DC to Pittsburgh and back

[rreddy3]

True. The elevation change is visible on the drive. What is harder to see is the transmission infrastructure.

If you look at the GIS data, you can see lines running through Maryland, roughly along 68. You see a big blank spot in the New Stanton to Bedford run along 76/70.

So the interesting question (to me, at least) is whether terrain or infrastructure matters more. If you’re a state and you want my out of state money (you want that sweet sweet trade advantage!) then Maryland has the terrain disadvantage and the infrastructure advantage. Can they capitalize on the infrastructure advantage? Not to mention the no-toll advantage.

Put another way, if there were a charging stop at every exit on 68, supported by the massive kilovolt advantage, would 30 more minutes of charging be worth the price of mind that “there’s always a stop for me?” And, “I know I can pull in below 20% without anxiety that I can find a well timed stop?”

Time will tell, but the invisible advantage exists. See green circles in the screenshot.

I’m inclined to think the turnpike from Breezewood to New Stanton will hold the EV charging infrastructure advantage over 68. The traffic counts on that section of the turnpike are significantly higher than on 68, as I read the data. 68, as you know, only links Morgantown to Hancock through a rural area less than 115 miles. (It’s also known as Appalachian corridor E.) I think it’s the comparatively light traffic load that will hold 68 back from significant charging infrastructure growth. Looking quickly at EV market share and registration percentages, I’d wager that EVs make up well less than 10% of the I68 traffic on any given day. Considering that and the headwind blowing from DC, I don’t think we’ll see major development of the infrastructure some of us would like to see along 68. But, I’d like to be wrong.

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[ChasingCoral]

I also look forward to the Grantville, MD Pilot station on 68. There are currently some slower spots in places like Frostburg, but PFJ would be a welcome addition.

I hadn’t heard about the Grantsville chargers. That’ll be a great addition.

 

[Billyk24]

I’m inclined to think the turnpike from Breezewood to New Stanton will hold the EV charging infrastructure advantage over 68. The traffic counts on that section of the turnpike are significantly higher than on 68, as I read the data. 68, as you know, only links Morgantown to Hancock through a rural area less than 115 miles. (It’s also known as Appalachian corridor E.) I think it’s the comparatively light traffic load that will hold 68 back from significant charging infrastructure growth. Looking quickly at EV market share and registration percentages, I’d wager that EVs make up well less than 10% of the I68 traffic on any given day. Considering that and the headwind blowing from DC, I don’t think we’ll see major development of the infrastructure some of us would like to see along 68. But, I’d like to be wrong.

Tesla has v2 (150kW) chargers at several Pa Turnpike rest stops. Upgrading to V3 (250kW) would seem easier than starting from ground zero.

 

[dan_meh]

I hadn’t heard about the Grantsville chargers. That’ll be a great addition.

Here it is!
Pilot Travel Center (Coming Soon)
3000 Chestnut Ridge Dr Grantsville MD 21536

https://www.plugshare.com/location/565826

 

[rreddy3]

Here it is!
Pilot Travel Center (Coming Soon)
3000 Chestnut Ridge Dr Grantsville MD 21536

https://www.plugshare.com/location/565826

That will be a great addition to 68!

 

[rreddy3]

Tesla has v2 (150kW) chargers at several Pa Turnpike rest stops. Upgrading to V3 (250kW) would seem easier than starting from ground zero.

I think you’re right about that.

 

[stinsvic]

Travel Buddy and I went to Pittsburgh from DC on Memorial Day weekend to see family. On the way out of DC we were in stop and go traffic until Hagerstown. It took us 3 hours to drive a distance that - without traffic - takes us 1.5 hours.

I had planned to stop in Breezewood to charge at the Rivian spot at The Gateway, but Travel Buddy needed to eat. She’s 11 now and outgrowing all clothes, so we needed a chick fil a quickly. It was 6 PM, we were “wasting” a stop, but you have to feed the Mogwai before midnight so you don’t get a gremlin.

We ate mor chikin and continued. Although we didn’t have to stop, we did drop in on the Sheetz in Bedford. My family doesn’t have home charging so I like to arrive with at least 30%. And besides, it’s tradition. We went in to pee, grab desert, and ended up chatting with a fellow father of two daughters and an EV9 owner. We chatted for about 10 minutes, so I charged a bit more than I wanted to. We lit out for the territories when all stalls were full. I didn’t want my chit chat to be the reason someone had to wait on a holiday weekend.

In Pittsburgh, we had breakfast at First Watch in South Hills Village so that I could charge at the EA. The station was totally empty on Saturday morning, so I didn’t feel bad taking the spot. When we finally got back to the car, it was at 95%. I was happy that there wasn’t an 85% limit there so that Travel Buddy and I could enjoy a leisurely breakfast with my folks. I did keep an eye on the vacant stations in my EA app and would have moved it if the bays were filling up.

I can wholeheartedly recommend the Science Center in Pittsburgh. It’s got a giant model train room, an International Space Station experience, and an intestine that you can pull out of the wall to see how long your intestines are (this is a hit with 11 year old children). You can also dance with a skeleton version of yourself, like a Grateful Dead fan or Social Distortion fan, depending on your age and mood. Travel Buddy was very confused by when I sang, “When she begins to rock, honey, I begin to roll…” while pretending to hold a martini glass.

We had more adventures around the city, played some tennis at my old high school, and had dinner with the family. Basically, we were bopping around the city.

When parked in the driveway, I plugged into a standard household outlet and was surprised to see, on Sunday for our departure, that we were at 100%. It really is all about time. If you can just leave it plugged in…

That we were at 100% meant that we could drive straight home without any charging stops.

It might be worth mentioning here that the Ford nav was better than Apple Maps. It was super accurate. Apple was too conservative. I understand why they might build it that way: better to be blamed for a charging stop than a stranded vehicle. I still want the Ford app to be better, but if you’re traveling a route that you know well, it’s the one to use.

————————————-

I understand how a quick weekend trip might seem unworthy of a travelogue, but I worry that the short one stop getaway is underrepresented.

I think it matters to talk about short trips, the kind most of us do on a more regular basis. I really sought them out when I was trying to imagine myself owning an EV.

Awesome story!!

 

[Jeff-NoVA]

Great write-up! I should've done one after my round trip between NoVA and Dearborn last summer. Was kind of cool to take the Mach E by the mothership (the Ford WHQ or the "Glass House" as the old folks in Dear-bern called it).

Anyhow I found charging along the way doable but still a bit stressful. It's probably a little better now as the Rivian chargers near Cleveland fill a big hole along the way. I may try again this summer.

 

[Billyk24]

Ohio turnpike res

Great write-up! I should've done one after my round trip between NoVA and Dearborn last summer. Was kind of cool to take the Mach E by the mothership (the Ford WHQ or the "Glass House" as the old folks in Dear-bern called it).

Anyhow I found charging along the way doable but still a bit stressful. It's probably a little better now as the Rivian chargers near Cleveland fill a big hole along the way. I may try again this summer.

Ohio Turnpike rest areas have Tesla V3 chargers open now for your Mach E

 

[Jeff-NoVA]

Ohio turnpike res

Ohio Turnpike rest areas have Tesla V3 chargers open now for your Mach E

That's a big upgrade. As of my trip last summer the Tesla units at the eastern Ohio service plazas were not compatible.

 

[Billyk24]

That's a big upgrade. As of my trip last summer the Tesla units at the eastern Ohio service plazas were not compatible.

They are open for use.

 

[crownmountain]

Agree the map system in the car is much better than folks think and I use it to plan my charging.

 

[pgh.mache]

There's an absolute ton of Mach-E's in Pittsburgh these days. We've grown so much in the past 3 years since I got my first Mach-E. It's exciting to see. Glad you had a good trip.

 

[Sunburned]

My wife's Grandmother lives in Johnstown, so we've done the trip from Alexandria, VA a couple times now. The first time, I had my Tesla adapter ready and was enraged to find out that the 30 Tesla chargers were inaccessible to me because of the short cables. One gas station had a sign between every charger, preventing me from pulling up far enough to reach. The other station with superchargers had a super high curb, so my GTPE front bumper was too low to pull up far enough. The Rivian chargers in the area weren't open to any other car, so I was stuck. Thankfully made it to the Bedford Sheetz, but had to wait in line since they only had like 2-3 chargers at the time.

I really saw the effects of the elevation change from DC up to PA, plus a headwind, plus cold temps. Killed the range pretty good.

Funny enough, Johnstown has a few level 2 chargers that are walking distance to a few bars and restaurants, plus we were able to top up with wall charging. Probably could have made it all the way home in one shot, but decided to top up at the Sheetz again just to be safe.

It's crazy to me that two big cities don't have good charging infrastructure between them when they are just far apart enough for most cars not to make it. Mind blown that there aren't any chargers at Breezewood other than Tesla and Rivian.

 

[RickMachE]

My wife's Grandmother lives in Johnstown, so we've done the trip from Alexandria, VA a couple times now. The first time, I had my Tesla adapter ready and was enraged to find out that the 30 Tesla chargers were inaccessible to me because of the short cables. One gas station had a sign between every charger, preventing me from pulling up far enough to reach. The other station with superchargers had a super high curb, so my GTPE front bumper was too low to pull up far enough. The Rivian chargers in the area weren't open to any other car, so I was stuck. Thankfully made it to the Bedford Sheetz, but had to wait in line since they only had like 2-3 chargers at the time.

I really saw the effects of the elevation change from DC up to PA, plus a headwind, plus cold temps. Killed the range pretty good.

Funny enough, Johnstown has a few level 2 chargers that are walking distance to a few bars and restaurants, plus we were able to top up with wall charging. Probably could have made it all the way home in one shot, but decided to top up at the Sheetz again just to be safe.

It's crazy to me that two big cities don't have good charging infrastructure between them when they are just far apart enough for most cars not to make it. Mind blown that there aren't any chargers at Breezewood other than Tesla and Rivian.

If you cannot nestle between chargers, pull in sideways.

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