Mikeg
Active Member
- First Name
- Mike
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2022
- Threads
- 8
- Messages
- 33
- Reaction score
- 9
- Location
- Toronto, Canada
- Vehicles
- '22 GTPE DMG
- Thread starter
- #1
Hi Y'all, just returned from a trip to FL from Toronto and wanted to share my experiences to hopefully make your trip more enjoyable.
We left Christmas day, banking on low traffic and empty chargers. This was the case for the entire duration of the trip. Never once did we have to wait for a charger. Here are some notes I hope you find useful. These are only my personal opinions and by no means do they reflect the state of the vehicle manufacturer and charging infrastructure:
- car is a '22 mach e GT. 4 passengers including driver.
- left home with 100%. Packed light, temperature was -10C/14F. Driving at about 110kmh or 68mph.
- SOUTHBOUND: Took 401 to Detroit as Buffalo was snowed in. Stops on the way south were: Dutton, Tilbury, Blue Heron, Huber Heights, Cincinnati, Louisville, Bowling Green, Nashville, Athens, Alabaster, Greenville.
- NORTHBOUND: Greenville, Alabaster, Athens, Bowling Green, Georgetown, Huber Heights, Blue Heron, Tilbury, Woodstock.
- Temperature was a HUGE factor. We were trying to keep the cabin at about 19C/66F. Just keeping that reasonable temp was eating up about 15% of the juice. Original plan was for 8 stops, not a chance we could make it with just 8. Due to the weather, had to add stops if distances between stations were greater than 220kms or if temp was dipping below -15C/5F.
- ABRP did not work for me at all. It's probably because I didn't configure it correctly. I realized that ABRP by itself is just a planning tool. You need to have plan B, C and D just in case. The biggest issue with ABRP for me...it tells you to charge for only 8mins at some stops. When the temp is as cold as we had, charging 8mins is not an option. You will take full charge, no question asked.
- Electrify America is great! Never had any issues. Had to call in a few times to start a session as the reader wouldn't read my phone but those calls were quick and resolved to my satisfaction. Now, about charging...for me, 350kwh stations 'seemed' faster than 150kwh stations. Maybe it's psychological but I was insisting on using 350kwh when presented with the option.
- IVY in Canada was a nightmare on the way back. When I charged in Tilbury to about 85%, I then tried topping up in Woodstock and Cambridge and they were all down. So I had to resort to a 50kwh charger in Woodstock which took forever. TIP: When in Canada, charge up to 90%+ every chance you get. You simply don't know if the stations down the line will be up by the time you get there.
- Scariest stretch: Blue Heron to Huber Heights in Dayton. Left Blue Heron with 89%, rolled into Huber Heights with 4%. It's a 153mile stretch, 246kms. Chargepoint in Lima was a disaster. Fast Charger wouldn't connect and had to resort to L2 charger for 20mins. Got pissed off and left. I am sure Chargepoint worked for other people here, but didn't work for me...don't have too much confidence in Chargepoint at this point. They even charged me...I am disputing the charge. Limped it into Huber Heights with 4%. I know Ford doesn't recommend it but I had no choice. I was conserving by turning of all heat and driving 50mph from Lima to Huber Heights. Suggestion: charge to 100% in Blue Heron...no matter how long it takes.
- Speed. On the way down, it was cold so limited to driving only about 110kph/68mph. But on the way back up to Canada, the temp was in 15-22 C/59-69F. Went up to 120-125kph/74-77mph. You can drive faster, at the expense of battery power.
- BlueCruise is awesome. It's intelligent enough to know what to do and keep the speeds and distances correct..but not too autonomous where you can fall asleep.
- Car: I was pleasantly surprised how comfortable this car is for cruising. Well, I was in the driver's seat so I had my space. My passengers were all adult sized people and they were semi-comfortable. Our prior vehicle was an 8 passenger ICE minivan. You just have to accept that the space will be at a premium but once you get past that, you'll enjoy the ride. The car was solid at cruising speeds.
- ISSUES WITH CAR: I am a PAAK user, for some reason when the juice dropped to 4%, it stopped recognizing my phone. Lucky for me my wife had her fob with her so I started using it. Eventually it did sort itself out but bring the fob just in case. One night we did get a notice of: Electrical system drain service required. It said our after market gadget is draining the battery. We don't even have a dash cam. I learned later from this forum that it has to do with the bluetooth antenna trying to connect to phone from far away. It hasn't happened since. Another strike against PAAK I suppose. We don't have the latest update, Ford hasn't rolled it out to our vehicle yet. Oh, one time, all of a sudden, the left side speakers stopped working. So I did the IT #1 rule...reboot fixed the issue.
- Battery: I was getting range as low as 19kwh/100kms (or 60miles). But my charging stops were never more than 260kms/160miles. I could have stretched it to 350kms/217miles but never wanted to. Was actually looking forward to stopping, charging and stretching my legs. But on average, I would say it would be closer to 27kwh per 100kms/60miles. This works outs to 3.71kms per 1kwh OR 2.23miles per 1kwh. I don't know how good or bad that is. Cold kills range and battery efficiency...which is an obvious fact everyone knows I am sure.
- People: Got many compliments from my American neighbors. Really enjoyed the charger gang talks...some people preferred to be left alone. Even met one gentleman at charger in Georgetown Kentucky who bought a standard range Mach E in Houston and has driven it all over country without any range anxiety. Completely put my battery anxiety into perspective.
We are proud of our little MME. It didn't let us down.
We left Christmas day, banking on low traffic and empty chargers. This was the case for the entire duration of the trip. Never once did we have to wait for a charger. Here are some notes I hope you find useful. These are only my personal opinions and by no means do they reflect the state of the vehicle manufacturer and charging infrastructure:
- car is a '22 mach e GT. 4 passengers including driver.
- left home with 100%. Packed light, temperature was -10C/14F. Driving at about 110kmh or 68mph.
- SOUTHBOUND: Took 401 to Detroit as Buffalo was snowed in. Stops on the way south were: Dutton, Tilbury, Blue Heron, Huber Heights, Cincinnati, Louisville, Bowling Green, Nashville, Athens, Alabaster, Greenville.
- NORTHBOUND: Greenville, Alabaster, Athens, Bowling Green, Georgetown, Huber Heights, Blue Heron, Tilbury, Woodstock.
- Temperature was a HUGE factor. We were trying to keep the cabin at about 19C/66F. Just keeping that reasonable temp was eating up about 15% of the juice. Original plan was for 8 stops, not a chance we could make it with just 8. Due to the weather, had to add stops if distances between stations were greater than 220kms or if temp was dipping below -15C/5F.
- ABRP did not work for me at all. It's probably because I didn't configure it correctly. I realized that ABRP by itself is just a planning tool. You need to have plan B, C and D just in case. The biggest issue with ABRP for me...it tells you to charge for only 8mins at some stops. When the temp is as cold as we had, charging 8mins is not an option. You will take full charge, no question asked.
- Electrify America is great! Never had any issues. Had to call in a few times to start a session as the reader wouldn't read my phone but those calls were quick and resolved to my satisfaction. Now, about charging...for me, 350kwh stations 'seemed' faster than 150kwh stations. Maybe it's psychological but I was insisting on using 350kwh when presented with the option.
- IVY in Canada was a nightmare on the way back. When I charged in Tilbury to about 85%, I then tried topping up in Woodstock and Cambridge and they were all down. So I had to resort to a 50kwh charger in Woodstock which took forever. TIP: When in Canada, charge up to 90%+ every chance you get. You simply don't know if the stations down the line will be up by the time you get there.
- Scariest stretch: Blue Heron to Huber Heights in Dayton. Left Blue Heron with 89%, rolled into Huber Heights with 4%. It's a 153mile stretch, 246kms. Chargepoint in Lima was a disaster. Fast Charger wouldn't connect and had to resort to L2 charger for 20mins. Got pissed off and left. I am sure Chargepoint worked for other people here, but didn't work for me...don't have too much confidence in Chargepoint at this point. They even charged me...I am disputing the charge. Limped it into Huber Heights with 4%. I know Ford doesn't recommend it but I had no choice. I was conserving by turning of all heat and driving 50mph from Lima to Huber Heights. Suggestion: charge to 100% in Blue Heron...no matter how long it takes.
- Speed. On the way down, it was cold so limited to driving only about 110kph/68mph. But on the way back up to Canada, the temp was in 15-22 C/59-69F. Went up to 120-125kph/74-77mph. You can drive faster, at the expense of battery power.
- BlueCruise is awesome. It's intelligent enough to know what to do and keep the speeds and distances correct..but not too autonomous where you can fall asleep.
- Car: I was pleasantly surprised how comfortable this car is for cruising. Well, I was in the driver's seat so I had my space. My passengers were all adult sized people and they were semi-comfortable. Our prior vehicle was an 8 passenger ICE minivan. You just have to accept that the space will be at a premium but once you get past that, you'll enjoy the ride. The car was solid at cruising speeds.
- ISSUES WITH CAR: I am a PAAK user, for some reason when the juice dropped to 4%, it stopped recognizing my phone. Lucky for me my wife had her fob with her so I started using it. Eventually it did sort itself out but bring the fob just in case. One night we did get a notice of: Electrical system drain service required. It said our after market gadget is draining the battery. We don't even have a dash cam. I learned later from this forum that it has to do with the bluetooth antenna trying to connect to phone from far away. It hasn't happened since. Another strike against PAAK I suppose. We don't have the latest update, Ford hasn't rolled it out to our vehicle yet. Oh, one time, all of a sudden, the left side speakers stopped working. So I did the IT #1 rule...reboot fixed the issue.
- Battery: I was getting range as low as 19kwh/100kms (or 60miles). But my charging stops were never more than 260kms/160miles. I could have stretched it to 350kms/217miles but never wanted to. Was actually looking forward to stopping, charging and stretching my legs. But on average, I would say it would be closer to 27kwh per 100kms/60miles. This works outs to 3.71kms per 1kwh OR 2.23miles per 1kwh. I don't know how good or bad that is. Cold kills range and battery efficiency...which is an obvious fact everyone knows I am sure.
- People: Got many compliments from my American neighbors. Really enjoyed the charger gang talks...some people preferred to be left alone. Even met one gentleman at charger in Georgetown Kentucky who bought a standard range Mach E in Houston and has driven it all over country without any range anxiety. Completely put my battery anxiety into perspective.
We are proud of our little MME. It didn't let us down.
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