Lessons learned from trip: Irvine, CA to Tahoe

[Wolverine]

I just completed a round trip from Irvine, CA to Lake Tahoe, CA, a bit over 500 miles each way. Details on the trip are in the attached Excel chart. First I thought I’d summarize my lessons learned.

1. Blue Cruise

• The hands free feature (coupled with adaptive cruise control, lane guidance and following distance) worked fabulously on the long straightaways and definitely made driving easier.
• Blue Cruise did not work so well on even moderately curving roads. It tends to wait too long to start making a slight turn and then jerks the car back into the lane — leaving me with several near heart-attacks.

1. ABRP Software Planning (thanks Timbop for sharing: (https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...ning-with-abrp-abetterrouteplanner-com.12504/)

• ABRP did a fantastic job of letting me plan out the route and EV charging sites between Irvine and Tahoe, including lunch and toilet stops and a hotel overnight.
• ABRP Premium: I used the Premium for the 14 day free trial, but found it to be worthless.
• Google Maps: ABRP allows you to send your plan to Google Maps, which you can send to your phone or print out and have turn-by-turn driving directions.
• Export to Excel: ABRP also allows you to export your plan and convert it to a spreadsheet (Excel or Numbers), which you can add info and comments to and print out. I added key Google Maps directions to my spreadsheet so that I could see everything together on one sheet printout.
• Best Charging Stations: ABRP allows you to see the details of proposed charging stops so that you can choose the fastest chargers with the most numerous charging stations.

1. Checking Status of Chargers

• ABRP seems to show the number and status of chargers, but I always also checked with one of the two sources below.
• PlugShare: as others have noted, this website and app provide up-to-date info (and sometimes current user comments) on various charging stations. I checked all my planned charger stops during the ABRP planning phase and then every morning during the trip.
• Electrify America: Even better, I found the EA app to have very up-to-date info on the status of its chargers, including not just which chargers were under repair but also which ones were currently in use. The EA website does not provide similar information, only the app.

1. Electrify America

• I stopped exclusively at EA charging stations, as per my ABRP plan. I’ve found that the EA chargers are much faster than Chargepoint and EVGo, and EA is the only one that allows you to use the free 250 kW that Ford gives you as part of the Plug and Charge program.
• The EA chargers were a little finicky, and there were several occasions on which a charger wouldn’t connect with my Mach-E until after several tries or switching chargers.
• The EV chargers were all really fast. Even the 150 kW chargers gave me a full charge (at least to 80%) within 30-40 minutes. That happened even though the chargers were often charging at 75kWh. (The chargers really slowed down from 80-100%, but I only did that a couple times when we stopped for a more leisurely lunch or dinner).

1. Mach-E in-vehicle GPS

• I found it most convenient to use MME’s GPS rather than burn phone battery using Google Maps through Car Play. The GPS generally worked great, though there were a few instances of temporary insanity — where the GPS would tell me to get off the highway, drive around local streets for a few blocks and get back on the highway?!! It’s good to have a passenger who can run a sanity check on Google Maps on their phone.
• Save as Favorites all of the individual stops on your ABRP Plan. Then input each stop, one by one as your trip progresses. This seems to prevent the GPS from getting confused or overriding the chargers that you have selected in ABRP (GPS often will pick a slow charger).
• Ford Pass Trips in GPS: you can input your whole trip into the FordPass app and then send it to the vehicle GPS, but I found that there’s less confusion and complications just entering one waypoint at a time as a Favorite as noted above. Using the Ford Trip, the GPS on several occasions didn’t recognize that I had already completed a stop and tried to re-route me back to the prior stop.

1. Tesla Adapter

• I bought a Lectron Tesla-to J1772 adapter ($172) just in case I needed it along the way or at my hotel in Tahoe. Never used it, so I will return it.
• Marriott in Tahoe charged my vehicle every night ($7 nightly) using a slower charger that didn’t need a Tesla adapter.

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[Mopey]

Thanks. Planning a Seattle to Tahoe trip next month. Very useful.

 

[MachGT]

Thanks. Planning a Seattle to Tahoe trip next month. Very useful.

I did Seattle to Tahoe, you pretty much have to take I5 all the way to Sacramento if you want to use fast chargers and make it in a day. A very long day... In total I spent a cumulative 3hrs charging. With CR1 wheels, i imagine that would reduce the charge time.

 

[mkhuffman]

I am surprised you are returning your Tesla plug adapter. On a future trip you might need it. I have used Tesla destination chargers several times and would not have been able to get a charge if I didn't have the adapter.

Anyway, nice write up and glad you had a good trip!

 

[hybrid2bev]

• Export to Excel: ABRP also allows you to export your plan and convert it to a spreadsheet (Excel or Numbers), which you can add info and comments to and print out.
• Save as Favorites all of the individual stops on your ABRP Plan. Then input each stop, one by one as your trip progresses. This seems to prevent the GPS from getting confused or overriding the chargers that you have selected in ABRP (GPS often will pick a slow charger).

I do the same. On my export sheet I add in the notes what places to eat are within walking distance. I add columns for my actual arrival SOC and departure SOC which I write down at each stop. I found this helpful when planning the return trip to adjust the ABRP plan estimates.

I also take a screenshot from the mobile app of the plan and save the photo on my phone. That way when were wandering around Walmart and I'm monitoring the charging session via the EA app, if the wife asks what we need to charge to I can easily validate on the photo what SOC we need to reach the next charger.

When I save the charging stops in the onboard Nav I rename each of them as them as EA 'City Name', this makes pulling up the next stop very easy by hitting 'Where To' typing 'EA' and the list of saved charges will come right up.

Maybe overkill, but I found the first few trips much less stressful when I had a good plan and documenting each stop helped validate the plan.

 

[HowdyDoody]

I am surprised you are returning your Tesla plug adapter. On a future trip you might need it. I have used Tesla destination chargers several times and would not have been able to get a charge if I didn't have the adapter.

Anyway, nice write up and glad you had a good trip!

Does one need an app or TSLA account to access these L2's with the adapter? I've never done this. Thx

 

[Keikidoc]

Does one need an app or TSLA account to access these L2's with the adapter? I've never done this. Thx

NIce YouTube review on the Lectron Tesla Adapter:

 

[Wolverine]

I am surprised you are returning your Tesla plug adapter. On a future trip you might need it. I have used Tesla destination chargers several times and would not have been able to get a charge if I didn't have the adapter.

I thought I'd return the Tesla adapter in hopes that by the time of my next trip I would have access to the Tesla superchargers, which I read won't require an adapter. Anybody hear anything new on Tesla Supercharger access for non-Tesla owners? I read the pilot project from Europe would be rolled out in the U.S. in late fall

 

[Wolverine]

I do the same. On my export sheet I add in the notes what places to eat are within walking distance.

I also started adding lunch places to the spreadsheet. I would note that the ABRP software doesn't always give you all of the available waypoint options for nearby restaurants. I only saw fast food places listed by ABRP online but when I got there or used Yelp I could find other restaurants within walking distance from the charger, especially at larger shopping malls.

 

[RyZt]

I am surprised you are returning your Tesla plug adapter. On a future trip you might need it. I have used Tesla destination chargers several times and would not have been able to get a charge if I didn't have the adapter.

It depends on where you drive. In California, you really don’t need Tesla Level 2. EA is good enough even though not as good as Tesla supercharger. And there are plenty J1772 level 2 public chargers, but I’d only use them if they happen to be where I stay for a long time or overnight.

I’ve done SF to LA/SD 4 times in my Mach E. Some via I-5, and some via US101 and CA1. I ran into I-5 closure due to fire at Tejon, and also one EA station in Paso Robles (closest is 30 minute drive in the wrong location, and I didn’t charge there before reaching Paso Robles even though I could/should) where 3 out of 4 are broken (making it very busy). Mach E managed totally fine except that I decided to wake up at 5am to use that Paso Robles charger to avoid a queue. EA has since added more locations nearby.

 

[mkhuffman]

Does one need an app or TSLA account to access these L2's with the adapter? I've never done this. Thx

The L2 destination chargers are typically not connected to the Tesla network - I have not seen any that are, anyway. They are dumb chargers and usually free. And sometimes they are faster than the J1772 ones.

I thought I'd return the Tesla adapter in hopes that by the time of my next trip I would have access to the Tesla superchargers, which I read won't require an adapter. Anybody hear anything new on Tesla Supercharger access for non-Tesla owners? I read the pilot project from Europe would be rolled out in the U.S. in late fall

I am afraid you will be waiting a long time before Tesla Superchargers are compatible with our cars. I don't know the future, of course, so I could be wrong, but it is not as simple as adding an adapter. My guess is it will take years from when the first one is done until the last one is done. And it is likely they will not convert all the pumps because they will leave some for Tesla cars only.

Time will tell how it plays out, but personally I would hold on to that L2 adapter. It is very handy to have and worth the money you spent.

 

[Thunderanger]

I am surprised you are returning your Tesla plug adapter. On a future trip you might need it. I have used Tesla destination chargers several times and would not have been able to get a charge if I didn't have the adapter.

Anyway, nice write up and glad you had a good trip!

I'm about to head to south of Atlanta from Northern Missouri. I want to have my bases covered. Which tesla adapter would you recommend and why? Thx.

 

[mkhuffman]

I'm about to head to south of Atlanta from Northern Missouri. I want to have my bases covered. Which tesla adapter would you recommend and why? Thx.

I purchased a TeslaTap 50 Amp and it works great. Here is the official site that of the company that makes and sells them. The url is weird, but it is legitimate. They really need a better url.

http://www.umc-j1772.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=99

 

[Thunderanger]

Thank you MK. So generally speaking, this would just be something I could use at restaurants or hotels, or maybe a friend's home charger, not along the road......right? Or are some of the Tesla charging stations along the road NOT supercharger stations?

 

[mkhuffman]

Thank you MK. So generally speaking, this would just be something I could use at restaurants or hotels, or maybe a friend's home charger, not along the road......right? Or are some of the Tesla charging stations along the road NOT supercharger stations?

Yes, Tesla destination chargers at restaurants, hotels and your friend's Tesla charger would all work with the adapter. Superchargers will not. Eventually Tesla will adapt some of the Supercharging stations to work with non-Tesla vehicles, but for now, no. The stations you see along the road are all Superchargers.

Edit: just to clarify, Tesla Superchargers are DC Fast Charging (DCFC) stations. The Tesla destination chargers are Level 2 (L2) AC chargers. The adapter will not work with DCFC stations, ever. It will only work with L2 AC chargers. (Technically the AC charger is in the car, not the device you connect to. But that is semantics.)

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