NorCal to SoCal: there and back again in about 900 miles (Jan 2024)

[EVCheese]

thanks for the writeup

since you posted range, i wonder if you noted the percentage climate control. eg, what could you have saved if you could deal with the annoyed Passengers

Fan was on speed 1 or 2, A/C was on, heat was on. We turned it off sometimes. We used the heated seats sometimes.

On the way back fan+A/C were on maybe half the time---it was semi-warm in the cabin.

I'm sure if you are in a cold climate and you have full climate controls going and it's raining outside your range will probably not be great.

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[bbulkow]

Fan was on speed 1 or 2, A/C was on, heat was on. We turned it off sometimes. We used the heated seats sometimes.

On the way back fan+A/C were on maybe half the time---it was semi-warm in the cabin.

I'm sure if you are in a cold climate and you have full climate controls going and it's raining outside your range will probably not be great.

I bet you spent 10 to 15% of your kwh on climate control, which might not have been enough to save you a whole charge, but maybe.

Those are the numbers i get in California in January with those settings.

 

[Avelli]

We did Bay Area to Avila Beach last summer, and had very similar experiences.

On the way down, we stopped at the Ford Nav recommended charger in King City... which wasn't one I recognized, nor did the car. I tried swiping my credit card to no avail, so we had to drive off to find another. Too bad, as there were some interesting lunch options in the same parking lot.

We ended up relocating to a known quantity- Chargepoint DCFC! Only it was in a strip mall behind an Auto Parts store and Safeway, next to one of those "not-for-charity" donation bins, with some very sketchy folks milling about. We spent the whole time sitting in the car, as it was packed with luggage and kids' gaming devices.

We arrived at Lighthouse Suites in Avila Beach with a big surprise- we didn't suffer the normal stress-induced exhaustion typically encountered on long trips! Plus, thanks to destination charging at the hotel, we didn't have to worry about finding a nearby DCFC to tour the area while we unpacked and hit the pool & beach.

On the way back, we hit Gilroy, which was a more passable experience, as we were able to stop at an In-n-Out while charging. The only downside was the estimated charging time- I expected a shorter time charging than actual, but it was within spec (I was hoping for 30 minutes, it was closer to 40).

It was far enough to experiment with (and get over) range anxiety. It was enough to let me know I'd rock this car as a road-tripper (with proper planning, of course).

Kudos to you for going the distance, with luggage in tow. It makes me comfortable knowing the trip to Disneyland is very doable (just don't tell my kids- they'll want to go every weekend!)

 

[jksu]

i've done LA to SF and back with my std range mach-e.

and while the actual drive (bluecruise, quiet ride) is nice compared to ICE, and charging was doable (EA stops 3x in each direction), i am used do doing the same drive with 1 stop with the ICE that's 15-20min tops (i eat fast). so basically EV charging added at > 1.5hours (30+ min/stop) in each direction.

that's 3-4hours extra time. for a short weekend visit to mom, it's not worth it to me (and i got free EA charging).

so until i get a longer range EV with faster charging and there are more chargers (making it possible to do 1-2 stops since i'll be able to run down closer to 10% and have a charger on the route), i, unfortunately will continue to use the ICE for visiting mom.

i expected this when buying my std range...didn't think getting the larger battery was worth it for essentially a commuter car. the ICE minivan would still be our roadtrip car. my experiment of trying the mach-e for a road trip confirmed it -- that it will work fine in a pinch, but it's not an ideal experience.

now if we get a lucid gravity...

 

[bbulkow]

that's 3-4hours extra time. for a short weekend visit to mom, it's not worth it to me (and i got free EA charging).

Seems fair enough. There's a big difference between a 50kw charger delivering 35kw, or a 200kw charger delivering 71 kw (which are the designed correctly operating values because of voltage limits), and getting a full 110kw, but I'll assume you know all that and were getting good charges at full-rate chargers. I got an ER because not only do you get more distance between stops, you get faster charging. I suspect my EV time would be less, but I don't have numbers - it's probably a 20 to 25% decrease in wait time, and maybe I can get 2 stops instead of 3 (especially when we have superchargers and it'll make more sense to cut it closer....)

I don't make a lot of road trips, when I got to LA I fly, which is 20 mins to the airport, 45 minutes of safety time, 1 hour in the air, 15 minutes in the far airport, so totes up to 2 to 3 hours - although depends on time from airport to whever I'm going in LA. Drove down once when I needed a car there, was pre-MachE, going to avoid that again because even 3-4 hours each way on the road is a bit much.

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