Business Insider article on first road trip with a Mach-E

[EELinneman]

Ford needs to communicate better and manage customer expectations. Plus, the FordPass app needs to be overhauled.

https://www.businessinsider.com/ev-electric-car-ford-mustang-mach-e-road-trip-charging-2021-8

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[RockwallRick]

Haven’t done a road trip yet but I plan on charging up to 80% at every stop if possible. Would prefer not To let it get down below 20%.

 

[Brofessional]

Ford needs to communicate better and manage customer expectations. Plus, the FordPass app needs to be overhauled.

https://www.businessinsider.com/ev-electric-car-ford-mustang-mach-e-road-trip-charging-2021-8

Route planning definitely needs to get better, and it will.

But I'm sorry I just don't think it's Ford's job to babysit adults when they do this kind of stuff. From the article:

"In the final stretch of the drive, a message kept popping up on the Mach-E's screen alerting us that battery level was critical and that we were out of range of any known chargers."

Driving beyond the range of any known chargers is just as dumb as driving beyond the range of any gas stations in an ICE vehicle.

 

[Mach80MME]

EE,
I'm not sure what Ford can do to counter the buffoonery of this hysterical and ignorant Man-Child. This wasn't a food and wine reporter. He is a transportation reporter that should have the slightest grasp of the additional energy needs of hilly terrain as well as weather including contingency planning in case there was unforeseen power use in a vehicle he wasn't familiar with.

Add to that his click bait overdramatic statements. I'd suggest the "girlfriend" find a better long term partner for jointly facing adversities over a lifetime.
To summarize:

"...was almost a huge disaster".

"How far away are we?" I frantically asked my girlfriend and copilot for the 15th time in as many minutes. "

" But here I was, anxiously piloting the Mach-E into the pitch-black Vermont night, watching helplessly as the car's battery level ticked down toward 10%, then past it. "

" I was experiencing something more like acute range panic."

" Doubling back to a charging station at this point would've added hours to our journey — and, since we had booked a private campsite and our host was waiting, showing up in the middle of the night wasn't an option."

(So which is it? A "Huge Disaster" like a supervolcano eruption, asteroid hit or inconveniencing a campground host?)

Yeah, I freaking know!" I barked at the inanimate object, not in those exact words. No response. "

" By this point, cell service had become increasingly spotty, too. Things were getting dicier by the minute. "

" We eventually made it to our campsite — crisis was averted. "

(Too bad, could have been a great reality show about survival in the wilderness of Vermont).


I wish the girlfriend well.

 

[TRP]

Well, he's another idiot...IMHO

We just got back from a trip. Oneida TN to Baltimore MD and then back home. Used Ford Nav to plan each way and then compared to ABRP as a back up. Both were almost identical. Ford wanted to make 3 stops on the way to MD, I was pretty confident we could do it in 2. So, off we went. AS we approached the first stop there was plenty of juice to continue on to the next EA station. Made the trip east in 2 stops. The trip back west needed 3 due to elevation being more of an issue, more up hill miles. At every stop, except the last I charged to 80% even tho Ford said we didn't need to. I prefer more buffer at this point. On the last stop I charged up until I was very confident I could make it home with juice to spare since there are no places to charge anywhere close to home.

It's all about planning and not over extending yourself, chargers aren't on every corner yet

 

[EELinneman]

EE,
I'm not sure what Ford can do to counter the buffoonery of this hysterical and ignorant Man-Child. This wasn't a food and wine reporter. He is a transportation reporter that should have the slightest grasp of the additional energy needs of hilly terrain as well as weather including contingency planning in case there was unforeseen power use in a vehicle he wasn't familiar with.

Add to that his click bait overdramatic statements. I'd suggest the "girlfriend" find a better long term partner for jointly facing adversities over a lifetime.
To summarize:

"...was almost a huge disaster".

"How far away are we?" I frantically asked my girlfriend and copilot for the 15th time in as many minutes. "

" But here I was, anxiously piloting the Mach-E into the pitch-black Vermont night, watching helplessly as the car's battery level ticked down toward 10%, then past it. "

" I was experiencing something more like acute range panic."

" Doubling back to a charging station at this point would've added hours to our journey — and, since we had booked a private campsite and our host was waiting, showing up in the middle of the night wasn't an option."

(So which is it? A "Huge Disaster" like a supervolcano eruption, asteroid hit or inconveniencing a campground host?)

Yeah, I freaking know!" I barked at the inanimate object, not in those exact words. No response. "

" By this point, cell service had become increasingly spotty, too. Things were getting dicier by the minute. "

" We eventually made it to our campsite — crisis was averted. "

(Too bad, could have been a great reality show about survival in the wilderness of Vermont).


I wish the girlfriend well.

I cannot argue that you are not right on any of these points. What I will point out is that the world is filled with people like this. You, and most of the people on these forums, are the exception. I think this author represents a lot of people that we all interact wtih: seeking attention, overly dramatic, not willing to follow common logic let alone RTFM. The problem is that this gets exposure and there are people who will read this and sympathize with this person.

Making it to a campsite is not a crisis in my world, but it is in this one.

 

[Mach Daddy]

Pretty ridiculous how EVs get dinged for dropping in range when going up mountains, in bad weather, under load etc…

ICE vehicles are just as much affected and also drastically drop in range. But there are children in this world and adults.

If I was a child I would have not planned extra fueling stops while towing a camping trailer, with a roof box and full SUV driving into a 60mph headwind. But I am an adult and I did.

My mpg in this case was 9mpg or less than half during normal usage.

Children.

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