First road trip

[Murse-In-Airy]

Hit the road for Southern NY today. After a whole week of working on the car, no way was I taking the company rental.

Left home at 77° and 100% SOC with GOM showing 230 miles for a 266 miles drive. ABRP said to stop in Albany and add 25%.

Well the first 80 miles was county 2 lane road. I averaged 3.5 miles/kWh with the cruise set at 60 MPH. Then I hit the highway and bumped it to 72 MPH.

When I got to Albany I was still showing 40% battery with 165 miles down and 100 miles left to go. Doing my math showed that if 165 miles took 60% of my battery then 100% should get me 275 miles. I’m that guy, so I bypassed the Albany EA charger and pushed on.

As I got closer to my destination it looked like I might come up just a couple miles short. So I figured to grab a few extra percent while I took a much needed bladder break. The pull off showed an EVConnect 60kw charger. Sounds good. Pull in. Plug in. “Overcurrent error”. Retry. Same. Call EVConnect. They can’t change anything. Well, I’m at 9% with 24 miles of range to go and 30 miles to my destination. But the next travel stop is only 22 miles away.

PlugShare says it’s currently occupied but that may be my best bet. Back on the highway.
I arrive at the next travel stop to find the EV connect station there isn’t occupied and it works flawlessly. It’s only 60kw but I’m at 1% with 2 miles of range on the GOM. I’ll take it. I pulled 9kwh in 13 minutes for $2.37. I only had 6 miles to go for the charger I really wanted anyway. So I’m off with 11% battery and 26 miles of range. ??

Stopped and grabbed a burger and hit the EA Charger at Walmart in Newburgh. P&C worked perfectly. Started at 123 KW and ramped down. Took 43 minutes to get from 7% to 80%. Gave me time to eat my burger and give the car a wipe down to get rid of the bugs. So I’m off to the hotel for some sleep with 80% charge, 217 miles on the GOM and I’ll be able to hit 100% on shift tomorrow from a 110 V socket at work tomorrow before I head home on Monday.

I gambled a little, but the stripes pulled me through. It’s been a good day.

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[rfrommd]

Out of curiosity, when you made the decision on the Albany EA station, did your GOM say you had 100 miles of range left?

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

Out of curiosity, when you made the decision on the Albany EA station, did your GOM say you had 100 miles of range left?

No. It said 86. I wanted to put it’s pessimism to the test. My math (88kwh x 40% x 3.1 miles/kWh) said I should have 110 miles. But some of that average of 3.1 miles/kWh was done at 60 MPH. So the 72MPH was less than that. Only coming up 6 miles short means I was still closer to my own calculation than the GOM. But the truth lie somewhere in between for me. In the future, I will have to account for which side of the average miles/kWh the future driving will lie on.

 

[generaltso]

You’re a brave man, Charlie Brown.

 

[Maquis]

No. It said 86. I wanted to put it’s pessimism to the test. My math (88kwh x 40% x 3.1 miles/kWh) said I should have 110 miles. But some of that average of 3.1 miles/kWh was done at 60 MPH. So the 72MPH was less than that. Only coming up 6 miles short means I was still closer to my own calculation than the GOM. But the truth lie somewhere in between for me. In the future, I will have to account for which side of the average miles/kWh the future driving will lie on.

I think at that point, I would have driven a little slower - maybe 67/68 instead of 72. Just because I'm a coward

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

You’re a brave man, Charlie Brown.

My wife would say stupid. I prefer brave.

 

[dbsb3233]

When I got to Albany I was still showing 40% battery with 165 miles down and 100 miles left to go. Doing my math showed that if 165 miles took 60% of my battery then 100% should get me 275 miles. I’m that guy, so I bypassed the Albany EA charger and pushed on.

As I got closer to my destination it looked like I might come up just a couple miles short. So I figured to grab a few extra percent while I took a much needed bladder break. The pull off showed an EVConnect 60kw charger. Sounds good. Pull in. Plug in. “Overcurrent error”. Retry. Same. Call EVConnect. They can’t change anything. Well, I’m at 9% with 24 miles of range to go and 30 miles to my destination. But the next travel stop is only 22 miles away.

PlugShare says it’s currently occupied but that may be my best bet. Back on the highway.
I arrive at the next travel stop to find the EV connect station there isn’t occupied and it works flawlessly. It’s only 60kw but I’m at 1% with 2 miles of range on the GOM.

This is a perfect example of why I'm gonna feel stuck stopping more frequently rather than rolling the dice on a "barely make it" charger (even though I'd rather just stay on the highway for 4 straight hours like we do in our Escape). I'd have stopped at that Albany stop. In fact, I plan to run the car more in the 30%-80% SOC range between stops, at least until I find I can trust the chargers better. That way I'll usually have enough juice left to make it to the next charger up to 90 miles away as a backup if there's a problem. I know it will charge a little slower then, but in the MME there's not a huge difference in the charge curve (up to 80%). When it's working right, anyway.

We're driving Denver to Vegas this Wed/Thu. Technically we should be able to make it to Glenwood Springs (182 miles), but pretty sure we'll stop in Frisco (97 miles) for 15 minutes or so just to pump it back up. We'll try to live in that 30-80% range.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

This is a perfect example of why I'm gonna feel stuck stopping more frequently rather than rolling the dice on a "barely make it" charger (even though I'd rather just stay on the highway for 4 straight hours like we do in our Escape). I'd have stopped at that Albany stop. In fact, I plan to run the car more in the 30%-80% SOC range between stops, at least until I find I can trust the chargers better. That way I'll usually have enough juice left to make it to the next charger up to 90 miles away as a backup if there's a problem. I know it will charge a little slower then, but in the MME there's not a huge difference in the charge curve (up to 80%). When it's working right, anyway.

We're driving Denver to Vegas this Wed/Thu. Technically we should be able to make it to Glenwood Springs (182 miles), but pretty sure we'll stop in Frisco (97 miles) for 15 minutes or so just to pump it back up. We'll try to live in that 30-80% range.

I will probably stop more frequently too. Yesterday was just my “grand experiment.” On the way home tomorrow I’ll be stopping at essentially the 1/2 way point for a 25 minute charge. Just like testing the top speed, I had to push the range just once to really get to know the car.

 

[dbsb3233]

Actually I should clarify that a little. I'll try to live in whatever range includes a DCFC backup. The OP had backup options that he ended up using. Out here in the wide-open west, there usually aren't extras between cities. The next DCFC is often literally 90-100 miles away.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

when people call my OP...

 

[timbop]

No. It said 86. I wanted to put it’s pessimism to the test. My math (88kwh x 40% x 3.1 miles/kWh) said I should have 110 miles. But some of that average of 3.1 miles/kWh was done at 60 MPH. So the 72MPH was less than that. Only coming up 6 miles short means I was still closer to my own calculation than the GOM. But the truth lie somewhere in between for me. In the future, I will have to account for which side of the average miles/kWh the future driving will lie on.

Yesterday I wanted to get a feel for the efficiency difference at 70mph (in a 65) and a little faster 73mph (in a 70mph), So I took the NJ turnpike out to the Pennsy turnpike. It was an imperfect test since the PA turnpike has a stretch of 55MPH (I did 65), and the tripometer approximates efficiency (it goes from 3.1 - 3.3 - 3.5 - 3.7). Driving my CA Rt 1 (which is the most efficient MME since it is RWD with 18" aero wheels) in the 73MPH stretch I got 3.1 mi/kwh (reset the trip 2 meter when I hit the 70mph section), but overall averaged 3.4 mi/kwh at 67MPH(I had to back out the math from battery percentage used and distance driven, plus it was bouncing between reporting 3.3 and 3.5 mi/kwh). So, in your case you were probably in the 2.8 range or maybe a little less at the 72mph stretch. I used the "trip 1" setting for the overall trip, but used "trip 2" in the 73mph stretch to get more accurate numbers there. Maybe you could do a similar thing in reverse - use trip 1 for the whole trip and reset trip 2 when you drop off the 72mph section.

I think at that point, I would have driven a little slower - maybe 67/68 instead of 72. Just because I'm a coward

Yeah, I would definitely have slowed down just to be sure

This is a perfect example of why I'm gonna feel stuck stopping more frequently rather than rolling the dice on a "barely make it" charger (even though I'd rather just stay on the highway for 4 straight hours like we do in our Escape). I'd have stopped at that Albany stop. In fact, I plan to run the car more in the 30%-80% SOC range between stops, at least until I find I can trust the chargers better. That way I'll usually have enough juice left to make it to the next charger up to 90 miles away as a backup if there's a problem. I know it will charge a little slower then, but in the MME there's not a huge difference in the charge curve (up to 80%). When it's working right, anyway.

We're driving Denver to Vegas this Wed/Thu. Technically we should be able to make it to Glenwood Springs (182 miles), but pretty sure we'll stop in Frisco (97 miles) for 15 minutes or so just to pump it back up. We'll try to live in that 30-80% range.

Yep, I plan to do exactly the same thing

 

[ARK]

Thanks for the write-up.

I think if any of us ever find ourself in a situation where we are a little bit below the range necessary to reach the destination and there is absolutely no nearby charging possible, the best bet would likely be to exit the freeway and use surface streets to drive 25mph or slower if possible and slowly move towards the destination/charger, with maybe a plan to pull into a business where you can use the L1 mobile charger if you are really up against 0 miles of range.

I think this would apply to any EV and think slower maximizes range on EVs if I understand how they work correctly - like if someone did an experiment where they were just moving at 5-10mph, could massively beat EPA range on any EV.

 

[Tampamike]

Stopped and grabbed a burger and hit the EA Charger at Walmart in Newburgh. P&C worked perfectly. Started at 123 KW and ramped down. Took 43 minutes to get from 7% to 80%.

I gambled a little, but the stripes pulled me through. It’s been a good day.
[/QUOTE]

Just curious - on your perfect EA P&C, did you use the 150 or the 350 plug?

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

Stopped and grabbed a burger and hit the EA Charger at Walmart in Newburgh. P&C worked perfectly. Started at 123 KW and ramped down. Took 43 minutes to get from 7% to 80%.

I gambled a little, but the stripes pulled me through. It’s been a good day.

Just curious - on your perfect EA P&C, did you use the 150 or the 350 plug?
[/QUOTE]
The 150. I actually didn’t pay attention. Ended up at the 150 because it had the charging cables in the appropriate spots for where the charge door is on the car.

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