What Performance Level Yields the Most Range

[Jarratt]

We going on our first long multi-state trip since we got our car two years ago. (Looking forward to a far better charging infrastructure than when we took a similar jaunt in our. Tesla Model 3 three years ago.)

Our everyday driving mode is Engage. Is this the right setting for a mostly boring Interstate ride or would we be better off throttling down to Whisper or up to Unbridle? I drive our Lightning exclusively in Sport not just b/c it's more fun; the regen is significantly stronger.

Also, does anyone have an opinion about whether we should be agnostic about DC charging type and consider CCS and Tesla the same. Said differently, are we likely to get faster charges at Supercharger locations if they have slots available for CCS?

The expertise here never fails to amaze me. Thanks in advance.

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[kens]

Shouldn't make much difference, a gentle foot will make far more difference than driving mode. All the same power is available for just a slight more foot in Whisper. Mine stays in Unbridled for the fun of it.

I'm agnostic to chargers, but Tesla will be more consistent, and has all the power our cars can use. Others are fine too, but you might find a low rate cord on a high rate charger and start scratching your head about why it's going so slow. Tesla has also been the best at keeping equipment up.

I tend to travel with Tesla most for the consistency and lower rates, EA was often used, but last I looked they were raising rates. Others if needed. Ionna seems to be top notch, and will probably end up a favorite, but I've not tried them yet.

In case you don't know, the Tesla membership will get you a discount of ~25%, less than two sessions will cover the cost of membership for a month. Totally worth it for a road trip, cancel right away so you don't get charged a second month. Don't use Plug and Charge, Ford won't pass on the discount, always start the session in the Tesla app. If you don't have an adapter you'll want one, most Tesla stalls will need it.

EA also has a membership that gets ~25% discount, but Tesla will likely be cheaper. Same Plug and Charge rules.

Ionna seems to have good rates, no membership needed. At new installs they heavily discount to start, so might be worth watching for them. No app needed, just tap a credit card at the "pump".

Also, highway speed kills range, so if you're cutting it close just slow down some and your range will magically go up.

 

[tbrumleve]

Drive modes don’t really affect range. They change steering and accelerator mapping. Driving style affects it more (acceleration, speed). Keep it under 75 for best efficiency on the highway.

 

[OH2AZ2OH]

Drive mode doesn't affect range, including 1 pedal on or off, if you accelerate and decelerate the vehicle at the same rates.
You can, and should, use ABRP to map your route ahead of time, but make sure you get the filters right. Tesla charging has the best footprint. You may want to do a test charge at a Tesla station prior to your trip if that's the way you decide to go.

 

[rhieb]

We going on our first long multi-state trip since we got our car two years ago. (Looking forward to a far better charging infrastructure than when we took a similar jaunt in our. Tesla Model 3 three years ago.)

Our everyday driving mode is Engage. Is this the right setting for a mostly boring Interstate ride or would we be better off throttling down to Whisper or up to Unbridle? I drive our Lightning exclusively in Sport not just b/c it's more fun; the regen is significantly stronger.

Also, does anyone have an opinion about whether we should be agnostic about DC charging type and consider CCS and Tesla the same. Said differently, are we likely to get faster charges at Supercharger locations if they have slots available for CCS?

The expertise here never fails to amaze me. Thanks in advance.

Last month I took a round trip between Pittsburgh, PA to Malibu, CA. Mode doesn’t matter. The strong factors are weather (wind, cold, precipitation) and speed. The GOM will drop faster than expected annd overestimate available range until it learns you are driving in inefficient environments.

Efficiency of 37 degrees in rain in Indiana at 80 mph is not great. So at 80% charge you expect 200 miles, and now only 180.

Then you get into the EV friendly weather of SoCal, traffic moving at a glacial 45mph, 75 and sunny, the GOM is showing 80% is 220 miles.

Road tripping is fun because you just have to do it and take note of the experience. I used A LOT of Ionna. To the point I felt they were being installed just for me. I drove 650 miles one day, Limon, CO to Columbia, MO. Used all Ionna that day.

Whole trip, sample size of 5100 miles, I got 2.7 miles per kWh. I only used Tesla, frankly, when I had to pee and couldn’t wait for something else.

 

[RickMachE]

So, drive modes don't affect range?

Got it!

SuperCharger = Tesla

You won't get any different charging speeds at a Tesla SuperCharger vs. an EA or EVgo or IONNA fast charger, because the Mach-E is limited in charging speed.

 

[25_SW_GT]

I have an 85 mile commute each day. I've left mine on Unbridled, since I bought it new last November (2025 GT, with the performance upgrade). I do get on it every now and then, but mostly drive it easy. My morning commute is on city streets, because traffic is lighter and I avoid the tolls, but take the Interstate home each afternoon and set cruise control for 70MPH just to save a little time. I have averaged 3.3 miles per KW over the last 3K miles. Just hit 8K miles this morning on the way to work.

 

[Colorado MME GT]

Having taken several very long road trips in my 2023 GT (4k miles round trip), I agree that drive mode makes no difference. Most of your driving will be at a constant speed on interstates, so acceleration/deceleration is less impactful (great case for Blue Cruise). Drive the mode you're most comfortable with.

As for chargers, in ABRP I prioritize Ionna because it's fast, easy to use, and typically near the restrooms/food options, with Tesla and Electrify America as my other two options. I get memberships for both and remap to 325 kW chargers, if practical, when using Tesla (longer cords so you don't have to park wonky). Tesla membership is $12.95/month, and EA is $7.99, so using either network a couple of times pays for itself. Tesla with a membership is cheaper, in line with Ionna (no membership or app required). You should bring a NACS-CCS1 adapter - Tesla Superdocks are very rare.

Have fun!

 

[Buddy]

Sorry, what is "ABRP"?

 

[HuntingPudel]

<SNIP>
Drive the mode you're most comfortable with.
<SNIP>

^^ ***THIS*** ^^

Sorry, what is "ABRP"?

It's an app and a web site. The app is available for Android and iOS platforms. "ABRP" is the acronym for A Better Route Planner. At least on the iOS store, you can find it by "ABRP" in the search bar.

 

[Colorado MME GT]

^^ ***THIS*** ^^


It's an app and a web site. The app is available for Android and iOS platforms. "ABRP" is the acronym for A Better Route Planner. At least on the iOS store, you can find it by "ABRP" in the search bar.

Sorry about that. We throw that acronym around a lot on this forum. A Better Route Planner (ABRP) is your best friend on a long road trip. It'll ID proposed chargers along your route and allow you to set parameters to maximize your efficiency. It is not, however, a great driving nav tool. Google Maps or Apple Maps are much better for active navigation advice. You can export your planned route from ABRP into one of those navigation apps.

 

[RickMachE]

Having taken several very long road trips in my 2023 GT (4k miles round trip), I agree that drive mode makes no difference. Most of your driving will be at a constant speed on interstates, so acceleration/deceleration is less impactful (great case for Blue Cruise). Drive the mode you're most comfortable with.

As for chargers, in ABRP I prioritize Ionna because it's fast, easy to use, and typically near the restrooms/food options, with Tesla and Electrify America as my other two options. I get memberships for both and remap to 325 kW chargers, if practical, when using Tesla (longer cords so you don't have to park wonky). Tesla membership is $12.95/month, and EA is $7.99, so using either network a couple of times pays for itself. Tesla with a membership is cheaper, in line with Ionna (no membership or app required). You should bring a NACS-CCS1 adapter - Tesla Superdocks are very rare.

Have fun!

Tesla membership is $12.99 a month, EA is $7.00. In CA Tesla adds on taxes to the membership.

Tesla is largely CHEAPER than IONNA with the membership in my experience.

I have only had 1 or 2 Tesla locations where the Mach-E bumper wouldn't clear, but the GT is lower.

 

[kens]

Sorry about that. We throw that acronym around a lot on this forum. A Better Route Planner (ABRP) is your best friend on a long road trip. It'll ID proposed chargers along your route and allow you to set parameters to maximize your efficiency. It is not, however, a great driving nav tool. Google Maps or Apple Maps are much better for active navigation advice. You can export your planned route from ABRP into one of those navigation apps.

I've done several long multi-state trips and have never used it, probably should at some point. I route with Google Maps, and I've used Plug Share extensively and found it very helpful, what more benefit would I find in ABRP?

Tesla membership is $12.99 a month, EA is $7.00. In CA Tesla adds on taxes to the membership.

Tesla is largely CHEAPER than IONNA with the membership in my experience.

I have only had 1 or 2 Tesla locations where the Mach-E bumper wouldn't clear, but the GT is lower.

Tesla has made tripping so easy for me, very consistent and overall cheapest. I've been fortunate enough to have not found any curb too high for my GT.

My impression had been that Ionna would be pretty competitive on price, but I've not had the chance to test that, good to know Tesla is still cheaper. They recently opened an Ionna near my home, but I don't need that one...

 

[Colorado MME GT]

I've done several long multi-state trips and have never used it, probably should at some point. I route with Google Maps, and I've used Plug Share extensively and found it very helpful, what more benefit would I find in ABRP?

Tesla has made tripping so easy for me, very consistent and overall cheapest. I've been fortunate enough to have not found any curb too high for my GT.

My impression had been that Ionna would be pretty competitive on price, but I've not had the chance to test that, good to know Tesla is still cheaper. They recently opened an Ionna near my home, but I don't need that one...

The best thing you can do is set up an account at https://abetterrouteplanner.com/ and play with the options with a mock trip. The free account is pretty robust. I pay for a monthly membership ($5.00) when I travel to give me a little more flexibility with my settings. Compare it to your experience in Google Maps, which has two different iterations based on the OS:

• On iOS systems (CarPlay), the EV options are fairly limited
• Android Auto settings mirror a lot of ABRP's functions.

I want to be able to set my preferred charging networks and prioritize my top pick, exclude a couple that just become noise (Francis Energy, for example), and even set a specific miles per kW for different areas (Kansas has an incredible crosswind that always takes me down to 1.8-1.9 mi/kW, which most apps don't properly account for). I like to set my minimum state of charge as 10%, but arrive at my destination with 75%, so I'm not hunting for a charger the next morning. I've also started setting the minimum charging speed at 325 kW to avoid older Tesla chargers (short cables). Finally, I chose the "fewest stops" option since I don't feel that any app incorporates the higher charge rate the MME has at 10-50% SoC due to the charging curve.

You may want to stop my your local Ionna station to test it out. The set-ups are nice - wide parking spots, long cables that maneuver well, and a simple cc reader that you can tap with an Apple or Samsung wallet. You can also use Ford Plug & Charge. Just plug in and walk away.

 

[Jarratt]

Last month I took a round trip between Pittsburgh, PA to Malibu, CA. Mode doesn’t matter. The strong factors are weather (wind, cold, precipitation) and speed. The GOM will drop faster than expected annd overestimate available range until it learns you are driving in inefficient environments.

Efficiency of 37 degrees in rain in Indiana at 80 mph is not great. So at 80% charge you expect 200 miles, and now only 180.

Then you get into the EV friendly weather of SoCal, traffic moving at a glacial 45mph, 75 and sunny, the GOM is showing 80% is 220 miles.

Road tripping is fun because you just have to do it and take note of the experience. I used A LOT of Ionna. To the point I felt they were being installed just for me. I drove 650 miles one day, Limon, CO to Columbia, MO. Used all Ionna that day.

Whole trip, sample size of 5100 miles, I got 2.7 miles per kWh. I only used Tesla, frankly, when I had to pee and couldn’t wait for something else.

Man, thanks for your generosity! I'm soaking it all in. 2.7kWh entire trip is astonishing.

Question: Do you only use Tesla Superchargers b/c of shorter charge times? In other words, the universe of CCS DC charging from Electrify America to Chargepoint, etc is distinctly inferior?? (I loved Tesla charging when we had ou Model 3 and have grown old tying to get CCS chargers to work, ut it's been several years.)

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