The charging infrastructure really sucks.

[Kamuelaflyer]

I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Many many posters here have taken many many road trips. I've taken at least 20 trips long enough to require DC fast charging.

People might want to seek out @ChasingCoral posts and write up about his coast to coast (and back) journey in a Lightning while towing a trailer before they decide the DCFC infrastructure currently prohibits such ventures.

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[Teslaeata]

I've made about a dozen six-hour road trips, and zero of them took 10 hours...

I did 9 hours of driving yesterday and 20mins of that was charging………while I went for a tea & pee stop ?

I was cheating because I did it in UK where I live (don’t tell EgyptianDawg, though ?)

 

[Vulnox]

I did 9 hours of driving yesterday and 20mins of that was charging………while I went for a tea & pee stop ?

I was cheating because I did it in UK where I live (don’t tell EgyptianDawg, though ?)

Yeah if there was a problem hidden under the larger charging availability issue, it's what is available at a lot of the EA stations in the US. I mentioned the trip I took this past weekend and that EA charging stop is a toll service station. They have a few food options, coffee shop, restrooms, vending machines, the works. When I see a lot of YouTube road trips that go to EA stations it's almost always at a WalMart. Hopefully more of the DCFC infrastructure build out will be in locations with more food choices.

 

[corradoborg]

high density and short distances are broadly why passenger railroads work in Europe and not in the US.

The density/distance equation is part of it, for sure. But the main issues impacting passenger rail in the U.S. are that, compared to most of Europe, we're just so much more averse to government-run programs and so much more invested in car culture. Rail gets little attention and even less money.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Mach-E. But if we actually invested in rail in the U.S. the way Europe does, we would have a spectacular high-speed rail network that would make our vast distances seem much smaller. People could use their cars for day trips and travel of less than a few hours, and trains for medium-to-long-distance travel when timelines aren't so rushed as to require flying. The DCFC network would still require improvement from where it is now, but not as much as is currently imagined.

 

[tuminatr]

Had a similar charging experience this weekend. Took a day trip from Minneapolis to Wisconsin Dells. Stopped in Eau Claire and Tomah. EC had two sites totally down and the other two throttled around 50kW. Tomah had all four operational but throttled around 70kW on one station and 50 on another. The other two full. Coming back we had to wait for about 15-20 minutes at each location for a spot.

The midwest definitely needs more capacity. Superchargers will be a great addition for sure.

I'm sure y'all can figure out which network we had to use.

Yes, and the EA station in Tomah makes me feel like I am about to be run over by people entering the Walmart parking lot. Why they put the charging station close to the parking lot entrance is anyone's guess. I didn't realize it was a racetrack to your parking spot at Walmart. They could go to either 6 or 8 stations in Eau Clare, Tomah, and Madison

 

[Maquis]

That's great to know. We like the one at Shangrila near Columbia and there are several in the St Louis area that seem to be fine.

The EA in St. Charles is the only St. Louis area one I use. It can be hit or miss. Lately it’s just been mediocre. Loafs along at 85-90 KW. And there’s almost always at least one ID4 charging to 100%. ?

 

[Maquis]

I didn't realize it was a racetrack to your parking spot at Walmart.

A good number of WalMart regulars dream about being a NASCAR driver. ?

 

[mkhuffman]

The density/distance equation is part of it, for sure. But the main issues impacting passenger rail in the U.S. are that, compared to most of Europe, we're just so much more averse to government-run programs and so much more invested in car culture. Rail gets little attention and even less money.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Mach-E. But if we actually invested in rail in the U.S. the way Europe does, we would have a spectacular high-speed rail network that would make our vast distances seem much smaller. People could use their cars for day trips and travel of less than a few hours, and trains for medium-to-long-distance travel when timelines aren't so rushed as to require flying. The DCFC network would still require improvement from where it is now, but not as much as is currently imagined.

Who is the "we" who should invest in rail transportation? Count me out.

And apparently, count most travelers out because we have plenty of rail lines owned by private companies and it is obviously not profitable to use the rails for people instead of cargo. Even local rail projects are losing money.

The DC Metro must be subsidized by the local taxpayers because not enough people ride it for it to pay for itself. It loses money. It is a crime that taxpayers who can't afford to feed their families have to subsidize a rail project they never use. And you think it will work on a national scale? Why? The government isn't wasting enough of my money already?

 

[PupSideDown]

It would be lovely if that sort of weather data were available on one of our displays ?. We have a compass after all. I've got temperature in two places, why not wind speed and direction? Especially when it is so meaningful for BEVs. I really wonder if the people who design these cars actually drive them.

Great idea. I road trip a lot, so have been using my phone weather app for wind speed/direction info when traveling, but would love that info next to the little temperature display. Also, planning, checking, and double checking is critical to having a stress free trip. Careful planning is especially important when traveling in sparsely populated midwestern, or south eastern states as charging options are not plentiful. Hoping to see improvements in 2024 and going forward as the NEVI plans are implemented.

 

[PupSideDown]

We still plan all road trips, sadly there isn't a GPS that I haven't had issues with when comparing to my planned route and already researched chargers.

We had a situation where the GPS wanted us to charge but we were close enough to home I knew to ignore it and just drive home but the problem was the charger it was having me drive towards was a dealer charger so (level 2) and I know for a fact they turn it off outside of business hours which I believe is ridiculous. The larger problem here though is, if I didn't know and didn't plan and I drove out of our way to go to that charger and it was off, we would most likely be out of range from any other option due to the area and terrain we were in.

Thats scary imo, as the normal user doesn't want to plan all the time and want to rely in their navigation apps or infotainment systems which provide a false sense of security. Plugshare to me is a life line, its the only reason we don't really ever run into problems.

Which GPS nav system were you using? The Ford Connected Navigation? Not challenging your result. Just curious. I have been exclusively using Android Auto for navigation for the past several months, as Ford Navigation was a bit glitchy. Obviously your experience was terrible. Just wondering which system was giving you the poor recommendation.

 

[PupSideDown]

Yeah if there was a problem hidden under the larger charging availability issue, it's what is available at a lot of the EA stations in the US. I mentioned the trip I took this past weekend and that EA charging stop is a toll service station. They have a few food options, coffee shop, restrooms, vending machines, the works. When I see a lot of YouTube road trips that go to EA stations it's almost always at a WalMart. Hopefully more of the DCFC infrastructure build out will be in locations with more food choices.

This. My dream charging station has clean restrooms, nice area to walk our doggos, maybe a picnic area if you aren't interested in fast food. When Walmart squalor is the only EA option, it's a bit tiresome. Also, adding some shelter over the charging stations would be awesome. Trying to get touchscreens to work, which are boiling hot due to direct sun exposure is... challenging. Not to mention standing in pouring rain, hailstorms, blizzards, or whatever to connect to a charger can be a drag.

 

[corradoborg]

Who is the "we" who should invest in rail transportation? Count me out.

And apparently, count most travelers out because we have plenty of rail lines owned by private companies and it is obviously not profitable to use the rails for people instead of cargo. Even local rail projects are losing money.

The DC Metro must be subsidized by the local taxpayers because not enough people ride it for it to pay for itself. It loses money. It is a crime that taxpayers who can't afford to feed their families have to subsidize a rail project they never use. And you think it will work on a national scale? Why? The government isn't wasting enough of my money already?

As I said, taken as a whole, Americans are much more averse to government-run programs. This is specifically because many Americans think that government is supposed to be run like a business and be profitable. Consequently, they are anti-tax at ANY cost.

Most other parts of the world understand that public programs don't work that way. Programs that benefit everyone are SUPPOSED to cost money. Yes, rail usually needs to be subsidized. I'd be happy to have more of my taxes pay for public transportation.

Note that I said "more of my taxes," not "more taxes." You can grumble all you want about how much of your current taxes are wasted. I'd argue that a massive chunk of them absolutely ARE being wasted, but we'll likely disagree on which programs are the wasteful ones. I say that paying for public transit programs are not among them.

 

[tuminatr]

Great idea. I road trip a lot, so have been using my phone weather app for wind speed/direction info when traveling, but would love that info next to the little temperature display. Also, planning, checking, and double checking is critical to having a stress free trip. Careful planning is especially important when traveling in sparsely populated midwestern, or south eastern states as charging options are not plentiful. Hoping to see improvements in 2024 and going forward as the NEVI plans are implemented.

Weather is available in the Mach E including daily, hourly, and the weeks forecast a live radar. Many don't know about it because they only use AA or CP

 

[Maquis]

Weather is available in the Mach E including daily, hourly, and the weeks forecast a live radar. Many don't know about it because they only use AA or CP

I like the weather feature, but it’s missing the second most important piece of information (after temperature) for an EV driver: wind direction and velocity.

 

[bigredx86]

Which GPS nav system were you using? The Ford Connected Navigation? Not challenging your result. Just curious. I have been exclusively using Android Auto for navigation for the past several months, as Ford Navigation was a bit glitchy. Obviously your experience was terrible. Just wondering which system was giving you the poor recommendation.

it was the Ford system which I am a big fan off as I believe it works very well 90% of the time. This is really the only time I really saw it mess up badly when auto selecting a charger.

An it’s not really the infotainment system’s problem, the dealer should have operating times listed if that’s possible.

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