Observations on summer road trips

[DocOfClocks]

• 173 miles each way (OH à PA), one charge at a free level 2 charger in a state park.
• 325 miles each way (OH à IN; mostly I-71 & I-70). Three DCFC at Electrify America Stations.
• 465 miles each way (OH à NY; mosly I-80). Five DCFC (all Electrify America) and a little level 2 charging.

Out of the eight Electrify America stops, plug and charge worked perfectly at seven. On the other, I used plan B, activating the charger through the Fordpass app which worked fine. Had to wait for 15 minutes for a charger at one stop. And at one stop, the charger would only go to 33kW. I moved to a different charger and it was fine. The highest I saw was 126 kW – didn’t matter if it was a 150 or 350 kW charger. Encountered ID4s, Bolts, Mach-Es, that little BMW, and a Polestar 2.

Although I mostly didn’t have to wait, I think usage is going to outstrip availability of chargers pretty soon unless the pace of installation increases. A couple of times I got the last spot available.

Efficiency: the car’s trip computer seems to understate efficiency. For example, on one leg it showed 3.0 mi/kWh, but if I just divide the distance I went by the amount of battery usage I got 3.2. This difference was pretty consistent for the trips. This is on an Extended Range AWD Premium model. Got about 0.15 mi/kWh more going east (prevailing winds are from the west).

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