First lengthy trip - didn't leave full-up

[jchaase]

So I haven't installed my 240-volt outlet yet and departed for a trip with about 70% battery (~180 miles range) thinking I'd stop and top-off at a DCFC station along the route. Get to the first one - four-stall EA station, all are broken. No big deal, there's one across the street. Went across the street, some fly-by-night ZEF Energy station - figured I'd give it a shot, no dice. Their app doesn't work on my phone and the station was unable to work even with a card.

At this point I have about 80 miles left - enough to either get me home, or get me to something PlugShare says will be a two-stall Chargepoint station with excellent reviews. It's 20 miles away. I give it a shot and head toward the Chargepoint. Get there - no one on it, and I plug in and pay and off we go. Phew. Range anxiety is a real thing.

If nothing else, this gives me more motivation to get the heavy duty outlet installed in the garage... I already have the circuit and the wire run for it. Off to Menards to get the plug and get this done tonight!

Car was great other than an error I got sitting in a driveway... I was fiddling with the shift knob and got some sort of "shift error sequence" message on the screen along with a yellow wrench. It went away when I rebooted the car. Scared me for a moment. Took a couple pics while charging. And yes, the station is called "Kum and Go" - it's funny the first time you see one. Not sure why the screen looks red on the info display... it's not.

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[JohnnyForensic]

Yeah, the 240v outlet in the garage is an excellent idea, full stop. I charge every night to 90% and to 100% if I'm going on a trip, and it REALLY cuts down on the range anxiety, especially in the summer where my 90% gets me over the 270 guesstimated range alone. Leaving the house every time with a "full tank" really helps to remove the range anxiety symptoms.

 

[RickMachE]

Plugshare and/or EA's app should have shown all the stations down. Hopefully you used either/both to report them all down.

 

[AhardFSU]

Yeah Plugshare and the EA apps are your friend when it comes to checking availability and functionality. Be sure to report the chargers as being inoperable.

 

[jchaase]

Plugshare and/or EA's app should have shown all the stations down. Hopefully you used either/both to report them all down.

They showed 3 of 4 busted, but I was feeling lucky. I was not lucky. Reported both broken spots on PlugShare.

 

[jchaase]

Update: 240v outlet installation complete. Car is charging much faster now. Was down to 38% when I pulled in garage and FordPass anticipates being at 90% by 2:30am. It's 8:18pm now. Very nice.

 

[AZBill]

I did an Arizona to SoCal trip this weekend and all four of my charging stops went perfectly. Yes I check Plugshare and the EA app to confirm they are working. But the charging sites are getting very busy, 3 out of 4 were full when I plugged in and then had people waiting in line. Got to see a Lightning and an ETron GT.

 

[tesla2mme]

So I haven't installed my 240-volt outlet yet and departed for a trip with about 70% battery (~180 miles range) thinking I'd stop and top-off at a DCFC station along the route. Get to the first one - four-stall EA station, all are broken. No big deal, there's one across the street. Went across the street, some fly-by-night ZEF Energy station - figured I'd give it a shot, no dice. Their app doesn't work on my phone and the station was unable to work even with a card.

At this point I have about 80 miles left - enough to either get me home, or get me to something PlugShare says will be a two-stall Chargepoint station with excellent reviews. It's 20 miles away. I give it a shot and head toward the Chargepoint. Get there - no one on it, and I plug in and pay and off we go. Phew. Range anxiety is a real thing.

If nothing else, this gives me more motivation to get the heavy duty outlet installed in the garage... I already have the circuit and the wire run for it. Off to Menards to get the plug and get this done tonight!

Car was great other than an error I got sitting in a driveway... I was fiddling with the shift knob and got some sort of "shift error sequence" message on the screen along with a yellow wrench. It went away when I rebooted the car. Scared me for a moment. Took a couple pics while charging. And yes, the station is called "Kum and Go" - it's funny the first time you see one. Not sure why the screen looks red on the info display... it's not.

I’m sorry that’s actually called Kum and Go, wtf?

 

[Maquis]

I’m sorry that’s actually called Kum and Go, wtf?

Yes, that’s the name! South Park included them in an episode!

 

[tesla2mme]

What the actual fuck.

 

[ARK]

What the actual fuck.

Apparently, not a family friendly destination.

 

[Phil Martin]

Kum & Go, what a name, I'm sure it's on purpose.

Anyways, we were thinking of purchasing a BEV such as the MACHE, but it's becoming pretty apparent, that third party public DC fast charging model does not work. Chargers broken, dead or slow all the time. I think the only way this will play out is for the car makers to integrate their own charging network into their business, similar to Tesla and Rivian. This will result in proprietary handshakes, so the charger will only work with a specific maker or perhaps a consortium of makers of cars but by going this route the maker(s) will need to ensure their customers have a good experience owning the vehicle AND charging the vehicle. Thus chargers will be reliable and work properly.

It's too bad, because I thought public DC fast charging would work out, but all I read about are dead, broken or slow chargers and that could really ruin a road trip. Frankly, I would be too nervous with my wife on a road trip all by herself and not able to charge.

Because of this I think we're going to just purchase a plugin hybrid. I can't see spending $80K for a car where road-trips are iffy at best. Unless someone has a consistently pleasant experience with charging, I'd like to hear it.

Sorry to hijack the thread here, but again and again I'm reading about charging issues when on road trips.

 

[Maquis]

Kum & Go, what a name, I'm sure it's on purpose.

Anyways, we were thinking of purchasing a BEV such as the MACHE, but it's becoming pretty apparent, that third party public DC fast charging model does not work. Chargers broken, dead or slow all the time. I think the only way this will play out is for the car makers to integrate their own charging network into their business, similar to Tesla and Rivian. This will result in proprietary handshakes, so the charger will only work with a specific maker or perhaps a consortium of makers of cars but by going this route the maker(s) will need to ensure their customers have a good experience owning the vehicle AND charging the vehicle. Thus chargers will be reliable and work properly.

It's too bad, because I thought public DC fast charging would work out, but all I read about are dead, broken or slow chargers and that could really ruin a road trip. Frankly, I would be too nervous with my wife on a road trip all by herself and not able to charge.

Because of this I think we're going to just purchase a plugin hybrid. I can't see spending $80K for a car where road-trips are iffy at best. Unless someone has a consistently pleasant experience with charging, I'd like to hear it.

Sorry to hijack the thread here, but again and again I'm reading about charging issues when on road trips.

Remember that everyone screams when there’s a problem, but people rarely bother to report something works as it should. Human nature.
I‘m not saying there are not real problems and things can definitely be improved, but the DCFC sky is not falling.

 

[roamtheworld]

Anyways, we were thinking of purchasing a BEV such as the MACHE, but it's becoming pretty apparent, that third party public DC fast charging model does not work. Chargers broken, dead or slow all the time. I think the only way this will play out is for the car makers to integrate their own charging network into their business, similar to Tesla and Rivian. This will result in proprietary handshakes, so the charger will only work with a specific maker or perhaps a consortium of makers of cars but by going this route the maker(s) will need to ensure their customers have a good experience owning the vehicle AND charging the vehicle. Thus chargers will be reliable and work properly.

It's too bad, because I thought public DC fast charging would work out, but all I read about are dead, broken or slow chargers and that could really ruin a road trip. Frankly, I would be too nervous with my wife on a road trip all by herself and not able to charge.

Because of this I think we're going to just purchase a plugin hybrid. I can't see spending $80K for a car where road-trips are iffy at best. Unless someone has a consistently pleasant experience with charging, I'd like to hear it.

We are still early adopters in the non Tesla EV space and why planning and checking ahead for availability is key to charging success on a road trip.
In 5 years we will all say remember back in 2021 and 2022 when DCFC where hard to find.
We did a 1000+ mile road trip in the Texas panhandle with no DCFC in the middle of the trip and still did fine. Just took extra time at L2 charger.

 

[Phil Martin]

The average Joe is not going get excited about family road trips if they have to play music chairs at charging stations trying to get one that works properly, if at all.

The reliability issue isn't a small problem either. There was a study in California bay area that stated about a quarter of the DC public fast chargers don't work, and that didn't even account when the charging throttled due to car or charger issues.

I'm not sure what would drastically change within five years to improve the situation. There just isn't any real money or interest in selling electricity as third party, that's proven by what we're witnessing. Ford is only working behind the scenes with charging providers trying to alleviate interoperability issues. GM is trying to improve the situation working with EVgo, but again EVgo stays in full control.

Like I said, in my opinion the only way to make it work is to integrate the charging experience with the experience of operating the vehicle...similar to Tesla and what Rivian has started to do. GM and Ford should each just buy out a network, close it off to improve interoperability/reliability and brand it to them.

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