Mach-E Misinformation?

[Eraser]

Most of my long distant trips were to places I've been to before, so I had no reason to double check the built in nav. Additionally, the recommended suggestions were pretty solid. Although that is probably because there are so many charge stations here. Certainly nothing wrong with having plenty of options available.

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[toggleE]

First off, apologies if the post title triggered anyone.

I was reading this Motortrend article (posted yesterday) titled Ford Mustang Mach-E EV: A Road-Trip Fast-Charging Strategy Guide. I was genuinely confused by the premise. Based on my experience having my Mach-E for about a year, there really isn't much "strategy" needed. If I need to go on a long road trip, I simply put in my destination on the built-in navigation system, then the system tells me everything I need to know to get from point A to point B. If I can't make the trip based on my SOC, the system will tell me where to stop, and for how long.

What is all this nonsense using A Better Route Planner and manually figuring out the same information provided instantly by the built-in navigation system? Am I missing something here, or is this person just ignorant of the feature set of the Mach-E? If the latter is true, that is pretty sad coming from Motortrend, I was under the impression they are a reputable source car related information.

Having done longer road trips in excess of 1000 miles in the Mach E, I can safely say that using a better EV route planner is the way to go. The amount of non-working chargers I was led to by the built-in Nav was surprising. I switched to using PlugShare halfway through.

This was a recent trip, by the way.

 

[robbinbadams]

I have not gotten my mach e yet But it seems that there are many of you out there who have good experience that I can learn from. Thanks for your input.

 

[Thesmoothdome]

How can OP have been on this forum since June 2020 and not know this? Must be a dozen threads discussing this.

Just wondering if you now feel better about yourself since you got to call someone out and added nothing of value to this thread.

 

[Raymondjram]

Not many people plan routes for trips over 200 miles sitting in their car.

that’s about the only answer I can come up with.

I cannot even travel over 200 miles in any direction from my home, unless I drive in circles, or end up in the sea. Any land point from my home is less than 50 miles away.

 

[Mach1E]

I look forward to the day I could get in my car and drive, no planning needed.

Until that day, we will take my wife’s ICE vehicle on anything farther than 75 miles away.

 

[mccdeuce]

I look forward to the day I could get in my car and drive, no planning needed.

Until that day, we will take my wife’s ICE vehicle on anything farther than 75 miles away.

I plan road trips in ICE cars, although not to as much detail. Albeit anything in the 75-150 mile range there is no planning. Anything over 150 miles though you should have some plan IMO.

I equate planning BEV drives to flying airplanes. There are so many factors that go into the decision process for the route.
1) if I get stuck at this stop for 24 hours am I ok with that?
2) weather
3) amenities
4) re-fuel speed (no different than a u-Haul going to a truck fill spot vs a car spot)
5) fuel price

 

[Mach1E]

I plan road trips in ICE cars, although not to as much detail. Albeit anything in the 75-150 mile range there is no planning. Anything over 150 miles though you should have some plan IMO.

I equate planning BEV drives to flying airplanes. There are so many factors that go into the decision process for the route.
1) if I get stuck at this stop for 24 hours am I ok with that?
2) weather
3) amenities
4) re-fuel speed (no different than a u-Haul going to a truck fill spot vs a car spot)
5) fuel price

I’m in the middle of Florida. Takes 4+ hours to get out of Florida.

But driving anywhere in the state for hundreds of miles takes zero planning.

Get in car, drive to destination. Low on fuel? Stop literally anywhere.

Even in college when I had to drive 10 hours to get to school. Get in car, drive 3 states away.

I honestly don’t know anyone who plans their route in an ICE based on fuel prices or gas station locations. The closest to that was “better refuel in Georgia because gas is cheaper,” so you stop literally anywhere before leaving the state. No research necessary.

 

[shark]

How can OP have been on this forum since June 2020 and not know this? Must be a dozen threads discussing this.

Comparing the OP's 280 posts since 6/2020 to your 3,835 since 7/2021 I would say it is because he has better or more important things to do with his time than study every single nuance of his vehicle on an internet forum.

 

[WNKent]

Guess that is what I get for not looking first before posting. Oh well, I'll take my lashings for wasting a few bytes of data .

Meh, no harm done. People need to just scroll on by when they feel triggered by a duplicate post. ?‍

 

[rodhx]

If their are out of network charge stations that don't show up in the built-in nav system I can see where it might come up with some off the wall routes in those cases. Good point.

It’s not just that. In my case it has created nonsensical routes with EA stations. Miles & time out of the way for no apparent reason when observation and all other tools say “just drive to your destination.”

 

[Eraser]

Having done longer road trips in excess of 1000 miles in the Mach E, I can safely say that using a better EV route planner is the way to go. The amount of non-working chargers I was led to by the built-in Nav was surprising. I switched to using PlugShare halfway through.

This was a recent trip, by the way.

This weekend I did a road trip that was nearly 400 miles for the first time. The route that was provided by the built-in nav on my departure was perfect, this required 2 stops to charge. However, on the return the route wasn't what I expected, although it technically would have worked, this required 3 stops to charge.

I too ran into charging issues on 5 of 7 charging attempts on this trip. Most of my issues were due down stations, units not authenticating to start charging, or extremely slow charging speed (15kw on a 150kw or 350kw station).

Before my return trip I actually tried out A Better Route Planner (ABRP) for the first time. After I configured the app, then compared the results to the Built-in nav, I liked the options it provided much better. I decided to use the route provided by ABRP instead on my return. I was floored by how accurate the results were. My SOC when I reached the first charging station was spot on.

That said, I stand corrected, ABRP is anything but "nonsense" as I originally stated. It really is a impressive tool that I would use again. One word of caution, make sure you manually adjust your mi/kwh in the setting for what you are actually getting. The default values might be too high, especially if you run the heat, drive in very cold weather, or just drive too fast .

My takeaways:

1. The built-in nav is fine for trips that only require 1 (maybe 2) stops. The route options when 2 or more stops are needed can be a bit odd. Use ABRP if you have multiple stops.
2. If you're traveling to more remote areas always check Plug Share to help minimize to chance of going to a bad charge station. Even when I did this I still nearly got stuck due to multiple stations being down for repairs, or just not working.
3. Try and stick to routes that provide more charging station options whenever reasonably possible. Due to #2 you never know when you need take a detour to another charge station.

Going forward I plan to avoid taking any trips that require more than 1 stop to charge (or about 200 miles one way). With the roulette wheel of potential issues with charging stations, the hassle with delays and detours is not worth it for me. This longer trip was a great learning experience for me and made me consider things I hadn't before. Lesson learned.

 

[RickMachE]

???????

 

[1969Camaro]

NAV took me to a Buick Dealership that was "In Network" It was not and only available for dealer cars. Also took me to a residential address where there was no charging station.

I double check details. Use the EA to verify info.

Fail to plan is a plan for failure.

 

[RickMachE]

See this thread for a quick comparison of the tools. https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...tual-is-when-this-is-all-said-and-done.15255/

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