Blaine, Washington to Denver, Colorado and Back: 8 days, 3,345 miles, 57 hours wheel time, 2.7 m/kwh

[WallyS56]

Here in the EU we dont have BC or any kind of hands free systems because not allowed (yet, if ever).

So how does BC differ from adaptive cruise + lane keep? Not much. The differences are: 1) hands on the wheel 2) assisted lane change. Aside from these two things, the BC is nothing more that I can tell. So basically every car out there is BC capable, but just not fully enabled because legal raisins.

With this in mind, here is one local place where the "self drive" consistently drops off. Marked in green for your pleasure.

Somewhere along the midpoint of this curve where the curvature rate of change is greatest, the whole system drops off and gives you that ding sound; take the wheel buddy.

I have a strong suspicion that around the same type of curvature is too much also for BC and the root cause is it loses forward visibility to do any calculations and gives up. It also isnt speed dependant, same happens fast or slow.

You’re correct- adaptive cruiser control and lane keeping works exactly the same with a hand on the wheel. Here in the states, it even does the auto-lane change with turn signal activation. You’re also right about curves- BC can’t “see” far enough ahead, so shuts off.

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[WallyS56]

I can’t quite understand your noise complaint. We have logged many long trips in the Mach-e and one of the pleasures of the drives is the quiet ride. It makes it the best road-trip car we have owned. The charging stops are a relaxing break, except os course those Electrify America shuffles, which still happen too often.

Where do you live? Car is pretty quiet in my area, but the broken pavement of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado are a different beast.

 

[WallyS56]

I'm more interested in how you managed this... lol

Me too! I drive fast- usually 5-8 miles over the speed limit, and use one pedal braking, but there was that moose that hopped out on the road in Oregon.

 

[WallyS56]

Great write-up. Not sure what your route was, but Starbucks/Volvo partnered to install chargers all the way to Denver. I believe they are ChargePoint chargers. Might be good info if you need to do this trip again.

https://www.volvocars.com/us/l/starbucks-partnership/

Mostly I90 out and I84 back. I25 south in Wyoming (roughest road on the route).

 

[WallyS56]

For my daily commute, I've been happier without BC - It's constant "now I've got it, now I don't" chiming was more irritating than relaxing. I did like it for some long-range drives where it did better, but there's no way this is worth $50/mo. I've also noticed that BC blocked engaging cruise control when stopped or below some speed threshold like 20mph or so, whereas the adaptive+lane-centering does not. I use it a lot in stop-and-go traffic, so that's another set of annoying prompts I don't miss now that my free BC trial has expired. Good riddance.

I tend to agree.

 

[DYohn]

Journeyed to Loveland, Colorado for next-oldest grandson’s high school graduation: eight days, 3,345 miles, 57 hours of wheel time, 2.7 m/kwh. Observations:

1. Glad I renewed BlueCruise for a month. Probably used 60% of the time. BC is not fond of corners and kicks into adaptive cc and lane keeping when confronted with too many of them at higher speeds. It will also kick to cc when set to any speed above 81 mph.
2. Wyoming and Montana are charging deserts, but you CAN traverse them with careful planning. Had to use Blink chargers at a GM and a Jeep dealership.
3. Tesla Superchargers rock. Fairly plentiful, stalls always available (except in LA), much cheaper (with membership), and always dependably fast. Electrify America was a second choice, but much more expensive and occasionally glitched (reduced KWH charging).
4. These cars are noisy, especially on the ragged roads of the freeze-over states. Can’t hardly hear media at speed. And what happened to YouTube on the choices? Any quieter tire options available?
5. Aside from noise, the Mach E is a comfortable ride. Had a BMW 328 Touring in Europe last month for two weeks and my back still aches just thinking about it.
6. Finally, I find it much more effective and logical to start with a 85% charge and plan each day’s charging needs the night before. I’ve tried the trip planning apps, but find them all glitched in some way.

And a moment of silence in respect for the 1,879,236 insects that sacrificed their lives to make this trip possible.
Questions, comments, criticism?

2024 AWD, Extended Range, Premium

Nice report! I just returned from a much shorter jaunt, Phoenix to SF Bay Area and back, about 2000 total miles driven. I agree with your comments about the Tesla charging network, although we did find at least one station that was not compatible with the MME (Indio, CA) and that Electrify America is becoming unusable because of so many EVs on the road needing to use it, and poor maintenance making at least one charger at each station inoperative. Also, the BC is invaluable to me, although the "watch the road" warnings are far too frequent and the camera had trouble "seeing" through my sunglasses. HELP, @Ford Motor Company, improve this system some more!

re: Noisy ride. I agree and am actively looking to change tires with something much quieter. I am leaning toward Hankook Ion EV tires. Anyone agree or have other suggestions?

 

[WallyS56]

Nice report! I just returned from a much shorter jaunt, Phoenix to SF Bay Area and back, about 2000 total miles driven. I agree with your comments about the Tesla charging network, although we did find at least one station that was not compatible with the MME (Indio, CA) and that Electrify America is becoming unusable because of so many EVs on the road needing to use it, and poor maintenance making at least one charger at each station inoperative. Also, the BC is invaluable to me, although the "watch the road" warnings are far too frequent and the camera had trouble "seeing" through my sunglasses. HELP, @Ford Motor Company, improve this system some more!

re: Noisy ride. I agree and am actively looking to change tires with something much quieter. I am leaning toward Hankook Ion EV tires. Anyone agree or have other suggestions?

Yes-Tesla Only Superchargers are frustrating. However, I’ve never seen a Supercharger station full. Didn’t have trouble wearing sunglasses and appreciative the tire info.

 

[music_cities]

Journeyed to Loveland, Colorado for next-oldest grandson’s high school graduation: eight days, 3,345 miles, 57 hours of wheel time, 2.7 m/kwh. Observations:

1. Glad I renewed BlueCruise for a month. Probably used 60% of the time. BC is not fond of corners and kicks into adaptive cc and lane keeping when confronted with too many of them at higher speeds. It will also kick to cc when set to any speed above 81 mph.
2. Wyoming and Montana are charging deserts, but you CAN traverse them with careful planning. Had to use Blink chargers at a GM and a Jeep dealership.
3. Tesla Superchargers rock. Fairly plentiful, stalls always available (except in LA), much cheaper (with membership), and always dependably fast. Electrify America was a second choice, but much more expensive and occasionally glitched (reduced KWH charging).
4. These cars are noisy, especially on the ragged roads of the freeze-over states. Can’t hardly hear media at speed. And what happened to YouTube on the choices? Any quieter tire options available?
5. Aside from noise, the Mach E is a comfortable ride. Had a BMW 328 Touring in Europe last month for two weeks and my back still aches just thinking about it.
6. Finally, I find it much more effective and logical to start with a 85% charge and plan each day’s charging needs the night before. I’ve tried the trip planning apps, but find them all glitched in some way.

And a moment of silence in respect for the 1,879,236 insects that sacrificed their lives to make this trip possible.
Questions, comments, criticism?

2024 AWD, Extended Range, Premium

Did you find any good hotels or restaurants? A good restaurant is worth the time, so you can roll in close to 0% and charge at the nearby DCFC to 80% or even higher. If you stayed at hotels with L2s, why wouldn't you charge to 100% instead of 85%?

Nice pictures! I love the green.

I've been planning some trips through Montana, there are some new DCFC chargers in the past 6 months that make it easier without relying on hotels that only have one or two L2s. I'd still plan to overnight at the hotels with the L2s, but it's nice to have DCFCs as a back up option.

 

[music_cities]

@ave Blue Cruise is basically adaptive CC with lane-keeping, without the constant nagging to keep your hands on the wheel. Once it engages, you can let go of the wheel, or not, but it will stop bugging you about it. The automatic lane change is just a nice add-on so that it doesn’t disengage when changing lanes - it just stays in BC and moves the car. Sorry you guys can’t get it. We like it here.

BC is also better at predicting what's up ahead, vs adaptive CC with lane-keeping is mostly reactive. For example (and this is just the obvious example) the new BC updates will shift the car left and right in the lane depending on the size and the lane position of the vehicle ahead that you are about to pass, and even depending on the upcoming curve direction.

So, more "predictive", less "adaptive". It's definitely noticeable. My wife insists I keep a finger on the wheel during BC, so (if she's watching and not sleeping or reading) I can actually feel the difference in my finger between BC and normal lane-keeping.

 

[WallyS56]

Did you find any good hotels or restaurants? A good restaurant is worth the time, so you can roll in close to 0% and charge at the nearby DCFC to 80% or even higher. If you stayed at hotels with L2s, why wouldn't you charge to 100% instead of 85%?

Nice pictures! I love the green.

I've been planning some trips through Montana, there are some new DCFC chargers in the past 6 months that make it easier without relying on hotels that only have one or two L2s. I'd still plan to overnight at the hotels with the L2s, but it's nice to have DCFCs as a back up option.

We did a 4,700 mile trip last fall too. About 99% of Tesla and EA chargers are at Walmarts, Targets, truck stops, or strip malls, so meal, restroom, and shopping options are plentiful. Chargers at hotels are currently rare. We’ve found some with L1 and L2s; a few Holiday Inns had Tesla Supercharger stations.
charging to 85% takes about 35 minutes and gives about 225 range- less than that is around the time we need restrooms. I do go to 90%+ if we’re doing a lengthy meal or have time in the evening, but that can take well over an hour and only provides maybe 30-40 miles. Because of unforeseen variables of the road, you NEVER want to get below 20% and I try to charge at around 30%. We’re retired, so no tremendous hurry; we shoot for 400-600 miles a day depending on what sites we want to see.

 

[music_cities]

We did a 4,700 mile trip last fall too. About 99% of Tesla and EA chargers are at Walmarts, Targets, truck stops, or strip malls, so meal, restroom, and shopping options are plentiful. Chargers at hotels are currently rare. We’ve found some with L1 and L2s; a few Holiday Inns had Tesla Supercharger stations.
charging to 85% takes about 35 minutes and gives about 225 range- less than that is around the time we need restrooms. I do go to 90%+ if we’re doing a lengthy meal or have time in the evening, but that can take well over an hour and only provides maybe 30-40 miles. Because of unforeseen variables of the road, you NEVER want to get below 20% and I try to charge at around 30%. We’re retired, so no tremendous hurry; we shoot for 400-600 miles a day depending on what sites we want to see.

Walmarts, Targets, and strip malls rarely have the kind of restaurants I like to enjoy while charging at lunch or dinner to 90 or 100%, and 35 minutes is not enough time to enjoy a good meal so I actually prefer the slower DCFCs at lunch. (It’s not so much that I really mind jumping up between courses to move the car, it’s more that the fastest DCFCs are usually in unappealing locations near Walmarts, Targets, or strip malls, while slower ones are often in the centre of charming small towns.)

Use PlugShare and Booking.com to find the hotels with EV chargers. For example, I wonder if the OP went through Butte, MO? Booking.com filter shows one hotel with a charger in Butte. PlugShare shows no hotels with L2s, but shows the Rocker Inn is next to the EA Flying J, so one could charge to 100% there if one can do it while eating dinner or breakfast to avoid the idle fees.

If you’re looking for hotels with PlugShare, obviously activate the “Lodging” filter, but also be sure to change the default filters to not “hide restrictive access”.

 

[crownmountain]

For that long a trip how much was traffic jam stop and go? By the way that is where BC pays for it self by letting the car do the stopping and going.

 

[NorthlandPhil]

Nice report. Always interesting to compare the experiences of other owners.

I live in one of the "freeze-over" states, so i know about ragged roads. I have not noticed the car being noisy, other than creaking noises that seem to go with the subzero weather. I have noticed the rough ride, though, and most likely will find a smoother ride when my lease is up. Maybe the 2027 MME will have smoother suspension...

And a moment of silence in respect for the 1,879,236 insects that sacrificed their lives to make this trip possible.

Sorry, but the best I could do here is a somewhat muffled chortle.

 

[WallyS56]

Nice report. Always interesting to compare the experiences of other owners.

I live in one of the "freeze-over" states, so i know about ragged roads. I have not noticed the car being noisy, other than creaking noises that seem to go with the subzero weather. I have noticed the rough ride, though, and most likely will find a smoother ride when my lease is up. Maybe the 2027 MME will have smoother suspension...

Sorry, but the best I could do here is a somewhat muffled chortle.

Nice report. Always interesting to compare the experiences of other owners.

I live in one of the "freeze-over" states, so i know about ragged roads. I have not noticed the car being noisy, other than creaking noises that seem to go with the subzero weather. I have noticed the rough ride, though, and most likely will find a smoother ride when my lease is up. Maybe the 2027 MME will have smoother suspension...

Sorry, but the best I could do here is a somewhat muffled chortle.

Lived in Nebraska for 12 years- kinda got used to the broken roads there. I think a great deal of the noise is coming from the factory Michelin's, but I have no basis for comparison. Amazingly, bug splutter decreases immensely in the PNW. We just don’t have the insects up here compared to where I grew up in Louisiana.

 

[WallyS56]

For that long a trip how much was traffic jam stop and go? By the way that is where BC pays for it self by letting the car do the stopping and going.

Only once- a wreck ahead in Idaho- maybe 15 minutes of delay.

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