What efficiency do you get if you drive an EV like an ICE?

[HuntingPudel]

For me, whether I would take my MME or an ICE depends on the trip. For example, were I planning a duck hunt, I’m in the Blazer, no ifs, ands, or buts. If it were a leisurely trip to see relatives, I see no issue with the MME. Track day? That’s a little fuzzy since I ordered a GT-PE. The Trans Am is insane, but the MME might be just as fun in a different way.

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[Maquis]

In my F150, I have a 36 gallon tank and gets 21 mpg at 80mph, so I usually stop every 5 hours for a 15 minute break because the gas tank last longer than my bladder. I'm going to love the MMe for around town, but EVs are not ready for road trips yet, at least not for me.

What year and what engine in your F150?

I can't get 20+ at 70 or over. Wondering if you've got the newer 10 speed tranny making the difference?

 

[dml105]

In my view, he MMe is an awesome daily commuter but a poor road tripper.

Depends on where you are. I think it's good for road tripping in the Northeast, the Midatlantic, and the I-81 corridor even. (But stay out of West Virginia.) Probably good in California as well. Probably bad in the sparser areas of the country.

But then again, it really all depends on how you define good and bad. If stopping for 45 minutes (for any reason) is bad, then you'll probably find the Mach-e bad for road tripping.

Personally, I won't be taking many road trips in it just yet. My wife prefers the proven tech of an ICE vehicle when we are going to be far from home with two small children, a legit concern. But when I travel, likely for work, I think I will fare better because I won't be going anywhere near 90 mph. I'm averaging over 3.2 mi/kWh topping around 70 mph, which gives me quite good range.

Why the heck would anybody drive as if it was their job unless it is their job.

Why do people eat ghost peppers?
Why do people wait until it's 25 degrees to turn on the heat in Ohio?
Why does Rice play Texas? (My favorite JFK quote)

People love doing something just because they can.

 

[AjzRide]

What year and what engine in your F150?

I can't get 20+ at 70 or over. Wondering if you've got the newer 10 speed tranny making the difference?

2018 with 3.5EB and 10speed. I also have my suspension slightly lowered which helps a tad.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

It comes down to whether it's about the journey or the destination. In my younger days it was all about the destination. Now, maybe not as much. A strong, research based, argument could be made that it is not safe to drive for hours on end stopping only long enough to fill the fuel tank and empty the bladder.
YMMV.

As I get older, and deeper into my medical career, I like to get out and move my legs every 2-3 hours. Blood clots from extended sitting is a real thing. I’m pretty close to starting an Aspirin regimen before longer trips. ?

 

[121gigawatts]

YMMV.

I think this hasn't been said enough. Perhaps we should start a go fund me to sell T shirts with the electric pony and YMMV underneath.


On the real note, great reading everyone's experiences and thoughts. I drive ~50 miles one way to work, five days a week. The convenience of not having to stop and get gas and just charge in the comfort of my own home at a price much lower than gas? Beautiful.

Longer Distances? Well it depends. I'm in Georgia, nowhere near California's level of EV loving. Pretty rural and fairly spread out beyond the capital and its huge suburban area. I travel throughout Georgia for both business and personal, with my main trips being 100 miles and 150 one way. Do able in the MME.

As for actual road trips (I consider just about any out of state trip a road trip) would require some planning. Even visiting Texas, which would be a 12 hr trip from GA -> Birmingham, Alabama -> Shreveport, Louisiana -> Texas ( no stops included)

In an EV it would require an 18 hour trip with an almost 3 hr charge time going through:
GA -> Huntsville, Alabama -> Memphis, Tennessee -> Little Rock, Arkansas -> Hope Arkansas -> Mt Pleasant Texas -> Texas

That just went from a leave at 5am get there at 6pm, to a leave at 5 am get there at 12 am. Both ways having wasted a full day as after 18 hrs, I'm passing out.

Now this isn't an issue per se of the vehicle, so much as the infrastructure needed. What the issue comes down to is lack of infrastructure to make this trip worth it. If you told me I could take the same direct route, and just adding the 3 hrs of charging? I could live with that.

In short and the main point here, I honestly didn't even know that Arkansas was anywhere near this path! I'd like to keep it that way. LOL

 

[trutolife27]

Yes at the end of the day a BEV will take longer to road trip. Can you do it in most places? yes
We are early adopters. Five years from now, more chargers, better range, faster charging times and this will all be a null comment.

 

[Indy Mike]

I've found the MME to be a great road-tripper. Very comfortable and looking forward to the BlueCruise update! On interstates I've never had to go 10-20 minutes out of my way. Most charging stations have taken 2-3 minutes of driving off freeway rather than the 1-2 for a gas station. Yes, charging takes ~30 minutes for a 20-80% charge. However, you often don't have to charge that long depending on your next planned stop and I've found there to be little downtime. I plan my meal stops and bathroom stops into these. After about 4000 miles of long-distance freeway driving, I'm sold!

I like your approach. It fits with one of my favorite sayings, “Plan ahead, it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.”

 

[TundraEV]

Don’t forget about what happened to Radiator Springs!

 

[ZSR]

Drivin from the Netherlands to the south of France for the first time in a EV I was initially worried about running out of juice. (Driving a sr rwd)

I found that:
-I can drive 130-140 km/u without not reaching the next Fast charging station.
-take 2 two hour drives
-having kids it’s about time to stop anyway for the usual brake
-I do not have to stand next to the car and hold the pump and then stand in line to pay for the gas (mostly it’s still paying inside the station)
-while charging I get a cup of coffee and the kids their brake. And by the time they are done I am almost at 80%
-or I hook up and read up on my email etc for 20 min or so.

BUT:
- I have found that frequently 1 or 2 of the 4 350kwh chargers are offline
- when you drive up from the highway to the only fast charge place around within 80 km, with 4 chargers, one broken en 3 people charging with 6 other cars waiting ….it sucks! You waist 1.5 hour before you can charge and you have this whole social thing of “who was last in line?” Luckily this only happend once (this bad) and it’s near the french-Belgium border where suddenly there is only one DC in a 180 mile radius.

but for 95% it’s been easy peasy.

ps after a while you recognize your fellow EV roadtrippers ?
And I am very very jealous of the Porsche. It sucks almost 3 times as fast as mine at a fast charger and it has two intakes on both sides and the lid folds in, instead of sticking out (but hell you pay 2-3 times as much for the car) Plus Porsche has its own fast chargers at their dealer we also can use (thank you Porsche Luxemburg!)
Audi e-tron drivers tend to charge till 100%, not so slow from 80-100% as mine but still a little anti social when 80% is about the unspoken rule around here..

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I grew up with the 55 MPH national speed limit and terribly inefficient ICEs overheating regularly. We had to stop at nearly every station on every road trip we did. Gas, radiator water, a pile of kids begging for snacks, and usually a dog that needed a walk.

Stopping for less than 30 minutes still feels relatively new to me, even if it's been longer than I care to admit.

I'm looking forward to more leisurely road trips with more stops and more time at each stop.

 

[tuminatr]

I get what the OP is talking about. I too travel for work but only 1-2 weeks every month. The company I work for allows me to take a flight and rent a car is my destination is more than 6 hours away and I have started doing that. That's also good because I put less mileage on my car. For road warriors like us though it's kinda in my blood to get out and push it a bit, so I do feel your pain

Now they also reimburse me for mileage and when I first got the car I did take a trip from Saint Paul, MN to Chicago, IL then Green Bay, WI, and back home to saint paul, MN. It netted me $300 because of my mileage reimbursement.

I have also been from Saint Paul, MN to Milwaukee the taken the ferry across Lake Michigan, and my final destination of Detroit, MI then back.

And Saint Paul, MN to Minot, ND, and back.

We would have taken the Mach E to Mount Rushmore but currently not enough fast chargers in South Dakota to get there so we took my wife Audi TT roadster (that was a lot of fun anyway)

For me, it's all about planning I get out the door between 730-8 am stop for lunch and charge then stop to charge enough to make my destination have dinner at my destination, and change at the hotel

I too would be like you and drive to get home only stopping for gas but for me traveling this way is forcing me to plan better and relax more, so it's good.

When it comes to efficiency if I keep it around 70 I can maintain 3.0m/KWH, go over 85 and I have seen 2.2m / KWH

On a side note, I do wish the fast-charging stations had a canopy like a gas station. On one of my trips to Chicago, I traveled in a downpour and got drenched.

 

[TGIF]

For us, once we realized we do 95-97% of our miles less than 300 mile trips for my wife's last four new vehicles, it's only then that we understood the overall time spent at the gas stations is going to be a huge time savings over the life of the car. Additionally, when we do road trips over 700 miles we rent anyway. Especially the Gulf coast to Detroit Auto show there and back in three days, or up and back to DC., The rental costs are lower than depreciation and maintenance of or own car.

Glad to hear someone else rents for road trips, too.

 

[SashaLondon]

In town driving, I would get about 1.9 kW/mile if I have the heating on auto and drive normally. If I turn off the heating a bit then it is about 2.5 kW/mile (just heat up the cabin then switch it off).

 

[Scc18603]

So I am waiting for my MME, but we live in PA and our daughter lives in Flordia. It’s about 1250 door to door.
I have done the trip in 13 hours in my Cadillac CTS, and that is stopping every 3 hours for gas, bladder, food and dog walking.
We typically leave at 3am to ensure we miss the DC traffic.
When I look at the Mach e, I want to take it because of the blue cruise and the cost savings, but I keep thinking it will add 5 hours to the trip.

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