mccdeuce

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TLDR: The MME is a great family car to take on a road trip. Shorter legs can be planned around getting out of the vehicle to take advantage of some free Level 2 and getting a chance to run around and burn off some toddler energy.

Week long family vacation, decided to take the MME RT1 (Monkey) for our first road trip. Familiar with EVs planning/charging as we also have an e-Golf. Overall trip plan, MD to Chapel Hill, NC for a wedding, to New River Gorge, WV for some nature/adventure, to Roseland, VA for camping and beer and finally back home.

Early morning on the 20th left home from Millersville MD (near BWI) at 0600 to get around DC before the traffic. Getting a toddler into the car and all the stuff left 30 minutes late so got stuck in some traffic... Headed south to Richmond for a stop at a local bakery for some cinnamon rolls and coffee and to try out a LVL 3 charger for the first time in the MME. I wanted to have a good feeling on the Monkey's ability to LVL 3. Outside temp was a perfect 70F and avg speed of 63mph: 140 miles averaged 4.2 miles/kW.

EVGo bank of 4 at a Publix, first one yielded a fault; second one, fired up straight away and provided the 50kWh as advertised. Didn't need the electrons but the bakery was completely worth the stop and I appreciated the knowledge that it worked. Disappointed that EVGo is still using pricing as per min vs per kW.

Headed south to Chapel Hill on I-85 and temperature started to rise quickly peaking at 102F. Ultimately, stopping short at the Durham Public Library to let the little guy running around inside as playgrounds were going to be too hot. Free level 2 Chargepoint. 6 easy spots, 6 kWh: charging alongside another MME, MY and BMW i3 (which is not my taste in car designs). Outside temp was a hot avg 98F and avg speed of 70mph: 155 miles averaged 2.7 miles/kW.

Headed for a quick hop over to our hotel in Chapel Hill. AC Hotel by Marriott Chapel Hill Downtown. Hotel staff told me 2x J-1772 plugs and 2x Tesla plugs. PlugShare showed J-1772 plugs. On arrival there was 4 Tesla plugs and only ICE cars parked in the spots. They apparently had recently "upgraded" the J-1772 to Tesla. With a little help from the forum, I learned that my use of PlugShare was also incorrect. I had restricted locations turned off, which once enabled showed the hotel plugs labeled as Tesla and the J-1772 plugs were in fact in the building adjacent that had free parking after 8pm. A TeslaTap would have been nice, but it had not arrived before we left. Free level 2 Chargepoint. 8 easy spots, 6 kWh. Just moved the car back to the hotel during the day.

First bit of damage to the car. Wedding venue, gravel parking lot, had a large rock marking the curb that I clipped and caught the aero cover of the Route 1 wheels. Cracked one of the pieces. We will see how long my repair job will hold it. The more interesting part is the torque of the lug nots, maxing out my wrench at 150 lb-ft.
Ford Mustang Mach-E 1st Road Trip - 1000 miles round trip MD->NC->WV->MD IMG_3357


Sunday morning we left Chapel Hill for the New River Gorge, WV. First stop Pilot Mountain State park for a little afternoon hike. Free level 2 Chargepoint. 4 easy spots, 6 kWh. Outside temp was 85F and avg speed of 70mph: 102 miles averaged 3.4 miles/kW. Our time in WV would be Level 1, so we stopped at an EA station in Wytheville, VA before crossing the border to ensure that we arrived with plenty of "electrons still in the tank" EA Stations were at a SHEETZ just off the interstate. 2x 350kWh and 2x 150kWh plugs. Plug and Charge worked flawlessly first time, and took 21kW off my initial EA pass. Disappointed highest rate I saw was 105 kWh despite being hooked up to a 350kWh spot and charging up to max of 75%. Outside temp was 93F and avg speed of 70mph: 160 miles averaged 3.2 miles/kW with a little more elevation gains.

Charging at our cabin over the next few days was painful at Level 1. But it worked and we were not driving far over the next few days adding on average 35 miles per night. Could have done Level 2 if I could have adjusted the max current, preferably through a programmable EVSE. But we got to 85% before we departed.

Departing Wednesday afternoon, we headed to Devils Backbone Basecamp Brewpub for a night of tent camping. Before arrival I had discussed with DB Campground to pay $10 extra for an RV hookup spot (14-50) in addition to our tent site. Perfect for middle of the week with not many people. Outside temp was 85F and avg speed of 60mph: 160 miles averaged 3.2 miles/kW.

Final leg home Outside temp was 80F and avg speed of 68mph: 190 miles averaged 3.6 miles/kW.

BlueCruise. I like it a lot, once I got out of heavier traffic. Being on I-95, it was not too comfortable to utilize with the frequent trucks and rude people constantly weaving in and out of traffic. I equate BC to power paint rolling. Doesn't save me time but saves me energy. I was a lot less fatigued driving long portions with BC.

1-Pedal. Drove in 1P with Unbridled for the whole trip. Only adjusting was how I disabled cruise control. Traditionally, I would have tapped the brake to disengage. This causes a bit of a lurch with 1P on until you can get your foot back on the accelerator. I am now using the X on the steering wheel, but it is a shift in muscle memory.

Efficiency. High heat also caused a dip in miles per kW as did hills/ascents and my wife's lead foot.

Charging. We stopped at 2 LVL3. One at a grocery store and bakery +5. The other at a gas station. -1. Free LVL2 around activities is awesome. Hopefully, as the tech improves we can see more free/cheap LVL2 at places we want to be anyway. WV has very limited LVL 2 and LVL 3 spots in the area we were in. Good planning makes it not a factor.

Frunk. We kept the camping gear in the Frunk, so it was separate from the rest of our stuff and could ignore it for when we didn't need it without having to sort through what was in the Trunk at each stop and it was great on pack up when the gear was wet.

Gave her a wash after the trip. My son wanted to help. :cool:

Ford Mustang Mach-E 1st Road Trip - 1000 miles round trip MD->NC->WV->MD cleanin
 
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Logal727

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My kids love helping me wash too, just be careful with them hand washing the logos on the side, they are very fragile!
 

Logal727

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Nothing else queue up for me today, almost been one week since my unnumbered update that brought me to 2.6.0
 

MarkP213

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TLDR: The MME is a great family car to take on a road trip. Shorter legs can be planned around getting out of the vehicle to take advantage of some free Level 2 and getting a chance to run around and burn off some toddler energy.

Week long family vacation, decided to take the MME RT1 (Monkey) for our first road trip. Familiar with EVs planning/charging as we also have an e-Golf. Overall trip plan, MD to Chapel Hill, NC for a wedding, to New River Gorge, WV for some nature/adventure, to Roseland, VA for camping and beer and finally back home.

Early morning on the 20th left home from Millersville MD (near BWI) at 0600 to get around DC before the traffic. Getting a toddler into the car and all the stuff left 30 minutes late so got stuck in some traffic... Headed south to Richmond for a stop at a local bakery for some cinnamon rolls and coffee and to try out a LVL 3 charger for the first time in the MME. I wanted to have a good feeling on the Monkey's ability to LVL 3. Outside temp was a perfect 70F and avg speed of 63mph: 140 miles averaged 4.2 miles/kW.

EVGo bank of 4 at a Publix, first one yielded a fault; second one, fired up straight away and provided the 50kWh as advertised. Didn't need the electrons but the bakery was completely worth the stop and I appreciated the knowledge that it worked. Disappointed that EVGo is still using pricing as per min vs per kW.

Headed south to Chapel Hill on I-85 and temperature started to rise quickly peaking at 102F. Ultimately, stopping short at the Durham Public Library to let the little guy running around inside as playgrounds were going to be too hot. Free level 2 Chargepoint. 6 easy spots, 6 kWh: charging alongside another MME, MY and BMW i3 (which is not my taste in car designs). Outside temp was a hot avg 98F and avg speed of 70mph: 155 miles averaged 2.7 miles/kW.

Headed for a quick hop over to our hotel in Chapel Hill. AC Hotel by Marriott Chapel Hill Downtown. Hotel staff told me 2x J-1772 plugs and 2x Tesla plugs. PlugShare showed J-1772 plugs. On arrival there was 4 Tesla plugs and only ICE cars parked in the spots. They apparently had recently "upgraded" the J-1772 to Tesla. With a little help from the forum, I learned that my use of PlugShare was also incorrect. I had restricted locations turned off, which once enabled showed the hotel plugs labeled as Tesla and the J-1772 plugs were in fact in the building adjacent that had free parking after 8pm. A TeslaTap would have been nice, but it had not arrived before we left. Free level 2 Chargepoint. 8 easy spots, 6 kWh. Just moved the car back to the hotel during the day.

First bit of damage to the car. Wedding venue, gravel parking lot, had a large rock marking the curb that I clipped and caught the aero cover of the Route 1 wheels. Cracked one of the pieces. We will see how long my repair job will hold it. The more interesting part is the torque of the lug nots, maxing out my wrench at 150 lb-ft.
Ford Mustang Mach-E 1st Road Trip - 1000 miles round trip MD->NC->WV->MD cleanin


Sunday morning we left Chapel Hill for the New River Gorge, WV. First stop Pilot Mountain State park for a little afternoon hike. Free level 2 Chargepoint. 4 easy spots, 6 kWh. Outside temp was 85F and avg speed of 70mph: 102 miles averaged 3.4 miles/kW. Our time in WV would be Level 1, so we stopped at an EA station in Wytheville, VA before crossing the border to ensure that we arrived with plenty of "electrons still in the tank" EA Stations were at a SHEETZ just off the interstate. 2x 350kWh and 2x 150kWh plugs. Plug and Charge worked flawlessly first time, and took 21kW off my initial EA pass. Disappointed highest rate I saw was 105 kWh despite being hooked up to a 350kWh spot and charging up to max of 75%. Outside temp was 93F and avg speed of 70mph: 160 miles averaged 3.2 miles/kW with a little more elevation gains.

Charging at our cabin over the next few days was painful at Level 1. But it worked and we were not driving far over the next few days adding on average 35 miles per night. Could have done Level 2 if I could have adjusted the max current, preferably through a programmable EVSE. But we got to 85% before we departed.

Departing Wednesday afternoon, we headed to Devils Backbone Basecamp Brewpub for a night of tent camping. Before arrival I had discussed with DB Campground to pay $10 extra for an RV hookup spot (14-50) in addition to our tent site. Perfect for middle of the week with not many people. Outside temp was 85F and avg speed of 60mph: 160 miles averaged 3.2 miles/kW.

Final leg home Outside temp was 80F and avg speed of 68mph: 190 miles averaged 3.6 miles/kW.

BlueCruise. I like it a lot, once I got out of heavier traffic. Being on I-95, it was not too comfortable to utilize with the frequent trucks and rude people constantly weaving in and out of traffic. I equate BC to power paint rolling. Doesn't save me time but saves me energy. I was a lot less fatigued driving long portions with BC.

1-Pedal. Drove in 1P with Unbridled for the whole trip. Only adjusting was how I disabled cruise control. Traditionally, I would have tapped the brake to disengage. This causes a bit of a lurch with 1P on until you can get your foot back on the accelerator. I am now using the X on the steering wheel, but it is a shift in muscle memory.

Efficiency. High heat also caused a dip in miles per kW as did hills/ascents and my wife's lead foot.

Charging. We stopped at 2 LVL3. One at a grocery store and bakery +5. The other at a gas station. -1. Free LVL2 around activities is awesome. Hopefully, as the tech improves we can see more free/cheap LVL2 at places we want to be anyway. WV has very limited LVL 2 and LVL 3 spots in the area we were in. Good planning makes it not a factor.

Frunk. We kept the camping hear in the Frunk, so it was separate from the rest of our stuff and could ignore it for when we didn't need it without having to sort through what was in the Trunk at each stop and it was great on pack up when the gear was wet.

Gave her a wash after the trip. My son wanted to help. :cool:

Ford Mustang Mach-E 1st Road Trip - 1000 miles round trip MD->NC->WV->MD cleanin
That’s the cutest picture ever! 😊
 

LexiRN

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Awesome to hear a good road trip story! I'm also in MD (about 30min from you) and I plan to take my MME to OBX in September.
 


NC E-Pony

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1-Pedal. Drove in 1P with Unbridled for the whole trip. Only adjusting was how I disabled cruise control. Traditionally, I would have tapped the brake to disengage. This causes a bit of a lurch with 1P on until you can get your foot back on the accelerator. I am now using the X on the steering wheel, but it is a shift in muscle memory.

This is the strategy that I'm learning to use ... much smoother than taping the brake, even if you use two feet on pedals.

And I love the help you have with the wash job!
 

Toreus

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Great write up! We make portions of this trip semi regularly - I live in NC (just a few minutes from the Durham library you mentioned, actually!), and have family in Fairfax, Va - so we are planning to brave i95 (the worst road) at some point later this summer with our little one in the back. If you are ever doing that drive again and are strapped for time, there is an Electrify America in Henderson (between Richmond and Durham) that’ll give you the max charge speed we can take.
 
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mccdeuce

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If you are ever doing that drive again and are strapped for time, there is an Electrify America in Henderson (between Richmond and Durham) that’ll give you the max charge speed we can take.
We thought about stopping at that one, but the cinnamon rolls and coffee just sounded too good - and they were perfect at 8 in the morning! Montana Bread Co
 

narmstrong79

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Good breakdown. I wish ford gave us access to more info on the screens. I'd love to see average speeds, evaluation changes, average battery temperature, live watts used tracking. The data is there, we just don't have access too it without OBD tools
 

jammic

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Awesome to hear a good road trip story! I'm also in MD (about 30min from you) and I plan to take my MME to OBX in September.
I'm in NoVA and we've done OBX. Charging options in Richmond and Hampton Roads are great (especially well combined with stops for food or getting kids some activity). Very limited options on the northern OBX, I just ended up Level 1 Charging over a couple days at my family's house.
 

jammic

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TLDR: The MME is a great family car to take on a road trip. Shorter legs can be planned around getting out of the vehicle to take advantage of some free Level 2 and getting a chance to run around and burn off some toddler energy.

Week long family vacation, decided to take the MME RT1 (Monkey) for our first road trip. Familiar with EVs planning/charging as we also have an e-Golf. Overall trip plan, MD to Chapel Hill, NC for a wedding, to New River Gorge, WV for some nature/adventure, to Roseland, VA for camping and beer and finally back home.

Early morning on the 20th left home from Millersville MD (near BWI) at 0600 to get around DC before the traffic. Getting a toddler into the car and all the stuff left 30 minutes late so got stuck in some traffic... Headed south to Richmond for a stop at a local bakery for some cinnamon rolls and coffee and to try out a LVL 3 charger for the first time in the MME. I wanted to have a good feeling on the Monkey's ability to LVL 3. Outside temp was a perfect 70F and avg speed of 63mph: 140 miles averaged 4.2 miles/kW.

EVGo bank of 4 at a Publix, first one yielded a fault; second one, fired up straight away and provided the 50kWh as advertised. Didn't need the electrons but the bakery was completely worth the stop and I appreciated the knowledge that it worked. Disappointed that EVGo is still using pricing as per min vs per kW.

Headed south to Chapel Hill on I-85 and temperature started to rise quickly peaking at 102F. Ultimately, stopping short at the Durham Public Library to let the little guy running around inside as playgrounds were going to be too hot. Free level 2 Chargepoint. 6 easy spots, 6 kWh: charging alongside another MME, MY and BMW i3 (which is not my taste in car designs). Outside temp was a hot avg 98F and avg speed of 70mph: 155 miles averaged 2.7 miles/kW.

Headed for a quick hop over to our hotel in Chapel Hill. AC Hotel by Marriott Chapel Hill Downtown. Hotel staff told me 2x J-1772 plugs and 2x Tesla plugs. PlugShare showed J-1772 plugs. On arrival there was 4 Tesla plugs and only ICE cars parked in the spots. They apparently had recently "upgraded" the J-1772 to Tesla. With a little help from the forum, I learned that my use of PlugShare was also incorrect. I had restricted locations turned off, which once enabled showed the hotel plugs labeled as Tesla and the J-1772 plugs were in fact in the building adjacent that had free parking after 8pm. A TeslaTap would have been nice, but it had not arrived before we left. Free level 2 Chargepoint. 8 easy spots, 6 kWh. Just moved the car back to the hotel during the day.

First bit of damage to the car. Wedding venue, gravel parking lot, had a large rock marking the curb that I clipped and caught the aero cover of the Route 1 wheels. Cracked one of the pieces. We will see how long my repair job will hold it. The more interesting part is the torque of the lug nots, maxing out my wrench at 150 lb-ft.
Ford Mustang Mach-E 1st Road Trip - 1000 miles round trip MD->NC->WV->MD cleanin


Sunday morning we left Chapel Hill for the New River Gorge, WV. First stop Pilot Mountain State park for a little afternoon hike. Free level 2 Chargepoint. 4 easy spots, 6 kWh. Outside temp was 85F and avg speed of 70mph: 102 miles averaged 3.4 miles/kW. Our time in WV would be Level 1, so we stopped at an EA station in Wytheville, VA before crossing the border to ensure that we arrived with plenty of "electrons still in the tank" EA Stations were at a SHEETZ just off the interstate. 2x 350kWh and 2x 150kWh plugs. Plug and Charge worked flawlessly first time, and took 21kW off my initial EA pass. Disappointed highest rate I saw was 105 kWh despite being hooked up to a 350kWh spot and charging up to max of 75%. Outside temp was 93F and avg speed of 70mph: 160 miles averaged 3.2 miles/kW with a little more elevation gains.

Charging at our cabin over the next few days was painful at Level 1. But it worked and we were not driving far over the next few days adding on average 35 miles per night. Could have done Level 2 if I could have adjusted the max current, preferably through a programmable EVSE. But we got to 85% before we departed.

Departing Wednesday afternoon, we headed to Devils Backbone Basecamp Brewpub for a night of tent camping. Before arrival I had discussed with DB Campground to pay $10 extra for an RV hookup spot (14-50) in addition to our tent site. Perfect for middle of the week with not many people. Outside temp was 85F and avg speed of 60mph: 160 miles averaged 3.2 miles/kW.

Final leg home Outside temp was 80F and avg speed of 68mph: 190 miles averaged 3.6 miles/kW.

BlueCruise. I like it a lot, once I got out of heavier traffic. Being on I-95, it was not too comfortable to utilize with the frequent trucks and rude people constantly weaving in and out of traffic. I equate BC to power paint rolling. Doesn't save me time but saves me energy. I was a lot less fatigued driving long portions with BC.

1-Pedal. Drove in 1P with Unbridled for the whole trip. Only adjusting was how I disabled cruise control. Traditionally, I would have tapped the brake to disengage. This causes a bit of a lurch with 1P on until you can get your foot back on the accelerator. I am now using the X on the steering wheel, but it is a shift in muscle memory.

Efficiency. High heat also caused a dip in miles per kW as did hills/ascents and my wife's lead foot.

Charging. We stopped at 2 LVL3. One at a grocery store and bakery +5. The other at a gas station. -1. Free LVL2 around activities is awesome. Hopefully, as the tech improves we can see more free/cheap LVL2 at places we want to be anyway. WV has very limited LVL 2 and LVL 3 spots in the area we were in. Good planning makes it not a factor.

Frunk. We kept the camping gear in the Frunk, so it was separate from the rest of our stuff and could ignore it for when we didn't need it without having to sort through what was in the Trunk at each stop and it was great on pack up when the gear was wet.

Gave her a wash after the trip. My son wanted to help. :cool:

Ford Mustang Mach-E 1st Road Trip - 1000 miles round trip MD->NC->WV->MD cleanin
Appreciate you sharing the WV experience. Getting Level 2 charging at a campground is genius. Sometimes I have work travel to the Beckley area, and have been thinking about a Canaan Valley trip with the family from NoVA. I think the Canaan Valley will be possible with Level 1 charging at the destination but I think I'll have to rent an ICE car for Beckley since it's 6+ hr drive.
 
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mccdeuce

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Appreciate you sharing the WV experience. Getting Level 2 charging at a campground is genius. Sometimes I have work travel to the Beckley area, and have been thinking about a Canaan Valley trip with the family from NoVA. I think the Canaan Valley will be possible with Level 1 charging at the destination but I think I'll have to rent an ICE car for Beckley since it's 6+ hr drive.
Beckley isnt that far from where I was staying in WV. You could charge up in Lexington VA before crossing over into WV. I think it just depends on how long you are staying in Beckley. FWIW the owner of our cabin was building more cabins and planning to put in multiple EVSE as he saw it as a good way to entice people to his property over another. You might be surprised with what you find. This is also why I do not consider the FORD Mobile Charger a mobile charger, because it is a fixed amperage. I could have LVL 2 charged off a dryer plug easily if I could have limited it to 24amps.
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