time, get a little exercise, meet other EV owners
We had to make an impromptu trip from Bellingham, WA to Southern California and decided to take the Mach E rather than the F150. Having our Mach E for a short period of time and always charged at home, this would be a whole new adventure. All the horror stories I read on this site did not help my anxiety level.
Heading south, only used alternate charger 1 time In Yreka, CA for fear of distance with mountains and head wind which dropped us down to 1.9 m/kw. As it turned out could have made it but probably be in low battery situation. It is a long stretch from Grants Pass to Redding, CA with curves, mountain and winds. Also, never know about construction, accidents, etc, so I did not want to run out of electrons
I am 81 years old with 24 years’ experience driving a 40-foot motorhome, pulling a 26 foot car hauler and having to plan fuel stops. So, preparation is not new to me, I took advantage of ABRP, FordPass app, EV hotel, and PlugShare to plan trip. Plan was to always charge to 80% then travel to next charger.
We put over 2500 miles on the trip with zero problems with Mach E but we had a couple of operator problems the first couple of charges. Our trip started out with temps in high 30s, rain with mixed snow, head winds but averaged 2.8 miles/ KW driving at 5 mph over speed limit even though I set it at 3 over but Mach E had mind of its own. On the return trip over same route average was 3.0. By using our free 250 KW, EA app and EA charge holiday, our charging cost was $121.
We did not use E-heat but used A/C when we reached southern CA desert area.
Here are my observations:
SOC Anxiety
Like several people, we were concerned about running out of electrons and AAA could not bring us any. However, we became more confident in the accuracy of Mach E’s stated distance. On our return trip, driving in mountainous area I saw the % going down, it became a little tense, but we trusted the Mach E and arrived with 8% battery.
Found that speeds above 70, wind and mountains eats into the battery.
CHARGING
Used only EA chargers plus free charging at my sister-in-law’s house. Plug and charge as well as EA app worked flawlessly. However, there were several chargers unavailable, and I notified PlugShare and EA. The very first charge paused at 73% and Mach E notified me via the app, I went to see what had happened. The pause was caused by someone removing associated cable and laying it on the ground. I got charge fault the first couple of charges when I pressed button on charger to stop charge. When I used stop/unlock button on Mach E port there was no fault. Second charge arrived 10% battery, 23 miles reserve.
I found charging speed to be adequate 31 (26%-80%) to 44 minutes (8%-80%). It gave us time to stretch, toilet, and maybe eat. A couple of times I had to stop charging, move before we could finish our meals. I don’t see the time saving charging less and stopping more.
NOTE: if you want to use EA app or card in wallet to charge then you need to turn off P&C or it will override EA.
NAVIGATION
Overall the system worked great, however there was one time near Portland, it wanted to take us off I5 but it is possible it misunderstood address. One time again in Portland, we wanted to go to a shopping center, was not confident of Mach E direction, checked Google and Apple maps. Both were wrong and Mach E was correct.
A couple of times on the return trip, using the navigation system, I set destination and let Mach E add charge stop but overrode charge to percent, charging to 80% then reset destination.
One advantage to Navigation system, it would take us directly to charger in the lot otherwise we had to find chargers in large parking lot.
Disadvantage is not knowing what facilities are around charger area or city/address. The FordPass app does show address, but I was unable to upload Trip to Mach E.
Also, cannot add waypoints or destination SOC
BLUE CRUISE (BC)
I found this to be a great enhancement to Adaptive cruise control. It recognized signs, took curves well but wants your hands on wheel on tight curvy roads or real congested areas.
I use 1-pedal drive almost all the time, however, when BC reads a speed drop, the car almost comes to an emergency stop and I almost got rear-ended. Also, it seems to slow harder than without 1-pedal drive when approaching a slower moving vehicle.
REASON FOR HAVING HAND LOOSELY ON WHEEL TO TAKE OVER.
Once going through a construction zone, it recognized 50, 40 signs and slowed down but the adjoining lane being worked on the sign was not covered, Mach E read sign and accelerated from 40 to 65 fast, if I hadn’t had hands on wheel and hit brakes, I could have hit someone.
Also, once there was a strong gust of wind, almost blowing us into next lane.
Seems to like to hug right white line which makes me a little uneasy passing an 18-wheeler.
ANNOYANCE
Rumbling sound that reverberates through the Mach E and becomes extremely loud depending on road surface. Do not know if it is the tires? Talked to another owner who has same problem.
Has anyone else experiened this problem?
COMFORT
Suspension is very stiff and makes ride uncomfortable on rough roads.
Seats are not as comfortable as my old Lexus RX or F150.
Temperature ranged from 30s to 90s. Using Heated seats and Steering wheel is adequate except cold air continued to blow on my feet.
CLEANING ON THE ROAD
Something learned with motorhome: Apply Product called Dri-wash to Mach E. It is the easiest product I found to apply and easy to clean/shine using soft damp cotton cloth then using second micro cotton cloth to bring outshine. Then to remove bugs, take a hot water cloth to remove bugs and 2nd micro-soft cloth to bring outshine. There were a lot of bugs that met their fate on Mach E front and mirrors.
IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED
More comfortable air-cooled, heated seats
Better suspension
Heat pump
Add waypoints and destination SOC to Navigation System
Improve speed to initialize screen on startup
5G modem
Although I found charging speed to be adequate but faster charging speed would be nice to free up chargers as more EV’s are on the road there will be lines as there are with several Tesla chargers.
It would be nice to be able to utilize more of the battery that we paid for. Realistically, we are only able to use 70.4 KW of a 98.7 KW battery pack because of the charging curve and Ford’s buffer.
LAST
Saw 6 Mach-Es on trip, talked to 2 happy owners charging at EA
Talked to new Kia Ev6 owner, very nice car
Talked to 2 Audi-Etron owners, distance inadequate but like car
Talked to new Hyundai IONIQ 5 owner, roomy car inside
Saw a few hundred Teslas and numerous car haulers with Teslas going north and South. Tesla seems to not have supply chain problem
2021 MACH-E PREMIUM AWD, EXTENDED RANGE BATTERY.
One of the most relaxing, enjoyable trips because stopping to charge forced us to take our time, get a little exercise, meet other EV owners
We had to make an impromptu trip from Bellingham, WA to Southern California and decided to take the Mach E rather than the F150. Having our Mach E for a short period of time and always charged at home, this would be a whole new adventure. All the horror stories I read on this site did not help my anxiety level.
Heading south, only used alternate charger 1 time In Yreka, CA for fear of distance with mountains and head wind which dropped us down to 1.9 m/kw. As it turned out could have made it but probably be in low battery situation. It is a long stretch from Grants Pass to Redding, CA with curves, mountain and winds. Also, never know about construction, accidents, etc, so I did not want to run out of electrons
I am 81 years old with 24 years’ experience driving a 40-foot motorhome, pulling a 26 foot car hauler and having to plan fuel stops. So, preparation is not new to me, I took advantage of ABRP, FordPass app, EV hotel, and PlugShare to plan trip. Plan was to always charge to 80% then travel to next charger.
We put over 2500 miles on the trip with zero problems with Mach E but we had a couple of operator problems the first couple of charges. Our trip started out with temps in high 30s, rain with mixed snow, head winds but averaged 2.8 miles/ KW driving at 5 mph over speed limit even though I set it at 3 over but Mach E had mind of its own. On the return trip over same route average was 3.0. By using our free 250 KW, EA app and EA charge holiday, our charging cost was $121.
We did not use E-heat but used A/C when we reached southern CA desert area.
Here are my observations:
SOC Anxiety
Like several people, we were concerned about running out of electrons and AAA could not bring us any. However, we became more confident in the accuracy of Mach E’s stated distance. On our return trip, driving in mountainous area I saw the % going down, it became a little tense, but we trusted the Mach E and arrived with 8% battery.
Found that speeds above 70, wind and mountains eats into the battery.
CHARGING
Used only EA chargers plus free charging at my sister-in-law’s house. Plug and charge as well as EA app worked flawlessly. However, there were several chargers unavailable, and I notified PlugShare and EA. The very first charge paused at 73% and Mach E notified me via the app, I went to see what had happened. The pause was caused by someone removing associated cable and laying it on the ground. I got charge fault the first couple of charges when I pressed button on charger to stop charge. When I used stop/unlock button on Mach E port there was no fault. Second charge arrived 10% battery, 23 miles reserve.
I found charging speed to be adequate 31 (26%-80%) to 44 minutes (8%-80%). It gave us time to stretch, toilet, and maybe eat. A couple of times I had to stop charging, move before we could finish our meals. I don’t see the time saving charging less and stopping more.
NOTE: if you want to use EA app or card in wallet to charge then you need to turn off P&C or it will override EA.
NAVIGATION
Overall the system worked great, however there was one time near Portland, it wanted to take us off I5 but it is possible it misunderstood address. One time again in Portland, we wanted to go to a shopping center, was not confident of Mach E direction, checked Google and Apple maps. Both were wrong and Mach E was correct.
A couple of times on the return trip, using the navigation system, I set destination and let Mach E add charge stop but overrode charge to percent, charging to 80% then reset destination.
One advantage to Navigation system, it would take us directly to charger in the lot otherwise we had to find chargers in large parking lot.
Disadvantage is not knowing what facilities are around charger area or city/address. The FordPass app does show address, but I was unable to upload Trip to Mach E.
Also, cannot add waypoints or destination SOC
BLUE CRUISE (BC)
I found this to be a great enhancement to Adaptive cruise control. It recognized signs, took curves well but wants your hands on wheel on tight curvy roads or real congested areas.
I use 1-pedal drive almost all the time, however, when BC reads a speed drop, the car almost comes to an emergency stop and I almost got rear-ended. Also, it seems to slow harder than without 1-pedal drive when approaching a slower moving vehicle.
REASON FOR HAVING HAND LOOSELY ON WHEEL TO TAKE OVER.
Once going through a construction zone, it recognized 50, 40 signs and slowed down but the adjoining lane being worked on the sign was not covered, Mach E read sign and accelerated from 40 to 65 fast, if I hadn’t had hands on wheel and hit brakes, I could have hit someone.
Also, once there was a strong gust of wind, almost blowing us into next lane.
Seems to like to hug right white line which makes me a little uneasy passing an 18-wheeler.
ANNOYANCE
Rumbling sound that reverberates through the Mach E and becomes extremely loud depending on road surface. Do not know if it is the tires? Talked to another owner who has same problem.
Has anyone else experiened this problem?
COMFORT
Suspension is very stiff and makes ride uncomfortable on rough roads.
Seats are not as comfortable as my old Lexus RX or F150.
Temperature ranged from 30s to 90s. Using Heated seats and Steering wheel is adequate except cold air continued to blow on my feet.
CLEANING ON THE ROAD
Something learned with motorhome: Apply Product called Dri-wash to Mach E. It is the easiest product I found to apply and easy to clean/shine using soft damp cotton cloth then using second micro cotton cloth to bring outshine. Then to remove bugs, take a hot water cloth to remove bugs and 2nd micro-soft cloth to bring outshine. There were a lot of bugs that met their fate on Mach E front and mirrors.
IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED
More comfortable air-cooled, heated seats
Better suspension
Heat pump
Add waypoints and destination SOC to Navigation System
Improve speed to initialize screen on startup
5G modem
Although I found charging speed to be adequate but faster charging speed would be nice to free up chargers as more EV’s are on the road there will be lines as there are with several Tesla chargers.
It would be nice to be able to utilize more of the battery that we paid for. Realistically, we are only able to use 70.4 KW of a 98.7 KW battery pack because of the charging curve and Ford’s buffer.
LAST
Saw 6 Mach-Es on trip, talked to 2 happy owners charging at EA
Talked to new Kia Ev6 owner, very nice car
Talked to 2 Audi-Etron owners, distance inadequate but like car
Talked to new Hyundai IONIQ 5 owner, roomy car inside
Saw a few hundred Teslas and numerous car haulers with Teslas going north and South. Tesla seems to not have supply chain problem
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