Road trip from Phoenix east valley to Joshua Tree

macchiaz-o

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I don't expect to be road tripping in the Mach-E very often. For anything but the most straightforward of trips, I'll probably prefer to rent a gas powered vehicle or go with relatives or friends who have a gas-mobile. For this reason, I feel fine with my choice to save $5,000 and get the standard range Mach-E. Plus, more stations should be opening up more possibilities, even for a "measly" 230-mile range vehicle.

But I had to try a road trip at least once, right?

My parents wanted to go on a spur of the moment (i.e. a couple day's notice) trip to Joshua Tree National Park. I did some quick checking on PlugShare and A Better Route Planner and said, "Hey, let's try this in my car."

So I planned out a quick trip from home to the Palm Springs area, overnighting in La Quinta, and then visiting Joshua Tree National Park and driving home the next day.

Here's what that looks like with actual charge stops.

Day 1:
Ford Mustang Mach-E Road trip from Phoenix east valley to Joshua Tree 1620533845373


Day 2 includes routes into and through the park with no options for charging anywhere. So we start with a full overnight charge at the hotel. It would've been wiser for us to stay in Palm Springs instead of La Quinta, but this worked out fine anyway:
Ford Mustang Mach-E Road trip from Phoenix east valley to Joshua Tree 1620534081292
 
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macchiaz-o

macchiaz-o

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What went really well?

Range estimates from A Better Route Planner were conservative. (See my charge log in the next post.)

Passengers were comfortable and commenting on how they'd like seats like these in their next vehicle.

The ADAS functions like cross traffic alert, lane centering, and adaptive cruise are really well implemented.

Android Auto is great in the Mach-E. I liked that I could use Ford's navigation while using AA for other stuff like podcasts and receiving texts.

Plug and Charge worked flawlessly at the two Electrify America stations I used (and on both days). A new Porsche Taycan owner pulled up right after me at the Quartzsite location and had to try multiple stalls and talk to EA customer service for quite awhile to have them start a pump for him. He said he's had to do this at every stop so far (and he's pissed, understandably). I was a bit surprised since Taycan was the first to support P&C.


What was good?

The ride is REALLY quiet except when on rough roads. Large swaths of I-10 between Phoenix and Palm Springs are kinda rough, especially on the California side of the border. I'm sure this would have been loud in any vehicle. But the Mach-E is INCREDIBLY quiet on smooth rubberized asphalt so it's just more noticeable. Not a big deal -- this is more a pro than a con. :)

The key fob stayed home. PaaK worked fine, even on many occasions with no cellular connectivity throughout the park. It did fail one time in Chiriaco Summit (where vehicle and phone probably both had cellular connectivity)... Someone opened a door while I was trying to type the backup password and this set off the alarm. :(

Ford's navigation worked pretty well. But it's also quirky. It doesn't know that the Love's truck stop in Quartzsite is an EA location. (It's a new EA location... but PlugShare and ABRP both have it as active.) So the vehicle kept trying to route me to a slower ChargePoint location in Blythe. Some functions just don't work properly, like searching for an EV charger seems to search near where I am, or where I was (before connectivity loss), instead of letting me preview options along the already planned route.


What didn't go so well?

I was feeling somewhat car sick after driving for several hours on Thursday, and also mildly car sick after driving awhile on Friday. Not fully nauseas, but headaches, sweating, and some hard to describe feeling in my chest. My passengers were perfectly fine... One strong possibility here is my vision. I'm far sighted and looking at too much stuff close to me without my glasses, and the constant switching between near and far, can cause the headaches and carsick feeling for me. Too much stuff was drawing my attention to the instrument cluster or center display. Part of this issue is that it was my first road trip and I was pretty nervous about range and charge opportunities. Part of the issue is also the UI bugs (see below).

I was also having quite a bit of shoulder and neck pain. I can't seem to get seat and steering wheel in a comfortable position while still being able to see instrument cluster. I've been experimenting a lot here but just can't seem to find a good arrangement. I wish I could move the IC down an inch or two, and I wish the steering wheel could be extended out towards me further than its current limit. I ended up putting my hands palms down, at 5 and 7. This was pretty awkward for me, but it gave me some relief from the strains.

For the above reasons, I'm looking forward to BlueCruise now more than ever.

Auto A/C at highest level (3) takes too long to cool cabin. Causes me to fidget with temp up/down settings quite a bit. I have to adjust set temp cooler to get the fans to go faster, then adjust it warmer as it starts to cool off. I've not had to do so much micromanagement on prior vehicles.

Unlike my parents, I actually find the seats to be too hot. They don't breath well, regardless of the little ventilation holes. I was getting a sweaty back until driving for long enough for them to cool off. Part of this may have been related to my carsickness.

Where the IC shows the next navigation step, it would occasionally change to say "Lane-Keeping System is Active" for a few seconds. As far as I could tell, lane-keeping was active the whole time I had it on (on longer highway stretches), and I didn't sense any failure, but it was a little unnerving to see this, and it was distracting. This "Lane-Keeping System is Active" notification happened well over a dozen times during the two days.

The known issue with the vertical blue bar popping in and out of turn by turn directions is still a thing. It's distracting.

Returning to the car from one of our shorter stops within the park, I started the vehicle and drove maybe a few hundred feet and then all sorts of warnings started to pop up on the IC. The main one I remember was "One pedal drive is disabled" because that one seemed to stay on display longer, and 1PD most definitely did disable when it said so. That was a little scary. I pulled over and restarted the vehicle and then it was fine.

Trip app is useless. While driving through the park, it claimed that the efficiency was 20.7 miles per kilowatt hour... I noticed it while I was 14-15 miles into that "trip." I basically don't trust the Trip app at all.

There's a small ink stain on the front passenger seat. Someone must've had an open pen in their pocket. :( This is the downside of the light seats.
 
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macchiaz-o

macchiaz-o

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Charge log:

Miles Traveled
WaypointStation
Planned Arrive %
Planned Depart %
Actual Arrive %
Actual Depart %
0​
HomeL2
100​
100​
55​
BuckeyeEA Walmart
71​
80​
80​
82​
99​
QuartzsiteEA Love's
16​
78​
35​
83​
87​
Chiriaco SummitCP Chiriaco Restaurant
23​
33​
39​
45​
driving from hotel in La Quinta to/from/around Palm Springs(unplanned)(unplanned)
179​
79675 Hwy 111, La QuintaL2 Residence Inn
18​
100​
17​
100​
driving through Joshua Tree N.P.
133​
Chiriaco SummitCP Chiriaco Restaurant
32​
61​
45​
80​
86​
QuartzsiteEA Love's
10​
80​
41​
80​
100​
BuckeyeEA Walmart
15​
47​
29​
39​
56​
HomeL2
15​
15​
 
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macchiaz-o

macchiaz-o

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Prescription sunglasses help heaps with the vision when driving!
For many people, yes. But I am farsighted. My distance vision is great. I'm just getting "old" (presbyopia) and having eyestrain with the close up stuff.

I suppose progressives for driving might do the trick if I could get used to them.
 

Marcel

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For many people, yes. But I am farsighted. My distance vision is great. I'm just getting "old" (presbyopia) and having eyestrain with the close up stuff.

I suppose progressives for driving might do the trick if I could get used to them.
I have sunglasses with a small reader section in it, is non visible on distance viewing and extremely helpfull on screen reading. (Ridiculous cheap but very effective.)
 

Tampamike

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For many people, yes. But I am farsighted. My distance vision is great. I'm just getting "old" (presbyopia) and having eyestrain with the close up stuff.

I suppose progressives for driving might do the trick if I could get used to them.
There’s even little stick on cheater lenses. I used those early on when my near vision started going. It allows you to keep the nice sunglasses you have now and still be able to read the gauges. I had a nice pair of Serengeti Drivers that I loved. I just stuck on the little acetate lenses and it did the trick. I eventually broke down and bought progressive lenses but that was years later.
 

Mach-E VLOG

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I like your tracking log. I keep debating what data I want to collect and I wish there was a more automated way of doing that.

BTW, great photos too. I sometimes feel a little awkward when we have stopped at some scenic place. Everyone is taking photos of the scenery and I'm snapping photos of the car. LOL
 

JMSMachE

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A new Porsche Taycan owner pulled up right after me at the Quartzsite location and had to try multiple stalls and talk to EA customer service for quite awhile to have them start a pump for him.
My guess is he didn’t have Plug & Charge enabled in the car’s settings. Sounds dumb to have a setting for something almost everyone wants, but it’s there.
 

Kamuelaflyer

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For many people, yes. But I am farsighted. My distance vision is great. I'm just getting "old" (presbyopia) and having eyestrain with the close up stuff.

I suppose progressives for driving might do the trick if I could get used to them.
Granny glasses. A lot of airline pilots fly with them.
 
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JohnnyForensic

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Proof of visitation. :)

Ford Mustang Mach-E Road trip from Phoenix east valley to Joshua Tree PXL_20210506_233740338


Ford Mustang Mach-E Road trip from Phoenix east valley to Joshua Tree PXL_20210506_233740338


Ford Mustang Mach-E Road trip from Phoenix east valley to Joshua Tree PXL_20210506_233740338


Ford Mustang Mach-E Road trip from Phoenix east valley to Joshua Tree PXL_20210506_233740338


Ford Mustang Mach-E Road trip from Phoenix east valley to Joshua Tree PXL_20210506_233740338


Ford Mustang Mach-E Road trip from Phoenix east valley to Joshua Tree PXL_20210506_233740338


Ford Mustang Mach-E Road trip from Phoenix east valley to Joshua Tree PXL_20210506_233740338


Ford Mustang Mach-E Road trip from Phoenix east valley to Joshua Tree PXL_20210506_233740338


Ford Mustang Mach-E Road trip from Phoenix east valley to Joshua Tree PXL_20210506_233740338
I love how different the IB looks in different lighting. Ford hasn't told me YET that I'm not getting my IB, so I'm still hopeful. Looks so good!
 

Kamuelaflyer

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I love how different the IB looks in different lighting. Ford hasn't told me YET that I'm not getting my IB, so I'm still hopeful. Looks so good!
I doubt that anyone with an order for IB will have trouble getting the car in that color.

I'd also fully expect the color to return in the future (2022? 2023?) when the pigment supplies return to normal.
 

Kamuelaflyer

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I have sunglasses with a small reader section in it, is non visible on distance viewing and extremely helpfull on screen reading. (Ridiculous cheap but very effective.)
There are reading sunglasses available from a lot of different places. I used a pair on my bicycle while doing triathlons so I could read the bike compouter.
Sponsored

 
 




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