No more road trips with our Mach-E. A 2 hour drive to Joshua Tree turns into a 3 hour drive.

KevinS

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2021
Threads
31
Messages
1,474
Reaction score
2,731
Location
Maryland
Vehicles
Job 1 2021 Mach-E (SR AWD)
Country flag
This thread is volume 1,385 of: new EV owner discovers and whines that road trip charging can be a real pain in the ass, and then 29 forum users helpfully respond “it’s really quite simple - just take these 14 steps next time.”

Rinse, repeat.
"Hi family -- I'm Kevin. Here are my ten tips to make your spouse not file for divorce on your next EV road trip. Don't forget to like and subscribe!"
Sponsored

 

RickMachE

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2021
Threads
200
Messages
13,135
Reaction score
17,856
Location
SE MI
Vehicles
2022 Mach-E Premium 4X, 2022 Lightning Lariat
Country flag
Does using plug and charge still mean you can't get the lower EA membership rate or did they fix that?
No, they didn't fix it.
 

GrantK

Well-Known Member
First Name
Grant
Joined
Jul 17, 2022
Threads
5
Messages
58
Reaction score
43
Location
Santa Cruz
Vehicles
MME Select AWD
Country flag
Yeah, I don’t even consider my Mach E for roadtrips. If roadtrips are your thing and you are a single car family, then get an ICE, or if you really want electric go Tesla, but you will have charging issues in anything else.
 

dmastro

Well-Known Member
First Name
David
Joined
Mar 17, 2022
Threads
11
Messages
545
Reaction score
721
Location
Roseville, CA
Vehicles
2022 Mach E Premium AWD (ordered), 2018 Tesla M3
Country flag
Without reading this thread, I'm sure I can TLDR:

OP writes a complaint about a difficult road trip charging experience. The usual suspects tell OP that they don't know how to road trip in an EV, and they should have spent a few hours using a handful of apps to plan their 2 hour trip, or that they've never run into an issue before so it must just be OP. Much bickering back and forth.

When in reality the takeaways from these posts are:

- Current EV charging infrastructure is lacking, hard to use, and frustrating for many drivers.
- Because of this, it may be necessary currently to do some planning to try to make a road trip easier.
- However, this is not a sustainable solution, as these threads demonstrate the vast majority of drivers are not willing to do this.
- So unless we all want EVs to be a niche for the very few early adopters willing to put up with the hassle, we need to continue to advocate for expanded and simplified EV charging networks.

I'm not sure why so many people give legacy automakers a pass on this. Tesla, a start up, was able to build a network that is robust, simple to use, reliable, with great built-in navigation tools.
 

narmstrong79

Well-Known Member
First Name
Nick
Joined
Sep 16, 2021
Threads
21
Messages
210
Reaction score
284
Location
New Hampshire
Vehicles
2021 Mustang Mach-E
Country flag
EVs are not road-trip vehicles. It can be done - but its not much of a savings, takes longer and is more miles. Daily driver with home charging is only reason to have an EV.
 


dmastro

Well-Known Member
First Name
David
Joined
Mar 17, 2022
Threads
11
Messages
545
Reaction score
721
Location
Roseville, CA
Vehicles
2022 Mach E Premium AWD (ordered), 2018 Tesla M3
Country flag
EVs are not road-trip vehicles. It can be done - but its not much of a savings, takes longer and is more miles. Daily driver with home charging is only reason to have an EV.
Road tripping in my Tesla is a joy. I've enjoyed the MME the short road trip when charging worked seamlessly.
 

RRL

New Member
First Name
Roger
Joined
Apr 18, 2022
Threads
0
Messages
4
Reaction score
14
Location
Ottawa
Vehicles
Mustang Mach-E Premium AWD
Country flag
We just completed a 3,200 mile road trip last week from Ottawa, ON to San Diego, CA, passing through NY, PA, VA, TN, AK, TX, NM and AZ. Although there were some EA stations that didn’t work along the way, we were able to charge up quite quickly at most stops along the way. The only stop where we has Issues with was in Midland, TX. Three dispensers weren’t working, and the last one was at a reduced voltage. Luckily we planned ahead, stopping regularly to charge up. We would also charge our GT to 85% to give us extra mileage in case we had had to drive further. Got to visit more than enough Walmarts along the way!
 

wkf94025

Active Member
First Name
Kelly
Joined
Apr 23, 2022
Threads
0
Messages
43
Reaction score
34
Location
NorCal
Vehicles
F350s, F450, 911 Turbo, 911 GT3, M2 Halftrack
Occupation
real estate
Country flag
I routinely do 2+ hr each way road trips. A bit of planning, but not much, and swipe-to-charge and EA look-ahead were tactics I learned quite early, and have greased the EA experience quite a bit. No way is my GTPE a groceries-only golf cart. I'm sure the infrastructure is going to mature, but it's workable for me as is, and will make for great stories someday for the grandkids.
 

BadgerGreg

Well-Known Member
First Name
Greg
Joined
Dec 2, 2020
Threads
29
Messages
629
Reaction score
1,525
Location
North Carolina
Vehicles
2023 Mach E Premium RWD SR and 2022 BMW i4 M50
Occupation
Engineer
Country flag
I had taken my Mach E on multiple road trips through April 2022, and they were mostly pretty seamless. This IS a good road trip car, although the worsening condition of DCFC stations is very troubling. What I find most alarming is that EA seems to be putting all its effort into rebuilding or repairing existing stations, and I'm not seeing any significant growth (in terms of new stations), even though many have been "coming soon" for over a year.

I believe the OEMs (all of them) need to take this seriously and do what they can to bolster investment in DCFC infrastructure. This goes beyond Ford's "Charge Angels" program; this means that OEMs might need to put real money into the construction of new stations, or to direct serious capital into EA and EVGo so that they have the resources to grow and thrive. Hundreds of thousands of new EV customers are going to demand the OEMs take action here. Their future customer base depends on it.

Also, most of the rural Tesla SC stations (mostly along the interstate between major cities) sit MOSTLY UNUSED while nearby EA stations are broken and/or fully occupied. Tesla would be smart to open these stations to CCS cars. Given their tanking stock value and that their profits are about to tank, they could use the additional revenue :)
 

azerik

Well-Known Member
First Name
Erik
Joined
Jan 8, 2023
Threads
55
Messages
2,920
Reaction score
2,762
Location
Chandler/Flagstaff, AZ
Vehicles
'21 Spacey Prem4x, '21 RX450H, 13 Focus EV
Occupation
DevSecOps, General PITA
Country flag
100 mile trip isn’t a road trip. It should hardly require charging unless you sweat range anxiety.
 

KevinS

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2021
Threads
31
Messages
1,474
Reaction score
2,731
Location
Maryland
Vehicles
Job 1 2021 Mach-E (SR AWD)
Country flag
I had taken my Mach E on multiple road trips through April 2022, and they were mostly pretty seamless. This IS a good road trip car, although the worsening condition of DCFC stations is very troubling. What I find most alarming is that EA seems to be putting all its effort into rebuilding or repairing existing stations, and I'm not seeing any significant growth (in terms of new stations), even though many have been "coming soon" for over a year.
These delays can just as much be attributed to supply chain issues. Electrical components are way out in terms of delivery time, especially in the high amperage and transformer areas. It's a problem all over the construction industry since the pandemic.
 

BadgerGreg

Well-Known Member
First Name
Greg
Joined
Dec 2, 2020
Threads
29
Messages
629
Reaction score
1,525
Location
North Carolina
Vehicles
2023 Mach E Premium RWD SR and 2022 BMW i4 M50
Occupation
Engineer
Country flag
These delays can just as much be attributed to supply chain issues. Electrical components are way out in terms of delivery time, especially in the high amperage and transformer areas. It's a problem all over the construction industry since the pandemic.
Sure, although for some reason Tesla isn't having this problem, despite the same potential issues with transformers, grid reliability, supply limitations, etc. It may be due to better design and quality of their SC system, and they are doing a much better job maintaining their hardware. Tesla doesn't have any excuses because they don't need to make them. They just invest in their hardware, which is something I don't believe EA or EVGo have done a good job with (yet).
 
OP
OP
astronut325

astronut325

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2021
Threads
10
Messages
315
Reaction score
336
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Vehicles
Mach-E Premium, Toyota Camry, Honda Odyssey
Occupation
Software analyst
Country flag
100 mile trip isn’t a road trip. It should hardly require charging unless you sweat range anxiety.
In spring, summer and fall, yes absolutely. Also, we were going into the mountains to the elevation along with the dropping temperatures contributed to a significant drop in range. There is one Tesla Supercharger in the destination area, and one Charge Point station. I did plan this out using the suite of apps, including ABRP, and decided to stop for a charge on the way in to the destination area. Namely because we might end up driving more in and around the destination area and it’s quite hilly. Unfortunately we got to the EA/EVGO station at peak time, highlighting the need for significant increases in the number of changing stations. And this is further compounded by broken or partially working chargers.

EVs, at least in CA, are hitting mass market levels in terms of sheer number of them I see on the road. This is not a good sign for the future unless you’re in a Tesla. I feel every major automaker needs to be spending more than Tesla on building out reliable fast charging stations/networks. Yet… this isn’t happening. I even looked for Ford Dealers along the route we took yesterday after it was suggested in this thread. I would have had to stop at or above 80% SoC, or head into Palm Springs which would be a 30-45 minute detour past my destination interchange. This can’t be a a reasonable alternative. Also, I did account for extra time to charge as the trip into Joshua Tree from my home is about 90 minutes most days.

Some of the responses in this thread are quite hostile. I get it, the Mach-E is a beloved vehicle for many. As much as I rant about it I do feel it’s a great vehicle for the most part. I just expected better. If I have offended anyone, my sincerest apologies.
Sponsored

 
 




Top