Roadtrip In Retirement -- Return trip AZ to IL 1800 miles

@kWhpony

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Bob
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After spending 6+ weeks (not long enough) in the AZ desert, we packed the car -- Modern Spare, golf clubs, and greyhounds into the electric pony and made the 3 day trip back to NW suburban Chicago. This trip was more eventful than the first trip to avoid forest fires in Las Vegas NM and sudden brush fire in Santa Rosa NM. See pics further down in this post.

Here's some abbreviated metrics from our charging stops done exclusively at EA using their app to initiate sessions before plugging in:

Avg Driving MPH: 75-80
Avg mi/kWh: 3.0 (from Ford navigation)
Avg Temperature: 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit

Notes about Electrify America locations
There are definite differences in Max Charge Rate between the Signet and ABB stations, especially when using those designated 350 kWh. Signet stations are faster in my experience but only found them in IL.

Observations on performance and range
  • As noted in numerous other posts, range is influenced by temperature, wind, geography, and driving speed. Day 1 was uphill from Peoria AZ (1450 ft) through Flagstaff (6844) and the Continental Divide in NM (7700) before stopping in Amarillo TX (3727). Day 2 was 20+ mph crosswinds/tailwinds downhill to 1500 ft in MO, and Day 3 relatively flat till reaching home.
  • Learning from performance on the first trip and switching from Engaged to Unbridled modes, we drove greater distances between charges and despite the higher speeds we were able to achieve better efficiency. I believe the higher temperatures, helping tailwinds and number of downhill miles over a sustained timeframe contributed to the final number. While not taking it to the extreme like Out of Spec Kyle, we did pull into the garage with the GOM reading 24 miles remaining, but my safety net included 3 EA stations in the final 100 miles. Range anxiety has now become a distant thought ! While charging, I watched Navigation to see the blob extend beyond our next charging location and allowed for a 30-40 mile buffer on the GOM. The actual buffer was ultimately reduced to about 20-30 miles upon arrival.
Miscellaneous
This trip through the OK Tollway system we made as few stops as possible for charging. $5 entering the system and $5 to leave the system. If you get off to charge, show your receipt and you'll get a refund, but give it right back when returning. The unmanned locations have cameras and you will be billed, just not promptly and payment can be made online.

While we were fortunate to have sunny weather, the lack of moisture in the west has left the terrain at risk of fire. The current fire in Las Vegas NM eliminated the northern route home. But if you look at the pic below, that was taken from 55 miles away along I-40 east of Santa Rosa, NM. Smoke from the fire was visible as far away as Amarillo that evening. But as we were approaching Santa Rosa, our mobile phones erupted which at first I guessed was an amber alert. Instead, it was a detour alert from the brush fire right alongside the freeway in Santa Rosa. Luckily, it was right next to the Business Alt Route and we drove just a couple miles to the next interchange which happened to be our charging destination. Ford Navigation was already aware of the detour.

Had a good laugh departing MO in the morning day 3 when a Tesla Model Y backed in to charge at the EA Chademo station only to figure out it wasn't gonna work. The driver was the brother of the owner and was clueless.

Final thoughts
Reaching the outskirts of Chicago at the beginning of what remains of rush hour traffic after Covid, I realized that I don't miss the hustle/bustle of the city. The MME is a great cruising vehicle and when required to decelerate, 55 mph feels like you're crawling. I'll stay in Unbridled going forward, and my next hurdle is to use 1-pedal exclusively.

The next headache is to get out of 1.7.1 purgatory, glass recalls, and BlueCruise.

Dogs.jpg


LV NM.jpg
 
 




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