Road trip with kids?

[phil]

...this sounds awful enough that I’m thinking renting a gas-powered car is our only option for this trip.

Very sensible. Why torture yourself and the kids needlessly? Road trips are why God gave us gasoline.

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[Sikkun]

Both 9 and 12 hours with kids sound awful personally…..

I will say in my experience a 3 charge trip has only been +1.5 hr from what Google says. And maybe only 30-40 min more than taking an ICE, because I have to eat, pee, and let my dogs out either way.

 

[duncan12]

A friend mentioned a hack for the potty. Bring some large/adult diapers to line the inside of the potty. Makes for easier cleanup on the road. I personally haven’t tried it yet, my granddaughter isn’t quite there.

We’re actually not quite there yet either with our son and I think diaper changes are probably easier than just starting potty training during a road trip, but having been through it with our daughter, they now sell these plastic bags with absorbable inserts in them that fit over the portable potty we used for our daughter. Everything was contained, she loved getting to pee on the turtles on the lining, and we loved being able to just tie the bag and dump it! They sell them on Amazon and while I don’t recall them being expensive, whatever they cost was worth it!

 

[phil]

We dont let our kids use any screens for a trip under 2.5 hours (90% of our roadtrips). Then on longer we give them tablets and a hotspot, they can go for hours on end!

I did something similar. But knowing what I know now, I wish I had been far less permissive.

 

[thekat03]

My family road trips a lot, 600-900 miles one-way, and we have been doing it with our gas cars, since the kids were as young as 2 weeks old, and now with out EVs, since we no longer have or want gas cars. My kids are now 12 and 9, and both appreciate the charging stops to get out of the car and stretch out legs. With the 22 month old, you may need to stop that often for diaper changes, and at least my kids have been really bad about not realizing they need to pee until it's urgent (especially if wrapped up in electronic games or videos), so pushing restroom breaks every 2-2.5 hours is a good idea for them anyway. I think EV road tripping with kids and dogs is totally doable.

That being said, first long road trip, and in a direction that may not have ideal charging infrastructure, and that you aren't familiar with, is intimidating, so depending on your baseline tolerance for road trip planning and driving (and the kids' tolerance) it isn't unreasonable to rent a gas car for the occasional trip.

 

[MacherAWD]

I did something similar. But knowing what I know now, I wish I had been far less permissive.

Oh? In hindsight what would you have changed.

 

[silverelan]

Your days of hammering 5-6 hours between gas stations were done long before you got your EVs. With two young children in the car, 3 stops is at LEAST what you’d do anyways in an ICE.

If you leave after work and drive 200 miles before spending the night in a hotel with charging, you’ll at least have a much easier go of it on your departure trip.

 

[phil]

Oh? In hindsight what would you have changed.

I would have been far less permissive of screen time - deferring cell phones till older ages, more restrictive limits on screen hours/times of day/particularly harmful applications (mostly games). That sort of thing. The occasional road trip tablet session probably would not be too harmful, but it all accumulates. It's too late now for me.

 

[MacherAWD]

I would have been far less permissive of screen time - deferring cell phones till older ages, more restrictive limits on screen hours/times of day/particularly harmful applications (mostly games). That sort of thing. The occasional road trip tablet session probably would not be too harmful, but it all accumulates. It's too late now for me.

Its tough being a parent these days. I try to use us and our friends/family as example to our kids and explain how adults are really struggling with the balance and we had almost NO tech as kids!

Phones.......no cell phones until age 12 is our goal, but its tough when friends get them at 7! - We did get our son a gizmo watch so we can check on him when out riding his bike. Heck I want a gizmo now instead of a Pixel, you just go back to calls, time, and text, a simpler time!

 

[bbulkow]

I think you're not using ABRP correctly then.

Leave with 100%, stop at EA in Henderson, charge from 18% to 83%. Stop at Tesla in Gastonia, charge from 10 to 67% (I would go to 80%). Stop at Tesla in Commerce, GA and charge from 10 to 47%. Arrive with 20%.

If you don't have a Tesla adapter, ABRP tells you to charge in Henderson, then Greensboro and Greenville. No issue at all.

This. Abrp has settings, the defaults are usually ok, op may have fooled with them.

Abrp also has a calibration feature, if you get a bluetooth dongle it can know your current state of charge and speed, and will even calibrate then adjust. A bit of a pain to get the dongle from amazon and learn to use it, but you will get excellent predictions then.

I generally think charging adds about 10 percent to my trips, but maybe real world it is 20 percent, and i have the er battery. It also seems that lowering the speed to 65 improves overall trip speed depending on your stops, sometimes it will be faster to raise the speed (like your last segment of the day). I bet the lightning is less efficient, too? No idea if the mache is better, i know it is more aerodynamic. Add a trailer to the lightning and i hear it is actually grim.

Getting the nacs (tesla) adapter can be a big win, sounds like your proposed route has some fewer charger segments. Flexibility on route! Better with kids to say 'i hear you, we will stop in 10 minutes, and they have a charger there'. Your odds of there being a charger within 15 minutes on a random trip goes way up if you have all the networks.

Another vote for enjoying the stops. No kids, but i have come to enjoy taco stops. Last weekend i found the 'choke coach' a food truck with all artichokes near watsonville. Who knew? Not on the map! Pleasant stop, we ended up charging more than plan.

I did one short trip with an old ex navy guy who smoked all the time. I thought he would be annoyed by the stops but he loved all the smoke breaks. He was seriously considering an ev after that trip, his wife doesn't give him enough smoke breaks when they road trip, and a gas station stop isn't enough time for him to finish a cigarette.

If you really cant spend the extra 10 to 20 percent time, rental or fly, for sure.

 

[67 Stang Convertible]

We’re actually not quite there yet either with our son and I think diaper changes are probably easier than just starting potty training during a road trip, but having been through it with our daughter, they now sell these plastic bags with absorbable inserts in them that fit over the portable potty we used for our daughter. Everything was contained, she loved getting to pee on the turtles on the lining, and we loved being able to just tie the bag and dump it! They sell them on Amazon and while I don’t recall them being expensive, whatever they cost was worth it!

Can’t say I really miss those days???

 

[DustyShades]

My experience has been that EVs actually are the best choice for roadtripping with toddlers / little kids. You need to stop about as often as the EV needs to charge and usually the EV is done charging about the time that we’re done. Eating, stretching legs, changing diapers, potty breaks, buying snacks / stuff you realized you forgot at home - all takes time and gives the kids the break they need to not lose their mind in the car.

 

[RickMachE]

Can’t say I really miss those days???

 

[ChasingCoral]

I think you're not using ABRP correctly then.

Leave with 100%, stop at EA in Henderson, charge from 18% to 83%. Stop at Tesla in Gastonia, charge from 10 to 67% (I would go to 80%). Stop at Tesla in Commerce, GA and charge from 10 to 47%. Arrive with 20%.

If you don't have a Tesla adapter, ABRP tells you to charge in Henderson, then Greensboro and Greenville. No issue at all.

Unless your kids have bladders of steel, I suspect you’ll be stopping more often than that. Breaking up the trip with more frequent but shorter travel stops may be a good thing. As others suggest, make the stops into fun stops however you can.

 

[Gmoney@PNW]

Also check if there is a hotel along the way with an EV charger in their parkade and a water slide feature.

Another vote for "just slow down and enjoy the trip". When travelling with our toddler I wouldn't try to do giant days regardless of the vehicle, and honestly in most real world cases the need to stop for potty and snacks happens as often as charge stops, and my charge is usually above my target % by the time everyone is done with those things anyway. Basically, the charge stop isn't actually slowing things down more than just the sanity stops we'd need either way.

I do recommend bringing a small travel potty if your 22mo is starting to use it, that helps with charge stops that don't have an easy bathroom nearby. Also, have a few outdoor toys to play with so they can squirt water or wave ribbons around in a grassy spot while charging - that will let them burn off some energy, and make it more likely that they will sleep between charges. Helps you too - I find I'm a lot less stiff and irritable after long drives in the MachE than in previous cars, partly due to the lower noise, and partly due to the enforced walking/stretching breaks.

are there plenty of Walmarts on your route? When my son was that age, he loved creeping around the toy aisle. Granted, their toys are all Chinese plastic, but he could gaze at the Legos, Nerf guns, skateboards and bicycles for hours. In the meantime, your Mach-e is charging to full capacity and you can grab a couple of coffees.

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