sockmeister
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- Pennsylvania
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- 2021 Mustang Mach-E4x
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- SW Engineer
Thanks. It's nice to see that perspective.I'm a Tesla Model 3 LR RWD owner, but I'm excited about all future EVs. I thought I'd share some real world experience in this thread that may (or may not) make you feel a bit better about these EPA ranges.
My car is rated for 325 miles. However, after 16,000 miles, my "full tank" is really more like 300-310 miles (due to degradation that happens early in all EVs. My lifetime consumption puts my real world range at around 283 miles from 100% to 0%. This includes a mix of city and high speed highway driving, a mild winter, and summer weather (live in north Alabama). So, it's a bit lower than the rated range.
Realistically, if you're on a road trip, you're gonna charge between 10-80% because it's where you'll see the fastest charging speeds. In the winter, you can also knock off 15% or so in my climate. So worst case scenario in my car, you're at (0.7*283*.85) 168 miles. At 70-75 mph, that's almost 2 1/2 hours between stops, which is just about all I can tolerate. And you can go a bit further if your destination is within the usable range (more like 210-240 miles) and you can just level 2 charge at the end. What's actually more important is the speed at which you can recharge between stops, if needed.
Even if the Mach E is rated at 288 miles, you're still probably looking at 150 miles between fast charging stop on a road trip, even in the worst conditions. In the real world, it's never been an issue for me, and I doubt it would be for 90-95% of drivers.
If you're road trip warrior that can drive for 4 hours at a time and doesn't want to stop for more than 5 minutes on breaks, sure, you'll be disappointed. You probably should also take it easy and enjoy the trip though.
And welcome.
I typically make a drive from SE Pennsylvania to mid-New Hampshire in winter as my biggest road trip of the year. That's about a 7 1/2 hour drive and about 500 miles.
In the Mach-E, I can foresee that taking at least 3 charging stops based on your assessment.
If it's about 30 minutes per stop, I can tolerate that. In an ICE car we stop once to refuel and that takes about 15 minutes.
It'll be a transition for sure. But it won't be intolerable at least.
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