Vacation Trips - Not in a Mach E

[ejss]

It's a roll out. Things will take time but when EVs start becoming more prevalent (in the next 5 years I would say we'll see a shift due to other manufacturers bringing out cars in the net couple of years), you will see chargers popping up a ton more. Just like gas stations when gas powered vehicles started up. Also, places that do not have a charger will see sales decline, so it's an incentive to install good chargers. If Trader Joe's has a higher powered charger than Sprouts, I'll just go to Trader Joe's (or Hy Vee, Price Chopper, whatever your grocery store choice is).

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[RobB]

For our 800 mile trips the MachE will require 3 stops of 1 hour for a recharge. I don't believe I can spend the extra time waiting on electricity. The MachE may be fine for around town/work commuting, but day trips or vacations it will not work. I have been trying to make myself like the GT version in Grabber Blue, as were my two previous Mustangs were, but it will not cut it for me as we are preparing to be a one car family. Once our 2017 C-Max is finished with its "tour of duty" I will start looking at the Explorer again.

Yes, EVs are great, but concur - they are commute cars.

Rent for the road trips! Took our Suburban through 13 states in 17 days and 4,400 miles last summer and was a great experience. Our daughter is already talking/planning for next summer.

Tesla let me test drive for a weekend and admittedly the most fun you can have with four wheels, we would never have had that kind of freedom on a road trip with any EV.

 

[silverelan]

The cadence and habits of road trips in a fossil vehicle vs. an electric vehicle are just different but the amount of time spent stopped isn't as big as you'd think. This is because every stop combines tasks.

Using a 500 mile point-to-point trip as an example (Chicago to Nashville). Also, we're assuming you start with a full tank of gas in the fossil, full charge in the Mach-E GT (250mi range), and you take a leak at least 3x during the course of an 8-9 hour day of driving.

Fossil car
Depart origin
Stop 1 - rest area nature break (10 mins)
Stop 2 - lunch & refuel (30 mins)
Stop 3 - rest area nature break (10 mins)
Arrive destination

Mustang Mach-E GT
Depart orgin
Stop 1 - Charging stop + nature break (15-20 mins)
Stop 2 - Lunch & charging (30 mins)
Stop 3 - Charging stop + nature break (15-20 mins)
Arrive destination

https://abetterrouteplanner.com/?plan_uuid=0b671a09-9e61-4e5c-856a-d17b3b1fd486

So you're looking at 20 mins of stoppage time difference between fossil and your Grabber Blue Mustang Mach-E GT. Longer trips will have some additional stoppage of course, but you get the idea.

Hope that helps!

 

[Bob]

My typical trip is 20 miles to Costco twice a month otherwise around town. Range with the Mach-E will not be a problem.

 

[buzznwood]

EV have a long way to go until it is an all in one replacement, for most people doing the local commute and errands an ev makes sense as the actual hassle of charging becomes a non issue when you can do it at home overnight or if lucky at the office where the car will be parked up for the day. Like wise if you are going shopping where you will be in the store for a good 20+ mins then if they add chargers you can easily top up while shopping.

This is what the mach-e will be used for in my case,. where crawling along in traffic unlike a gas car it will be most efficient and local trips to the store, for the long 500+ mile road trips that I do multiple times a year out to the national parks and visiting distant friends it is a non starter for me.

Sure you can plan the route but once you are away from the crowded cities and on the interstates you can cover huge distances without issue, having to stop every 200 miles miles for a top up is going to be a right old pain in the arse, especially as fast charging really only works to 80% after that the charge rate drops to a crawl so you have to make lots of little short hops.

At least ford looks to have made it easier with one app ford pass, as apart from tesla everyone else needs to sort it out, with multiple apps and pass cards to access chargers it is useless. Not sure what shell chargers will be like in the USA but in the UK it works like a gas pump, insert credit car pay and get on with charging, no faffing around with multiple apps, at least someone at shell actually has their head screwed on and gets it.

Looking forward to the mach-e for my commute, but will need to keep one focus for the long distance stuff. The electric motor maybe super efficient but it is crippled by having a two gallon gas tank that weights a ton and takes hours to fill up lol.

 

[s7davis]

As everyone has stated the fast chargers to cost more to put up but as more and more electric long range vehicles come out of the workshops their will be demand that will need to be met. I think the infrastructure does need working on and I think public fast charging stations need to look at what Tesla has done for their charging infrastructure. I think they need to set up a specified area with around 12 - 20 charging stalls for fast charging. Tesla has their own network most of the time you will not see teslas cause they have the superchargers for their road trips but for all the others they have to rely on public station which I know can be a hassle and needs more attention to those which I do believe we will start to see more and more fast chargers popping up as time moves on.

Especially when we have the Rivian, Fisker, Byton, F150, MAch E and others bringing full BEV out in the next 2 years so the demand will be their for them.

 

[cometguy]

We have a 3-car household, and my plan in a couple of years is to have two PHEVs and one BEV -- the two PHEVs being flexible for long-distance trips while also being able to use minimal gas around home, and the BEV staying comfortably within a full charge roundtrip of home at all times (I don't want to fool with public charging at this early stage of its development). Most people I know who have BEVs have also either an ICE-only vehicle or a PHEV for longer road trips. BEVs in this manner can be really superb and fun to own.

 

[millim]

Had dinner with some friends last night here in SoCal. They were up in Lake Tahoe for the past week and headed up the same time as another couple...and that other couple was in their Model X. My buddy blew the Model X on the 5 and was wondering what was happening. Apparently the Model X limited the top speed as battery got low, and the driver was beside himself due to the wait times for the chargers in Bishop. That said, it wasn't anything close to this from what I understood.



I still want a pure EV and can't wait to get one. I agree with the prior comment that if you really don't want to have those stops on (typically rare) road trips then renting an ICE for the trip as a great option. I know my 300+ mile trips are a couple of times a year max, and besides that I have zero range anxiety.

 

[stmache]

Yeah, because a restaurant is going to spend $60K on a few chargers…?

Understand Folks, the DC Chargers that charge up un under an hour, are ultra rare throughout the Country. Michigan only has 2... and some States don't have any...



Those are the ONLY chargers that charge rapidly, all other stations will take 4+ hours...

No, but EA does and they are putting chargers in Wal-Marts and other popular locations. Should be places to eat nearby. I, also, suspect chain restaurants to figure it out in the near future as more electric vehicles hit the roads.

 

[silverelan]

No, but EA does and they are putting chargers in Wal-Marts and other popular locations. Should be places to eat nearby. I, also, suspect chain restaurants to figure it out in the near future as more electric vehicles hit the roads.

I think we'll continue to see partnering of charging stations and commercial locations like restaurants and coffee shops along highway routes. If I were a commercial property owner along a highway, I would seek out both Tesla and EA to have them install stations so my tenants could benefit from the traffic.

Cle Elum, WA is a good example as it has both a Tesla and CCS/CHAdeMO on site.

 

[Trekkie]

Yeah, because a restaurant is going to spend $60K on a few chargers…?

Understand Folks, the DC Chargers that charge up un under an hour, are ultra rare throughout the Country. Michigan only has 2... and some States don't have any...

those are the ONLY chargers that charge rapidly, all other stations will take 4+ hours...

The restaurant won't spend $60k, someone else will and pay the restaurant to reserve 3-8 spots. Now the restaurant has high value customers who are 'trapped' there for enough time to eat a meal and makes money from their parking lot + people who choose to eat there. Us EV owners are funny like that, you put chargers in? well hell i'll eat there at least that one time just to show my appreciation.

Sheetz in my area is also dumping 4-6-8-12 chargers in their lot and they have a full menu and people come, charge & grab some food. I'm driving usually with five other people on my road trips and the idea that we get in/out in 5m is a joke, every stop is at least 20 minutes.

You are also grossly misrepresenting the availability of >125KW DCFC stations. Walmart is putting them in everywhere funded by Electrify America (AKA VW Dieselgate fine resolution). See this map https://www.electrifyamerica.com/locate-charger that is ONE network of CCS chargers at 50KW or higher. Chademo and L2 are the 'slow' ones. Sure there are parts of North Dakota and Montana that might be missing but those all follow the major arteries across the USA. Each Station has multiple chargers.

There are a number of youtube channels showing and reviewing these stops all over the US. I've watched people take a roadtrip from CT to OK and nerd out on the stats. The short answer is if you change a few things, it's not that much different. You also see more of the country, and that's a good thing too.

Driving an EV on a road trip is different, you don't 'fill the gas tank' every time you stop. You charge it to hit the next spot. There are tons of tools out there that will streamline it, you just learn how to do it differently than before.

Edit: I'd also point out, a number of states have been EV hostile for a long time, Michigan included. So they're the ones flagging behind now that more than a few car manufacturers are doing EV.

 

[buzznwood]

The cost of batteries already makes the entry price of an EV high compared to an ice equivalent charging at home / work for the local commute / errands will keep the charging costs low as you pay a small price for the kwh used so after a number years the savings is gas can help offset that inital high purchase price..

But if I need to go far and have to use the electrify america stations which looking at the map in CA all appear to charge based by the minute with a ridiculous 99 cents for fast chargers not only will it take longer to get where I am going it will cost more than if I went in either focus.

Until the other charge networks all follow tesals pay per kwh used model this it is going to be a major problem for all non tesla owners wanting to go long distance and in general will hinder the overall adoption to EV, after all people currently pay for the gallons they use at the pump not how long it takes for it to deliver them.

 

[w3rkn]

The restaurant won't spend $60k, someone else will and pay the restaurant to reserve 3-8 spots. Now the restaurant has high value customers who are 'trapped' there for enough time to eat a meal and makes money from their parking lot + people who choose to eat there. Us EV owners are funny like that, you put chargers in? well hell i'll eat there at least that one time just to show my appreciation.

Sheetz in my area is also dumping 4-6-8-12 chargers in their lot and they have a full menu and people come, charge & grab some food. I'm driving usually with five other people on my road trips and the idea that we get in/out in 5m is a joke, every stop is at least 20 minutes.

You are also grossly misrepresenting the availability of >125KW DCFC stations. Walmart is putting them in everywhere funded by Electrify America (AKA VW Dieselgate fine resolution). See this map https://www.electrifyamerica.com/locate-charger that is ONE network of CCS chargers at 50KW or higher. Chademo and L2 are the 'slow' ones. Sure there are parts of North Dakota and Montana that might be missing but those all follow the major arteries across the USA. Each Station has multiple chargers.

There are a number of youtube channels showing and reviewing these stops all over the US. I've watched people take a roadtrip from CT to OK and nerd out on the stats. The short answer is if you change a few things, it's not that much different. You also see more of the country, and that's a good thing too.

Driving an EV on a road trip is different, you don't 'fill the gas tank' every time you stop. You charge it to hit the next spot. There are tons of tools out there that will streamline it, you just learn how to do it differently than before.

Edit: I'd also point out, a number of states have been EV hostile for a long time, Michigan included. So they're the ones flagging behind now that more than a few car manufacturers are doing EV.

Yeah, someday, but not currently. And again, I was specifically talking about Electrify America and their DC fast chargers.

Again, only 2 in Michigan, and some.States don't even have the 45m chargers. With 300k more EVs on the road next year, there are going to be LONG LINES for fast chargers.

Even if every Walmart, Lowes & Home Depot installs 20 fast chargers.... there is going to be lines.

 

[JeffIsHereToo]

If this is an issue for you then no electric car is going to fit your use case. I’m on the fence myself when it comes to these outliers but I have other cars too. So it’s something I’ll be thinking long and hard on next fall. I do t feel the need to get yet another Mustang coupe and I need some storage space around town so my use case is different. If I was thinking 800 miles vacations I‘d buy something else or be looking at adding the cost of a week’s SUV rental to my vacation budget.

 

[cometguy]

Yeah, someday, but not currently. And again, I was specifically talking about Electrify America and their DC fast chargers.

Again, only 2 in Michigan, and some.States don't even have the 45m chargers. With 300k more EVs on the road next year, there are going to be LONG LINES for fast chargers.

Even if every Walmart, Lowes & Home Depot installs 20 fast chargers.... there is going to be lines.

I know that some people wait now in lines like you describe, but I think that the word is out on this, and most people won't be waiting in lines because they'll understand that buying a BEV today only makes a lot of sense if you do most or all of your driving via charging at home. I bought a PHEV last year, and we'll buy another one this coming summer, and I think that I've bought my last ICE-only vehicle -- but I'm not quite ready for BEV-land yet. However, with all these new, interesting BEVs coming out now, I'm going to probably revise my expected date for being ready to buy a BEV from 5-10 years from now to only 2-3 years from now. I won't have any illusions about public charging when that time comes, and I won't be buying a BEV for out-of-town trips, but rather for trips in which the total roundtrip distance is 200 miles or less. I'll enjoy that not going to gas stations with it, and of starting out every morning with a "full tank" from charging overnight in my garage at home. But we'll keep at least one vehicle with an ICE in it for those long-distance trips, until the time comes that public-charging stations are as common as gas pumps today from coast-to-coast and that charging times come down considerably (maybe a decade from now). I won't be feeling sorry for people who don't research the public-charging situation before buying a BEV. But I think that automakers are missing the boat by not talking a lot about how BEVs are a fabulous choice NOW for local commuting if you can charge at home.

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