The charging infrastructure really sucks.

[mkhuffman]

Public charging sucks.

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[the golden eel]

...I won't road trip in mine until Telsa charging is fully opened up for us....

This is exactly how I feel. Took a 5 hour road trip this weekend and didn't even consider the MME. I'll take our ICE every time until Tesla's network is fully available.

 

[dml105]

This is exactly how I feel. Took a 5 hour road trip this weekend and didn't even consider the MME. I'll take our ICE every time until Tesla's network is fully available.

I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Many many posters here have taken many many road trips. I've taken at least 20 trips long enough to require DC fast charging.

 

[heisnuts]

I took a trip from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to my brother's place in Madison, WI. We had 5 adults In the vehicle. On the way up, our expected ending battery percentage was rising slowly. Made it to Madison with 27% battery. Checked on chargers and only found 1 high speed DC charger anywhere close. It was at a Walmart. We pulled in and all slots were full with two people waiting. We waited about 40 minutes to get plugged in. Charging was going pretty well. Unfortunately, I assumed we could make it back with the same level of charge and only charged to 85%. I've been told it's not great to charge above 80% on the DC chargers.

We took off from Madison and it was much warmer. We were using more battery per mile and the mapping software recommended we stop at a dealer that had a high speed charger in Dubuque, IA. When we arrived, there was only one connection and another Mach e was using it. He said it was charging really slowly. We found a level 2 at another dealer and started charging. After an hour, we decided to go for it. I probably could have just made it, but the software was suggesting another stop. It was at a camp for disabled kids, in the middle of no where. 50 Years ago I had helped my Dad and brothers build some of the cabins at the camp, so we decided to make one more stop. Unbelievably, they had a very nice high speed charger. We charged for 20 minutes so we had a cushion to make it home.

So, 2 1/2 hours to get to Madison, almost 6 hours to get home. The upside was that My wife and I were traveling with our three adult daughters. The five of us hadn't been on a road trip by ourselves since before husbands and grand children. It was great spending the time with them and we saw some beautiful countryside going to the charger at the camp.

That said, I can't wait until the Tesla charges are available and we get more chargers in the midwest.

This is one of the things that drove me to Tesla. Using your route as an example, Dubuque has a supercharger and then in Madison there are 5 supercharger locations in the area. I have done a couple road trips now in my Model 3, and they went a lot easier than the MME due to the supercharger network. A huge surprise to me was also the cheaper rates. Tesla uses demand pricing, but even the high end is cheaper than EA. I have paid anywhere from a low of 13 cents per kWh to a high of 30 cents per kWH.

 

[Deleted member 16048]

Had a similar charging experience this weekend. Took a day trip from Minneapolis to Wisconsin Dells. Stopped in Eau Claire and Tomah. EC had two sites totally down and the other two throttled around 50kW. Tomah had all four operational but throttled around 70kW on one station and 50 on another. The other two full. Coming back we had to wait for about 15-20 minutes at each location for a spot.

The midwest definitely needs more capacity. Superchargers will be a great addition for sure.

I'm sure y'all can figure out which network we had to use.

 

[ChehRob]

I am expecting to buy my first EV very early 2024, and my first year of two with it, I plan on vacations along routes with good charging. After that I am expecting the EV charging network to have been built out enough to end range anxiety.

 

[mkhuffman]

I am expecting to buy my first EV very early 2024, and my first year of two with it, I plan on vacations along routes with good charging. After that I am expecting the EV charging network to have been built out enough to end range anxiety.

I appreciate your positive attitude, but I seriously doubt public charging will noticeably improve in 2024. The only exception is the ability to use the Tesla SC network, which I agree will make a huge difference. It can't happen soon enough. And I hope Tesla makes a poop ton of money selling electricity to non Tesla owners, because that will motivate them to expand the SC network even more rapidly.

 

[MachSpeed]

This is exactly how I feel. Took a 5 hour road trip this weekend and didn't even consider the MME. I'll take our ICE every time until Tesla's network is fully available.

I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Many many posters here have taken many many road trips. I've taken at least 20 trips long enough to require DC fast charging.

And his 5 hour road trip would have been 10 hours in a EV. Not nearly enough range and charging stations are sketchy.

 

[AZBill]

I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Many many posters here have taken many many road trips. I've taken at least 20 trips long enough to require DC fast charging.

I did a Phoenix to Lake Tahoe trip, plus a day at Yosemite in my Rivian. 2000 miles total for the week. No serious issues charging. I did have many EA and RAN chargers along the way. I had two issues on EA and one issue on the RAN, moved to different chargers and lived with it. Even if the RAN stations had not been available, there were EA sites near each of those stops. I do think the west is covered better for DCFC than the midwest is.

My return trip was 765 miles, 12.5 hours driving and 105 minutes charging.

 

[stealthytolkien]

OP, we made a conscious decision to completely discard our EV for any trips that (may) need even one charging stop before reaching our destination.

We did a coast to coast in Model 3 flawlessly a few years ago because we had to, but that’s on a Tesla network. I cannot even imagine doing that in a non Tesla that we have today.

It’s a “same state” driver for us. That is where they shine as a wonderful piece of technology for driving around town and charging at home (another must have IMHO).

We’ve now got a 40 mpg midsize hybrid SUV with all the bells and whistles. Over the Labor Day weekend, we realized how incredibly practical taking a gas car for a 600 mile round trip was compared to the same trip we did a few months ago in an EV on a long weekend.

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

...requires pre-planning.

As opposed to post-planning?

?

 

[generaltso]

As opposed to post-planning?

As opposed to no planning.

 

[thekat03]

Must be a US thing.

Don’t know about Europe where I used to live ?

But the seemingly one thing which is good and works in the UK is the charge point infrastructure; another 400-mile road trip today and no problem finding a charge, no queues?

Most of Europe seems to have far superior charging infrastructure compared to North America. I am in Maine, and the northeast US is good enough for my purposes, but pickings are noticeably more sparse as I drove across upstate NY to northeast Ohio this past weekend (850 miles each way). Road tripping across Quebec to rural Ontario (650 miles each way) was more challenging as expected, but still functional enough for my purposes. I hope the US learns from Europe and ramps up infrastructure soon, though. I don't think the average driver has the patience to deal with the current infrastructure here, or the worse infrastructure in the Midwest and other parts of the US.

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

As opposed to no planning.

All planning is by definition "pre-". (It was a pet peeve of my mom's that I inherited.......one of many.?)

 

[elmedico27]

Had a similar charging experience this weekend. Took a day trip from Minneapolis to Wisconsin Dells. Stopped in Eau Claire and Tomah. EC had two sites totally down and the other two throttled around 50kW. Tomah had all four operational but throttled around 70kW on one station and 50 on another. The other two full. Coming back we had to wait for about 15-20 minutes at each location for a spot.

It's the de-rating that really gets me. There are 150kW Chargepoint DCFCs all over Missouri, but you'd be lucky to get 70 out of any of them, and there's a better than zero chance you'll be hanging out below 30. Made my very first road trip in my MME way more hassle than it needed to be. My NACS adapter can't get here soon enough.

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