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

[ArthurDOB]

Imagine a forum that is supposed to be non-political veering into political waters...

This post was not political. I was just pointing out that these lawmakers are playing performative political games for their base of supporters.

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[Just Lurking]

Apart from energy generation and infrastructure, the obstacles are many.

We agree on the above. It definitely won't be easy.

As for the rest, I think our views are a little too far out of alignment for us to discuss this productively, so maybe we should just leave it there.

 

[21st Century Pony]

A good debate point for getting the extended range battery. 220 miles round trip is no problem. For me, personally, I never considered not getting the extended range - the more range, the better.

Yup.

 

[BadgerGreg]

The basic question this and many other similar threads beg is what would you be willing to pay, on top of your direct costs, to guarantee you had a hassle free, minimum transit time trip? Remember Kettleman City? One where the recharge stations had a working charger with your name on it when you arrived, a warm moist towel to freshen up after that grueling 65 kWh run at 45 mph to save electrons, a waiting dining table for you and your crew, or possibly an in appointment for a quick mani/pedi/massage while you charge, and then send you on the way with a clean windshield, a warm chocolate chip cookie and an a fresh cup of coffee/soda/water? Is an additional $50 per trip to access this level or service worth it? Maybe $75? A monthly $15 subscription? I don't know if I'd do it, but I'd seriously consider it.

I would absolutely be willing to pay a premium for reliable DCFC. A membership with EA costs only $4 a month and I get $0.31/kWh. This is still cheaper than the gas equivalent. Honestly, I’d happily pay $0.50/kWh for DCFC if that would help to promote more investment in stations and grid infrastructure. Since only 20% of my charging is via DCFC a higher cost doesn’t bother me (and shouldn’t bother most people).

Perhaps if EA didn’t have so many free charging sessions and they actually charged idle fees, they’d generate enough revenue to keep their stations in working order.

 

[kennethjk]

The basic question this and many other similar threads beg is what would you be willing to pay, on top of your direct costs, to guarantee you had a hassle free, minimum transit time trip? Remember Kettleman City? One where the recharge stations had a working charger with your name on it when you arrived, a warm moist towel to freshen up after that grueling 65 kWh run at 45 mph to save electrons, a waiting dining table for you and your crew, or possibly an appointment for a quick mani/pedi/massage while you charge, and then send you on the way with a clean windshield, a warm chocolate chip cookie and an a fresh cup of coffee/soda/water? Is an additional $50 per trip to access this level or service worth it? Maybe $75? A monthly $15 subscription? I don't know if I'd do it, but I'd seriously consider it.

I can tell you based on my last trip, I would have paid anything to know that the fast charger was working to take the stress out of a trip.

I love the people that complain about the cost of charging, in particular at the station I used, while I am thanking that the heavens it is working. I would have paid anything they charged, especially not to hear my wife say again, this car is not for long trips.

 

[giordacl]

I just did my first road trip, including a stop in Lagrangeville, NY at a level III charger. 4 open chargers, but I picked the busted one! Plug and charge didn't work, nor using a VISA. To add to it, the charge area was in a spot without phone signal, so I had to run in and out of the grocery store to use their wifi! However, the EVolveNY help line woman was very patient, rebooted the charging station and I got to 60% charge before it stopped working again - just enough to get me home. My take away: I should practice using chargers closer to home before I hit the road again. And, even using the FordPass app, the charging stations might be busted that are supposed to be available. Leave room for adapting.

 

[voxel]

This past Friday we decided to make a trip to Tampa from Boca Raton. It was a last minute decision as my sister was in a car accident. We decided to go and help her out, she has back problems from the accident. She is lucky to be alive as a piece of wood came out of the truck in front of here and smashed the windshield but didn’t penetrate thankfully. 15 years ago someone I knew died from the exact type of accident.

Never drive close behind anyone for any reason!!!!!

I didn’t have the the car charged the night before because I wasn’t going anywhere or so I thought. When we made the decision to make the 250 mile trip I promptly started charging the car. Before we left I was able to get it up to about 95%.

I did my usual checking different routes and charging stations. I know the one on the Florida Turnpike at the Ft Drum rest stop is a decent one. I started north on the Fl. turnpike and then found out that it was closed north of SR 70. I then had to transfer to route 95 and changed where I would charge the car. I did charge up to 80% at the EA station off of 95 in Port st Lucie. It worked well and no complaints. I lost a little bit of time but that was ok But the charge was earlier than I had planned.

BTW: trying to look at PlugShare in car play while driving was somewhat useless and dangerous but the Ford Nav was helpful.

I thought I would have more than enough to make it to Tampa. What I didn’t think about and should have was the drop in temperature and the wind. the wind started to pick up and temps dropped to mid 50’s. I knew that once I got off at yeehaw junction for rte 60 I was headed into a charging desert. I was getting over 3 miles per KW but that started to drop to 2.8.

in response I stopped going the speed limit for about 70-80 miles and stayed at around 50-55 mph. I was getting a bit nervous but knew there was an EVGO charger at a Dunkin’ Doughnuts with a max of 50kw. The rating in PlugShare was only so-so but it was my best option. I could have gone out of my way by 20-30 miles but was trying to avoid it.

I stopped at the EVGO station in Bartow, Fl. it was dark already at 6:30 pm but no one was there thankfully and it charged right up, we spent 30 minutes getting 17kw, speed of 35 and we were back on our way at top speed without any issues. The DD store was locked and we walked to a McDonalds to get something to drink.

there is a large Ford dealer in Bartow that I would have used if it had a fast charger. As a matter of fact, I would have used any charger they had if the EVGO one didn’t work. On the way back to Boca Raton I did check out this dealership to see if it had chargers, it did, problem was the gate was locked and cars were blocking the chargers anyway. They looked like level 2 chargers.

later on rte 4 there was another larger Ford dealer.

as someone else said , having fast chargers at these Ford dealerships would be very helpful and reduced stress quite a bit. Of course if they were accessible to anyone 24/7. Same could be said for all dealers than sell EV’s

the trip home was pretty uneventful and I charged up in Ft Drum on the Fl Turnpike ( my first charge try was at 19 kw. The second charger was at 71) . 30 minute charge and we were back at 80%.

bottom line to this long winded commentary of my trip, plan ahead, have 1 or 2 backup plans. This was not a long distance trip but not a short one either. Do your homework. What should have been a 4:45 hour trip including charging to Tampa took about 6, traffic, slower speed and extra charging took the extra time. An ice car can do the trip in 4 hours.

my wife and I are retired so the extra time to plan and drive is not a big deal but it’s not for everyone.

she would never make this trip alone in an EV, but would have no problem in an ICE vehicle.

Bottom line to this long winded commentary of my trip , plan ahead, have 1 or 2 backup plans. This was not a very long trip but not a short one either. Do your homework and take nothing for granted.

Also in Florida and also noticed the significant drop in efficiency even with it in the 40s-50s. From 3.6 to 2.8 mi/kWh.

I consider Tampa/Lakeland/Orlando a decent area for chargers because there are a few options... but once you hit the Ocala/Villages area... that's a real desert. You have one working CCS at a Caddy dealership. The situation hasn't improved in the 1.5 years I've owned an EV and may not for another year.

 

[AZBill]

GM and Mercedes building out networks? sorta... but not really.

GM is putting in level 2 chargers... it's the equivalent of putting in dial up internet service. Genius for the GM brand image.

Mercedes is putting in a real charging network... at their dealerships... (the charge count and dealership count conveniently match)... and these will be built over the next decade. Exactly like Ford is doing.

perhaps makes tossing a few bucks at EA seem fairly reasonable.

GM is funding EVGO to put in 350kw chargers. EVGO just opened 4 new sites in Phoenix and they are going to also install them at the Pilot/Flying J truck stops. That is in addition to the L2 chargers locally.

 

[Phil Martin]

This really isn’t a Mach E thing, it’s an anything but a Tesla thing. The charging infrastructure sucks, and it’s only gonna get worse as more people get cars that run on electricity. I think once the Tesla Network opens up to public charging, it will help a lot. Five years from now, I think the charging of the structure will be a lot better, and 20 years from now it will be no different, then go to fill up at a gas station. This is just the price you pay for getting in on the laser disc revolution.

I'm not sure how it's different in five years if the CCS model is kept in place.

Tesla does charging because their core business depends on it, they had to get it somewhat right.

Ford, GM, etc are in a wait and see what happens stance. Imo, they don't want to touch charging with a ten foot pole. They'd rather have the government spend the money.

In 20 years, why would it look like gas stations? Where and how is the money to be made? How are the charging stations ever going to get out of being in back of parking lots? What a piss poor experience when charging an expensive EV. Why would anyone invest money in a charging network? Billions and billions would have to be spent on infrastructure and whatnot to even get a half ass approach to gas stations.

 

[azerik]

GM is funding EVGO to put in 350kw chargers. EVGO just opened 4 new sites in Phoenix and they are going to also install them at the Pilot/Flying J truck stops. That is in addition to the L2 chargers locally.

Any word on when those 350's are going in? I'd be happy to see a few stalls on the way to Flagstaff from the valley. Plug share etc doesn't show anything from Anthem to the Flagstaff Walmart sadly. I havn't signed up for Ford's charging yet, but havn't planned a trip yet as we got WAY too much snow for me to bother with over the weekend. I saw some 350's in Sedona are listed but I'm not side tracking as much as that.

In 20 years, why would it look like gas stations? Where and how is the money to be made? How are the charging stations ever going to get out of being in back of parking lots? What a piss poor experience when charging an expensive EV. Why would anyone invest money in a charging network? Billions and billions would have to be spent on infrastructure and whatnot to even get a half ass approach to gas stations.

Which is why I'm on the wait list for the ever so fugly LightYear2. Because. Phoenix. Skip the charging, get the sun burn.

 

[BigMach-E]

Listen, the infrastructure is in a shambles. No one disputes this. That being said, you can long road trip with an EV that has 200 miles of range, but it’s hard. Why not rent ICE if you have low range, no experience and no time. It’s the right tool for the job sort of thing. SR is for commuting, really. I’m happy with my SR AWD, because I know what it can do, and what it can do it does well, but if I was road tripping outside of California, I would rent or take the other two ICEs we have.

 

[kindofblue]

We've got a trip planned for Sept that is a loop from Vegas up to the canyon lands then down to Phoenix. We could have done it in one of our 2 EVs but that would add an additional 1,000 miles so we're going to fly to Vegas then back from Phx and get a rental ICE for the loop.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Listen, the infrastructure is in a shambles. No one disputes this. That being said, you can long road trip with an EV that has 200 miles of range, but it’s hard. Why not rent ICE if you have low range, no experience and no time. It’s the right tool for the job sort of thing. SR is for commuting, really. I’m happy with my SR AWD, because I know what it can do, and what it can do it does well, but if I was road tripping outside of California, I would rent or take the other two ICEs we have.

Agree 100%. My SR AWD is 100% perfect for 99% of my trips. The litmus test for me is 160km round trip to take my daughter back to University on week-ends. It can do it with ease in the depths of winter on a full charge. The rest is running around town.

The one trip a year we take - 1600 km each way - will 100% be in the XC-90. It will suck paying for gas, but I’ll have no worries.

 

[Jcpro2]

I wonder if there is any data out there on how quickly Supercharger stations and stalls are added and how this compares to the rate at which EA and EvGo stations and stalls are added. That would be informative and interesting to look at.

Tesla is adding 3-4000 Superchargers EVERY 3 month, as of now it has over 46000 SC world wide. In comparison, here's EA's plan for 2025:

"Dubbed the Boost Plan, it aims for more than 1,800 DC fast-charging stations, and a total of 10,000 individual connectors, by 2025"

This is just sad. Sorry to say the discrepency will only grow much wider, not smaller.

 

[astronut325]

Tesla is adding 3-4000 Superchargers EVERY 3 month, as of now it has over 46000 SC world wide. In comparison, here's EA's plan for 2025:

"Dubbed the Boost Plan, it aims for more than 1,800 DC fast-charging stations, and a total of 10,000 individual connectors, by 2025"

This is just sad. Sorry to say the discrepency will only grow much wider, not smaller.

I didn't realize it was that big of a gap. YIKES. So Tesla will install this year what EA will be at in 2 years from now in total.

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