TDAnthony
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Trevor
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2021
- Threads
- 4
- Messages
- 48
- Reaction score
- 95
- Location
- Philadelphia, PA
- Vehicles
- Mach-E Premium ER 4x
- Thread starter
- #1
Electrifying Journey: Our Cross Country Road Trip
As my family and I prepared to move back to California after eight great years in Philadelphia, my wife and I saw this as an opportunity to fulfill a long-standing bucket list item – a cross country road trip. As our 2021 Extended Range AWD Mustang Mach-E is our only vehicle, we were going to do the trip on electrons. Our mission was twofold: to enjoy the beauty of the American landscape and to prove that a cross country trip in an EV is a completely reasonable thing to do in 2023.
Preparations and Route Planning:
The key to making our journey a success was planning. We charted each day in A Better Route Planner and then loaded our desired path into the Mach-E’s GPS using FordPass. I remain impressed with the in-car GPS as it acted as a reliable companion, providing range estimations, preconditioning, and the flexibility to adjust charging stations on the fly. To complement this, we checked on PlugShare before arriving allowing us to stay informed about charging options and community-sourced feedback. We also used a web-based tool (new to me) called Furkot - it wasn’t as intuitive as something like Google maps, but it is a lot more powerful for planning multi-day, multi-stop road trips. I recommend - just give yourself some time to learn it.
Apprehensions:
Before embarking on our trip, I had some apprehensions:
Charging Stops and Infrastructure:
With an average of approximately 500 miles driven each day, we stopped 2-3 times a day to charge, stretch, use the restroom and get bites to eat. Electrify America stations became our primary choice, and although we occasionally had to switch to faster unitat a given site, the overall charging infrastructure worked. Meeting other EV drivers on similar road trips (like the couple in a Kia returning from Quebec to Portland, Oregon) added a sense of community to our journey. At many stops the car was ready to go before we were, meaning that in all but a few cases charging did not add to the time we would have otherwise taken.
The Journey Unfolds:
Setting out on July 1, we left Philadelphia behind and made a detour to Manhattan to celebrate our wedding anniversary. While there, we enjoyed the Back to the Future The Musical and indulged in delicious cuisine.
On July 3, we took a hard left-turn west, straight to Cuyahoga National Park in Ohio, reveling in its natural beauty and going on a hikes before heading to our hotel.
July 4 took us from Stow, OH to the enchanting town of Vermillion, OH, nestled along the shore of Lake Erie. From there, we made our way to Indiana Dunes National Park, where we were surprised to find pristine white sands on the shore of Lake Michigan (one could almost trick themselves into believing they were on a beach in Hawai’i… almost). The day ended with a fireworks display in Joliet, IN, after which we charged our Mach-E overnight.
The following day, July 5, we took a short drive to Starved Rock State Park in Deer Park, IL, hiking and enjoying nature. From there, we embarked on a 500-mile marathon to Grand Island, NE, staying at the Quality Inn & Conference Center, which conveniently hosted an Electrify America charging station in their parking lot (not sure I would recommend the hotel though).
On July 6 we left Grand Island, NE and pointed our GPS toward Boulder, CO. We ran at a fairly low mi/KwH due to the high speed of the open roads. But that didn’t really hurt us as there was charging stops appropriately placed along I-80. Dinner on Pearl Street was great and we had a lovely time catching up with my wife’s college friend.
On July 7 the grandeur of the Rockies along I-70 and Colorado National Monument left us speechless. Not to be outdone, the captivating beauty of Eastern Utah kept us enchanted. As evening approached, we charged up at an Electrify America station in Scipio, UT, ready to conquer the Loneliest Road in America - Highway 50. (Note to anyone staying in Scipio - there is only a Subway and a Dairy Queen in town and they are both attached to gas stations… both restaurants close at 7PM… so, we found ourselves eating chips and salsa for dinner. (Hey, in our defense we had planned out mostly everything else.)
July 8 was a big surprise, as the reputation of the Loneliest Road in America preceded it. However, the state of Nevada has embraced the nickname, turning emptiness into charm. There were well-placed DC Fast Chargers along the route, (primarily run by the Shell Recharge network, which we hadn’t used prior to this trip). All the chargers worked fine, although they were a bit slower than what we had experienced in more populated areas (~50kWh) The Mach-E handled the journey admirably, and we spent the night in the historic mining town of Eureka, NV.
On July 9, we set our sights on home - the San Francisco Bay Area. After three charging stops on our last day, we triumphantly completed our 3,330-mile journey, cherishing the memories and the sense of accomplishment that comes with ticking off a bucket list item.
Reflections:
Our cross country road trip in our Mach-E was a testament to the progress of EV technology and charging infrastructure. Planning was the backbone of our stress-free journey, proving that with the right approach, a cross country EV road trip is easily achievable. We would encourage anyone with a similar bucket-list item to electrify the adventure, it makes the vast beauty of the United States, even more inspiring. We are grateful to be home and close to our families and our Mustang Mach-E helped us build unforgettable memories getting there.
Trip log below Map and Pictures
The route
Getting some stretching in, along with some electrons
Indiana Dunes National Park
Colorado National Monument
Charging at the Border Inn Casino on Highway 50, on the Nevada-Utah border.
Charging in Eureka, NV
The final view of the tripometer
The final resting place of many-a-bug
Trip Log:
mostly filled in, has a few blanks here and there that I might come back to and complete
As my family and I prepared to move back to California after eight great years in Philadelphia, my wife and I saw this as an opportunity to fulfill a long-standing bucket list item – a cross country road trip. As our 2021 Extended Range AWD Mustang Mach-E is our only vehicle, we were going to do the trip on electrons. Our mission was twofold: to enjoy the beauty of the American landscape and to prove that a cross country trip in an EV is a completely reasonable thing to do in 2023.
Preparations and Route Planning:
The key to making our journey a success was planning. We charted each day in A Better Route Planner and then loaded our desired path into the Mach-E’s GPS using FordPass. I remain impressed with the in-car GPS as it acted as a reliable companion, providing range estimations, preconditioning, and the flexibility to adjust charging stations on the fly. To complement this, we checked on PlugShare before arriving allowing us to stay informed about charging options and community-sourced feedback. We also used a web-based tool (new to me) called Furkot - it wasn’t as intuitive as something like Google maps, but it is a lot more powerful for planning multi-day, multi-stop road trips. I recommend - just give yourself some time to learn it.
Apprehensions:
Before embarking on our trip, I had some apprehensions:
- Unexpected Delays: I worried about the possibility of unforeseen delays, whether caused by vehicle issues or other factors, which could potentially lead to missing hotel reservations or disrupting itinerary.
- Car Issues: While our Mustang Mach-E has been incredibly reliable, with only minor software-related challenges experienced (stuff talked about at nauseam on this forum), the fear of a HVJB failure was in the back of my mind.
- Charging Reliability: The concern about encountering an out of service charging station leaving us with insufficient charge to reach the next (or previous) charging point.
- Highway 50 in Nevada: Known as the Loneliest Road in America, this remote highway presented an intriguing yet slightly worrisome challenge. ABRP did not give me a lot of confidence about the availability of charging stations along the route in such a sparsely populated area.
Charging Stops and Infrastructure:
With an average of approximately 500 miles driven each day, we stopped 2-3 times a day to charge, stretch, use the restroom and get bites to eat. Electrify America stations became our primary choice, and although we occasionally had to switch to faster unitat a given site, the overall charging infrastructure worked. Meeting other EV drivers on similar road trips (like the couple in a Kia returning from Quebec to Portland, Oregon) added a sense of community to our journey. At many stops the car was ready to go before we were, meaning that in all but a few cases charging did not add to the time we would have otherwise taken.
The Journey Unfolds:
Setting out on July 1, we left Philadelphia behind and made a detour to Manhattan to celebrate our wedding anniversary. While there, we enjoyed the Back to the Future The Musical and indulged in delicious cuisine.
On July 3, we took a hard left-turn west, straight to Cuyahoga National Park in Ohio, reveling in its natural beauty and going on a hikes before heading to our hotel.
July 4 took us from Stow, OH to the enchanting town of Vermillion, OH, nestled along the shore of Lake Erie. From there, we made our way to Indiana Dunes National Park, where we were surprised to find pristine white sands on the shore of Lake Michigan (one could almost trick themselves into believing they were on a beach in Hawai’i… almost). The day ended with a fireworks display in Joliet, IN, after which we charged our Mach-E overnight.
The following day, July 5, we took a short drive to Starved Rock State Park in Deer Park, IL, hiking and enjoying nature. From there, we embarked on a 500-mile marathon to Grand Island, NE, staying at the Quality Inn & Conference Center, which conveniently hosted an Electrify America charging station in their parking lot (not sure I would recommend the hotel though).
On July 6 we left Grand Island, NE and pointed our GPS toward Boulder, CO. We ran at a fairly low mi/KwH due to the high speed of the open roads. But that didn’t really hurt us as there was charging stops appropriately placed along I-80. Dinner on Pearl Street was great and we had a lovely time catching up with my wife’s college friend.
On July 7 the grandeur of the Rockies along I-70 and Colorado National Monument left us speechless. Not to be outdone, the captivating beauty of Eastern Utah kept us enchanted. As evening approached, we charged up at an Electrify America station in Scipio, UT, ready to conquer the Loneliest Road in America - Highway 50. (Note to anyone staying in Scipio - there is only a Subway and a Dairy Queen in town and they are both attached to gas stations… both restaurants close at 7PM… so, we found ourselves eating chips and salsa for dinner. (Hey, in our defense we had planned out mostly everything else.)
July 8 was a big surprise, as the reputation of the Loneliest Road in America preceded it. However, the state of Nevada has embraced the nickname, turning emptiness into charm. There were well-placed DC Fast Chargers along the route, (primarily run by the Shell Recharge network, which we hadn’t used prior to this trip). All the chargers worked fine, although they were a bit slower than what we had experienced in more populated areas (~50kWh) The Mach-E handled the journey admirably, and we spent the night in the historic mining town of Eureka, NV.
On July 9, we set our sights on home - the San Francisco Bay Area. After three charging stops on our last day, we triumphantly completed our 3,330-mile journey, cherishing the memories and the sense of accomplishment that comes with ticking off a bucket list item.
Reflections:
Our cross country road trip in our Mach-E was a testament to the progress of EV technology and charging infrastructure. Planning was the backbone of our stress-free journey, proving that with the right approach, a cross country EV road trip is easily achievable. We would encourage anyone with a similar bucket-list item to electrify the adventure, it makes the vast beauty of the United States, even more inspiring. We are grateful to be home and close to our families and our Mustang Mach-E helped us build unforgettable memories getting there.
Trip log below Map and Pictures
The route
Getting some stretching in, along with some electrons
Indiana Dunes National Park
Colorado National Monument
Charging at the Border Inn Casino on Highway 50, on the Nevada-Utah border.
Charging in Eureka, NV
The final view of the tripometer
The final resting place of many-a-bug
Trip Log:
mostly filled in, has a few blanks here and there that I might come back to and complete
Sponsored
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