Drive for two hours - Charge for an hour road trip.

RickMachE

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On the other hand if a person, male or female, has difficulty operating a remote, or charging their phone, even with a PhD in Nuclear Physics, they may not be good candidates for “expanding one’s knowledge “ in the arena of planning and executing an EV trip.
Very true. My mother cannot operate a VCR.

However, one can learn the basics of operating and charging an EV without having to know how to plan a trip.
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Shelbeast

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The infrastructure is not there yet, don't know how many years it will take but as of now you are correct, it is not there yet to be able to find a working charger and charge at will
Exactly. I have a gas car for road trips. It's going to be a long time coming on infrastructure as administrations change and we see anti-progressives continue fighting change.
 

dbsb3233

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OP here. The one hour of charging includes the overhead of diverting to a charging location, finding a charger that works through trial and error, connect time, actual charge time (25-40 min) and then getting back to the Highway you were driving on. The more times you stop, the more of that overhead you have.
That can be an issue at some stations. In my experience having using ~40 different EA stations, most have been conveniently located to interstate interchanges, similar to gas. And I figure about 70% of my chargers work on the 1st attempt. We're often on/off the highway in 35-40 minutes total.

But yes, there are exceptions. Some are like 5-6 minutes off the interstate, and some take a 2nd or 3rd attempt. And on rare occasion, they're full and we had to wait. Sometimes we've killed a whole hour, but not usually (unless it's the lunch stop, of course).
 

Maquis

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That can be an issue at some stations. In my experience having using ~40 different EA stations, most have been conveniently located to interstate interchanges, similar to gas. And I figure about 70% of my chargers work on the 1st attempt. We're often on/off the highway in 35-40 minutes total.

But yes, there are exceptions. Some are like 5-6 minutes off the interstate, and some take a 2nd or 3rd attempt. And on rare occasion, they're full and we had to wait. Sometimes we've killed a whole hour, but not usually (unless it's the lunch stop, of course).
That pretty much mirrors my EA experience, although my sample size is smaller (probably 12 different EA Stations). And I’d say my 1st attempt number is a bit higher, unless you count low charge rates where I stay at the first unit because all of them are depreciated.
I've only waited once for about 20 minutes.

Definitely room for improvement!
 

kltye

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OP here. The one hour of charging includes the overhead of diverting to a charging location, finding a charger that works through trial and error, connect time, actual charge time (25-40 min) and then getting back to the Highway you were driving on. The more times you stop, the more of that overhead you have.
I think that's the issue here - the generalizing of the problem until it leads to "Mach-E is only great to drive down the street or to school" (I'm obviously exaggerating here). Most EA stops aren't less conveniently located than gas stations, and stopping more often actually lessens your risk of emergencies due to non-working chargers or bad weather. And the charge curve time savings you get from that is well worth it. That's also part of the reason Teslas charge so quickly when their batteries are < 50% - they have enough SC coverage for them to charge more often rather than charge for longer.

Also, I think the other problem I have with these threads is - if you knew charging coverage in your area is inconvenient for you and your usual routes, then why buy this car? It's not like Ford promised a 10 minute 10-80% charge time; they very clearly stated 10-80% was going to be in the order of 40 minutes.
 


2010GT

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I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around how often EVSE's breakdown. And why it's usually the entire row of them that goes down instead of one bad apple in a bunch. Even slow chargers, L2 at 6 Kwr seem extremely unreliable.

I bought this thing having no intention of ever doing a road trip with it, but I thought that I at least could do it. I knew range would decrease in the cold weather, but I thought only by a max of 20%. It appears to be much worse, and DC fast charging seems shockingly unreliable. I figured a solid state electrical appliance would have better reliability than something like a gas pump. Boy was I wrong.
 

kltye

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I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around how often EVSE's breakdown. And why it's usually the entire row of them that goes down with no warning. Even slow chargers, L2 at 6 Kwr seem extremely unreliable.
I can't stress this enough - look at Plugshare for wherever you're going. Most L2s that are even slightly maintained work just fine. The ones that don't are usually abandoned, etc. Solid state has nothing to do with longevity in this case; DCFCs die because there's a lot that can go wrong. Power electronics for those power levels aren't the most robust things ever, and they're exposed to random acts of vandalism, temperatures ranging from +130F to -30F, water intrusion, etc. Gas pumps, on the other hand, usually have canopies over them. Pampered existence compared to DCFCs.

I bought this thing having no intention of ever doing a road trip with it, but I thought that I at least could do it. I knew range would decrease in the cold weather, but I thought only by a max of 20%. It appears to be much worse, and DC fast charging seems shockingly unreliable. I figured a solid state electrical appliance would have better reliability than something like a gas pump. Boy was I wrong.
This is why this thread can be misleading. This all depends on how cold it gets. If you're driving in single-digit weather and have no way of preconditioning, then it's going to be a lot more than 20%. If you're driving in 20+F weather and can precondition, then it's much closer to 20% loss. Plenty of people here have done thousands of miles of roadtrips and we've been fine.
 

azerik

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Thats the question I was asking. L2's breaking are most likely someones car caused a charger fault and the charger doesn't 'reboot' by it's self out of safety. Volta was 'fantastic' for this. Every time i pluggd into a Volta charger I had to hit the reset button on the side of the thing. But 80% or better it'd work after the reset.

DCFC is the same thing with resetting it, except YOU can't. You can call EA and ask them to reset it. And it will probably work. But 80% of the people that pull up to a EA charger thats on the fritz won't invest the time to call and reset it, they'll move to another spot and the next Joe will get to do the same. Thus a lot are 'broken' when they actually arn't broken. There needs to be a "reset this station" button with a big button to smack. It'd solve a bunch of headaches I think.
 

2010GT

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DCFC is the same thing with resetting it, except YOU can't. You can call EA and ask them to reset it. And it will probably work.
Didn't know that. Thanks.

If you're driving in 20+F weather and can precondition, then it's much closer to 20% loss. Plenty of people here have done thousands of miles of roadtrips and we've been fine.
Good to know. My dealer didn't even explain preconditioning to me. I figured once the car was started it would self heat it's battery and the range would increase. Again, I received no instructions on delivery. I'm still on 110v charging until Saturday when the electrician finally hardwires my emporia into the wall. No big deal, I have no intention of ditching my ICE car anytime soon.
 

azerik

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Most dealers probably don't realize preconditioning exists, now, nor how to use it.
 

2010GT

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Most dealers probably don't realize preconditioning exists, now, nor how to use it.
I wonder how much damage was done to my batteries longevity just sitting at the dealer, being charged to 100% regularly. At least it was in the showroom and not parked outside in the freeze?

Let me ask another question. Right now my battery is at 85%. Now 85% of 220 miles, my advertised range is 187. But my range estimate (which we all know will plummet as soon as I go half a block) is just 187. Is the decreased number because the car knows it's cold already? And based on my heavy foot?

Does whisper mode actually work to extend range?
 

kltye

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I wonder how much damage was done to my batteries longevity just sitting at the dealer, being charged to 100% regularly. At least it was in the showroom and not parked outside in the freeze?
Heat and constant full charge does the most permanent damage. Of the two, heat is by far the worst enemy. And since there's a top buffer, I think 100% in the showroom shouldn't be too bad.

Let me ask another question. Right now my battery is at 85%. Now 85% of 220 miles, my advertised range is 187. But my range estimate (which we all know will plummet as soon as I go half a block) is just 187. Is the decreased number because the car knows it's cold already? And based on my heavy foot?
Both. And by "knowing it's cold" refers to the battery pack sensors, not actual outside sensors or weather reports.

Does whisper mode actually work to extend range?
Nope. It all depends on how you drive. The various modes can nudge you to drive in different ways or make it easier to drive more economically (or not), but there's nothing inherent in them that makes it more or less efficient.
 

2010GT

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So, I know Ford recommends 90% for a "full charge." Is there any data to suggest 80% - 85% is safer somehow? I've always kept my smartphone batteries below 80%, and it definitely extends their longevity.
 

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Uhhhhh.... unless you have a particularly short-ranged EV (maybe the SR AWD MME?), I think most can do 100+ miles at highway speeds in the winter easily, even if charged to just 80%. Most EVs have much better charging curves at 80+% compared to the Mach-E, so I don't think this generalization holds true. I make the drive from Huber Heights in Ohio to Gallipolis (last bastion of DCFC before hitting WV) and that's 140 miles. I arrive at Huber Heights with plenty to spare.
How is the charger at Gallipolis? I've contemplated driving the MME through there on way to Williamsburg, VA. Thanks.
 
 







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