You can't road-trip in an EV...hold my beer

[Mach1E]

Yup. Primary care provider here. Driving an EV is healthy. Much better for our lungs, and our circulation. Everyone should stop every 2-4 hours to get out and stretch their legs, regardless of what they're driving, because deep vein thromboses are no fun at all. Some may find driving an EV long distances more stressful, and they probably shouldn't do it then.

Personally, I find it less stressful in part because of the built in slightly longer rest breaks to clear my head and move around, and in part because I know what kind of issues I may run into, and know how to calculate probable range and find decent charging stops on the fly. I had to cat nap last time I drove my Prius from Ohio to Maine, because the monotony of the NY Thruway with minimal stops was making me sleepy, and I actually haven't had to cat nap on charging stops yet, even doing that same drive straight through on multiple occasions. No, it's not as fast as fossil fuel cars, and doing everything else I do while road tripping my Mach-E is not for everyone, but it works for me, and I think it's worth the drawbacks to drive an EV as my primary car, and have my husband have his own EV as well. I recognize we are a bit crazy to go full EV in the US with required road tripping a few times a year at minimum, but we love our EVs, and hope that our pushing the limits of the infrastructure will help make it easier for future EV drivers, as infrastructure grows to fill demand.

I always stop every 2-4 hours driving an ICE…….for 10-30 minutes (depending on fuel, food and bathroom needs).

You are claiming a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist.

Definitely agree on the lungs though.

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[1CalifCowboy]

We drive the Fresno ca to Phenioz az to visit grandkids. 1200 miles round trip, 4 charging stops each way. I get a kick out of reading the complaints about the time it takes to charge,
Hey, black out the back windows, climb into the backseat and enjoy.

If the Mustangs a rocking, don't come knocking

 

[21st Century Pony]

Wow, you are really stretching the argument now. ?

So now it’s healthier to drive an EV because it makes you stop more often?

Ask the same doctor about your previous comment that “stress is better for you.” ?

Not "more ofter" but for longer when we do stop.

Umm, perhaps you could choose to ask any doctor about what makes our lives richer.... stress in non-catastrophic qantities is necessary for development and health. The issue is of course the degree and length of stress.

 

[Mach1E]

Not "more ofter" but for longer when we do stop.

Umm, perhaps you could choose to ask any doctor about what makes our lives richer.... stress in non-catastrophic qantities is necessary for development and health. The issue is of course the degree and length of stress.

Nah, the issue is that it takes longer to get places when you take an EV. That’s bad.

You can try to sugar coat it with stories of cat naps, weak bladders and some idea that people will start doing yoga and push ups while charging.

Reality is it just plain takes you longer and most people will be eating snacks and playing candy crush while they wait.

People aren’t going to all of a sudden start some new healthy habit because they have to wait for their car to charge.

I would love to hear which doctor prescribed more stress in your life. That would be a first. ?

 

[21st Century Pony]

Nah, the issue is that it takes longer to get places when you take an EV. That’s bad.

You can try to sugar coat it with stories of cat naps, weak bladders and some idea that people will start doing yoga and push ups while charging.

Reality is it just plain takes you longer and most people will be eating snacks and playing candy crush while they wait.

People aren’t going to all of a sudden start some new healthy habit because they have to wait for their car to charge.

I would love to hear which doctor prescribed more stress in your life. That would be a first. ?

Repeat: Umm, perhaps you could choose to ask any doctor about what makes our lives richer.... stress in non-catastrophic qantities is necessary for development and health. The issue is of course the degree and length of stress.

 

[Mach1E]

Repeat: Umm, perhaps you could choose to ask any doctor about what makes our lives richer.... stress in non-catastrophic qantities is necessary for development and health. The issue is of course the degree and length of stress.

No need to ask my multiple family members who are doctors that silly question.

Not because the answer is right or wrong, but because it has nothing to do with taking an EV on a road trip.

Are you honestly suggesting that added stress of range anxiety is healthy and a reason to drive an EV long distances? ?

I may ask them just to see their reaction-

“Hey some guy on the forum wanted me to ask you if added non-catastrophic stress is healthy so would you tell your patients to buy an electric car to add some more healthy stress to their lives?”

 

[Hammered]

Yup. Primary care provider here. Driving an EV is healthy. Much better for our lungs, and our circulation. Everyone should stop every 2-4 hours to get out and stretch their legs, regardless of what they're driving, because deep vein thromboses are no fun at all. Some may find driving an EV long distances more stressful, and they probably shouldn't do it then.

It's all fun and games until an old shitbox pulls up next to you and the windows / recirc couldn't come on fast enough.

My F150 seats massage, does that count? Plenty of room to change seating positions as well. In the GTPE the seat commands THE seating position. Hell it's enough that I toss the pistol in the cup holder if the drive is longer than 10 minutes. The kidney doesn't appreciate it.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

We drive the Fresno ca to Phenioz az to visit grandkids. 1200 miles round trip, 4 charging stops each way. I get a kick out of reading the complaints about the time it takes to charge,

I do a similar run a couple times a year (N.AZ to the Redding area; 2000 miles round trip) and I go to Pasadena every couple of months for work and for visiting family. Since we got the Mustang, these drives are far, far more pleasant.

The last time we didn't take the Mustang on a roadtrip to CA is the last time we won't take the Mustang (or another EV) unless there's a very good reason. We were driving the Tacoma and ended up running on empty half a day away from home because two freeway gas stations in a row were over-filled (lines out the stations and backed onto the freeway off ramps) with angry vacationers getting in each others' faces. We skipped the first one, tried the second but high-tailed it out when we heard angry yelling through our closed windows. We ended up going uphill on the freeway with only 20 miles estimated range for a 30 mile drive to the next station. We had to drop our speed to about 45 mph on the freeway just to make it.

For the regular road trips I do (I-40, I-17, I-10, I-8, CA 99, I-15, I-5, etc) the Mustang is a far nicer, calmer, less stressful drive. The Tacoma is louder, less comfortable, much more expensive, has low range (12 mpg * 21 gal = 252 miles max range, with a realistic range of less than 190 miles and around 100-150 miles if I'm towing). I have to stop at least three times on my way to Pasadena with the Tacoma, but can get there only stopping twice with the Mustang, if I feel the need. Instead, I usually stop for dinner since I always leave late morning or early afternoon.

 

[Mach1E]

This thread is hilarious.

- 12 MPG Tacos
- Taxi drivers dying because they sit in a car all day (when most of us sit in an office chair all day)
- Stress is good (BTW, what is non-catastrophic stress?)
- A one-off ICEV holiday road trip story about backed up gas stations
- Screwing in the back of an MME at a charging station
- Waiting for an EV to recharge for 40 minutes to recover 80% of its range

When you have to grasp for straws to try to make up things to make something bad sound good, this is what we end up with.

At most these are all just silver linings.

 

[1CalifCowboy]

There are numerous problems with EV vehicles. I would have been the cowboy standing at the blacksmith chewing tobacco and claiming those things will never replace the horse. I am the last person anyone would have thought would buy an EV Vehicle.
But with all the problems we are having with the EV, we have a chance to make a difference. By using these Forums to complain or emails and communications with Ford to let them know what needs to be addressed. Be it charging times or vehicle range, our voices can make a difference.

I don't want to be the last guy in line waiting for whale oil to lite my lamps, we all know where that got us.

Just saying.

Someone hand me a beer, let's go saddle a horse.

 

[Mach1E]

There are numerous problems with EV vehicles. I would have been the cowboy standing at the blacksmith chewing tobacco and claiming those things will never replace the horse. I am the last person anyone would have thought would buy an EV Vehicle.
But with all the problems we are having with the EV, we have a chance to make a difference. By using these Forums to complain or emails and communications with Ford to let them know what needs to be addressed. Be it charging times or vehicle range, our voices can make a difference.

I don't want to be the last guy in line waiting for whale oil to lite my lamps, we all know where that got us.

Just saying.

Except that BEVs aren’t new. They’ve been around just as long as gas powered cars.

And the same problem over 100 years ago is the same problem today- the battery.

If anything, we are still all clutching to our horses and oil lamps. This is all super old tech.

We need a better fuel source than gasoline and batteries to power our cars in the future.

100+ years of battery innovation and they still kinda suck- heavy, expensive, slow to refuel and take lots of rare metals that are hard to mine.

I don’t think batteries are the wave of the future as much as they are clinging to our past mistakes.

Hydrogen fuel cells for example are more thinking of the future than stupid old batteries.

 

[Fremont Kid]

True statement.!!!!!
50 miles to empty warning is the one that catches their attention.

This is all good discussion. However...most miles are driven w/in 25-30 miles of where a person lives - regardless of ICE or EV vehicle. The only issue is whether EVs are appropriate for long trips.
I like that many MME owners have posted how they have driven long distances. However, this does not mean the same convenience as long trips driving ICEs. Why? Because the ICE infrastructure developed over more than 100 years, while the EV infrastructure is still in infancy. So, just choose which vehicle can get you from point A to points B-Z. This will undoubtedly expand during the next 10-100 years.
Go drivers go!

 

[Nikos]

This is all good discussion. However...most miles are driven w/in 25-30 miles of where a person lives - regardless of ICE or EV vehicle. The only issue is whether EVs are appropriate for long trips.
I like that many MME owners have posted how they have driven long distances. However, this does not mean the same convenience as long trips driving ICEs. Why? Because the ICE infrastructure developed over more than 100 years, while the EV infrastructure is still in infancy. So, just choose which vehicle can get you from point A to points B-Z. This will undoubtedly expand during the next 10-100 years.
Go drivers go!

I agree. Great points that all of us are aware of. ICE infrastructure is still getting built and expanded even today.
The reality is, this is my opinion, EV charging infrastructure is like raising two kids. One by Tesla, which has given it all the resources that it needs to flourish, and the other kid raised by numerous entities with different goals of how to make that kid succeed.
Tesla took care of their own, and now they are ready to take care the rest of us who are willing to switch to their network. By the way, I am ready for that network, also. The rest of the industry is trying to latch to any vehicle manufacturer by signing disclosure agreements, memorandums, wish lists with open dates of some kind of completion, so they can convince their customers to buy their BEVs.
True what you said. Automobile manufacturers made the vehicles, oil companies pump, transport, refine and distribute their products, and users consume the fuels that they need to power their vehicles.
No wonder Tesla had to fight an uphill battle in the beginning. Remember, every automaker laughed and wished for their demise. They even laughed at the prospects of building your own charging network around the world.
Tesla succeeded, the rest are trying to figure it out, still now.
On top of that you get the States involved in utilizing and building charging networks utilizing Infrastructure Bill money, and you will see mediocrity at grandiose levels.
We, BEV users have to prevail now, so the red headed step child, DCFC, can grow and stand next to the ICE infrastructure. Tricky road ahead.

 

[Mirak]

Let me give you guys a fun example of the logistical bullsh*t I deal with at least once per month with the Mach E as my only car.

I've got two boys with soccer games in Lee's Summit, Missouri later this month. Games are mid-afternoon, so this is a one-day out-and-back trip.

I live in Wichita. So before I can do this road trip, I have to get out my sea charts, sextant, (or the modern day equivalent: plugshare.com and calculator) and spend about an hour doing some MATH!

• 188mi from my home to the soccer complex. At 2.2mi/kWh (a reasonable estimate given weight, highway speed of 75mph, February temps, and praying to Neptune there is not a strong headwind), that will eat up 85.5kWh of my 89kWh hour battery.
• There is no DCFC within 20mi of the soccer facility. Which means I can't head straight to the fields, or I'm STUCK.
• So, I need to make a stop along the way. Except there are no stops along the 1-35 corridor between Wichita and the KC metro (yes, I know there is one in Matfield Green, but that doesn't help me on the way up to KC, because my battery will still be 80%+ by the time I reach that stop).
• Ok, so that means I've got to stop at either the EVgo at Oak Park Mall (which is always a freaking zoo on the weekends and these chargers are rarely available), or I've got to stop at the EVgo at Berger Convenience (these chargers are usually open, but actually take me nearly 5mi out of the way to the west in the opposite direction of the fields). Those are my only two viable DCFC options.
• Either one I chose, it'll take me about 175mi to get there, or about 80kWh, which means I'll limp in with about 9-10% SOC. I'll then need to spend a good 40-45 minutes charging from 10% to a whopping 90%. Why 90%? Well...
• After charging, I've gotta drive about 20mi to the east to get to the fields. Now I'm back down to 80% SOC. And less if I need to grab a bite to eat for the boys between games.
• And why do I need to be at 80% SOC at the fields? Because after the games, I've gotta drive 143mi to reach that Matfield Green charger, which will take about 75% SOC. Just to top off a bit to make it back home.

Oh, and this assumes the chargers I need are working. As of today, they are.

I'm happy some of you guys have all the time in the world to plan routes and "stretch your legs" along road trips. No normal person wants to travel this way. My lifestyle requires that I friggin get to where I need to be. And DCFC remains a MASSIVE PAIN for the trips I need to take.

That's two charging stops, and maybe a third if I'm unlucky, plus a ton of planning and praying, for a trip I could easily do on one tank of friggin gas.

 

[Otto klub]

Let me give you guys a fun example of the logistical bullsh*t I deal with at least once per month with the Mach E as my only car.

I've got two boys with soccer games in Lee's Summit, Missouri later this month. Games are mid-afternoon, so this is a one-day out-and-back trip.

I live in Wichita. So before I can do this road trip, I have to get out my sea charts, sextant, (or the modern day equivalent: plugshare.com and calculator) and spend about an hour doing some MATH!

• 188mi from my home to the soccer complex. At 2.2mi/kWh (a reasonable estimate given weight, highway speed of 75mph, February temps, and praying to Neptune there is not a strong headwind), that will eat up 85.5kWh of my 89kWh hour battery.
• There is no DCFC within 20mi of the soccer facility. Which means I can't head straight to the fields, or I'm STUCK.
• So, I need to make a stop along the way. Except there are no stops along the 1-35 corridor between Wichita and the KC metro (yes, I know there is one in Matfield Green, but that doesn't help me on the way up to KC, because my battery will still be 80%+ by the time I reach that stop).
• Ok, so that means I've got to stop at either the EVgo at Oak Park Mall (which is always a freaking zoo on the weekends and these chargers are rarely available), or I've got to stop at the EVgo at Berger Convenience (these chargers are usually open, but actually take me nearly 5mi out of the way to the west in the opposite direction of the fields). Those are my only two viable DCFC options.
• Either one I chose, it'll take me about 175mi to get there, or about 80kWh, which means I'll limp in with about 9-10% SOC. I'll then need to spend a good 40-45 minutes charging from 10% to a whopping 90%. Why 90%? Well...
• After charging, I've gotta drive about 20mi to the east to get to the fields. Now I'm back down to 80% SOC. And less if I need to grab a bite to eat for the boys between games.
• And why do I need to be at 80% SOC at the fields? Because after the games, I've gotta drive 143mi to reach that Matfield Green charger, which will take about 75% SOC. Just to top off a bit to make it back home.

Oh, and this assumes the chargers I need are working. As of today, they are.

I'm happy some of you guys have all the time in the world to plan routes and "stretch your legs" along road trips. No normal person wants to travel this way. My lifestyle requires that I friggin get to where I need to be. And DCFC remains a MASSIVE PAIN for the trips I need to take.

That's two charging stops, and maybe a third if I'm unlucky, plus a ton of planning and praying, for a trip I could easily do on one tank of friggin gas.

Well said. Making the same trip Thursday ( Lenexa Ks) . I think most that post on here are big city folk that have a difficult time believing that places like the flint hills that we will drive through exist.

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