Long distance travel in our Mach E from an Old man’s perspective (long read)

[SpaceEVDriver]

You are correct hybrid may be more effecient. i had a Lexus Hybrid but we went 366 miles with 1 charge while we ate lunch and arrived in a little over 6 hours in Mach E. Not sure I would have done much better in Lexus

A hybrid may be more time-efficient, but I find sitting in a car for 5 hours with only a single, few-minute break to be miserable. I'd much rather spend an extra 10-20 minutes stretching, walking around, and moving for a bit. I find that's more efficient for my back and health.

I really like the fact that I am "forced" to take a longer break when driving my Mustang as opposed to driving my Prius.

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[JohnFoxeSheets]

Nice report, thanks for sharing!!

I keep reading in these forums people think the ride is rough in the MME....apparently, I spent too many years driving a jeep and a truck. I feel spoiled in the MME, so part of it is what you get used to I suppose.

I actually just ordered some dry wash today but was wondering....how do you keep your microfiber towels clean (to avoid scratches)? A big ziplock or something? After use do you take them home and launder them or are they single use?

I am very lucky my wife drives a 1997 Miata. She says my GT ride is juuuust fiiiine. ?

OP: Thank you very much for your detailed report. And kudos to you for making such a trip and adopting all this tech. I hope I'm as savvy at your age (if I even get that far)!

 

[Tampamike]

Fordpass still monitors and logs charge

But FordPass doesn’t charge you for it when you initiate the charge through the EA app before plugging in.

I’ve had P&C enabled since I got the car over a year ago. Have made several long road trips using the EA Pass+ membership activated for the months of travel and deactivated afterwards. It all works and I don’t get charged twice. Then, sometimes when I make a short trip and need just one charge I use P&C without activating and paying the $4 for the EA Pass+ membership.

 

[EVTRAVEL]

A hybrid may be more time-efficient, but I find sitting in a car for 5 hours with only a single, few-minute break to be miserable. I'd much rather spend an extra 10-20 minutes stretching, walking around, and moving for a bit. I find that's more efficient for my back and health.

I really like the fact that I am "forced" to take a longer break when driving my Mustang as opposed to driving my Prius.

It was a lot more relaxing for us to take a longer break. Also, we met some nice EV owners along the way.

 

[EVTRAVEL]

But FordPass doesn’t charge you for it when you initiate the charge through the EA app before plugging in.

I’ve had P&C enabled since I got the car over a year ago. Have made several long road trips using the EA Pass+ membership activated for the months of travel and deactivated afterwards. It all works and I don’t get charged twice. Then, sometimes when I make a short trip and need just one charge I use P&C without activating and paying the $4 for the EA Pass+ membership.

I remember when I ran out of free KM from Ford, I initiated charge thru EA app and was surprised that the charge was to my Ford account. EA ask to plug in prior to starting the charge. I called EA was told to toggle off P&C charge. Next road trip, I will try what you suggest.

 

[jammic]

It’s definitely nice to chat with other EV drivers while DCFC-ing. Great to see other MME fans and I’ve now seen a Polestar and EV6. Both great looking cars. Thanks for the write up.

 

[EVTRAVEL]

I am very lucky my wife drives a 1997 Miata. She says my GT ride is juuuust fiiiine. ?

OP: Thank you very much for your detailed report. And kudos to you for making such a trip and adopting all this tech. I hope I'm as savvy at your age (if I even get that far)!

Thanks for compliment.

 

[RetiredDP]

I've done a few 500-600 mile trips on the west coast no sweat. If you're on the west coast, you'll become well acquainted with the Walmart parking lots along your routes. Always had chargers available and the EA chargers worked well in my experience.

I hope companies eventually realize the commercial opportunity for charging spots - you've got captive customers ffs. So far... it's just Walmart

Midway from S.F. or Sacramento to L.A., is Harris Ranch Restaurant/Hotel (on I-5). It has 6 CCS chargers, and 12 (?) Tesla chargers. Stopped midway from Placerville CA to Pasadena CA, ate dinner at Harris Ranch (fancy steak house), went from 0-89% charge in the 90-minutes it took to eat dinner (including wait time to be seated), and drove to Pasadena CA (son's wedding). Since I spent 0% time in a gas station, and my wife had to make 2 stops to gas up (remember, I was charging while eating dinner...she was standing at 2 gas pumps filling her car)...she arrived at our EV-chargeable hotel in Pasadena 30-minutes after I did. EV's can be faster than ICE cars on a long trip. EV chargers are usually next to restaurants/shopping centers, and gas stations aren't.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I am making the trip from the Bay Area up to Washington at the end of the week. Thanks for the write-up. It makes me feel much better about the plan ABRP set up for my first long-distance EV trip in my MME. I might still make one extra stop since ABRP has a pretty big stretch at one point. ?‍??

 

[tgcrun]

Midway from S.F. or Sacramento to L.A., is Harris Ranch Restaurant/Hotel (on I-5). It has 6 CCS chargers, and 12 (?) Tesla chargers. Stopped midway from Placerville CA to Pasadena CA, ate dinner at Harris Ranch (fancy steak house), went from 0-89% charge in the 90-minutes it took to eat dinner (including wait time to be seated), and drove to Pasadena CA (son's wedding). Since I spent 0% time in a gas station, and my wife had to make 2 stops to gas up (remember, I was charging while eating dinner...she was standing at 2 gas pumps filling her car)...she arrived at our EV-chargeable hotel in Pasadena 30-minutes after I did. EV's can be faster than ICE cars on a long trip. EV chargers are usually next to restaurants/shopping centers, and gas stations aren't.

Thanks for the info on Harris Ranch. I might be stopping there for lunch on my way from Pasadena to Portland.

 

[EVTRAVEL]

Midway from S.F. or Sacramento to L.A., is Harris Ranch Restaurant/Hotel (on I-5). It has 6 CCS chargers, and 12 (?) Tesla chargers. Stopped midway from Placerville CA to Pasadena CA, ate dinner at Harris Ranch (fancy steak house), went from 0-89% charge in the 90-minutes it took to eat dinner (including wait time to be seated), and drove to Pasadena CA (son's wedding). Since I spent 0% time in a gas station, and my wife had to make 2 stops to gas up (remember, I was charging while eating dinner...she was standing at 2 gas pumps filling her car)...she arrived at our EV-chargeable hotel in Pasadena 30-minutes after I did. EV's can be faster than ICE cars on a long trip. EV chargers are usually next to restaurants/shopping centers, and gas stations aren't.

Harris Ranch has been our stop over for years. We used to overnite there in our motorhome and the last few years we have stayed at heir hotel eating prime rib dinner then their wonderful breakfast in the morning. So nice they have all of these chargers there.

 

[RetiredDP]

Thanks for the write up. In a few weeks, I'm driving from Pasadena, CA to Portland, OR for my daughter's wedding. It'll be my first long trip in an EV, so it's good to hear that the trip is very doable. Needless to say, I don't want to find myself at the side of the road instead of walking down the aisle. Did you take I-5 most of the way?

I think that I-5 is part of the "Electric Highway" that politicians were big on a few years ago on the Pacific coast. You should have no problems all the way to the Canadian border (or to the Mexican border). I know that the longest "no chargers available" stretch on the way from Sacramento to Pasadena was just 30 miles.

 

[strangeengine]

Thanks for the info on Harris Ranch. I might be stopping there for lunch on my way from Pasadena to Portland.

Try the tri-tip in the main restaurant or any of the BBQ at the BBQ stand at the gas station. Both are excellent.

 

[Chas]

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

 

[Chas]

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

I have had the same speed limit trouble with Blue Cruise but went into the vehicle controls and was able to turn off that feature. The worst was when I would,be cruising along at 65 then suddenly Blue Cruise decided the speed limit was 85. Way too much excitement! I also keep my eye on the road more naturally with a hand loosely on the wheel.

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