Total Eclipse in Northern New England. Don't drive electric

generaltso

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just an fyi that anything short of 100% just doesn’t compare to a full eclipse. Even 99% vs totality is literally the difference between night and day

A full eclipse is something that’s truly incredible and worth experiencing if you can at some point in your life
Okay, you've talked me into it. I guess I'll go outside this afternoon and look up.
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B177y

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Am I missing something? Why “don’t drive electric”?
I think the warning is to avoid the area of totality since there are very limited DCFC and there will be crushing traffic with lots of rental EVs.

New and unfamiliar EV drivers + no charging capacity = mayhem.
 

Ev Blau

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just an fyi that anything short of 100% just doesn’t compare to a full eclipse. Even 99% vs totality is literally the difference between night and day

A full eclipse is something that’s truly incredible and worth experiencing if you can at some point in your life
I agree. Drove to SC to the Roper Mountain Science Center in Greenville for the 2017 total solar eclipse. Spectacular. Right up there with seeing a dawn Space Shuttle Launch in FL years ago - but the launch was physically thrilling. Close enough to FEEL the throbbing reverb from the engines…..and we were 2 miles away from the launch pad!
 

dtbaker61

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I live in Central NH and love my 3 year old MME. We are retired so very rarely use public charging. I'm also an amateur astronomer and have been following the eclipse. Rental cars are sold out. I'm hearing stories of the rental car companies only having electric cars available. There are no fast chargers in the top 2/3 of NH. None in the Maine eclipse area. A couple in N Vermont. There are a few Tesla superchargers. If you are thinking of driving north this afternoon or tomorrow morning from Southern New England or NYC metro think again.
unless you stay overnight somewhere that has a L2 for overnight charge.
 

JohnFoxeSheets

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Kind of like those stories about EVs wearing through tires like crazy. Is it because they are fun to drive and heavy acceleration wears tires faster? No, it's because EVs are evil! The anti-EV crowd is hilarious.
Exactly. Not only that but how about this one: "Well the sun doesn't shine during an eclipse so how are all those EVs gonna charge?" Kinda like the gem that wind turbines raise air temperature. ?
 


Space_Pony

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97% in our backyard is better than fighting crowds and traffic to a total eclipse. I did think it was kind of neat that a couple of Barred Owls in the woods behind the house started squawking when it got dark.
 

generaltso

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97% in our backyard is better than fighting crowds and traffic to a total eclipse. I did think it was kind of neat that a couple of Barred Owls in the woods behind the house started squawking when it got dark.
It was eerily silent here when it got pitch dark outside. The birds must have thought it was bedtime.
 

HuntingPudel

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I'm waiting for the news stories about how the eclipse prevented electric cars from charging...
LOL I saw a story about smoke at Angel Island being blamed on the eclipse. ?‍♂?
 

thekat03

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Still driving home from Jackman, because a 2 hour 100 mile drive kind of explodes when thousands of other people join you. But wow, still worth it to see my first totality.

Also, at least 2 other Mach-E's made the trek up to Jackman as well.

Ford Mustang Mach-E Total Eclipse in Northern New England.  Don't drive electric 1000003884
 
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Gene Bank

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I heard many stories of how the 3 hour drive from Metro Boston to totality ended up being 9 hours or more. I also heard from a friend (in a gas vehicle) that when she went past the charging station in Littleton NH there was a line of 45 cars waiting to charge. How much time would that add? Ouch! We have a long way to go to make EV's convient for the masses.
 

Its_my_wifes_car

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My son went from Meredith NH to Lyndon VT for the eclipse - it took him 9 hours to get home and that's only because I talked him through an alternate route to get the heck out of the stopped traffic in Franconia Notch. No we wouldn't let hm take the Mach E (he had to settle for his Escape).

The comments about leave your EV at home were valid - due to the scarcity of charging options up north (and in a good part of NH in general).

Also - replying to the comment about the difference between 99% and 100% being day and night - that's exactly what he said (I thought it would have been darker in Plymouth NH where I watched from but he said the 100% was amazing)....
 

generaltso

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Also - replying to the comment about the difference between 99% and 100% being day and night - that's exactly what he said (I thought it would have been darker in Plymouth NH where I watched from but he said the 100% was amazing)....
Totality was pretty cool. It literally became night for about 3 minutes. I'm glad I only had to commute 20 feet out my front door to see it, because I wouldn't have traveled for it.
 
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Gene Bank

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I was just reading about the experience of EV owners in Northern New England regarding the eclipse. I am going to post what I just read..... A Wakefield family had a similarly exhausting all-night trip. They had to wait more than four hours to charge their electric vehicle on the way home from Vermont, even handing out numbered tickets to the hundreds of other drivers waiting their turn, WCVB reported. They arrived home at 4 a.m.
 

SpaceEVDriver

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We regretted not driving our Mustang so traded the gas truck in for a Lightning. Now we're all-electric.

Ford Mustang Mach-E Total Eclipse in Northern New England.  Don't drive electric PXL_20240408_185101705
 

thekat03

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I was just reading about the experience of EV owners in Northern New England regarding the eclipse. I am going to post what I just read..... A Wakefield family had a similarly exhausting all-night trip. They had to wait more than four hours to charge their electric vehicle on the way home from Vermont, even handing out numbered tickets to the hundreds of other drivers waiting their turn, WCVB reported. They arrived home at 4 a.m.
It wasn't just EV vehicles that took a long time getting out of rural New England. I lucked out and got a couple hours on a level 2 in Jackman, but had enough charge to get home even without it. Most of the other cars in our traffic jam were gas. Most pit stops were people watering behind trees, but I there also were a number of people stopping at the gas station, because there really weren't many out there in the rural Maine woods. I think if I ever đây trip to see an eclipse again, it's only worthwhile if I can do it without refueling. Otherwise, reserve a place to stay overnight.
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