joebruin77
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Joe
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2021
- Threads
- 27
- Messages
- 304
- Reaction score
- 354
- Location
- California
- Vehicles
- '18 Tesla Model 3 Perf, '22 Mach E GTPE
- Thread starter
- #1
My wife and I just returned from a road trip from LA to San Diego.
We had every intention of taking her 2022 MME GTPE on this road trip. After all, her MME is much bigger and more comfortable than my 2018 Tesla Model 3 Performance, especially for our two teenagers in the back seat.
The night before, I made all the preparations. I downloaded the EA, EvGo, and Plugshare apps. I mapped out our preferred charging locations.
But an unexpected thing happened. As I did my research and preparations, I got more and more nervous about how I would charge the MME. My wife and I ultimately decided to leave the MME at home and take the Tesla instead.
First, I checked out the EA station closest to our AirBnB. At first, I thought it had a total of 4 stalls. But it turns out that it has 3 DC fast charge stalls and one level 2 plug. And of the 3 DC fast charge stalls, at least one was offline and unavailable. So that left only 2 working stalls. Since I was travelling on a holiday weekend, this made me a bit nervous.
Next, I checked out EvGo. At first, this was more reassuring. There was an EvGo station nearby with 6 DC stalls. Overall, my sense is that EvGo stations tend to be more reliable and better maintained than EA stations. The EvGo app indicated that all 6 DC fast charge stalls at my preferred location were available. At this point, I thought relying on EvGo was the way to go.
But then I ran into 2 unexpected problems. First, the EvGo app was glitching on my iPhone. It would freeze and would not show me the current status of the DC stalls at my preferred station. I called EvGo support. Good news there - I was able to get through to a rep who was very helpful. He determined that the glitch in my app was due to that particular location, as the same thing was happening when he attempted to select that same location on his app. But this meant I had no way of reliably knowing how many stalls were up and running. There was also the risk that I would not be able to initiate a charge and pay through the app. My backup plan, if needed, was to call EvGo and initiate the charge session over the phone if the app was frozen or glitching. This was a good, workable backup plan, but far from ideal.
Second, I then checked out my preferred EvGo station on Plugshare. 2 drivers stated that at least 2 of the DC stalls were down, despite the EvGo app indicating all 6 were up and running.
It was at this moment of concern and frustration that I decided to check out the location and status of the local Tesla Superchargers near my AirBnB. There were two Superchargers. The first, which was just over 2 miles away, had 12 working stalls. The second, which was about 6 miles away, had 46 stalls. I could quickly and easily see the real-time status of the Superchargers, including exactly how many spaces were available at each location. I was struck by the contrast between the DC fast charging experience for the Ford vs for the Tesla.
We ended up leaving the MME at home and taking the Tesla.
Don't get me wrong. I am a huge fan of the MME. After all, that is why we bought one. And I do think the build quality of the MME is better than that of my Tesla. But in terms of going on a road trip and relying on DC fast charging, Tesla is still the gold standard. Ford and its affiliated third party DC charging companies still have quite a bit of catching up to do.
We had every intention of taking her 2022 MME GTPE on this road trip. After all, her MME is much bigger and more comfortable than my 2018 Tesla Model 3 Performance, especially for our two teenagers in the back seat.
The night before, I made all the preparations. I downloaded the EA, EvGo, and Plugshare apps. I mapped out our preferred charging locations.
But an unexpected thing happened. As I did my research and preparations, I got more and more nervous about how I would charge the MME. My wife and I ultimately decided to leave the MME at home and take the Tesla instead.
First, I checked out the EA station closest to our AirBnB. At first, I thought it had a total of 4 stalls. But it turns out that it has 3 DC fast charge stalls and one level 2 plug. And of the 3 DC fast charge stalls, at least one was offline and unavailable. So that left only 2 working stalls. Since I was travelling on a holiday weekend, this made me a bit nervous.
Next, I checked out EvGo. At first, this was more reassuring. There was an EvGo station nearby with 6 DC stalls. Overall, my sense is that EvGo stations tend to be more reliable and better maintained than EA stations. The EvGo app indicated that all 6 DC fast charge stalls at my preferred location were available. At this point, I thought relying on EvGo was the way to go.
But then I ran into 2 unexpected problems. First, the EvGo app was glitching on my iPhone. It would freeze and would not show me the current status of the DC stalls at my preferred station. I called EvGo support. Good news there - I was able to get through to a rep who was very helpful. He determined that the glitch in my app was due to that particular location, as the same thing was happening when he attempted to select that same location on his app. But this meant I had no way of reliably knowing how many stalls were up and running. There was also the risk that I would not be able to initiate a charge and pay through the app. My backup plan, if needed, was to call EvGo and initiate the charge session over the phone if the app was frozen or glitching. This was a good, workable backup plan, but far from ideal.
Second, I then checked out my preferred EvGo station on Plugshare. 2 drivers stated that at least 2 of the DC stalls were down, despite the EvGo app indicating all 6 were up and running.
It was at this moment of concern and frustration that I decided to check out the location and status of the local Tesla Superchargers near my AirBnB. There were two Superchargers. The first, which was just over 2 miles away, had 12 working stalls. The second, which was about 6 miles away, had 46 stalls. I could quickly and easily see the real-time status of the Superchargers, including exactly how many spaces were available at each location. I was struck by the contrast between the DC fast charging experience for the Ford vs for the Tesla.
We ended up leaving the MME at home and taking the Tesla.
Don't get me wrong. I am a huge fan of the MME. After all, that is why we bought one. And I do think the build quality of the MME is better than that of my Tesla. But in terms of going on a road trip and relying on DC fast charging, Tesla is still the gold standard. Ford and its affiliated third party DC charging companies still have quite a bit of catching up to do.
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