Texas to Southern Ontario trip in SR RWD Premium -- How I jumped off the deep end and got over range anxiety

[sherry4464]

TLDR: Just a couple of charging hiccups but overall a successful trip. BlueCruise is amazing and I love it. Ohio/MI a little sparse on chargers. Hated that fast charging above 80% is so slow - a couple of times we just needed a little bit more cushion, but chose to go to the next fast charger rather than wait to get to 90 or 100%. No snow or ice on the trip so I can't speak to the RWD handling.

Who: me, husband, two teenagers
Where: Arlington, TX to Kitchener, ON to visit family
Why: I like a challenge
Miles: 1385 each way
Driving hours: 22
Charging hours: 6.25 (est.)
Real charging hours: more than that


This is the story of how I jumped off the deep end
and got over range anxiety. I have owned my Premium SR RWD for about a month. My normal daily commute is less than 15 miles, so I barely need the L2 charger at the house, and had not had occasion yet to drive far enough from home to need a public charger. I wanted to post this for other SR owners to show that it can be done. My husband was not too keen on making the drive in the Mach-E, but our other car is a subcompact and we didn't want to fly or rent a car. It'll be fine! I said. An adventure!

Preparation: I downloaded and registered for every charging app I thought we might need in US and Canada
Cross-checked the route on ABRP and Plugshare
Took a couple of practice runs to public chargers near my home
Bought a Lectron Tesla adapter just in case

All charging stations are EA at Walmarts unless otherwise specified.

First day:
Arlington - Mt. Pleasant, TX (EA at a non-Walmart shopping center) - Hope, AR - Tesla Destination charger at hotel in Little Rock for an overnight charge.

Second day:
I didn't have a good feel for range loss due to cold and ABRP seemed to be overestimating our range (I probably wasn't doing it right). It showed that we needed 5 charging stops to make it to Dayton, OH but we played it super safe with a max range of 140 and stopped 6 times. I'm also learning to pay attention to the kw/h reported by others in PlugShare and what a difference it makes when the chargers aren't as fast as they should be:
Little Rock - Memphis ( non-Walmart shopping center) - Jackson, TN - Nashville - Bowling Green, KY (National Corvette Museum!) - Clarksville, IN - Cincinnati, OH (Meijer) - Charged at hotel L2 overnight in Dayton

Third day:
Had a good feel for realistic cold weather range by now, and temps were in the 20s.
Dayton - Blue Heron Service Plaza Toledo (the only time we had to wait for a charger because they were all in use) - Tilbury ONroute (Ontario) (Ivy - had to call customer service to get this one activated) - ONRoute Woodstock just to top it off (Ivy) - charged at L2 at hotel in Cambridge, ON.

Return trip - temperatures were significantly warmer so range was less of a concern.

First day:
Kitchener, ON - Tilbury ONroute - Hotel L2 in Taylor, MI

Second day:
This is when we missed the robust EA network and there weren't good alternatives if these chargers had been unavailable. Taylor, MI - Apollo Career Center in Lima, OH (CP) - University of Cincinnati (go Bearcats, we watched the fans streaming into the stadium for the football game) - Clarksville, TN (back to the EA Wal-marts whew) - Bowling Green, KY (National Corvette Museum) - Nashville, TN (Save-A-Lot EVGo) - hotel charger in Jackson, TN. SNAG: The hotel had two chargers; we started charging fine, but another car plugged into the second charger, which blew the fuse for both of us. The maintenance guy could not get the circuit to stay on so I gave up and went to the nearby Wal-mart and fast charged to prepare for the morning. Moral dilemma: the other car was a hybrid... I was tempted to unplug them - I didn't. Good argument for putting a note with your contact info on your car when charging.

Third day:
Jackson, TN - Forrest City, AR - Hope, AR - Mt. Pleasant, TX.... then we were right on the cusp of having enough range to make it home, decided to stop for another charge in Royse City, TX just in case. That was the most problematic EA charger we encountered - ended up having to try all 4 to finally get one to work.

I would totally do a road trip in an EV again! My husband and kids, not so much

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[alexgorod]

Great write-up, thank you!

realistic cold weather range

And what is it? And how fast did you drive?

 

[mikeinet]

How’d the fam feel about the charging stops? How’d you keep them entertained?

 

[Blue highway]

Agree - SR works for road trips.

For me, range anxiety isn't so much in terms of whether I'll get to the next charger... It's whether the charger will work when I get there. (the glass is half broken kinda view )

I used to try to only hit 150KW chargers but I find that 50KW chargers that actually deliver ~50KW the whole time I'm plugged in are relatively close to the same total charge time from 20-80% as the 150's. This opens up a lot of charge options.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Nice! To be honest if I would have run into a MME w/ Texas plates in Ontario I would have been a bit floored. Nicely done!

Those Ivy chargers are new, mostly installed this past Summer at all ONRoutes. In Ontario, from my perspective at least, nothing beats their network. And the ridiculously short charging cables are due to be replaced w/ longer ones.

 

[21st Century Pony]

Agree - SR works for road trips.

For me, range anxiety isn't so much in terms of whether I'll get to the next charger... It's whether the charger will work when I get there. (the glass is half broken kinda view )

I used to try to only hit 150KW chargers but I find that 50KW chargers that actually deliver ~50KW the whole time I'm plugged in are relatively close to the same total charge time from 20-80% as the 150's. This opens up a lot of charge options.

Agree. Ditto for the several 62 kWh chargers I've stopped at.

 

[timbop]

Nice writeup, and good on you for jumping in with both feet! I've driven a few long trips in previous cars, and absolutely hated it. The Mach-E's driver assist is awesome, and my long east coast trip was a lot more relaxing. I broke it up over 3 days like you did, and it was manageable IMHO too.

 

[21st Century Pony]

When I travel with our dog, the charging stops are perfect for that doggie walk.

 

[canuck1975]

Great write-up!

Interesting that you had to stop and charge in Cambridge, eh. I'd have thought you could get from Tilbury to Kitchener no problem. That's really helpful for me to know for next time I've got to run from Hamilton to Windsor. It hasn't gotten that cold here yet as well so that probably helped you out.

 

[sherry4464]

Great write-up, thank you!


And what is it? And how fast did you drive?

When the temperature was in the 20s we were getting 140. When it warmed up to the 40s that increased to 150-160. Kept it to 5 over the speed limit or max of 75 mph (but that's just how I drive, not really trying to save range).

 

[sherry4464]

How’d the fam feel about the charging stops? How’d you keep them entertained?

They were good travelers. They had their phones and wi-fi so they were set

Great write-up!

Interesting that you had to stop and charge in Cambridge, eh. I'd have thought you could get from Tilbury to Kitchener no problem. That's really helpful for me to know for next time I've got to run from Hamilton to Windsor. It hasn't gotten that cold here yet as well so that probably helped you out.

Yes Tilbury to Kitchener is easily doable, that last stop in Woodstock was just to top it off so we had a bit of range for around town until we made it to the hotel for overnight charging (and just in case the hotel charger had issues).

 

[Fun_Guy]

Nice! To be honest if I would have run into a MME w/ Texas plates in Ontario I would have been a bit floored. Nicely done!

Those Ivy chargers are new, mostly installed this past Summer at all ONRoutes. In Ontario, from my perspective at least, nothing beats their network. And the ridiculously short charging cables are due to be replaced w/ longer ones.

I've had nothing but issues with Ivy. Several of the stations were having power quality issues recently (they have temporarily adjusted their fees downward as a goodwill gesture), but even before that, I would typically top out at 43kW. I find Electrify Canada and Shell Recharge much more dependable.

 

[21st Century Pony]

Agree. Ditto for the several 62 kWh chargers I've stopped at.

One more point for long trips when the battery juice seems a bit short... I just discovered a Tesla L2 charging point (2 chargers) at a favorite burger & shake chain (Freddy's) in a nearby town. I mean, who knew? There they were, tucked into a corner of the small parking lot.

Normally I'd have missed it as my various charger apps are / were all set to filter all non-DCFC stations out.

These Tesla L2 EVSEs work just fine, for free, with my li'l 60 Amp TeslaTap adapter.

I now reset my EV apps to also show Tesla L2 spots. Could be an ace-in-the-hole someday on a long trip.

 

[bbulkow]

Thanks for the write up! Hopefully my ER comes someday.

Question: what was your distance per day, roughly? (yes, i could look it up )

When i road trip i generally calculate for 600 to 800 miles per day. I find my realistic mph is about 50 with snack and food stops, and i can do 12 to 16 hour days. (Right now, I am planning on keeping the 17 crv ice for a few years, which is a strong road trip vehicle)

Any final thoughts about flying vs driving, with the cost of extra hotel room spend and days on the road?

Thanks again,

 

[alexgorod]

When the temperature was in the 20s we were getting 140. When it warmed up to the 40s that increased to 150-160.

Is it for a 100% charge? So I guess it's around 2 - 2.2 m/kwh?

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