Lessons learned driving 2756 miles

[bwr1338]

We decided to go to Marco Island in February in our extended range First Edition MachE.

The trip went as planned which required about 15 hours of planning. I used Apple maps and the Guide feature to build the trip with all planned stops at high speed chargers and the hotels. Since we are retired we decided to not kill ourselves to get there and took 4 days down, 3 days back, driving around 7-8 hours per day.

As an early adopter of EV and the MachE I knew it would take more planning. I used Plug Share to find alternate charge locations in case I had an issue with the planned EA stops and hotels with Level 2 chargers. Thankfully the only issue I had was a charge station not communicating with the car and I switched to a different one. I used the EA app to plan my stops which required some thinking to compensate for changing conditions such as temperature, mountains, weather and lack of high speed chargers every 50 miles.

Leaving Chicago we had a 100% charge and a 230 mile range due to the 23 degree temperature. We stopped in Lafayette for a 10 minute charge to ensure we could get to our lunch stop in Indianapolis. I can drive directly there in the summer but I did not want to push getting there with an empty battery. In Indy we charged to 85% while eating lunch and headed out again. As we headed south we saw the range slowing grow as the temperatures increased. We stopped one more time for about 30 minutes to get us to Bowling Green KY and the hotel. We charged for free at the hotel to 100% for the next days drive. This same process was repeated each day. Our main charge each day was at lunch time.

Lessons Learned:

Planning is necessary for the next several years until chargers are every 50 miles. I tried to ensure that I had 50 miles of range left at each stop. I only messed up once on the last leg coming home where we stopped again in Lafayette to ensure we had enough battery to get home. I under estimated the time we needed to charge to account for the dropping temperatures (32), reducing the battery efficiency and requiring more cabin heat. I pulled into the garage with only 19 miles left.

Finding hotels was harder than it should be because Marriott hotels does not have EV charges as a filter option and some of the hotels with chargers are not listed on their web sites. I used Plug Share to find hotels and called each one to ensure the chargers were there, working and generally available. Hotel charging was great.

Self Driving is really nothing more that a smarter cruise control feature. I used Blue Cruise on the entire trip and found it to be a little more relaxing than adaptive cruise control. I lightly held the wheel or had my had near by to take control when it dropped out which happened randomly when the road was well marked or driving by some exit lanes or it over adjusted to a lane line that seemed to be slightly out of place. It also does not seem to recognize constructing zones and stayed engaged at full speed.

My original plan was to drive at 68 MPH to maximize my range. We ended up driving at 70 to keep pace with the trucks and not have to constantly change lanes. My KWH/mile ranged from 2.4 to 4.6 going down a mountain.

I really enjoyed planning and driving on this trip and will do it again.

Sponsored

 

[azerik]

You had me up to 15 hours of planning. There's got to be some improvement on that for sure.
Curious if you took a look at ABRP for thee trip.

My kid and I might try to get over to California in a couple weeks if I get my MME back by then I might have to plan for 5 or more hours of planning

I'm there with you on BC. I've still got my hand on the wheel. It might be easier to just used cruise for me.

 

[alexgorod]

What was your back up plan for overnight hotel charging if none of charging spots are available/working? Were there DCFCs nearby?

 

[Boselka]

Finding hotels was harder than it should be because Marriott hotels does not have EV charges as a filter option and some of the hotels with chargers are not listed on their web sites.

This is so true and annoying! But their App does! And their app now has a road trip feature. So I use the app to find Marriott hotels with chargers along our road trip and then use PlugShare to verify they are working.

We have driven from Texas to D.C. 3 times, Texas to Branson 2 times, and tomorrow start our second trip Texas to Denver.

 

[Maquis]

If you use the Marriott Bonvoy app, there is a filter for EV charging.

ETA…the previous post went up while I was composing mine!

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I am taking a 2500-3000 mile round trip work trip in a few weeks.

I looked at the abrp map a couple of times, mostly to decide if I want to do major interstate or smaller highway driving. Decided to stick to the major interstate, mostly because I don't know the area and I would do that in any vehicle.

I will have an overnight stop, and need to choose a hotel that can provide a good L2, but that's the only real planning I'm going to do.

I might spend an hour on the planning.

 

[Phil Martin]

Wow, 15 hours of planning??!!
The issue with hotels is you're still not guaranteed a charging spot. You might get there and the charging spot(s) are already taken.

Chargers every 50 miles will certainly help and as you noted it will take a very long time to get there. I'm also afraid there is a big push for more L2 chargers which should be low priority.

 

[eleven24]

Wow, 15 hours of planning??!!
The issue with hotels is you're still not guaranteed a charging spot. You might get there and the charging spot(s) are already taken.

Chargers every 50 miles will certainly help and as you noted it will take a very long time to get there. I'm also afraid there is a big push for more L2 chargers which should be low priority.

I really appreciated a driver who was plugged in at a hotel L2 charger who had a note on his dash that read "text me if you need to plug in". Which I did. The guy came down, told me since there was a hockey tournament going on that spot was the only one left in the parking lot, so he took it. He was not driving an EV, but still understood the importance of someone possibly needing the charger.

I bought him a beer at the bar afterward.

I now toss a card with my cell # and a note on the dash of my car saying the same. If someone comes along and needs the charger I'll move it, but otherwise it's nice to stay plugged in - especially in the cold - before a long drive the next day.

 

[Phil Martin]

I really appreciated a driver who was plugged in at a hotel L2 charger who had a note on his dash that read "text me if you need to plug in". Which I did. The guy came down, told me since there was a hockey tournament going on that spot was the only one left in the parking lot, so he took it. He was not driving an EV, but still understood the importance of someone possibly needing the charger.

I bought him a beer at the bar afterward.

I now toss a card with my cell # and a note on the dash of my car saying the same. If someone comes along and needs the charger I'll move it, but otherwise it's nice to stay plugged in - especially in the cold - before a long drive the next day.

That is very good ediquitte, kudos to the driver for recognizing the importance of overnight charging. Kudos for buying him a beer in recognition.

 

[Tampamike]

@bwr1338 That was a refreshing post. Nice to see some positivity. It’s gettin’ kinda negative in here lately.

Sounds like you made a good, really well-researched plan and it worked. I think you have me beat in the planning department but I too kind of enjoy the challenge. As far as the hotel charging goes, I hope for a working, empty plug but I don’t count on it. I usually have a charger in hand for the morning if it doesn’t pan out. I don’t think you blew it on the last leg either. You don’t really need much of a buffer when the last stop is the garage. You KNOW that one is available and working, right?

 

[bwr1338]

You had me up to 15 hours of planning. There's got to be some improvement on that for sure.
Curious if you took a look at ABRP for thee trip.

My kid and I might try to get over to California in a couple weeks if I get my MME back by then I might have to plan for 5 or more hours of planning

I'm there with you on BC. I've still got my hand on the wheel. It might be easier to just used cruise for me.

I did look at ABRP. The problem with all the EV trip planners is they can't account for hotel charging so they want you to stop more often. So then you end up breaking your trip into days drives.

 

[bwr1338]

What was your back up plan for overnight hotel charging if none of charging spots are available/working? Were there DCFCs nearby?

I used Plug share to locate all high speed chargers near the hotel. Most were chargepoint locations and a few EVgo. All the hotels confirmed the chargers were working and always available when called the week before our trip.

 

[bwr1338]

If you use the Marriott Bonvoy app, there is a filter for EV charging.

ETA…the previous post went up while I was composing mine!

Wow that is great news. I can't imagine why their web page does not do it. I wish I would have known this. Funny that the hotel people were clueless about the phone app feature.

Just looked at the app. Very cool feature as it shows the route and all the matching hotels with price. Would have saved me hours of searching .

 

[SWO]

The Hilton app also now has a filter for EV charging.

 

[MickGT]

You have planned your trip in great detail. I didn't like the idea that you could drive 7 hours a day. We also want to travel by car on vacation and I think that 7 hours is the best solution.

Sponsored