First road trip 1,000+ miles, new EV user thoughts

fallguy

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I started a thread about a month ago to get thoughts on taking this Mach-E on a road trip. I had never driven an EV before buying this, and was hesitant. Through some suggestions and research decided to take the plunge and go with it. I am very happy we did, it was a great experience.

From east TN to Wrightsville Beach, NC and back was a little over 1,000 miles, plus a bit of driving around when there. Plotting the course was actually pretty easy, with the built in navigation. It locates the stops, and gives a nice circular boundary on how far you can drive before your mileage is out. There were 3 routes posted there and back. They were mostly the same with a few small variations.

I had the supplied 500kwh from Ford, and still have about 200 left. I have attached some pics to reflect the starting amount, when arrived, and then after we got home. Took about 150 to get there. One HUGE important part that I wish someone would have advised me on, is do some research where the stops are. They were all Walmart or Sam's. Which was almost always great. Each way had two Super Walmarts and one Sam's. One the way down there we stopped at Sam's, there were a few stores attached, and some places to eat. On the way back we chose a slightly faster routes, with a toll road. The Sam's on the way back had NOTHING around it. We do not have a Sam's membership. We hoofed it .6 miles to a restaurant in a hotel that claimed to be open. Well it was not, opened at 4pm and it was 315. Walked back and the car was done, went to a drve thru. 4 year old pissed behind a building. He had to go, we were hungry and thirsty. There was nothing there for us. Very annoying, and I blame myself for assuming there would be some place to get food and drinks. I wish they would look at places when they put the chargers in place, when the vehicle is recharging, people need to as well.

Going thru the mountains with a full car and 4 people (took father in law too) going towards Asheville with the mountains, destroyed the battery. I planned for it though and we made it, but keep in mind mileage will drop depending on elevation and weight. This is obvious, and same for gas vehicles, but there was a stretch where there was literally no place to charge for a very long way. We never got lower than 11% so all was good, but worth noting.

EA charging was a breeze. Plug it up, touch the screen twice and walk off. Starts charging is about 30 seconds. Come back and hit stop, disconnect and on the way. This was very easy, and really couldn't have been any easier. The chargers were easy to see in the parking lot, and the navigation took us right to them. I brought my supplied charger, and we used the 120v in the garage to charge it. Which brought me up from 31% when we arrived, to 74% when we left. Slow, but free. We did drive it a bit in town, but not much. The closest EA charger was 36 miles away, so I didn't want to waste time doing that. I do wish there was one closer to the beach, a very high tourist area, but there was not a Walmart around.

I hope this helps someone thinking about a road trip. I know for some, maybe even most it's old hat. My first EV car, and was a bit nervous. Sticking to main roads, was a great experience.

Screenshot_20210407-192215_FordPass.jpg


Screenshot_20210412-081108_FordPass.jpg


Screenshot_20210414-194232_FordPass.jpg


IMG_8645_20210414_195353.jpg


20210411_112339.jpg


20210412_080851.jpg


20210414_072430.jpg
 

Murse-In-Airy

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Excellent write up. Thank You for sharing. Defintely a learning curve for all of us EV newbs. But we can figure this out. Even if we have to do it together.
Your car and your family are beautiful.
 

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Thanks for sharing and glad to hear no issues at the EA stations! ?

Beautiful family you've got there. Cute kid, my son is 6 going on 7, they grow up (too) fast! :(
 

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I started a thread about a month ago to get thoughts on taking this Mach-E on a road trip. I had never driven an EV before buying this, and was hesitant. Through some suggestions and research decided to take the plunge and go with it. I am very happy we did, it was a great experience.

From east TN to Wrightsville Beach, NC and back was a little over 1,000 miles, plus a bit of driving around when there. Plotting the course was actually pretty easy, with the built in navigation. It locates the stops, and gives a nice circular boundary on how far you can drive before your mileage is out. There were 3 routes posted there and back. They were mostly the same with a few small variations.

I had the supplied 500kwh from Ford, and still have about 200 left. I have attached some pics to reflect the starting amount, when arrived, and then after we got home. Took about 150 to get there. One HUGE important part that I wish someone would have advised me on, is do some research where the stops are. They were all Walmart or Sam's. Which was almost always great. Each way had two Super Walmarts and one Sam's. One the way down there we stopped at Sam's, there were a few stores attached, and some places to eat. On the way back we chose a slightly faster routes, with a toll road. The Sam's on the way back had NOTHING around it. We do not have a Sam's membership. We hoofed it .6 miles to a restaurant in a hotel that claimed to be open. Well it was not, opened at 4pm and it was 315. Walked back and the car was done, went to a drve thru. 4 year old pissed behind a building. He had to go, we were hungry and thirsty. There was nothing there for us. Very annoying, and I blame myself for assuming there would be some place to get food and drinks. I wish they would look at places when they put the chargers in place, when the vehicle is recharging, people need to as well.

Going thru the mountains with a full car and 4 people (took father in law too) going towards Asheville with the mountains, destroyed the battery. I planned for it though and we made it, but keep in mind mileage will drop depending on elevation and weight. This is obvious, and same for gas vehicles, but there was a stretch where there was literally no place to charge for a very long way. We never got lower than 11% so all was good, but worth noting.

EA charging was a breeze. Plug it up, touch the screen twice and walk off. Starts charging is about 30 seconds. Come back and hit stop, disconnect and on the way. This was very easy, and really couldn't have been any easier. The chargers were easy to see in the parking lot, and the navigation took us right to them. I brought my supplied charger, and we used the 120v in the garage to charge it. Which brought me up from 31% when we arrived, to 74% when we left. Slow, but free. We did drive it a bit in town, but not much. The closest EA charger was 36 miles away, so I didn't want to waste time doing that. I do wish there was one closer to the beach, a very high tourist area, but there was not a Walmart around.

I hope this helps someone thinking about a road trip. I know for some, maybe even most it's old hat. My first EV car, and was a bit nervous. Sticking to main roads, was a great experience.

Screenshot_20210407-192215_FordPass.jpg


Screenshot_20210412-081108_FordPass.jpg


Screenshot_20210414-194232_FordPass.jpg


IMG_8645_20210414_195353.jpg


20210411_112339.jpg


20210412_080851.jpg


20210414_072430.jpg
I really appreciated reading this! I have mine on order (which looks a lot like yours!) and it's going to be my first EV as well. Having (seemingly) heard nothing but horror stories about the FordPass charging on EA, I'm *really* glad to see it all worked well for you. Now if I could just get a manufacture date, I'll be set!

I hope you keep enjoying it! Quick question--given your son's position in the back, does he ever complain about sun glare coming in through the glass roof, or does the tinting dim it enough that he doesn't mind?
 

ChasingCoral

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I don't see the father-in-law in the picture. Did you drop him by the side of the road? ;)
 


GJG-Mach-E

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Nice writeup. I'm new to the EV world as well and this contains some useful considerations. How did the backseat passengers like the panoramic roof? For myself, my dog is the backseat passenger but I can't ask her about the lighting in her eyes or the heating effects.
 

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Excellent write up. Thank You for sharing. Defintely a learning curve for all of us EV newbs. But we can figure this out. Even if we have to do it together.
Your car and your family are beautiful.
I'm thinking about hosting a zoom call to help new EV owners with those classic noob questions.

Of course, I'd need a co-host who would help with Mach-E specific questions but I can certainly help with techniques that apply to most people roadtripping their EVs, including Ford Mach-E.

I have over 30,000 miles of roadtripping experience and love to share with others.

Maybe one of the forum admins can DM me to discuss if interested?
 

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Congrats on successfully jumping into the deep end. I checked PlugShare, it looks like there are a few free L2 chargers at the beach. Check those next time so you can head out at 100%.
 
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fallguy

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I really appreciated reading this! I have mine on order (which looks a lot like yours!) and it's going to be my first EV as well. Having (seemingly) heard nothing but horror stories about the FordPass charging on EA, I'm *really* glad to see it all worked well for you. Now if I could just get a manufacture date, I'll be set!

I hope you keep enjoying it! Quick question--given your son's position in the back, does he ever complain about sun glare coming in through the glass roof, or does the tinting dim it enough that he doesn't mind?
I charge at home for daily driving, so I was a bit worried about it too. Tried local at a EA station just to see if it worked as advertised, and it did. Really couldn't have been easier. At least for me.

No he didn't, was a bit cloudy on the way down, but straight sun when down there and on the way back. We brought a ball cap just in case, but didn't seem to be an issue. Only about 82f for the high though.

I don't see the father-in-law in the picture. Did you drop him by the side of the road? ;)
Hah, no. But thought about it a few times. He's 74, and I swear it's like having two toddlers. Always have to pee, have to keep reminding to move along and do simple tasks, and serious back seat drivers. I don't know how he was always the last one to get ready when all he has to do it get himself ready with zero obligations. He lives 10 mins down the road, we picked him up and then took off. Wife usually does a selfie before we take off somewhere. We have 4 kids though, other three in school. College, high school, elementary and this one starts next year. I'm snipped now though, all done! We're both in our 40's... I'm closer to 50. Kids to grow up fast, seems like our oldest was this age not long ago. Thanks for the compliments, I agree :)

My father in law did not complain about the widow roof at all, he always wears a ball cap though too. It was not overly hot either though. He did mention how comfortable the seats were, and had plenty of room. He's 6' even.

A write up on these boards would be helpful. There are universal ones, that probably apply to almost all EV's. I tried to do research for myself and ask questions here. As I said I had never even driven a EV before buying this one. Don't know anyone personally that has one to ask questions. They aren't as popular here yet. I see Tesla's, but not all that often. Only saw one other Mach-E in our area since we got ours. So for me I was a bit nervous, and sometimes simple things are missed. Most people searching for Mach-E with problems or questions probably come here, so one sticky would help I think.

Oh, and the frunk was a great addition too, not used to it but loved the extra space.
 
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fallguy

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Congrats on successfully jumping into the deep end. I checked PlugShare, it looks like there are a few free L2 chargers at the beach. Check those next time so you can head out at 100%.
There was a one at a shopping center that was free, 2.7 miles away. Free during business hours. The house came with bikes, so I almost drove there and biked back. Then went back to get it. We got to doing things, and never made the effort. But really the first day we didn't drive at all. So it sat on the 120v for about 36 hours straight. But that is good advice, I did look into it. I just didn't really need it. However if it had been a DC charger I would have driven there and then drove back after charging.
 

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I don't see the father-in-law in the picture. Did you drop him by the side of the road? ;)
I knew we forgot something at the last charging stop.....


@fallguy - good to hear you had no troubles with the plug-n-charge. Out of curiosity what highways were you on? I'm heading to orlanda by way of atlanta in the fall (I95 - I85 - I75), and I'd be curious which chargers were troublefree. t's probably been recommended before, but plugshare and abetterrouteplanner not only help you plan which chargers to hit, they also let you figure out what is nearby. Abetterrouteplanner also lets you fill in departure times, edit how much charging you do where, etc so you can better plan the food stops for the very reason you ran into. I'm not a road warrior so we're going to do the trip in a leisurely 3 days (including a stop at the atlanta aquarium), and ABRP even helped me map out hotels with and near chargers.
 

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Great write up! I was considering doing something similar from our trip this weekend, but I see no need after this :) We did our first multi-charge trip over the weekend. I would tack on that people really should not be afraid of it. We had some issues at EA on 3 of the 4 stops but they did eventually get it working every time. Downside is that the phone call process actually took more time then charging the car did.

P&C worked one time straight off of the three. Two of the other times they ended up just doing a comp charge and the last time it worked after a reboot.
 

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I started a thread about a month ago to get thoughts on taking this Mach-E on a road trip. I had never driven an EV before buying this, and was hesitant. Through some suggestions and research decided to take the plunge and go with it. I am very happy we did, it was a great experience.

From east TN to Wrightsville Beach, NC and back was a little over 1,000 miles, plus a bit of driving around when there. Plotting the course was actually pretty easy, with the built in navigation. It locates the stops, and gives a nice circular boundary on how far you can drive before your mileage is out. There were 3 routes posted there and back. They were mostly the same with a few small variations.

I had the supplied 500kwh from Ford, and still have about 200 left. I have attached some pics to reflect the starting amount, when arrived, and then after we got home. Took about 150 to get there. One HUGE important part that I wish someone would have advised me on, is do some research where the stops are. They were all Walmart or Sam's. Which was almost always great. Each way had two Super Walmarts and one Sam's. One the way down there we stopped at Sam's, there were a few stores attached, and some places to eat. On the way back we chose a slightly faster routes, with a toll road. The Sam's on the way back had NOTHING around it. We do not have a Sam's membership. We hoofed it .6 miles to a restaurant in a hotel that claimed to be open. Well it was not, opened at 4pm and it was 315. Walked back and the car was done, went to a drve thru. 4 year old pissed behind a building. He had to go, we were hungry and thirsty. There was nothing there for us. Very annoying, and I blame myself for assuming there would be some place to get food and drinks. I wish they would look at places when they put the chargers in place, when the vehicle is recharging, people need to as well.

Going thru the mountains with a full car and 4 people (took father in law too) going towards Asheville with the mountains, destroyed the battery. I planned for it though and we made it, but keep in mind mileage will drop depending on elevation and weight. This is obvious, and same for gas vehicles, but there was a stretch where there was literally no place to charge for a very long way. We never got lower than 11% so all was good, but worth noting.

EA charging was a breeze. Plug it up, touch the screen twice and walk off. Starts charging is about 30 seconds. Come back and hit stop, disconnect and on the way. This was very easy, and really couldn't have been any easier. The chargers were easy to see in the parking lot, and the navigation took us right to them. I brought my supplied charger, and we used the 120v in the garage to charge it. Which brought me up from 31% when we arrived, to 74% when we left. Slow, but free. We did drive it a bit in town, but not much. The closest EA charger was 36 miles away, so I didn't want to waste time doing that. I do wish there was one closer to the beach, a very high tourist area, but there was not a Walmart around.

I hope this helps someone thinking about a road trip. I know for some, maybe even most it's old hat. My first EV car, and was a bit nervous. Sticking to main roads, was a great experience.

Ford Mustang Mach-E First road trip 1,000+ miles, new EV user thoughts 20210414_072430


Ford Mustang Mach-E First road trip 1,000+ miles, new EV user thoughts 20210414_072430


Ford Mustang Mach-E First road trip 1,000+ miles, new EV user thoughts 20210414_072430


Ford Mustang Mach-E First road trip 1,000+ miles, new EV user thoughts 20210414_072430


Ford Mustang Mach-E First road trip 1,000+ miles, new EV user thoughts 20210414_072430


Ford Mustang Mach-E First road trip 1,000+ miles, new EV user thoughts 20210414_072430


Ford Mustang Mach-E First road trip 1,000+ miles, new EV user thoughts 20210414_072430
Just out of curiosity, (I have a road trip coming up) did you use the EA 350 plugs? My initial experience has been that they haven’t worked for me but the 150’s have been ok.
 

ChasingCoral

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