NEWBIE (maybe) Needs advice

[Lawandorder815]

Hi, New here so thanks for letting me in here to view and learn. My wife currently travels 150 miles per day commuting and wants an electric vehicle. Started window shopping last few days and test drove several Mach E AWD. Everything we have seen indicates there are no units with extended range etc. We keep getting conflicting information from sales on the actual range numbers. My wife wants to make sure she will not have any issues with making a round trip and charging overnite during the week. Ive came here and see a lot of issues with the new vehicles and some nightmare dealer issues. SO we now are kind of hesitant on maybe just taking a step back and waiting to move on anything. Another concern is actual range in cold weather. We live in Saratoga Springs NY and have moderately cold winters and now have another concern on range. I have spent the last few hours on this site and have learned a lot. Im just trying to fast track some thoughts as the current vehicles seem to be getting grabbed up pretty quickly around here. Thanks in advance. P

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[HuntingPudel]

Welcome. I. Hope you find us fools here educational and entertaining. I hope we can also learn from you too!

I think it will be difficult to find an extended range Mach-E in stock at any dealer. Most of us have ordered our cars and have had to wait (some are still waiting). Since I don’t live in your area I don’t know what the dealer landscape is like, but here in the SF Bay Area pretty bleak for any model with an extended battery.

Regarding cold weather range, conventional wisdom says that you canlose up to 40% of the estimated range due to temperature. Elevation changes will also negatively affect range, as will speed.

 

[timbop]

As you might know, BEV's experience a drop of 20% to 30% in cold weather. In your case I would expect 35% on really cold days. There's no question a standard range Mach E isn't going to be adequate unless your wife has the ability to charge while at work. An extended range AWD Mach E should be fine, although you'll have to charge to 90% in winter and you'll probably need a 48 Amp home charger like the Ford Connected charger to be sure she can fully charge up overnight.

 

[connoisseurr]

As you might know, BEV's experience a drop of 20% to 30% in cold weather. In your case I would expect 35% on really cold days. There's no question a standard range Mach E isn't going to be adequate unless your wife has the ability to charge while at work. An extended range AWD Mach E should be fine, although you'll have to charge to 90% in winter and you'll probably need a 48 Amp home charger like the Ford Connected charger to be sure she can fully charge up overnight.

Echoing this. Should look at a premium extended range. Get one on the order books ASAP. It’s rare to find a premium extended range (AWD or RWD) available on lots, without a markup (AMV).

 

[BadgerGreg]

As you might know, BEV's experience a drop of 20% to 30% in cold weather. In your case I would expect 35% on really cold days. There's no question a standard range Mach E isn't going to be adequate unless your wife has the ability to charge while at work. An extended range AWD Mach E should be fine, although you'll have to charge to 90% in winter and you'll probably need a 48 Amp home charger like the Ford Connected charger to be sure she can fully charge up overnight.

Good point...it's not just the battery capacity (sounds like the OP will need an extended range battery), but the charging speed is critical. The 32A EVSE that comes with the car won't be good enough for an overnight charge of, say, 5% to 90%. The OP needs to invest in a hardwired wall charger connected to a 60A breaker. This gives you the max charging speed that you'll absolutely want and need in the coldest winter months.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

A little help from a neighbor to the north.
I live up near watertown, though as I wrote this I’m working in Johnstown.
1. Don’t let the people having a bad run of it get you down. Forums are magnets for people looking to commiserate on their problems. For every person here being very vocal about their difficulties, there’s a hundred people that are out driving and enjoying who never thought of trying to google an issue, and therefore were never lead, here to our little forum. Some of us remain on this forum to spread joy and advocate for these cars we love. I have two (well, one for me and one for the wife). We have over 18K miles driven since February without a single problem.

2. Real range is impossible to predict. EPA range is based on a 50/50 mix of city type stop and go (very efficient) and moderate highway speed which the EPA defines as 55-60 MPH(somewhat efficient) on an indoor dyno without temperature variation or winds. When people start driving 75-80 MPH (inefficient) in 40° weather (inefficient) with winds and elevation changes… they don’t get EPA numbers. So your actual range will vary by, not only which version you buy, but also by your driving style. Nobody can tell you what your real range will be

3. Our winters will sap about 1/3rd of your range as the car uses power to heat the battery. Our cars are the extended range AWD models (because I won’t have something that isn’t AWD where I live and because the AWD standard range doesn’t have enough range for my comfort). We are EPA rated to 270 miles. When it was -20° last winter our range estimator topped out at about 180. So, even in winter, 150 miles a day in winter is easily doable for us. If I leave my house for Downtown Syracuse, it’s 156 mile round trip and I have no issue with this. In winter I would need to keep the speed down and probably need to precharge to 100% before I left or plan on plugging in somewhere while I was in Syracuse.

4. The biggest consideration for me is where/how will you charge? Replacing 150 miles a day is going to be between 45 and 75kwh / day. If you have a 40 amp, 240V socket handy you can replace about 7.5kwh per hour. So you would need to be plugged in for 6-12hours a night. Any less than that and you may not have the juice to go your 150 miles the next day

5. Dealers suck. Their entire business plan is to be a middleman trying to maximize their profit at the expense of the consumer. We’re in an unprecedented time for car shortages. So dealers are under even more pressure to maximize their profit on what few vehicles they can get. If you’re trying to find a Mach-E on a dealer lot, that dealer is probably going to try and take you for all you’re worth. That’s the way their business is designed.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions of even direct message me

 

[BigMach-E]

Considering your use case, I would say you can't get away without EXT and AWD. I'm going to echo what others have said. It's unlikely that you will be able to buy off a lot, and if you could, likely will pay ADM. It's a great car, I'd say order what you need and wait if you can.

 

[BMT1071]

Hi, New here so thanks for letting me in here to view and learn. My wife currently travels 150 miles per day commuting and wants an electric vehicle. Started window shopping last few days and test drove several Mach E AWD. Everything we have seen indicates there are no units with extended range etc. We keep getting conflicting information from sales on the actual range numbers. My wife wants to make sure she will not have any issues with making a round trip and charging overnite during the week. Ive came here and see a lot of issues with the new vehicles and some nightmare dealer issues. SO we now are kind of hesitant on maybe just taking a step back and waiting to move on anything. Another concern is actual range in cold weather. We live in Saratoga Springs NY and have moderately cold winters and now have another concern on range. I have spent the last few hours on this site and have learned a lot. Im just trying to fast track some thoughts as the current vehicles seem to be getting grabbed up pretty quickly around here. Thanks in advance. P

If your wife works at the same location regularly it might be worth asking her employer to install a charging station. You could also use Plug Share to see if there is an existing charger that is convenient for her to use.

 

[Ma9573]

Definitely place an order for a Premium 4x and then keep trying to find one on the lot. The options for AWD electric cars that can get your wife to and from work every day during a cold winter are basically 2: The Mach E and the Model Y.

The ID4, Polestar, Bolt, Jaguar, Volvos, etc might not be able to (during the winter, summer they'll work fine). Maybe the Ioniq 5 or EV6, but who knows when they'll be available in the US and what type of wait times they will have. If you have the money the Lucid, Taycan, Rivian, EQS, and Premium trim Lightning will do the trick, but good luck getting those before 2023.

 

[Thunderbirdsoundsbetter]

Extended with 4wd will give you a peace of mind. I do 150-250 miles a day daily on one and it’s good. Didn’t get to try snow yet as I’ve only had the car for 5 months. I have 19k mikes so far.
At 50 degrees the max miles that show at 100% is 270. I always charge to 100%. Get around 2.6-3.7kw per mile. On a 90 degree day at 100% shows 320 miles.
Hope this helps a little.

 

[zvez]

curious why everyone's saying AWD. Is this strictly due to potential weather condtions?

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

curious why everyone's saying AWD. Is this strictly due to potential weather condtions?

Yeah, OP might get better range out of a RWD. I quoted AWD because that’s what I have and know. But @Lawandorder815, if you’re good with 2WD, that will do better for range. Saratoga doesn’t get as much snow as Watertown, but last year there were times you got more than we did. My sister-in-law lives in Schenectady so we tend to compare notes.

 

[timbop]

When it was -20° last winter our range estimator topped out at about 180.

At 50 degrees the max miles that show at 100% is 270

The range estimator (aka guess-o-meter) doesn't matter. What matters is the actual mi/kwh you get in your real-world driving conditions and style. The guess-o-meter tries to estimate what will happen (and is often very wrong), but the mi/kwh is what actually happened.

he options for AWD electric cars that can get your wife to and from work every day during a cold winter are basically 2: The Mach E and the Model Y.

Actually the long range model 3 is dual motor/AWD also - and has as much range as the RWD ER Mach E.
OP: beware that tesla's reported EPA range is overly optimistic based on real world driving, but the Mach-E's is closer to reality

 

[sotek2345]

Yeah, OP might get better range out of a RWD. I quoted AWD because that’s what I have and know. But @Lawandorder815, if you’re good with 2WD, that will do better for range. Saratoga doesn’t get as much snow as Watertown, but last year there were times you got more than we did. My sister-in-law lives in Schenectady so we tend to compare notes.

Yeah, unless you have experience driving a higher torque RWD vehicle in the snow, I would stick to AWD for our winters (Schenectady area myself). I have driven ICE mustangs through the winter, but it takes a practiced hand. My wife refused to have anything that isn't AWD anymore.

If you do choose to go RWD, I would say dedicated snow tires are a must.

 

[Thunderbirdsoundsbetter]

The range estimator (aka guess-o-meter) doesn't matter. What matters is the actual mi/kwh you get in your real-world driving conditions and style. The guess-o-meter tries to estimate what will happen, but the mi/kwh is what actually happened.

Having driven the car 19k miles so far I find the guess o meter pretty accurate from my experience.

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