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

[Tampamike]

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.

Yeah the key is to activate the charger in the EA app BEFORE plugging in. The app will tell you to plug in first, but just ignore that and activate first, otherwise P&C will take over. It has worked fine that way for me for over a year. P&C is still there and active when I want to use it.

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[EVTRAVEL]

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

Will try , love BBQ

 

[khbkhb]

While not a replacement for fast charging this 220v extension may be useful for folks between chargers. The NEMA 14-50 attachment for the Ford mobile charger plus this puppy can enable borrowing someone's dryer plug. While our driveway was being reworked, I used a pair of these to reach my plug from a neighbor's driveway ;>

The 120v option is easier but is so slow as to be almost useless.

 

[jeffvick2005]

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

Thanks for the write-up. Was curious, what was the average cost of a charge (e.g. 10%-80%)?

 

[EVTRAVEL]

Thanks for the write-up. Was curious, what was the average cost of a charge (e.g. 10%-80%)?

From 8-80% $20.77, 67 KW @31 cents/ KW at EA

 

[Tampamike]

But in the states that mandate per minute rates that same charge will be about $12. For instance Florida is per kw and then reaching Georgia it is per minute. Makes a big difference on a long trip.

 

[EVTRAVEL]

But in the states that mandate per minute rates that same charge will be about $12. For instance Florida is per kw and then reaching Georgia it is per minute. Makes a big difference on a long trip.

Charging speed seems to depend on a lot of factors, I used a 350 KW charger and max speed was 161.29 KW per minute for a few minutes, then it slowed. Just as soon as it reached 80%, it dropped off a cliff so by the minute above 80% would be expensive. Our Mach E does not have latest update for charging curve.

 

[Tampamike]

Charging speed seems to depend on a lot of factors, I used a 350 KW charger and max speed was 161.29 KW per minute for a few minutes, then it slowed. Just as soon as it reached 80%, it dropped off a cliff so by the minute above 80% would be expensive. Our Mach E does not have latest update for charging curve.

Right. Without the updated charge profile there’s no reason to keep charging past 80% - it takes too long no matter how you’re paying for it. It takes about an hour, I think, to get to 90%. I never did it. I’ve also found that there’s not much difference in total time between a 350 kw charger and a 150kw charger - 5 minutes at the most.

 

[RetiredDP]

From 8-80% $20.77, 67 KW @31 cents/ KW at EA

Better than I got on the I-5 in California...I was billed 43 cents/kwh.

 

[kindofblue]

Better than I got on the I-5 in California...I was billed 43 cents/kwh.

Yup, electricity is expensive here in sunny CA.

 

[Tom C]

True you can still have P&C enabled but the charge goes thru Ford at 43 cents per KW instead of 31 cents. This happened to me the first time.

Took me quite a while to figure out I couldn’t use plug & charge to access my EA account. (I thought the car and the EA charging station would talk to each other). It is simple to use the EA app (before one plugs in), although it is confusing that the EA charge station‘s screen declares one should plug in first.

 

[EVTRAVEL]

Took me quite a while to figure out I couldn’t use plug & charge to access my EA account. (I thought the car and the EA charging station would talk to each other). It is simple to use the EA app (before one plugs in), although it is confusing that the EA charge station‘s screen declares one should plug in first.

thanks

Took me quite a while to figure out I couldn’t use plug & charge to access my EA account. (I thought the car and the EA charging station would talk to each other). It is simple to use the EA app (before one plugs in), although it is confusing that the EA charge station‘s screen declares one should plug in first.

Thanks, will have to try using EA app before plugging in next time

 

[coolshades]

to the OP.

you sir are a role model to us. at that age you have sense of adventure and tech savviness that many of us of lesser vintage lack.

thank you.

 

[EVTRAVEL]

to the OP.

you sir are a role model to us. at that age you have sense of adventure and tech savviness that many of us of lesser vintage lack.

thank you.

Very nice compliment. Made my day

 

[jglor]

Did a drive from the San Diego area to San Francisco and back about 2 weeks ago. Stopped at Harris Ranch to charge on the way home. Didn't know anything about it. Only went inside to go to the bathroom.
There were two open chargers next to me and a Silver Mach-E drove right past and went to the chargers in the other lane. I felt like I had been snubbed. It was the only one I saw at a charger the whole trip. 7 total charging stops, 3 on the way up and 4 on the way home.

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