Reliable charging / almost stranded

[Aeon]

Currently on a trip in rural Maine. Prior to the trip, I planned out a route with chargers from the FordPass app as well as several back up chargers as I knew we would be out in the mountains. As we got closer to our Airbnb, we drove to a charger listed in the FordPass app, when we got there - out of service. No big deal, we’ll drive to the backup chargers I picked out. So we drove another 30 or so miles to a station listed on the Tesla app that ‘accepted converters,’ though when we got there, wasn’t compatible.

At this point, I start to get nervous because I have a car full of people and a battery that’s about to die and leave us stranded in the cold. I ended up dropping everyone off at the Airbnb and driving to the nearest charging station (with 2 mi of charge to spare) to sit for several hours as it was only 6kW, missing almost the entire night of festivities.

[Before you ask, rideshare services don’t exist out here, so I couldn’t leave my car at the charger and uber/lyft back. Additionally, the closest taxi service wanted +$100 for a 7 mile ride, again not an option.]

To have this near catastrophe situation be a learning experience - what would you have done differently? Has this happened to anyone on road trips before? And, more importantly, does anyone have a way to find reliable chargers?

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[DugthePug Dad]

I don’t have an answer except that if you have the mobile charger maybe you could have plugged in there at your destination.

 

[kltye]

What did Plugshare say about the chargers?

 

[Aeon]

What did Plugshare say about the chargers?

Unfortunately this is my first time hearing about Plugshare - just took a peak and it does indeed list the chargers we visited as ‘partially under repair.’

Will definitely check this in the future - thank you!

 

[RickMachE]

Plan trip with ABRP, check every location in advance, and day of trip, with PlugShare.

You seemed to have had some misunderstanding. No such thing as "accepting converters". A Tesla location accepting non-Teslas is indicated as "adapter needed" in FordPass, which has no route planning capability.

In the Tesla app, you enter vehicle and ownership of adapter, and only see compatible chargers...

 

[dan_meh]

Ug. Sorry that you had this experience. It stinks to carry the burden of providing transportation and have a night like that. I hope that you will have an opportunity to turn it into a good story, and soon.

I have taken the MME into a charging desert. It’s challenging. I went to West Virginia and I was anxious about it. Here’s what I did:

• I over-charged before leaving the charging corridor. At the Winchester EA station, I went to 90%.
• I used A Better Route Planner to plan my route and PlugShare to check on the quality of chargers.
• I had a plan B return trip - one that would add an hour travel time but would greatly reduce stress because it had reliable chargers.
• I brought my mobile charger and plugged the car in while sleeping and going about our fun times.
• I slowed down. There’s a high speed highway, and I kept my speed about 10 under the limit to keep my efficiency high. Tip, leave the Trip “card” open to see your efficiency in real time.
• I found a 6 kW charger that I could use while feeding my passenger some lunch and letting her pick out some stickers.

To be clear, the gas car would have been much easier and more relaxed. And if the place we were staying at had a 32 amp plug accessible, I would have had zero stress. But it was fine. And now that I have done it, I will again.

Contrast the trip with a corridor trip. When rocking 95, even in Maine, it’s fairly easy now. I think we are in our “Last Gas for 200 Miles” billboard era.

 

[CTZ]

Having recently been to rural Maine, there are no compatible chargers north of Bangor as shown in the Telsa app. Are you sure you filtered for NACS compatible chargers?

 

[Aeon]

Thanks for your input everyone - I appreciate it!

It does seem a bit annoying / frustrating to have to cycle through several different apps (ABRP, Plugshare, Tesla, etc.) simply to drive your car. It’s a shame there isn’t an easier way to do this by now. I definitely regret taking this over a friends non-electric car (which is also a bummer because I love my MME). I probably won’t ever take this on a road trip to more rural areas ever again, doesn’t feel worth the anxiety.

 

[Mark813]

Glad you made it without a tow truck being part of the story.

I'm curious if was there a point before the charging desert that you could have charged to 80%, 90% or higher even though you were at say 50%-60%. Just as a way to get to your destination with plenty of juice left.

I'm guessing it looked like there were enough chargers close to the destination as well.

With people in the car though you might get complaints of a charge again so soon or it might have been part of the trip discussed in advance.

Monday morning quarterbacking your trip made me think about a road trip I'm planning. Using ABRP shows plenty of chargers at the destination (not rural or a charging desert) with me arriving at 15%.

But if I wait until the destination for the "last" charge or refill once getting there, a down charging site might put me out of the dinner festivities vs having a quick top up a bit earlier in the trip and dealing with charging with plenty of time after arrival.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[RickMachE]

Thanks for your input everyone - I appreciate it!

It does seem a bit annoying / frustrating to have to cycle through several different apps (ABRP, Plugshare, Tesla, etc.) simply to drive your car. It’s a shame there isn’t an easier way to do this by now. I definitely regret taking this over a friends non-electric car (which is also a bummer because I love my MME). I probably won’t ever take this on a road trip to more rural areas ever again, doesn’t feel worth the anxiety.

With adequate planning, you know if you have a viable plan, including possible backup charging locations.

We have driven through North Dakota, rural Idaho and Wyoming, among other places, and planning is the key. You did some, but used the wrong tools. FordPass has no planning tool.

 

[Aeon]

Glad you made it without a tow truck being part of the story.

I'm curious if was there a point before the charging desert that you could have charged to 80%, 90% or higher even though you were at say 50%-60%. Just as a way to get to your destination with plenty of juice left.

I'm guessing it looked like there were enough chargers close to the destination as well.

With people in the car though you might get complaints of a charge again so soon or it might have been part of the trip discussed in advance.

Monday morning quarterbacking your trip made me think about a road trip I'm planning. Using ABRP shows plenty of chargers at the destination (not rural or a charging desert) with me arriving at 15%.

But if I wait until the destination for the "last" charge or refill once getting there, a down charging site might put me out of the dinner festivities vs having a quick top up a bit earlier in the trip and dealing with charging with plenty of time after arrival.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I think an earlier charge would’ve definitely been a good move, though 20/20 hindsight.

Knowing now about PlugShare, I think I would’ve been able to see the chargers closer to my destination being out of service and could’ve planned around that as well.

I wish you luck on your travels and hope you don’t run into similar troubles!

 

[RickMachE]

I think an earlier charge would’ve definitely been a good move, though 20/20 hindsight.

Knowing now about PlugShare, I think I would’ve been able to see the chargers closer to my destination being out of service and could’ve planned around that as well.

I wish you luck on your travels and hope you don’t run into similar troubles!

Yup.

 

[TNGreenMachE]

Tesla Web sorted - Nacs partners (bring your own adapter) and Tesla Magic Dock (has onsite adapter)

https://www.tesla.com/findus?bounds...s_superchargers,open_to_all_evs_superchargers

As of 10/13/2025

The following vehicle manufacturers have access to NACS Superchargers:

• Acura
• Audi
• Ford
• General Motors (GM)
• Genesis
• Honda
• Hyundai
• JLR
• Kia
• Lucid
• Mercedes-Benz
• Nissan
• Polestar
• Porsche
• Rivian
• Volvo

 

[dan_meh]

It does seem a bit annoying / frustrating to have to cycle through several different apps (ABRP, Plugshare, Tesla, etc.) simply to drive your car.

When I talk to “normies” about the experience of going “off highway,” they are like, “you have a pod of apps just to go on a trip?”

For early adopters, it can be easy to forget that most people just want to drive their cars. The “game” of charger hunting and route planning through multiple apps isn’t fun and it’s barrier to entry.

So yeah, a FordPass that plans a route for you, knows the reliability of charging, tells you which stations you can use, and how long to dwell…. That’s a subscription worth money.

I did send my normie wife on a solo road trip on 95 between DC and New York. It was easy for her. She used one app: Apple Maps.

 

[dan_meh]

I went to PlugShare, curious about the infrastructure in Maine. Let me say @Aeon , you picked a tough trip. Holy cow. And I thought I was going into a charging desert. You, my friend, are Lawrence of Arabia.

I also noticed that there's some kind of line on the map? Seems to have some significance. There are a lot of chargers north and west of the line and fewer on the south and east side of the line... until you get to another line that runs north-south. I feel like we should make friends with the people who have such a wealth of infrastructure.

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