4,479 mile road trip

[rbertonieresr]

My wife and I just came back from a trip from Louisiana to Sacramento California. We took I-40 through Dallas there and I-10 back.

A few of observations.
- Apple Maps for EV routing sucks.
- There are plenty of charging stations but some are in areas that may not be all that safe. Some were in secluded malls with abandoned stores, etc.
- We would have had an issue if not for the Tesla adapter I received from Ford.
- I’m in my 60’s so the car had more range than I did between stops
- Thank goodness for Walmart and Electrify America stations along the way.
- We used Electrify America, Rivian Adventure Network, GM Energy, Pilot Flying J, EV go, Mercedes-Benz charge stations and Tesla to charge. Brand loyalty isn’t an option.
- Seeing your range drop like a rock - by almost 100 miles while climbing 6,000 feet through Arizona is stressful.
- Seeing your range get extended by 200 miles on the way down was cool.
- I used three apps after determining Apple maps was garbage when it kept trying to make me go to a charging station in a Car Dealership that was closed on a Sunday and it would not let me delete that stop. I used Google Maps, PlugShare and the Tesla app (to verify that the Tesla store supported other makes). Not all Tesla stations will charge other makes and models.
- I picked out my own charging locations after day 1 based on my and my wife’s personal range, checked them as best I could and added them as a stop in google maps.

All in all it was a great trip and my Mustang Mache was so easy to drive and so comfortable that I would not hesitate to do it again.

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[Billyk24]

Road tripping? I almost always look for locations at gas stations with food drinks and bathrooms.

 

[WallyS56]

My wife and I just came back from a trip from Louisiana to Sacramento California. We took I-40 through Dallas there and I-10 back.

A few of observations.
- Apple Maps for EV routing sucks.
- There are plenty of charging stations but some are in areas that may not be all that safe. Some were in secluded malls with abandoned stores, etc.
- We would have had an issue if not for the Tesla adapter I received from Ford.
- I’m in my 60’s so the car had more range than I did between stops
- Thank goodness for Walmart and Electrify America stations along the way.
- We used Electrify America, Rivian Adventure Network, GM Energy, Pilot Flying J, EV go, Mercedes-Benz charge stations and Tesla to charge. Brand loyalty isn’t an option.
- Seeing your range drop like a rock - by almost 100 miles while climbing 6,000 feet through Arizona is stressful.
- Seeing your range get extended by 200 miles on the way down was cool.
- I used three apps after determining Apple maps was garbage when it kept trying to make me go to a charging station in a Car Dealership that was closed on a Sunday and it would not let me delete that stop. I used Google Maps, PlugShare and the Tesla app (to verify that the Tesla store supported other makes). Not all Tesla stations will charge other makes and models.
- I picked out my own charging locations after day 1 based on my and my wife’s personal range, checked them as best I could and added them as a stop in google maps.

All in all it was a great trip and my Mustang Mache was so easy to drive and so comfortable that I would not hesitate to do it again.

Learned the same lessons on our first 4000 mile trip. Did you subscribe to Tesla and EA to save money?

 

[2FlyMache]

Apple maps is good for maybe a 1 stop trip but I use ABRP with my obd for better routes and charging when traveling longer

 

[RickMachE]

My wife and I just came back from a trip from Louisiana to Sacramento California. We took I-40 through Dallas there and I-10 back.

A few of observations.
- Apple Maps for EV routing sucks.
- There are plenty of charging stations but some are in areas that may not be all that safe. Some were in secluded malls with abandoned stores, etc.
- We would have had an issue if not for the Tesla adapter I received from Ford.
- I’m in my 60’s so the car had more range than I did between stops
- Thank goodness for Walmart and Electrify America stations along the way.
- We used Electrify America, Rivian Adventure Network, GM Energy, Pilot Flying J, EV go, Mercedes-Benz charge stations and Tesla to charge. Brand loyalty isn’t an option.
- Seeing your range drop like a rock - by almost 100 miles while climbing 6,000 feet through Arizona is stressful.
- Seeing your range get extended by 200 miles on the way down was cool.
- I used three apps after determining Apple maps was garbage when it kept trying to make me go to a charging station in a Car Dealership that was closed on a Sunday and it would not let me delete that stop. I used Google Maps, PlugShare and the Tesla app (to verify that the Tesla store supported other makes). Not all Tesla stations will charge other makes and models.
- I picked out my own charging locations after day 1 based on my and my wife’s personal range, checked them as best I could and added them as a stop in google maps.

All in all it was a great trip and my Mustang Mache was so easy to drive and so comfortable that I would not hesitate to do it again.

You can set Google Maps, and PlugShare, to not show you incompatible charging locations. PlugShare has a "Hide Tesla Only locations" button. Sounds like you weren't focused on saving money given Rivian, GM Energy, etc.

 

[rbertonieresr]

You can set Google Maps, and PlugShare, to not show you incompatible charging locations. PlugShare has a "Hide Tesla Only locations" button. Sounds like you weren't focused on saving money given Rivian, GM Energy, etc.

Nope, I wasn’t concerned with saving, I was focused on charging speed and stopping when I wanted to stop. Good tip concerning PlugShare, I’ll have to look into that.

 

[rbertonieresr]

Learned the same lessons on our first 4000 mile trip. Did you subscribe to Tesla and EA to save money?

Not this time but I will next trip.

 

[DonM]

Thank you for being honest and giving your actual experiences. I have been eviscerated here for giving my experiential conclusions about various services. Thank you for doing it.
I haven't read any other comments yet. But I already know that recommending Electrify America is a great idea, in my experience.

 

[dan_meh]

That’s a long one. Nicely done.

I’m sorry Apple Maps let you down. Your post made me look into changing a charging stop in Apple Maps and see what you’re saying. I can’t see how to do it.

Ford says that it’s possible but it won’t work for me. Weird. I guess I just never tried it.

https://www.ford.com/support/how-to...ric-vehicle-ev-routing-feature-in-apple-maps/

 

[rbertonieresr]

That’s a long one. Nicely done.

I’m sorry Apple Maps let you down. Your post made me look into changing a charging stop in Apple Maps and see what you’re saying. I can’t see how to do it.

Ford says that it’s possible but it won’t work for me. Weird. I guess I just never tried it.

https://www.ford.com/support/how-to...ric-vehicle-ev-routing-feature-in-apple-maps/

.

I did see that you can change the stops on the phone but apparently, only before starting the route. I was in route and the charge station it sent me to was not assessable and I could not make a change on the fly. The major issue I had though was that the stop was totally unnecessary. I only had 80 miles to my next charging stop and 114 miles of range, yet it would not route me to the next stop, it kept trying to force me into turning around and going back to a stop that was impossible to use. So I had to switch to Google Maps to make sure I could make it to the next stop, on the interstate, in motion, at night.

 

[dan_meh]

The major issue I had though was that the stop was totally unnecessary. I only had 80 miles to my next charging stop and 114 miles of range, yet it would not route me to the next stop, it kept trying to force me into turning around and going back to a stop that was impossible to use.

This I recognize! I get really frustrated with its conservative calculations. And there is no easy way to change it. There’s no way to say, “I would like to arrive with 1%” for example.

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