Took a Road Trip - A few questions for the experts - and an observation or two

[nashbrydges]

I took my third true road trip this past weekend. First time I've charged without using my FREE kwh I got when I purchased about 9 months ago (almost all my charging is at home).

I have a few random questions for those of you that road trip more often:

1) Is it worth going to a 350kwh charger as opposed to a 150kwh one? I've only used the 150kwh....somehow in my mind I'm thinking my car can't handle any more, but maybe I made that up!

2) For charging, I was paying 32 cents per minute at EA (WalMart) in Texas....seems that WalMart makes up most of my options. I also saw a tab on the charging screen for "Members"....is that a better route to go for someone that may use these chargers maybe 6 trips per year?

3) I used the EA app to initiate charging....is that the best way? It was the only way I could get it to charge. The first time I just drove up and plugged in, but kept getting an error message. After that I used the EA app. Again, maybe I'm making this up, but I thought you could just plug and charge?

4) I ran into a guy with a KIA at a charger. He told me he can charge from 10% to 80% in 15 minutes.....if that's true, that's pretty awesome. Not really a question, but a comment.

5) I hate ABRP....looks so cheap! Maybe I haven't used it enough, but I didn't like the experience. I decided to just use the car's built in nav, and that was really odd as well. It chose chargers that really didn't make sense for me. I basically had to figure it out myself.

6) Just realized this sounds like a lot of complaining....it really isn't meant to be. I LOVED driving the car on my 7 hour trip each way. I'm just trying to figure out the "secrets" many of you have already figured out for road trips. Nice thing was EA was really helpful when I called the first time when "plug and charge" didn't work. They walked me through using the app...very helpful. They were also helpful on the way home when a charger didn't work....they couldn't fix it, but they were nice. I waited for another car to finish and got mine charged.

1) No. In fact I would suggest not using a 350kw charger unless it is the only one available. The MME maxes out at ~150kw for charging so you'll only block a faster charger for those with 800V architectures that can benefit from it.

2) EA is going to be your most common charger on sone routes and often at Walmarts. Prices will vary depending on where you are charging. The cost for "membership" with EA is $4/month so maybe decide if this is something worth it for you or not. Paying the member fee gives you a 20% discount so you should be able to calculate that. You might even be able to opt-in and out of the member state but not sure how easy that would be.

3) Yes, use the EA app unless you still have free KW from Ford.

4) Kia, Genesis, Hyundai and a few others run on an 800V architecture which means they can more fully leverage those 350kw chargers. They will max out at ~225kw-240kw when charging. Ford runs on a 400V system and as a result cannot charge anywhere near as fast.

5) I use ABRP along with PlugShare to do all of my route planning. I've found the Ford system to be significantly lacking but that's just me. YMMV

Roadtrip on my friend and drive it like you stole it

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[Doug&Julie]

Good luck with that, everyone on Plugshare complains about how the CC readers almost never work on EA. When EA first came out, that was all they had, and they only reliable way to charge was to call them and give them the CC number over the phone. Once the app came out, things got much better.

Valid point...I guess I was thinking more about non EA stations. On our road trip we stopped at a ChargePoint charge station and I couldn't get the app to work. But the CC was quick and easy. But I also watched an Ioniq 5 owner fiddle with the EA app on one charge session...I'd still rather use the CC (if they work). Whatever...I'm glad I have plug-n-charge!

 

[amc]

1) No. In fact I would suggest not using a 350kw charger unless it is the only one available. The MME maxes out at ~150kw for charging so you'll only block a faster charger for those with 800V architectures that can benefit from it.

2) EA is going to be your most common charger on sone routes and often at Walmarts. Prices will vary depending on where you are charging. The cost for "membership" with EA is $4/month so maybe decide if this is something worth it for you or not. Paying the member fee gives you a 20% discount so you should be able to calculate that. You might even be able to opt-in and out of the member state but not sure how easy that would be.

3) Yes, use the EA app unless you still have free KW from Ford.

4) Kia, Genesis, Hyundai and a few others run on an 800V architecture which means they can more fully leverage those 350kw chargers. They will max out at ~225kw-240kw when charging. Ford runs on a 400V system and as a result cannot charge anywhere near as fast.

5) I use ABRP along with PlugShare to do all of my route planning. I've found the Ford system to be significantly lacking but that's just me. YMMV

Roadtrip on my friend and drive it like you stole it

Hi, did you do one pedal driving by chance? Just want to ask, I am going on a roadtrip next week and want to know if one pedal driving would be a good choice. Thanks

 

[codyrobinson]

Yes, used one pedal the whole time!

 

[roamtheworld]

Hi, did you do one pedal driving by chance? Just want to ask, I am going on a roadtrip next week and want to know if one pedal driving would be a good choice. Thanks

In my experience for 1PD on the highway at a constant speed, it doesn't matter as much but if you have to slow down for small towns or you have stretches of city driving it can add a fair amount of charge that helps with overall range.

 

[nashbrydges]

Hi, did you do one pedal driving by chance? Just want to ask, I am going on a roadtrip next week and want to know if one pedal driving would be a good choice. Thanks

Yes, one pedal driving is the only way I drive my car. On the highway it doesn't add much to the range because most of the time you are driving at highway speeds, unlike in town where stop and go is the norm but I use it anyway because I am lazy and prefer not to use the brakes

 

[Xweb]

iPlus with Apple maps (instead of using google maps), turn by turn directions show up in the screen behind the wheel.

FYI Android + Google Maps also show the turn directions in the screen behind the wheel.

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