Standard vs Extended Range Battery (Premium SR/ER vs CR1)

[dbsb3233]

Excellent point! While I only do week long trips once or twice a year, they are high value times where flexibility will be appreciated. Not all weeks are created equal after all.

Yes, peak times are far worse (as one would expect). Summer is busier than winter. Holiday weekends busier than midweek or non-holiday, etc. And when a big bottleneck happens, it can get bad. I've never seen it super bad at any of the stations I've used, but I'm usually driving across CO/UT/NV where the population is sparse.

Those infamous pictures of 25 people in line at a Tesla Supercharger are usually on a holiday weekend, or following a big event, where tons of people are hitting it at once. EA is not immune either. Here's a recent example...

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[AKgrampy]

My case is not normal but here goes. Drive mostly around town with my GT so I could have gone with less but I still prefer the larger battery. Nearest big city is 350 miles away. Right now I can drive non stop in my Expedition. I could do it with one stop in the summer with my Mach but it would take 2 stops in the winter. I would not even attempt it in a SR as there is a 100 mile section with no electricity period. Not much for charging along the route at this time but should be quite a bit better next summer. Even with better charging I would prefer the ER over the SR as prefer to stop as little as possible. The ER will allow a midway rest/meal stop while an SR would add another stop. Just my thoughts. Bottom line come down to what you can afford and what you are willing to put up with when traveling.

 

[BalsaDust]

I bought a Premium AWD extended range bacuse of the features and potential resale value. I would have loved a GTPE but the insurance alone was way more than I wanted to spend for a "commuter" car. My daily average commuting is usually under 20 miles and weekend excursions are way below my max range at any given time.
Sure I could have gone with the Select 2wd and smaller battery and probably would have spent at least 10k less but I need my comfort (heated seats and steering wheel) as well as the better sound system and headlights, oh and did I mention the awesome accelaration?
Charging infrastructure will get better in the future and once I retire next year I will most likely be travelling further and the extended range will be a benefit at that point.

It all boils down to what you think you will need in a vehicle to suit your purpose.

Tony

 

[azulejost]

I wrestled with this question as well, particularly after 2023 price increases were announced since I was also considering a Tesla Model 3 RWD (approx 260 mi range from its LFP battery)

I landed with what I wanted, a ‘22 Standard range RWD since my work commute is either < 10 mi or 80-90 mi depending on the day. I would have considered a ‘22 Extended range RWD, but felt I could not easily justify the ‘23 price of the Premium RWD Std. and definitely couldn’t for the Ext. with my commute needs. Our other car is a Premium E4X so if we take a family road trip, we use it, and on the off chance I’d be taking a trip the SR vs ER would make a major difference, I can borrow the ER.

In general, I’d say for people with areas they frequently go that lack good DCFC infrastructure, have long commutes, have significant range anxiety, are already somewhat hesitant to go full EV, and those in very cold climates or with suboptimal charging access, then pay for the extra range. But after years with a Bolt and several months with the ER, making the second car an SR EV hasn’t been onerous at all.

In truth, for SR, I wish the LFP batteries announced for 2023 (we’ll see if that comes to pass with the CATL and tax credit stuff going on) had been available so I would just charge to 100% more frequently. I think 250-300 mi is the sweet spot and 75-80 kWh in the Mach-E would be nice balance between weight and range.

 

[JRT]

I think that statement is very generalized. It depends more on your driving habits and distances than just living up north.

Ok so a few thoughts, I lived in Maine and Rhode Island, now in Huntsville Alabama. My SR, RWD drops from a comfortable 220 miles to 180 miles when Temps drop into 40s and below. Last winter I had to run back and forth to Atlanta in cold weather which changed my trip to include a quick charge every trip. That is my thoughts after 18 months, and 17k miles in my MME.

 

[d^2x/dt^2]

I contacted my dealer and am switching to the CR1. Thank you everyone for your insights.

While I could probably make the SR battery work, it seemed restrictive for road trips and I want to have some travel flexibility. I also tend to keep new cars about 10 years, so I want to have some room for battery degradation over the life of the vehicle.

Now its just a question of waiting.

 

[dbsb3233]

I went through the same back-and-forth between placing my reservation back in late 2019 vs what I ended up with. Started off with AWD SR (not expecting I'd use it on long road trips), then switched to RWD ER as the EA network grew, before finally jumping on a First Edition (AWD ER) when they did that "Mach Drop" program. So glad I did now (even though it cost significantly more).

We road trip in it a lot now (20k+ miles just for trips). The extra 60 miles makes a big difference for road trips. While the battery is 29% bigger, the effective range difference on a road trip is more like 40-50% when factoring in safety buffers. Most of our drive legs now are in the 100-140 mile area. The SR would shorten some of those, and wipe out the safety buffer on others, leaving us unable to reach a backup station just in case. I'd hate that.

I'm still unsure how much the AWD is necessary. The weight and skinny tires really cut through water well. Still haven't done much snow/ice driving though.

 

[HuntingPudel]

This thread just goes to show you that everyone has their use case and preference. I got an ER battery because 1) It’s all that was offered. in my trim, and 2) Higher performance (which is why they only offered the bigger battery). That said, were I to buy anEV pickup (Lightning, GMC, etc.), it would probably be my primary road trip vehicle since it would replace the K/5 for hunting. Different use case from @d^2x/dt^2 is all that is. ??

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