mateo
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
Took my first full-range, 240 mile round trip in and out of Chicago. Morning temperatures around 40F, evening around 25F.
I arrived with 51% battery. The free L2 garage chargers were all in use, so I didn't get to charge for free. This will be much more convenient when charging is more ubiquitous in garages with more plugs or mobile charging units or whatever...
When leaving, I checked an EA station at a nearby Target but it was full, including a white Mach-E that was still going strong at 91%. I assume a lot of chargers in big cities like this are hogged by people who are unfortunate enough not to be able to charge at home. I had plenty of charge to wait until I was in a less dense area, and picked out an EVgo charger that was in a boring looking strip mall. It was as empty as the EVgo app claimed. It was my second time using EVgo, so payment was all automatic, no hassle. Only got speeds of about 70kW, but it was pretty cold.
Added 15%; arrived home with 15%. So I probably could have made it, rolling in on 1%. But the charging infrastructure gets worse and worse the farther away from Chicago, so I didn't want to risk it.
My thoughts:
* My range bested the GOM by 40 miles, getting 240 miles on a 100% charge.
* Averaged 2.5-2.8 mi/kWh on the interstate (70mph) in average 25F-40F temperatures
* BlueCruise worked flawlessly and was able to navigate about 90% of the distance, including stop-and-go traffic.
* In other cars I'd drive more aggressively out of boredom (80-85mph), but letting the car do the driving in a single lane @ 70mph was peaceful.
* EVgo charger worked fine, but it's a nuisance trying to navigate to an available charger in realtime when you don't have a passenger to do the availability checks.
* Maybe it would be good if congested areas had some chargers that were only available for short 10 minute sessions. There probably are a lot of people who could use a little boost to get home, but waiting for people to do full charges makes it super inconvenient.
Don't get me wrong... I enjoy driving the car more aggressively when range isn't an issue, but it sure is nice to be able to go on longer trips without having to do much work.
I arrived with 51% battery. The free L2 garage chargers were all in use, so I didn't get to charge for free. This will be much more convenient when charging is more ubiquitous in garages with more plugs or mobile charging units or whatever...
When leaving, I checked an EA station at a nearby Target but it was full, including a white Mach-E that was still going strong at 91%. I assume a lot of chargers in big cities like this are hogged by people who are unfortunate enough not to be able to charge at home. I had plenty of charge to wait until I was in a less dense area, and picked out an EVgo charger that was in a boring looking strip mall. It was as empty as the EVgo app claimed. It was my second time using EVgo, so payment was all automatic, no hassle. Only got speeds of about 70kW, but it was pretty cold.
Added 15%; arrived home with 15%. So I probably could have made it, rolling in on 1%. But the charging infrastructure gets worse and worse the farther away from Chicago, so I didn't want to risk it.
My thoughts:
* My range bested the GOM by 40 miles, getting 240 miles on a 100% charge.
* Averaged 2.5-2.8 mi/kWh on the interstate (70mph) in average 25F-40F temperatures
* BlueCruise worked flawlessly and was able to navigate about 90% of the distance, including stop-and-go traffic.
* In other cars I'd drive more aggressively out of boredom (80-85mph), but letting the car do the driving in a single lane @ 70mph was peaceful.
* EVgo charger worked fine, but it's a nuisance trying to navigate to an available charger in realtime when you don't have a passenger to do the availability checks.
* Maybe it would be good if congested areas had some chargers that were only available for short 10 minute sessions. There probably are a lot of people who could use a little boost to get home, but waiting for people to do full charges makes it super inconvenient.
Don't get me wrong... I enjoy driving the car more aggressively when range isn't an issue, but it sure is nice to be able to go on longer trips without having to do much work.
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