Winter roadtrip - Santa Fe to Boulder and back

[SpaceEVDriver]

I'd say that trip planning has to be pretty fluid around changing conditions and charger availability..... in northern NM, the trip HAS to be planned around available chargers, especially if you get off I-25 there just aren't many, and almost no level 3 yet.

The distance between means that sometimes I had to sit thru the charger slowdown at 80%.... knowing that I needed 95% to make it from wagon mound to santa fe in winter conditions. Thats where I kept an eye on CarScanner display of remaining kWhr, slowed down, and reduced cabin heat.... knowing distance remaining and kwhr remaining, and avg real consumption was 2.2 allowed on the fly adjustment

Oh, definitely. I've done around two dozen >1000 mile round trip adventures in the Mustang so far. On the routes I'm familiar with, I barely plan. The thing I do before stopping is check PlugShare and the charger company's app for any last-minute updates about availability. Since I have the ER battery, I can often afford to go to the next charger on the route if there's any indication of trouble at the charging station. I can't always skip, of course. The worst trip so far has been on one of our regular routes between Northern AZ and LA: we skipped a charger but forgot to check the EA App and arrived at a degraded charging station with 4% SOC. Fortunately it was our last stop before home so we didn't need to charge too long.

For new routes, I plug into Google Maps or ABRP to get an idea of where I might be able to stop. I plan between 2.7 and 3 mpk and 73 mph for most of my trips and see where a 2-3 hour driving time between charges would put me.

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[Ford Motor Company]

with a car FULL of stuff, and 2 bikes on the back... moving my daughter to Boulder.

I headed into the storm.... which got pretty bad between Las Vegas and Raton pass.

grabbed a charge in Wagon Mound... most expensive of the trip ($.63/kWhr)

had some interesting conversations at charge stations.... and the 'wrap of the trip' was a Kia. check this one out; the owner is a rabid Broncos fan by the way.

one slow (50kw) charge.... probably because the coolant was leaking. didn't notice until after I got started unfortunately and other dispensers were full anyway. I did call it into EA; they can put a 'flag' pop-up on screen until they get a tech there.

super important note before travel is to get all possible station apps on your phone before travel! I found out the hard way that CircleK has their own app, and the chargers do not have card readers! It can be a PIA to set up an app in the field; my cc bank put a hold on the card when I was trying to set up the payment since I was calling it in from an unknown location. It took an extra 20-30 minutes to get thru to my bank, lift the card lock, fund the account, and get the charge started.

grabbed my last charge on the way home in wagon mound again.... did the math the minimize charge at $.63/kWhr..... charged to 95%

.... ....and made it home! A little thinner margin than intended. Notes for winter driving EVs on road trips:
1. allow -10% miles/kwhr for cabin heat.
2. -5% for bike rack
3. -5% for road conditions and 75-80mph versus normal mixed suburban use...

which brings my average to 2.2 miles/kwhr for the trip. I'd suggest planning miles between charges using 2 miles/kWhr in the winter and maybe 2.5 in the summer, and trying to use #kwhr you have from 20%-80%. So, since I have SR battery = 70 kwhr * 60% * 2.2 mi/kwhr = 92 miles 'safe target range' between charges in winter on roadtrips for mach-e SR battery. Any more than that, and you should charge to more than 80% to be safe.

Also, very helpful to have an ODB2 reader and CarScanner app to see actual kWhr remaining to match against distance to next charge..... it can help make the decision to slow down or reduce cabin heat if range is getting tight.

Looks like quite the road trip! We look forward to you sharing more of your future adventures.

 

[dbsb3233]

my charge stops on return trips were:
- boulder
- ev connect - phillips 66 in castle pines
- circleK colorado city
- ea - walmart in trinidad
- ea - conoco in wagon mound

Cool. With the ER battery, we make it between home (Frederick) and Pueblo (141 miles) fine. Could make it further going south since we start with 100% from home, but we usually want a drive break then anyway, plus I like to keep another backup in range just in case.

Then Trinidad and Wagon Mound from there.

 

[dtbaker61]

Looks like quite the road trip! We look forward to you sharing more of your future adventures.

I was very pleased with how the MME handled conditions (with proper snow tires = Vredestien WintracPros for me).

I published this report mostly so other drivers, especially those with SR batteries, can have a realistic idea on how to plan trip 'legs' between chargers in winter conditions. i.e. using trip average of 2.2 miles/kWhr -> 90-110 miles for SR, and maybe 110-130 miles for ER batteries accounting for:
- 70-80 mph on clear highway
- 10%-15% going to cabin heat at ambient around 20F
- 5% going to bike rack aero disturbance

what I would HIGHLY SUGGEST that @Ford Motor Company should consider is a user setting to change the existing GOM range estimate displayed on screen to a split display showing: 1. actual kWhr remaining, 2. range estimate, but based on rolling average of the last 50 miles actual rather than 'history to date'. This would do a WAY better job of predicting the 'next 50 miles' as conditions change on a one-way highway trip.... and then self-adjust to usual when you get home without 'clearing History'.

 

[dtbaker61]

Cool. With the ER battery, we make it between home (Frederick) and Pueblo (141 miles) fine. Could make it further going south since we start with 100% from home, but we usually want a drive break then anyway, plus I like to keep another backup in range just in case.

Then Trinidad and Wagon Mound from there.

no real option to wagon mound.... which is the most expensive charge of the trip at $.63/kwhr !

 

[dbsb3233]

Oh, definitely. I've done around two dozen >1000 mile round trip adventures in the Mustang so far. On the routes I'm familiar with, I barely plan. The thing I do before stopping is check PlugShare and the charger company's app for any last-minute updates about availability. Since I have the ER battery, I can often afford to go to the next charger on the route if there's any indication of trouble at the charging station. I can't always skip, of course. The worst trip so far has been on one of our regular routes between Northern AZ and LA: we skipped a charger but forgot to check the EA App and arrived at a degraded charging station with 4% SOC. Fortunately it was our last stop before home so we didn't need to charge too long.

For new routes, I plug into Google Maps or ABRP to get an idea of where I might be able to stop. I plan between 2.7 and 3 mpk and 73 mph for most of my trips and see where a 2-3 hour driving time between charges would put me.

That's pretty much us too. We've done the Denver-Vegas route like 15 times now so not much research for that, other than to check Plugshare for recent station status. Green River UT is like your Quartzite AZ station: a chronic problem station in a long stretch with no good backup (yet). So I gotta keep an eye on that one.

But I'm also checking Plugshare every few weeks anyway just to see what new stations may pop up. It's like a Christmas gift when a new one pops up in a place that might be useful to us.


For new trips/routes, I don't find myself using ABRP anymore. Oddly, I found ABRP to be great in 2020 before we got the Mach-E. It was great as a learning tool. But once I got the car, I stopped using it. I had researched and driven the Denver-Vegas route so much I knew it like the back of my hand. I quickly found EA was the best choice where it existed (P&C, pricing, 25% discount, power levels, etc). So when planning a new route ever since (on Google Maps), I start with the EA map as reference. Then I fill in from there with PS (for non-EA chargers) as needed. Right now I'm planing a 4000 mile road trip back east in May that will hit 27 states. It's like putting a jigsaw puzzle together to hit all the places we intend to go, then splice in all the charging stations from there (not each charge yet, of course, but just making sure there's sufficient coverage on all those routes).

 

[Ford Motor Company]

I did order and installed my hitch receiver from TorkLift (stainless steel receiver), as soon as it was available.
Nice to know many others use the same TorkLift kit on their MME.
Thanks for the OBD2, CarScanner info.

We love the updates! And we love the Mach-E too!

 

[67 Stang Convertible]

I'm just so surprised that an EA Station was having an issue. They have been such a rock sold charging company over the last 3 years. What an anomaly. I'm sure that technician will be "right on it". Will we be measuring the time to repair with a watch or a calendar?
"Thank you, I'll be here all week".

 

[Nikos]

We love the updates! And we love the Mach-E too!

Thank you.
Keep making the Mach E better with more BC updates.
Battery Range improvements are also welcomed.
Ability to access the Tesla Superchargers as quickly as possible.

 

[21st Century Pony]

Nice!

I'm on another road trip myself right now - Virginia to Grand Junction Colorado.

The snowstorm yesterday in Missouri had an East -West headwind that reduced my mile/kWh count to 1.7 grrr...

I am also riding on Vredestein Wintrac Winter tires. I can tell their sure-footed grip in the cold, with and without snow. I'm sure there is a rolling resistance cost, but... safety 1st right?

 

[Nikos]

Nice!

I'm on another road trip myself right now - Virginia to Grand Junction Colorado.

The snowstorm yesterday in Missouri had an East -West headwind that reduced my mile/kWh count to 1.7 grrr...

I am also riding on Vredestein Wintrac Winter tires. I can tell their sure-footed grip in the cold, with and without snow. I'm sure there is a rolling resistance cost, but... safety 1st right?

Be careful.
Good luck.
We all like to read about your West bound expedition.

 

[dtbaker61]

Nice!

I'm on another road trip myself right now - Virginia to Grand Junction Colorado.

The snowstorm yesterday in Missouri had an East -West headwind that reduced my mile/kWh count to 1.7 grrr...

I am also riding on Vredestein Wintrac Winter tires. I can tell their sure-footed grip in the cold, with and without snow. I'm sure there is a rolling resistance cost, but... safety 1st right?

yeah... I love the Wintracs for snow/ice !

headwinds are a bummer for consumption (just like driving fast, right?!), but what gets really scary is highway speed up an extended climb like Raton pass. I think I saw my number drop to 1.1 mi/kwhr on the way up! Recovered part of that on the way down.... but the avg of 2.2 was pretty close for most of the trip.

 

[mkhuffman]

In our AWD ER we've averaged 2.8 MPK, most commonly between Denver-Vegas where half the miles are at 80 MPH in Utah. Worst we got was 2.4 in the winter where temps dropped below 20F thru Colorado. But that was only one trip out of 20. All the others were between 2.7-3.0, even in 40F temps. And probably 2/3rds of the trips came out right on 2.8, even the one across 9 states down to the Gulf Coast. That's with 2 people, luggage, and various crap in the back seat.

Now that we're at 50k miles, I expect we might start seeing minor degradation in the battery/range. But so far nothing noticeable. Maybe a couple of %, if that.

Have you noticed what your efficiency is at 80 mph? In my GT, I consistently get 2.4 mi/kWh in mild climate and no significant cabin heating.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Excellent trip report - very much appreciated. I don't normally road trip in the winter, but also have the SR battery, so this was super helpful.

I assume you sat in the car while charging? Heat on? What was the effect?

Thanks again!

 

[dtbaker61]

Have you noticed what your efficiency is at 80 mph? In my GT, I consistently get 2.4 mi/kWh in mild climate and no significant cabin heating.

I'd say 2.4-2.6 on relatively flat terrain at 80mph. but I don't have much flat. My average daily use is suburban/rural with some mountains and gravel thrown in. avg use hovers around 3.2 in summer, and 2.8 in winter

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