600 Miles In A Day Feasible?

[Accord07]

We have driven just over 700 miles a day without issues. It was a long day but over 90% of it was on interstates and BlueCruise worked well.

While overnight charging at a hotel is nice, but I wouldn't count on it - depending on how late you arrive the charger(s) may already be occupied. There is one hotel we have stayed at on four different occasions over the last 12 months, it has just one j1772 plug; three out of four times the parking space was ICE'ed, and the four time it was occupied by a Model 3 that was not plugged in.

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[vinnyz]

We have driven just over 700 miles a day without issues. It was a long day but over 90% of it was on interstates and BlueCruise worked well.

While overnight charging at a hotel is nice, but I wouldn't count on it - depending on how late you arrive the charger(s) may already be occupied. There is one hotel we have stayed at on four different occasions over the last 12 months, it has just one j1772 plug; three out of four times the parking space was ICE'ed, and the four time it was occupied by a Model 3 that was not plugged in.

with regard to using Plugshare or EA, how accurate are they with regard to availability and working order especially on the east coast

 

[Accord07]

with regard to using Plugshare or EA, how accurate are they with regard to availability and working order especially on the east coast

The availability along the I-95 corridor shown in both apps was accurate, if depressingly so at times (some EA locations had only 2 out of 4 plugs online on the busy Thanksgiving weekend), during our recent round-trip to South Florida and back.

 

[RickMachE]

with regard to using Plugshare or EA, how accurate are they with regard to availability and working order especially on the east coast

Like many things, it depends on YOU. If you chargers, and you want PlugShare to be accurate, then YOU should update the status every time you charge. A lot of people don't.

EA's app reports accurate status as I understand, there is no contribution by people.

 

[JamieGeek]

You can also use the RV'ers 330 rule: Drive no more than 330 miles a day or stop before 3:30pm.

Sure your trip takes longer but you are much more relaxed when its done (and you may have seen more stuff that you just blew by).

Of course not everyone has the time to spare for that.

(Yeah we have an RV and have done 800+ miles in a day in the RV--which is about 2 tanks of gas LOL.)

 

[RickMachE]

You can also use the RV'ers 330 rule: Drive no more than 330 miles a day or stop before 3:30pm.

Sure your trip takes longer but you are much more relaxed when its done (and you may have seen more stuff that you just blew by).

Of course not everyone has the time to spare for that.

(Yeah we have an RV and have done 800+ miles in a day in the RV--which is about 2 tanks of gas LOL.)

A friend of ours mentioned 330. I immediately said "oh, 5 hours at 65mph, plus refueling". He laughed.

If we're doing a multi-day trip, we carefully evaluate whether driving 8 to 4 is all we want to do, which is often dependent on whether or not there are breweries to check out at dinner.

 

[DYohn]

I've done 750 in a day. My tips, besides the common sense tips above, is to charge between 30-40% up to 80% and stop multiple times - indeed anytime you can DCFC - rather than try to run the car lower and recharge higher. That just takes longer to charge, and it makes the trip longer overall VS multiple quick stops.

 

[pouyafrankie]

I've done a bunch of Denver to Chicago (and back) trips with my GT. It's just over 1,000 miles each way. I planned all my stops with PlugShare manually.

I set myself "ideal" stops, which we're basically the furthest I'd be willing to go in between charges without risking running out of juice on the road - as well as "in between stops". As I was driving, I'd play it by ear and decide if I wanted to stop sooner at one of the in-between stops or not. During my winter drive last year, I basically stopped at every planned stop. When I did the drive in July, I skipped every other one.

Having the backup stops planned gave me a level of comfort and helped a lot with range anxiety. I even had it once where none of the EA chargers at my stop worked, so I was thankful to have enough range to make it to the next one.

I didn't do any 5% top offs, or anything like that. On average I tried to charge as close to 80% as I could without the wife getting too restless. Some stops I'd only charge for 10-15 mins. Since most stops are at Wal-Marts or gas stations, it's just enough time to run in for a bathroom break or to refill our snacks.

Basically, my advice is don't overcomplicate it by trying to map the absolute most efficient route. If you just accept that a drive with an EV might take a couple of hours longer than expected, you can make it a fun road trip and shed all the stress and anxiety. In my case, the Den-Chi trip was 19 hours with the Mach-E, and 15 hours with my gas car. A difference of getting there at noon or 5pm. Either way, I'm going to be tired and wanting food and sleep after the drive, so not a big deal.

 

[TGIF]

The end of the story: I arrived in Florida yesterday after two 600 mile days. I found my rhythm which is roughly one and a half hours of driving, stop at an EA at a Walmart, go inside for a comfort break and some light browsing, and back to a refilled car. I liked that I could use a 350 kWh station for a quicker charge. Never had an issue with inoperable stations and tended to run no lower than 30% charge which was reassuring on my first long road trip. It added about 2 hours to my day and I can live with that.

Question: I had trouble with ABRP on my iphone. I updated right before the trip. It seemed difficult to find how to change the SOC of the car to recalculate stops. Got a message that I needed a premium subscription to make that change. Thoughts?

 

[TGIF]

I've done 750 in a day. My tips, besides the common sense tips above, is to charge between 30-40% up to 80% and stop multiple times - indeed anytime you can DCFC - rather than try to run the car lower and recharge higher. That just takes longer to charge, and it makes the trip longer overall VS multiple quick stops.

That is the rhythm I ended up using.

 

[Ming]

Question: I had trouble with ABRP on my iphone. I updated right before the trip. It seemed difficult to find how to change the SOC of the car to recalculate stops. Got a message that I needed a premium subscription to make that change. Thoughts?

I had premium subscription for my trips. There are several ways to keep tracking the battery percentage, through third party link (probably just Tesla thing), Bluetooth, or manually update. Bluetooth never connected to my ABRP, even it works with other apps. Manual updating is a pain, slow change when clicking the+/- buttons, and sometimes don't work. Sometimes it jumps to 90%.
I basically give up using it during driving. Just use it to plan out stops before the trip.

 

[RRL]

Taking the 4X MME south for the winter from SW Iowa to Destin, FL around the New Year for the first time. We usually do the drive in two days, stopping in Paducah, KY at a hotel that accepts dogs and has an EV charger. I’ve checked ABRP and they’ve added a couple stops likely due to cold temperatures. I get that. But one is only for a 3% charge increase from 47 to 50%! It will take longer to detour than to charge. I have done the route multiple times and have checked out the charging locations. I use ChargePoint. ABRP and PlugShare to map my route and alternate charging locations.

Anyway, does anyone have experience with high mileage days? I’m okay with a 12 hour road trip. Is there something I’m missing? I can time the trip somewhat for better weather. Is this car not appropriate for a road warrior style trip? And, do I really need a 3% top up when the next stop is at 15% and there are other chargers before that?

We left Ottawa, Ontario on January 4, 2023 on our way to San Diego, California., which should be a 2,800 mile trip. However, we stopped over in Tenessee to visit family along the way, adding an additional 400 miles to the trip. We used the app A Better Routeplanner to chart our course, choosing short but many stops along the way to avoid range and charger availability stress. We ended up travelling through NY, PA, VA, TN, AK, TX, NM, AZ and ultimately CA without any issue, except for a stop in Mindland, TX, where the only charger working out of four was at reduced capacity (essential operating as a Level 2 charger). Although there were some issues with certain Electrify America chargers along the way, for the most part we receive fast charges the vast majority of the time. Since it was post-holiday season, there weren’t many people out there charging up. All in all, the trip went well. My concern is that more and more drivers will be competing for the few chargers available along interstate highways. We definitel’y need more chargers that are reliable in order to make us feel comfortable embarking on a similar trip. Fingers crossed for our return.

 

[D’Roc]

Taking the 4X MME south for the winter from SW Iowa to Destin, FL around the New Year for the first time. We usually do the drive in two days, stopping in Paducah, KY at a hotel that accepts dogs and has an EV charger. I’ve checked ABRP and they’ve added a couple stops likely due to cold temperatures. I get that. But one is only for a 3% charge increase from 47 to 50%! It will take longer to detour than to charge. I have done the route multiple times and have checked out the charging locations. I use ChargePoint. ABRP and PlugShare to map my route and alternate charging locations.

Anyway, does anyone have experience with high mileage days? I’m okay with a 12 hour road trip. Is there something I’m missing? I can time the trip somewhat for better weather. Is this car not appropriate for a road warrior style trip? And, do I really need a 3% top up when the next stop is at 15% and there are other chargers before that?

I drove from Charleston WV to Chicago IL last Summer without issue.

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