Long road trip with limited DCFC - looking for tips

[jeevez]

I'm planning my longest road trip with my Mach-E next weekend to visit some family. It's across the Canadian prairies where DCFC is particularly sparse, unless you're on major highways. I need to make it 603 km (375 miles) until I get to a DCFC station. The only real charging option on this stretch is a Level 2 charger (can do the full 48 amps) at a Ford dealer at the 484 km (300 mile) mark. The speed limit on these secondary highways is only 100 km/h (~60 mph) so I won't be going too fast. Am I crazy to try this stretch? I've got a California Route 1 AWD so besides being RWD, I've got the max range possible. I've done so many looks at real world range videos and results and played around with ABRP trip planners to see what I "think" I'll be at, but I'm wondering has anybody else pushed this type of distance between DCFC stations? I can take a route with better DCFC, but then it adds ~200 km (125 miles) to my route, so it's not ideal.

Sponsored

 

[KrazyEd]

I Like to travel the least number of miles possible. However in THIS situation, your trip would most
likely take less time with the extra 125 miles. You will be adding about two hours to the driving part.
If the 48 amp charger is in fact in full operation, then it is about a wash. As near as I can tell, here
in Vegas, the only available chargers at Ford dealers are the 40 amp. If you have ready access to
DCFS on the longer route, it may actually be faster if you do several shorter stops, depending upon
how far they are from freeway entrance and exit.

 

[Say Watt]

That three hundred miles could be white knuckles for the last stretch. "Your mileage may vary" when you least expect it. Being towed for twenty miles may be a bad way to get to that Ford dealer - only to find out their charger is down. KrazyEd is right. Longer is probably quicker. And less stressful.

An option is a hotel midway with an overnight charger or an RV campground with a 14-50 source for your mobile charger.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Do some tests to see. That would require a consumption less than 18 kWh/100 km. I think that will be cutting it really close. You might have to slow down to 50-55 mph.

You're also assuming the charger at the Ford dealer works. It could be turned off after hours or broken. If so, then you're going to be stuck there for a long time trying to charge off a 120V outlet.

Are there any campgrounds along the way that might have a NEMA 14-50 outlet for charging?

 

[Billyk24]

Colder weather will/could result in less range. Good luck.

 

[RickMachE]

Are there no level 2 chargers on the route so that if you can't make 300 miles you can hit one for an hour or so?

 

[Benny’66]

You have to think this trip is both ways. My ChargePoint at 48 amps gets close to the 30miles of range per hour of charge, but that still means you would need 3 hours to get the next 75 miles safely to DCFC, if you made the first 300. If you have to take the MME, I’d go the longer safer round.

I just did a college trip with my son that was well within the available range of my GTPE round trip. Except the (2) L2 chargers at the college (plan A) were not working. The only other L2s in town weren’t working either. The only L3 (plan B) on the way back couldn’t connect to their system for payment so we plugged into a free L2 for an hour while we had dinner (picked up 15 miles). We still needed to hit a Audi dealership on the way back 20 miles from home and plugged in for another hour so we could pull back into the driveway with 6 miles on the GOM left. So a 4 hour 234 miles round trip excursion took us almost 7. Should have taken the wife’s Grand Cherokee which gets 500 miles per tank.

 

[RickMachE]

You have to think this trip is both ways. My ChargePoint at 48 amps gets close to the 30miles of range per hour of charge, but that still means you would need 3 hours to get the next 75 miles safely to DCFC, if you made the first 300. If you have to take the MME, I’d go the longer safer round.

I just did a college trip with my son that was well within the available range of my GTPE round trip. Except the (2) L2 chargers at the college (plan A) were not working. The only other L2s in town weren’t working either. The only L3 (plan B) on the way back couldn’t connect to their system for payment so we plugged into a free L2 for an hour while we had dinner (picked up 15 miles). We still needed to hit a Audi dealership on the way back 20 miles from home and plugged in for another hour so we could pull back into the driveway with 6 miles on the GOM left. So a 4 hour 234 miles round trip excursion took us almost 7. Should have taken the wife’s Grand Cherokee which gets 500 miles per tank.

This is a great example of several things.

FIrst, make sure you look up the chargers on PlugShare and read the history. Just had another person who verified chargers at a hotel, but didn't notice they hadn't been working since at least December.

Second, consider Tesla destination chargers, and buy a TeslaTap.

Third, have a backup plan, and even two, as you did.

And finally, take the ICE vehicle if you're unsure. We took a trip to Florida in December and took the F-150 because of range concerns and the amount of stopping in the winter.

 

[Benny’66]

This is a great example of several things.

FIrst, make sure you look up the chargers on PlugShare and read the history. Just had another person who verified chargers at a hotel, but didn't notice they hadn't been working since at least December.

Second, consider Tesla destination chargers, and buy a TeslaTap.

Third, have a backup plan, and even two, as you did.

And finally, take the ICE vehicle if you're unsure. We took a trip to Florida in December and took the F-150 because of range concerns and the amount of stopping in the winter.

Fully agree.

I looked up the college chargers and they had activity 2 weeks prior and then the week before another person notes they weren’t working. The college is on summer break, so should have considered them option 2. Except that the college visit was 4 hours, so the lower charge rate would have worked perfect to just add miles while we were touring around. I’m an alumni of the school, so the head of the department responsible for the chargers got an earful from me. Of course it was his first time seeing a GTPE, so I’m not sure he was really listening while gawking-over the car.

Great point on checking the history notes though. The college is way up in northern NY which has very little charging infrastructure. We found an apartment building that listen 8 available L2s near the “downtown” area. The chargers where physically there, but no power to them. Probably got NYS grant money to install them almost free (95%), and then hasn’t put power to them cuz the college isn’t in session yet and the apartments are empty.

The ChargePoint L3 had action. Called ChargePoint, did a reboot, cycled E-Stop at the charger, no joy.

The biggest issue was higher winds on the highway portion going up. Efficiency really dropped. Hence my original comment about the OP’s trip being both ways. Might just make it on the way there, then have high wind, cold, etc on the way back. The only two trips I’ve cut close were total round trip range, never one way range. That is too much of a gamble for me.

 

[ZuleMME]

There is nothing worse then the anxiety of watching your GOM miles to zero and your destination miles count down together. Go the longer way with higher speeds and less stress. You'll thank yourself.

 

[DR.J56]

Go ICE.

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

Having done OH-SC this past weekend, which meant dealing with the WV charging desert, I'd say go out of your way to feel better. It sucks taking the extra time but it's worth it for peace of mind.

If you're truly worried, and can do ICE, that might make more sense. Even a rental. I realize that's a bit scandalous to say on an EV forum, but here we are.

Also, if you're visiting family, this may be obvious, but make sure you have the mobile charger and use it at the destination to get to 100% before starting the trip back.

Lastly, if you think you might be "close", there may be a middle ground. Look on PlugShare for decent level 2 somewhere before the one DCFC, at like 50% of the distance or more; if there's something at a restaurant or something, you can use it as an excuse to get up, stretch your legs, and eat, and top off some if you need to before you arrive at the DCFC. Level 2 isn't "fast" but it's good enough for this kind of use case. Or a Tesla Destination Charger and a TeslaTap as @RickMachE said already.

 

[jeevez]

Thanks for all the advce folks. The longer route with better DCFC was my original plan before I started wondering if I could make this stretch, so I'll probably just stick to that longer but safer route. I can hit a couple other Level 2's on the direct route if I go slightly off path, but then the stops are so long to get any meaningful charge that it makes it pretty inconvenient pretty fast. Travelling with couple small kids so don't want to push my luck too much.

We have an ICE as well still, but getting the Mach-E has really spoiled us in comfort, space and efficiency vs our other car (2011 Subaru Sti wagon) so we'd really love to make the trip work with the EV even if it's a bit less convenient time wise.

Sponsored