How will Ford get over ‘Range Anxiety’

[macchiaz-o]

This post from a popular Hyundai Ioniq forum illustrates how important it is to have backup charging options when planning your routes. Until infrastructure is way more built out, "charger anxiety" for folks wanting to go further distances in their BEVs will remain a reasonable concern.

https://www.ioniqforum.com/threads/...e-also-getting-iced-at-12am-story-rent.34661/

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[eastern refugee]

I view charging the way I do gas. I Only use Chevron gas because it is rated the best gas. When I go long distances I plan on where to stop based on both mileage and the location of a Chevron station. With the Mach E I will do the same. My only other planning will be to plan charging with rest/dinner breaks. EA has on their app where their locations are and if they are in use. Sure there are plenty of free ones around but I do not trust them so I will assume, like Chevron, to stop at them. I have also found ALL the time and I drive a lot that the journey is much more fun and memorable then the getting there. In short it is the drive along the way that makes the journey worthwhile.

 

[JamieGeek]

If you are going on a long trip where multiple charges are necessary it is a little bit better to "opportunity charge" rather than "range charge".

By "opportunity charge" I mean charge at stations as you come across them, and not plan that charge 150 miles ahead--maybe there is a DCFC only 50 miles ahead with no one charging. By spending 15-20 minutes there topping off (well topping up to 80%) you may be able to extend your range out beyond the next DCFC that may be in use.

Driving this way means you stop more, but your stops are shorter.

 

[silverelan]

ABC - Always Be Charging

Stop to take a leak? Plug in.
Grabbing a coffee? Plug in.
Looking at world's largest ball of twine? Plug in.

 

[macchiaz-o]

Looking at world's largest ball of twine? Plug in.

Okay, but that's 80 minutes and 84 miles from the nearest charging station in Salina, KS.

 

[Billyk24]

ABC - Always Be Charging

Stop to take a leak? Plug in.
Grabbing a coffee? Plug in.
Looking at world's largest ball of twine? Plug in.

If there is a free charging spot. With only 4 EZ chargers at many locations, what is the chance you will arrive to find one that is not in use? This is going to be a learning experience and if significantly more charging spots and locations don't arrive, some of us are going to become frustrated with longer/lond distance driving in an EV.

 

[JamieGeek]

Here is a good article on the issues Electrify America has been having and how they are going to address them:
https://insideevs.com/news/389891/exclusive-interview-electrify-america-problems-solutions/

 

[Billyk24]

Here is a good article on the issues Electrify America has been having and how they are going to address them:
https://insideevs.com/news/389891/exclusive-interview-electrify-america-problems-solutions/

Thanks for the post

 

[cometguy]

I'm glad to hear that lots of BEV owners are unafraid to use public chargers. I personally will not be dealing with the hassles of public charging until the infrastructure and technology has improved, meaning maybe a decade from now. But that won't stop me from buying a BEV for local use only -- and for daily-driver use. I think that automakers should get this message out more clearly, to counteract the mass population's fear of range anxiety: that most BEV owners now do not do a lot of long-distance driving in their BEVs (it's a minority who do), and that most BEV owners also own at least one additional vehicle with an ICE for such trips -- and that BEVs are still vastly superior to ICEVs for local commuting where most people don't drive more than 200 miles in 90%-99% of their daily driving and where they can plug in at home every night. Public charging is just not necessary for the vast majority of BEV owners for most of their driving, and public charging just is not necessary for most people to own one happily and without fear.

 

[Mopey]

Does anyone know if the Mach E will be ISO 15118 compatible? (That gives drivers the ability to simply plug in and have the charger recognize the car and bill your account directly. No credit card. )

 

[Billyk24]

I'm glad to hear that lots of BEV owners are unafraid to use public chargers. I personally will not be dealing with the hassles of public charging until the infrastructure and technology has improved, meaning maybe a decade from now. But that won't stop me from buying a BEV for local use only -- and for daily-driver use. I think that automakers should get this message out more clearly, to counteract the mass population's fear of range anxiety: that most BEV owners now do not do a lot of long-distance driving in their BEVs (it's a minority who do), and that most BEV owners also own at least one additional vehicle with an ICE for such trips -- and that BEVs are still vastly superior to ICEVs for local commuting where most people don't drive more than 200 miles in 90%-99% of their daily driving and where they can plug in at home every night. Public charging is just not necessary for the vast majority of BEV owners for most of their driving, and public charging just is not necessary for most people to own one happily and without fear.

Ford's team Edison was created to deal with this issue(s) with BEV software and charging infrastructure. After reading the EA post, I am hopeful things will work correctly at the charging stations. AS stated before, more charging stations will be needed and this isn't going to happen overnight.

 

[silverelan]

If there is a free charging spot. With only 4 EZ chargers at many locations, what is the chance you will arrive to find one that is not in use? This is going to be a learning experience and if significantly more charging spots and locations don't arrive, some of us are going to become frustrated with longer/lond distance driving in an EV.

It's easy to forget what it means to be so early in the EV adoption phase. So yeah, EA is rolling out their charging network and other CCS providers are coming online or expanding. The hard thing to imagine is how the CCS network is going to grow between now and when we first get our vehicles.

Think of all the makes/models that are to be released in the 12 months before and after the Mach-E. They're all CCS EVs and will require ever more charging infrastructure. We'll see in-fill in both cities and major routes plus the expansion of new routes as demand screams for it. If the automakers don't push the infrastructure, we're all hosed.

The coming EV SUV/crossovers:
Volvo XC40 Recharge
VW ID.4/Crozz
Chevy Bolt EUV
Byton M-Byte
Audi e-tron Sportback
KIA Soul EV
Mercedes EQC

 

[silverelan]

Does anyone know if the Mach E will be ISO 15118 compatible? (That gives drivers the ability to simply plug in and have the charger recognize the car and bill your account directly. No credit card. )

It's planned to be. That's why Ford is pushing FordPass and making announcements with charging providers.

 

[cometguy]

Think of all the makes/models that are to be released in the 12 months before and after the Mach-E. They're all CCS EVs and will require ever more charging infrastructure. We'll see in-fill in both cities and major routes plus the expansion of new routes as demand screams for it. If the automakers don't push the infrastructure, we're all hosed.

The coming EV SUV/crossovers:
Volvo XC40 Recharge
VW ID.4/Crozz
Chevy Bolt EUV
Byton M-Byte
Audi e-tron Sportback
KIA Soul EV
Mercedes EQC

The Bolt is a crossover? There are lots more (due out within the next couple of years) to add to this list, including Tesla Model Y, Porsche Macan BEV, the Rivian SUV, and the Polestar 3.

People won't be buying BEVs without awareness of the public-charging infrastructure. Most BEV owners/buyers today only care marginally about public charging, as most of them do 95%-100% of their charging at home. I will be in the camp of charging close to 100% of the time at home when I buy my first BEV, so I won't care one iota about the public-charging situation as a reason to buy (or not buy) a BEV; I'll be keeping an ICEV in the stable for long-distance driving, or I'll rent an ICEV. No big deal. BEVs are superb for local commuting; range anxiety is way over-hyped. So few BEV owners do long-distance trips with them.

If Ford is smart, they will get over "range-anxiety" issues through education of the car-buying public (which includes educating their dealerships!). But they'll have to be committed to doing so. The question is whether or not Ford is too entrenched in the 20th century to be able to properly evolve in the 21st (and this holds true for all other ICEV automakers, also).

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