Mach-e for Road Trips just sucks. Not even close. More expensive than gas

[Mach1E]

Most people roadtrip less than 5% of their usage. Sounds like you do less than 1% roadtrips. But then they let a tiny percentage of their usage overly impact their purchase. Same way everyone buys a massive truck in suburbia, because they will MAYBE need to tow something or fill up their empty truck bed 1x per year.

Whether it’s 1% or 5%, some people (like myself) never want to have the EV road trip experience.

I hate driving long distances. So much so that the thought of adding 30% to the time it takes to drive long distances is so bad that I will NEVER road trip in my Mach E.

My warranty is almost up and I used zero of the free kWh Ford gave me. Mission accomplished.

Driving an EV on a road trip is like purposefully taking a road that you know will have a traffic jam.

I prefer to avoid that experience altogether. We take my wife’s Lincoln.

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[Sikkun]

Driving an EV on a road trip is like purposefully taking a road that you know will have a traffic jam.

You must have an amazing bladder and hunger control if stopping every 4-5 hours is akin to being stuck in traffic jams.

 

[Tampamike]

I've already done 200-300 mile trips and had no problems whatsoever, especially blissful using Tesla Supercharger stations.

Keith, that was me being sarcastic -“ TIC“ - tongue-in-cheek. I was trolling the nattering nabobs of negativism above. Me, I road trip regularly and enjoy it. It’s gettin better lately too!

 

[WallyS56]

Keith, that was me being sarcastic -“ TIC“ - tongue-in-cheek. I was trolling the nattering nabobs of negativism above. Me, I road trip regularly and enjoy it. It’s gettin better lately too!

Agree completely. I’ve driven my classic cars cross country and that’s a much bigger task.

 

[EtotheO]

I used Plug and Charge at a a Tesla Supercharger and it worked seamlessly.

Thanks, but we're you using Tesla subscription program and got the discount using plug and charge?, that's what I'm trying to determine. It appears you need to disable it and activate the charger thru the Tesla app to get the subscription discount.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

$50 and 90 minutes to charge is a deterrent to EV adoption when I spend roughly the same amount on gas and it only takes five minutes.

Maybe it would help if we awarded finishers medals for those who plan and finish a coast to coast EV trip, because on Earth-616 we currently have to plan and stuff — no matter how much we dislike it.

 

[Sikkun]

Thanks, but we're you using Tesla subscription program and got the discount using plug and charge?, that's what I'm trying to determine. It appears you need to disable it and activate the charger thru the Tesla app to get the subscription discount.

You do not need to disable plug and charge.

You DO need to enable/start charges with the Tesla app to get the discount.

 

[Mach1E]

You must have an amazing bladder and hunger control if stopping every 4-5 hours is akin to being stuck in traffic jams.

You must have other issues if a bathroom break takes 45 minutes. ?

I pack a cooler of snacks for long road trips.

Not sure why people try to change the narrative to make frequent long stops sound like a good thing.

Did you ever stop every 2 hours for a 45 minute break when you drove a gas car long distances? EV on the highway is stopping every 2 hours.

Back in college I spent 8 hours on the highway to go back home. The trip would take 8 1/2 hours.

Exactly mid way, stopped once for food, gas and bathroom. Took 30 min total for all 3.

Same trip in an EV? Yikes. Would add 3 hours to the total trip time.

 

[Sikkun]

EV on the highway is stopping every 2 hours.

I have personally done multiple times:

1 stop 8 hour trip to Ohio.
2 stops 10 hour trip to FL.

Not really sure why your stopping every 2 hours in an EV. Driving over 100mph? More like stoping every 4-5 hours. Which means easily getting a 8 hour trip in with one meal stop…barely adding anytime compared to my ICE.

Maybe not if you live in arctic tundra.

Your 8 hour trip in 8 and a half?

Make it 8hr 45 min and I literally did that over Labor Day.

Add 3 hour? What did you buy the super extra extra small range battery?

Your range estimates are more like a Nissan Leaf than a Mach E and certainly not a ER Mach E.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

What did you buy the super extra extra small range battery?

Thanks for the chuckle.

AAA battery instead of the D cell the rest of us have.

 

[Mustangor]

After 30k, I finally did my first road trip in my Mach-e (Houston to Dallas and back, leave Friday, back Saturday)

253 miles. Cost was $0.14 at my house, and $0.56 at each of 3 EA stops I had to make. Total cost $48. 133 kWh used. Efficiency was 1.9 - wow.
Stopped twice in Ennis, TX Walmart - 3 of 4 chargers out of service - had to wait for the 1 working one. Total time 75 minutes.
On the way home, had to wait again for the 1 working charger, total wait time 90 minutes.
Third stop was a little better (Huntsville), 3 of 4 working, but 1 was 30kWhr only ... I got the high speed, wait 20 minutes.

If I drive my F150, range is 550 miles, so NO stops, and gas at US$2.60 a gallon, cost is $43 - $5 LESS than the EV.

Just wow - I get it why people don't want to buy EVs. I am lucky, it's my 2nd car, and I love my Mach-e for getting around town, but these Public Chargers are a joke.

Peace

It looks to me your complains are more about the charging network than the car itself. I live in France and just finished a +1000km road trip without any issue whatsoever. With a constant speed of 120km/h I get 20 kwh per 100km (do the maths) ensuring a smooth trip with only 3 stops. Charging at Ionity Network charging stations, price is about 30cents Euro (35cents $) per kw with the one year free subscription I got with the Mustang. Total cost is way lower than a gasoline car even with DC charge. And I'm not even talking about the cost of charging at home (around 10cent per kw). For me, my MME is better than all previous gasoline cars I had before and I'll never go back to an ICE car.

 

[Vulnox]

Okay, but, what if you can't charge at home? And let's go apple to apples and use a Ford Escape instead of an F150. The Escape is the same size as the Mach E. The 2.0 EcoBoost gets 27 MPG EPA average. A 420 mile range, so two 5 minute fuel stops, assuming he doesn't start with a full fuel tank.

I don't understand the point of your response. I was responding to a poster that can and does charge at home and you counter me by bringing up hypotheticals. What if you had a Prius that gets 60 MPG? What if gas was free? What now hotshot?

That isn't what we were talking about. The OP has an F-150 and a Mach-e. The OP also responded later and all was well, you don't need to try and start fights two days later with hypothetical situations I don't even disagree with. If you can't charge at home, AT ALL, like not even standard household outlet, then owning an EV is legitimately tough and likely not cost beneficial. I never had an opinion otherwise. I think it's important we push for condos and apartment complexes to have EV charging along with strict rules and enforcement on ICEing and charger camping.

So, no argument from me there. If we couldn't charge at home at all, we also wouldn't have an EV. But that wasn't the situation the OP was initially discussing and also not what I was addressing in my response.

 

[DennisD]

Ok fellas, y'all right - my math sucks - here is the fixed numbers.

506 miles, 2.4 efficiency, $89 (70 kWh at my home @14 cents)
F150 would have cost $88 at 15mpg.

I drove most of the trip at 75, some at 70 and some at 80.

And yes, i got 500 kWr free from Ford, so I didn't pay anything for EA, but I am figuring it for when that's run out. Although I don't think it will, since damn, that's expensive. And yes, i guess i could subscribe to EA, but since i got 30k without them, well...

I ordered my Tesla convertor months ago - still waiting.

If you would have driven the speed limit, I am guessing you may have arrived at your destination sooner than driving over the speed limit.

Going the speed limit would have meant getting better mileage thus fewer stops.

I didn't do the Math but in any event, I know for a fact you could have gone a longer distance w/o a stop to charge.

Just sayin...........

 

[nhdave]

I wouldn't recommend an EV as an only car either. I've had my Mach-e since 2021 and I love it. But I also have a RAM 1500. On average the cost per mile for the RAM is about double so 90% of the time, I'm driving the Mach-e as long I can charge at home. But winter in New Hampshire is not kind to any vehicle and the RAM is my preferred choice while the Mach-E sits in a heated garage. Long trips? If I'm in a big hurry or have a load to carry, it's the RAM. Otherwise, I relax and enjoy the trip in the Mach-e and put up with the extra hassles and cost.

 

[Tampamike]

Back in college I spent 8 hours on the highway to go back home. The trip would take 8 1/2 hours.

Exactly mid way, stopped once for food, gas and bathroom. Took 30 min total for all 3.

Same trip in an EV? Yikes. Would add 3 hours to the total trip time.

Yeah, no.

Your 8 hour college trip in my MME, maybe ONE extra hour. That’s one charge stop for 30 minutes in the first two hours and one in the last two, plus your 30 minute break midway where I would also charge.

Just to keep things real.

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