First Time “Stranded”

[TGIF]

So making my second 1200 mile road trip, first time on a weekend, and ran into a real problem. First, the good: driving on Interstates and using Walmart EA chargers went extremely well. My last Interstate stop was busy, though, so I decided to leave right at 80% SOC to open up the space for the revolving door of cars arriving to charge. Now the bad. When I left the Interstate for state highways there were no fast chargers at the next city of St. Joseph, MO, population over 70k, which I knew. According to ABRP there was a charger I could make it to that according to PlugShare had a rating of 10 and the last check in from the previous week was good. So I got there at 6 pm on a Sunday and it didn’t work. I called Mid-American, the operator, and they couldn’t get it to reset. I had 32 miles of range to go 49 miles with darkness setting in and no DCFC or L2 chargers to be found. My range had sucked because of 30+ mph headwinds. My plan b had failed. I ended up checking into a hotel and charging overnight as I didn’t want to be stranded by the side of the road 10 miles from home and having to have the car flat-bedded home.

Now, I might have had enough extra range after 0 to make it home, but I wasn’t willing to take the chance when there was a warm, safe motel just down the road.

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[alexgorod]

I don't think you did anything wrong.

Could you charge for an hour or so at the motel (or where you've charged overnight)?

 

[RickMachE]

So making my second 1200 mile road trip, first time on a weekend, and ran into a real problem. First, the good: driving on Interstates and using Walmart EA chargers went extremely well. My last Interstate stop was busy, though, so I decided to leave right at 80% SOC to open up the space for the revolving door of cars arriving to charge. Now the bad. When I left the Interstate for state highways there were no fast chargers at the next city of St. Joseph, MO, population over 70k, which I knew. According to ABRP there was a charger I could make it to that according to PlugShare had a rating of 10 and the last check in from the previous week was good. So I got there at 6 pm on a Sunday and it didn’t work. I called Mid-American, the operator, and they couldn’t get it to reset. I had 32 miles of range to go 49 miles with darkness setting in and no DCFC or L2 chargers to be found. My range had sucked because of 30+ mph headwinds. My plan b had failed. I ended up checking into a hotel and charging overnight as I didn’t want to be stranded by the side of the road 10 miles from home and having to have the car flat-bedded home.

Now, I might have had enough extra range after 0 to make it home, but I wasn’t willing to take the chance when there was a warm, safe motel just down the road.

The mistake here is not getting enough charge at the fast chargers before you left, and not having a backup plan beyond the charger that wasn't working. Don't know the specifics, but there are lots of L2 chargers showing in St. Joseph.

Next time, charge to 90% at the EA chargers, because you need the range.

 

[SWO]

You had a bed and a hot shower, I wouldn't call that stranded.

Did you consider just L2 charging for an hour? Looks like there's a bunch of L2 stations.

 

[markboris]

Now, I might have had enough extra range after 0 to make it home, but I wasn’t willing to take the chance when there was a warm, safe motel just down the road.

Not sure if this goes for all models but I’ve gotten about 5 extra miles after it hit 0.

 

[Mirak]

So… this is a good example of why it would be good to know whether Ford “hid” an extra 3kWh under 0% SOC.

This is also a good example of the risk that is road tripping and public charging in the Midwest, and the pain in the ass that can occur.

This is also a good example of the victim blaming that will inevitably occur on this board when someone gets bit (you shoulda done this…)

This is also a good example of the excuse making that will inevitably happen on this board when someone gets bit (hey you got a good nights sleep and a hot shower - I wouldn’t call that stranded…)

The only appropriate response in situations like this is “dude, that sucks. Road tripping in the Midwest is risky. You got screwed.”

 

[MellowJohnny]

Making the best out of raw deal is admirable, but like @Mirak said, you got screwed. I get that right now we can't compare the EV experience w/ the ICE experience, but this would not have happened in an ICE vehicle. It's clear right now that a lot of times we are flying on a wing and a prayer, and that's not good enough.

 

[Rt1AWD]

Now, I might have had enough extra range after 0 to make it home, but I wasn’t willing to take the chance when there was a warm, safe motel just down the road.

You could get extra 20 miles by driving very smoothly 30 miles per hour

 

[GreaseMonkey]

I appreciate Fords recommendation to charge to 80% on a DCFC, but I always go to 90% or close to it.

I had a similar situation traveling from Chicago to a dog breeder an hour south of South Bend Indiana to pick up a puppy. All went well until we started the return trip. The GoM kept showing good range and Apple Maps advised that we can get home with 20% range, then the headwind killed it. There were severe storms that hit the Midwest the night before and residual winds. We kept watching the arrival SoC on Maps updating / dropping till it got to 8% with plenty of miles left to go. My wife looked for a DCFC along the path and we stopped at a Hyundai dealer. The guys at the dealership saw us waiting to use the charger in the front that was used by an ID.4 and one of them ran out to us to let me know that there’s a charger in the back too (yes, the store had two DCFC chargers). I was grateful that he did and saved us 20+ minutes. We charged a few kWhs and headed home.

 

[TGIF]

I made two mistakes. I could have charged past 80% in KC. Then, when my range started dropping I could have stopped at an L2 charger in St. Jo. I didn’t want to spend the extra time at a 7 kWh charger when there was a 50 kWh charger up the road I had used on the trip down. Live and learn. The truth is I have great flexibility in my life so spending a night at a motel isn’t a disaster for me. It does tell me that rural infrastructure is really not there yet in terms of accessibility and especially reliability.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I'm sorry this happened!

I agree with the earlier suggestion that we not do any blaming of you in this. Stuff happens and it sucks when it does. We can back-seat critique all we want, but I don't find that helpful to anyone.

I am curious what things you might do differently next time, if there is a next time.
Not take your Mustang on such a trip?
Time things differently?
Charge to a higher percent even when people are waiting?
Try to push down into very low SOC?

 

[BigMach-E]

Yes, the state of EV infrastructure in large swaths of the US is simply unacceptable. Sorry you had to go through this. I find it crazy that there isn’t a level 2 public charger in every town that has more than 500 people. Cost to install, approx 1 -2 grand, tops. DCFC is nice, but what you need is just enough juice in every town to get you to to the next DCFC. Don’t know why this isn’t already a requirement for every municipality.

 

[AllenXS]

Hope the (beer/wine/whiskey/preferred option) was good

 

[TGIF]

No beer, wine or whiskey, but there was a hot tub and I had my swimsuit.

This is a trip that I want to take fairly regularly. Unfortunately, I do live in a rural area so I have a choice between using state highways part of the way or adding several hours (without considering charging time) to stay on interstates. I’ll probably try a different route next time. Much as I love my MME I’ll probably use my PHEV when possible to make this trip. This was a relocation trip from our winter home and I wanted DH and I to have two cars for the months we were down south so to do that I had to drive the MME. I won’t worry so much about “hogging” chargers in future as I’ve now experienced the unreliability of past experience and app reporting in knowing whether the next charger is in good operating order. I will try to avoid weekend travel, will try to travel during regular business hours, and I will try to have a day’s buffer as to when I need to get home in case I need to stay at a motel overnight.

I knew I was pushing the limits because I wanted to see what the car was capable of in regard to long distance travel. I learned something and no real harm was done.

 

[DevSecOps]

Ford keeps messing with the GOM calculations. Many vehicles no longer use historical driving data or climate to adjust the range numbers so you really can't use it for accuracy. As one of those who has a vehicle that doesn't adjust for weather or historical data I put a buffer of 50 miles on any DCFC. If the car says I'll get 180, I only count on 130. This will typically cover things like headwinds or climate related changes.

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