TheBraydenKyle
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Brayden
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2022
- Threads
- 7
- Messages
- 80
- Reaction score
- 91
- Location
- Austin, TX
- Vehicles
- 2022 Mustang Mach E Premium ER RWD
- Occupation
- Sales Management
- Thread starter
- #1
For anyone who enjoys reading about the joys of charging on road trips or for anyone driving along these roads, here is my recap of my recent Austin to Little Rock trip. Spoiler alert: the charging infrastructure continues to be a pain point.
I drive a 2022 MME Premium RWD ER (built in June 22). My previous vehicle was a 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid which got nearly 600 miles to the tank, so I'm still getting used to charging a lot more than I even visited the gas station.
First of all, I must admit I've learned an important lesson: trip planning for chargers. Just because I knew exactly where I wanted to charge doesn't mean the things would be working. For those of you who haven't already learned this the hard way, please take my advice and check out the status of the chargers you plan on using before you leave.
*For those of you curious about the chargers but not wanting to read my long ass post, here are a few notes*
1. EA sucks and their customer service sucks (still haven't heard back from multiple support tickets I opened)
2. EA stations in Arkansas are more expensive than Texas (same average cost as gas, maybe a bit more)
3. EVgo is slow and expensive
4. The Mach E is a fantastic vehicle (I drove on several types of roads, varying speeds, in rain, in shine, in dense fog, up and down mountains)
5. The worst part of this road trip, aside from charging, is the seats aren't great for long trips for me as it caused me some back pain I don't normally have
I left on a Wednesday (fairly warm weather, even for a Texas December) with about 88% charge. I planned on stopping in Bellmead (Waco) at an EA station to top off so I could get to the next station I had planned. I got just north of Temple and checked the EA app. I have found I like to check the apps of charging companies before I arrive to see which one isn't working (there is always at least one) and I like to have the forward knowledge. I was shocked to discover the entire station was offline because it was being upgraded. I panicked for a moment, but realized I had enough to make it into the DFW suburbs to an EVgo.
Desoto, TX: I stopped at an EVgo at a Cracker Barrel just off I-35. As I'm sure most of you are aware, EVgo is slow, especially for road tripping, and pricey. But my options were limited. It took about an hour, but I went from around 13% to 60% which was just enough to get me to the next planned charger. While I was sitting in the car, I researched all the DCFCs on my way to where I was going to ensure there weren't anymore huge surprises.
Mount Pleasant, TX: This EA station is a bit off the interstate but not too bad. Beggars can't be choosers anyhow. Per usual with EA, I attempted to activate the charger three times but were unsuccessful, even though I was the only car trying to charge. I moved over one station and tried two more times to charge. Finally, the station activated and, at first, started out very well at like 123kw but QUICKLY dropped. I think I ended up in the 60s by the time my charging session ended. I charged to about 82%.
Texarkana, TX/AR: For anyone looking at driving through this area of the Arklatex, you should know the only DCFC here are the Tesla Superchargers in front of Olive Garden off I-30. If you use the Plushare app like me, you'll see another DCFC (more like L2 plus) is at the Chevy dealership. This is my hometown and know the owners of this line of dealerships aren't the most pleasant of folks. I personally wouldn't even ask to use this charger unless I were desperate because I wouldn't want to deal with the management. There is a free L2 in downtown Txk on the Texas side across from the Post Office/Federal Court House. I stayed in a hotel on the Arkansas side and briefly used their wall outlet with my Ford charger. This was the first time I had ever used this charge and a wall outlet. Obviously very slow as the outlet was only a 120. I only charged for a couple hours and unplugged before I went to bed. I wasn't desperate for power and the weather wasn't great.
Hope, AR: I've used this EA station a few times in the past as my mom lives nearby. This is the only EA station I've never had issues with. It has always worked the first time, plus plug and charge has always worked for me. I topped off to 80%.
Little Rock, AR: There are only two or three DCFCs in the LR area. One is an EA and one is a Chargepoint, which is what I use almost exclusively in Austin. The Chargepoint one is newer and privately owned. The owner is super nice, has built a very nice awning over the chargers, even has a little building with vending and restrooms, and it's in a very convenient location right on I-630 (Franklin's Charging). There are also some 240 outlets and Tesla Destination chargers installed with room to add more DCFCs in the future. There were some free L2s near the hotel I stayed at off I-30 in Downtown LR, but I didn't feel comfortable leaving my car unattended for that long. I also didn't really need any power. The next day, we spent some time at the LR Zoo and Park which offered free L2 chargers which I used.
Hot Springs, AR: There are currently no DCFCs around Hot Springs, but the owner of the LR one I used is planning on opening up some Chargepoint DCFCs there soon. There are some free L2s at the main Visitor's Center in downtown Hot Springs, in the national park, but I didn't use these personally. We stayed at The Arlington Hotel and valet charged up my car overnight. This is only the second time my Mach E has been at 100%, the first time being when I picked it up at the dealer in San Antonio.
Journey home:
-I had plenty of juice to make it back to Mount Pleasant to charge again
-Per usual, I had issues activating the station but got it to work
-Even though I didn't need the charge, the weather had gotten much colder and I planned on doing some driving around the Dallas area before heading home, so I stopped at the EA stations in Royse City, TX which I've used before
-I tried three of the chargers multiple times and could not get any to activate properly (I've never been completely unsuccessful like this)
-I ended up stopping at an EVgo at a Whataburger in Lancaster, TX to get another 30% or so
-I drove to Bellmead, TX (the new EA stations were up and running now)
-When I arrived, there was only one other car charging (a Mach E) and I had already seen on the EA app that one brand new station wasn't working at all.
-Two different chargers and several attempts later, I was finally able to charge but as a "guest" and I had to pay at the charger because the app wouldn't work either (it still thought I was in Royse City charger after 4 hours). I also saw other cars come in and have trouble as well.
-Charged up to 80% and headed back to Austin (had plenty of power to get home)
I drive a 2022 MME Premium RWD ER (built in June 22). My previous vehicle was a 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid which got nearly 600 miles to the tank, so I'm still getting used to charging a lot more than I even visited the gas station.
First of all, I must admit I've learned an important lesson: trip planning for chargers. Just because I knew exactly where I wanted to charge doesn't mean the things would be working. For those of you who haven't already learned this the hard way, please take my advice and check out the status of the chargers you plan on using before you leave.
*For those of you curious about the chargers but not wanting to read my long ass post, here are a few notes*
1. EA sucks and their customer service sucks (still haven't heard back from multiple support tickets I opened)
2. EA stations in Arkansas are more expensive than Texas (same average cost as gas, maybe a bit more)
3. EVgo is slow and expensive
4. The Mach E is a fantastic vehicle (I drove on several types of roads, varying speeds, in rain, in shine, in dense fog, up and down mountains)
5. The worst part of this road trip, aside from charging, is the seats aren't great for long trips for me as it caused me some back pain I don't normally have
I left on a Wednesday (fairly warm weather, even for a Texas December) with about 88% charge. I planned on stopping in Bellmead (Waco) at an EA station to top off so I could get to the next station I had planned. I got just north of Temple and checked the EA app. I have found I like to check the apps of charging companies before I arrive to see which one isn't working (there is always at least one) and I like to have the forward knowledge. I was shocked to discover the entire station was offline because it was being upgraded. I panicked for a moment, but realized I had enough to make it into the DFW suburbs to an EVgo.
Desoto, TX: I stopped at an EVgo at a Cracker Barrel just off I-35. As I'm sure most of you are aware, EVgo is slow, especially for road tripping, and pricey. But my options were limited. It took about an hour, but I went from around 13% to 60% which was just enough to get me to the next planned charger. While I was sitting in the car, I researched all the DCFCs on my way to where I was going to ensure there weren't anymore huge surprises.
Mount Pleasant, TX: This EA station is a bit off the interstate but not too bad. Beggars can't be choosers anyhow. Per usual with EA, I attempted to activate the charger three times but were unsuccessful, even though I was the only car trying to charge. I moved over one station and tried two more times to charge. Finally, the station activated and, at first, started out very well at like 123kw but QUICKLY dropped. I think I ended up in the 60s by the time my charging session ended. I charged to about 82%.
Texarkana, TX/AR: For anyone looking at driving through this area of the Arklatex, you should know the only DCFC here are the Tesla Superchargers in front of Olive Garden off I-30. If you use the Plushare app like me, you'll see another DCFC (more like L2 plus) is at the Chevy dealership. This is my hometown and know the owners of this line of dealerships aren't the most pleasant of folks. I personally wouldn't even ask to use this charger unless I were desperate because I wouldn't want to deal with the management. There is a free L2 in downtown Txk on the Texas side across from the Post Office/Federal Court House. I stayed in a hotel on the Arkansas side and briefly used their wall outlet with my Ford charger. This was the first time I had ever used this charge and a wall outlet. Obviously very slow as the outlet was only a 120. I only charged for a couple hours and unplugged before I went to bed. I wasn't desperate for power and the weather wasn't great.
Hope, AR: I've used this EA station a few times in the past as my mom lives nearby. This is the only EA station I've never had issues with. It has always worked the first time, plus plug and charge has always worked for me. I topped off to 80%.
Little Rock, AR: There are only two or three DCFCs in the LR area. One is an EA and one is a Chargepoint, which is what I use almost exclusively in Austin. The Chargepoint one is newer and privately owned. The owner is super nice, has built a very nice awning over the chargers, even has a little building with vending and restrooms, and it's in a very convenient location right on I-630 (Franklin's Charging). There are also some 240 outlets and Tesla Destination chargers installed with room to add more DCFCs in the future. There were some free L2s near the hotel I stayed at off I-30 in Downtown LR, but I didn't feel comfortable leaving my car unattended for that long. I also didn't really need any power. The next day, we spent some time at the LR Zoo and Park which offered free L2 chargers which I used.
Hot Springs, AR: There are currently no DCFCs around Hot Springs, but the owner of the LR one I used is planning on opening up some Chargepoint DCFCs there soon. There are some free L2s at the main Visitor's Center in downtown Hot Springs, in the national park, but I didn't use these personally. We stayed at The Arlington Hotel and valet charged up my car overnight. This is only the second time my Mach E has been at 100%, the first time being when I picked it up at the dealer in San Antonio.
Journey home:
-I had plenty of juice to make it back to Mount Pleasant to charge again
-Per usual, I had issues activating the station but got it to work
-Even though I didn't need the charge, the weather had gotten much colder and I planned on doing some driving around the Dallas area before heading home, so I stopped at the EA stations in Royse City, TX which I've used before
-I tried three of the chargers multiple times and could not get any to activate properly (I've never been completely unsuccessful like this)
-I ended up stopping at an EVgo at a Whataburger in Lancaster, TX to get another 30% or so
-I drove to Bellmead, TX (the new EA stations were up and running now)
-When I arrived, there was only one other car charging (a Mach E) and I had already seen on the EA app that one brand new station wasn't working at all.
-Two different chargers and several attempts later, I was finally able to charge but as a "guest" and I had to pay at the charger because the app wouldn't work either (it still thought I was in Royse City charger after 4 hours). I also saw other cars come in and have trouble as well.
-Charged up to 80% and headed back to Austin (had plenty of power to get home)
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