How often do you road trip?

[thedoc]

I take another vehicle because I can drive 400 miles non stop and can haul several bikes along with me. In summer that is mountain bikes and in winter it is fat bikes. Or sometimes several grand kids. So Mach is just an around town car for me although I do head into the hill for berry picking with it. I chose other vehicle even though not for the reasons stated.

400miles w/o a stop cannot be good for you.

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[AKgrampy]

400miles w/o a stop cannot be good for you.

Quick outhouse stop - just do not have to stop for gas or charge. Look on a map - there is basically nothing between Fairbanks and Anchorage Alaska. When I was younger I lived in Nebraska and made several runs from Omaha to Rock Springs Wyoming non-stop. We always joked we could tie our steering wheel and just sleep cause the road was a straight shot in Nebraska. Just a different mentality I guess.

 

[thedoc]

Quick outhouse stop - just do not have to stop for gas or charge. Look on a map - there is basically nothing between Fairbanks and Anchorage Alaska. When I was younger I lived in Nebraska and made several runs from Omaha to Rock Springs Wyoming non-stop. We always joked we could tie our steering wheel and just sleep cause the road was a straight shot in Nebraska. Just a different mentality I guess.

Well, I read between the lines that 400 mile w/o a decent eat/toilet etc stop is history. I do two hours max, then I need to move around a bit & nowadays also charge the EV, although it could do about 4hrs. No problems.

 

[Teslaeata]

My definition of road trip is any drive that requires more than a charge at home. I do it every time I go to the office, which is sometimes weekly. That is how I know public charging sucks.

My definition of road trip is any drive that requires more than a charge at home. I do it every time I go out, twice/three times per week. That is how I know public charging in Uk is amazing!!!!!

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[mkhuffman]

My definition of road trip is any drive that requires more than a charge at home. I do it every time I go out, twice/three times per week. That is how I know public charging in Uk is amazing!!!!!

??

Well, if it can be amazing in the UK, maybe one day it will be amazing here. Today is not that day.

 

[Teslaeata]

I tend to throw it at a charger when I stop for a tea & wee stop whether it needs it or not. Saves having to make special stops for longer.

 

[Teslaeata]

Well, if it can be amazing in the UK, maybe one day it will be amazing here. Today is not that day.

I got a spare room and a 22kW charger in a double garage, not a chat up line but if you can stand the British weather………we got a charge infrastructure for you ?

 

[wmsheppa]

How much of your success is due to good planning, and how much is the infrastructure helping?

Your experience is impressive and heartening, but less heartening if you spend days meticulously planning the route. More impressive, though.

Tl;dr: I do some planning which accounts for most of it, but it's a lot less planning than you'd think (maybe 20 minutes) and can be boiled down to:

1) stay at a hotel with multiple level 2s so you start the day with a full charge

2) avoid EA as my first choice in favor of other networks

3) lean heavily on plugshare to keep track of problem chargers

4) leave myself enough range so I can make a second charger if I hit a line

It's definitely gotten easier over time. My benchmark is road tripping a Bolt using 2018 infrastructure so uh, it has come a looooong way!

We have two kids so we tend to target 8 hours of drive time a day on longer trips because they need to stop every couple hours anyway. As another commenter mentioned, hardest part is finding a hotel with multiple level 2s to charge overnight about halfway and that takes maybe 20 minutes tops using a filter and plugshare.

Night before I hit the road I spend 20 minutes tops planning my first targeted charger with a plugshare reliability check and program it as my destination. I tend to leave enough range so if I have to I can make it to the next one so I can avoid lines.

I also tend to avoid Electrify America as my first choice and use other networks as they're generally don't see as much traffic. The chargers max out at 100-150 kwh a lot of the time but given the MachE's charging speed that isn't a big deal anyway.

I also tend to adjust my second/third charging stop on the fly depending on how long my lunch stop is and how full of a charge I get.

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