The mental hurdle of long charge stops...

[LightningShow]

I've owned a Bolt for about a year, I've gotten used to the charging rhythm required for day to day use but I've never roadtripped with the car. When I get the Lightning, I'm planning to get rid of my other ICE vehicles so I've been thinking about what road trips will be like. Analytically, I know that the best thing to do will be to charge up to 80% and run it down as much as possible before the next charge, then charge for 40-50 minutes back up to 80%. Still, it's a bit of mental hurdle to stop for that long during a trip, I'm definitely one of those people who try to drive straight through with minimal stops. So...I've been thinking about how to manage the long stop. Stuff like eating, going into Walmart, go to bathroom, etc. are obvious but also don't take 50 minutes and you don't need to do those things every 2 hours. So that second 50 minute stop is going to be pretty boring...especially with kids.

What type of stuff have you all been thinking about to fill the time?

I've been thinking about cooking (as opposed to going out to eat), making a pot of coffee, setting up a TV, going for a run. I'm trying to get creative.

On a side note, this whole thing has me realizing that I think I'd rather have an EV with a smaller battery and blazing fast charge speed. Stopping for 5-10 minutes every 100 miles rather than almost an hour every 200 or 250 miles. This is kind of how the Taycan and Ioniq 5 work, they can both add about 100 miles in around 10 minutes. With the Lightning ER, I think you get 50 miles in 10 minutes and about 100 miles in 20 minutes. Once I'm there 20 minutes, might as well stay for 40. For me, it seems the 'quick stop' window is like 5-8 minutes, maybe 10. After ~15 minutes i feel like I need to "do something" while stopped.

Overall, not a huge deal, we're still early in the EV development process. In 10 years, I'd love to see a truck that gets 100 miles in 5 minutes but that's a few generations off.

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[Amps]

More chargers, better charging curves, and smaller batteries using fewer resources resulting in affordable EVs is the future I see. My first truck barely got 9 mpg and had a 17 gallon tank. Working the 'middle of the tank' gave it a range under 150 miles. It wasn't so bad because 'service stations' were pretty common. Build out the chargers!

 

[sotek2345]

One thing I learned is that this ends up being far less bothersome than you would think at first. On a trip you usually end up with shorter stops (~15 minutes - just about enough time to hit the bathroom) and longer stops (~40-45 minutes - perfect for a meal) based on charger availability. We have road tripped our Mach-e several times and very rarely (once so far) do we end up having to wait around for the car. Usually the car has charged as much as it needs before we are ready to go.

 

[LightningMcqueen]

There is nothing stopping you from stopping every 100 miles and charge less per stop.

I have been considering having a small electric scooter or ebike in frunk so, I can go explore larger area around charging station.

 

[williams]

This is why i loved my tesla. A charge stop would be 30/45 minutes and back to driving 4-5 hours

 

[VTbuckeye]

To get blazing (probably not the best description see Chevy Bolt) fast charging you need higher voltage batteries. Before children we were gas and go travelers. Now we stop more often for longer. Trying to get from the in-laws in Ohio to home in Vermont (750ish miles) in one day is possible with ice vehicles, though for the past 12 years in it has been a two day trip (500, 250). Getting to the Ohio border is usually the goal for day one. On the way home we want to get off of I90 and not need to get back on the next morning. I am eager to try this trip with the lightning once I get it. It also helps that my mother in law is moving in with her son and his wife outside of Cleveland. The charging infrastructure is much better there than Zanesville/Dresden.

As long as there is decent food and clean bathrooms the longer stops every 2 to 3 hours would not be too bad for us, but 700+ mile days will be much more challenging than with ice cars.

 

[LightningShow]

There is nothing stopping you from stopping every 100 miles and charge less per stop.

I have been considering having a small electric scooter or ebike in frunk so, I can go explore larger area around charging station.

I like the e-scooter idea!

 

[RickLightning]

Until the charging network expands, you'll find many of them at Walmarts, and it will take 5 - 10 minutes from the time you exit the highway until you get to the charger in the Walmart. Then 5 - 10 minutes back. So, that's 10 - 20 minutes on each stop, a great reason to stop less often.

We charge the Mach-E to 80% in states where it's by the minute, and to the charge level we have to have in states where it's by the kWh, because that's twice the price. Most stops are 30 - 45 minutes.
If I towed a lot, I wouldn't consider the F-150L because the stops would be insufferable unless the total drive is 200 miles. As it is, charging adds about 20% overhead to a trip we find, driving 500 - 600 miles a day.

 

[Oneand0]

I haven’t traveled far with my Tesla on more than a 165 mile road trip, to work and back. I will be taking it on an 8 hour trip in July. I’ve always passed time by watching YouTube, or Netflix and it goes by fast for me. I don’t think we have that option on our screen, but I thought I saw a hack a while back on this forum?

 

[LightningShow]

Until the charging network expands, you'll find many of them at Walmarts, and it will take 5 - 10 minutes from the time you exit the highway until you get to the charger in the Walmart. Then 5 - 10 minutes back. So, that's 10 - 20 minutes on each stop, a great reason to stop less often.

We charge the Mach-E to 80% in states where it's by the minute, and to the charge level we have to have in states where it's by the kWh, because that's twice the price. Most stops are 30 - 45 minutes.
If I towed a lot, I wouldn't consider the F-150L because the stops would be insufferable unless the total drive is 200 miles. As it is, charging adds about 20% overhead to a trip we find, driving 500 - 600 miles a day.

It might be different in your area but around here all of the major DCFC stations are right off the highway, no different than going to a gas station. I've mapped out most of the key DCFC chargers in the areas that I'm expecting to travel. They're pretty much all immediately off the highway. I doubt it would take even 5 minutes, combined, to get in and out.

 

[Amps]

I thought I saw a hack a while back on this forum?

heh, I just read it a few minutes ago

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...tflix-on-your-lightning-display-screen.10796/

 

[LightningShow]

I haven’t traveled far with my Tesla on more than a 165 mile road trip, to work and back. I will be taking it on an 8 hour trip in July. I’ve always passed time by watching YouTube, or Netflix and it goes by fast for me. I don’t think we have that option on our screen, but I thought I saw a hack a while back on this forum?

It hope there's a hack. At the very least Ford could have limited video content to when the vehicle is parked. Nerfing it altogether is lame.

 

[bg226]

Install TikTok on your phone. Nothing kills time faster than that damn app!

 

[RickLightning]

It might be different in your area but around here all of the major DCFC stations are right off the highway, no different than going to a gas station. I've mapped out most of the key DCFC chargers in the areas that I'm expecting to travel. They're pretty much all immediately off the highway. I doubt it would take even 5 minutes, combined, to get in and out.

I don't DC charge anywhere near where I live, only for travel. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, New York, Massachusetts.

I find that between the exit and the charger is often 3 or 4 traffic lights. A few minutes at each if you catch the lights wrong. Sometimes the charger is on the backside and you have to drive around the complex. I now add 10 minutes per stop with ABRP to better plan. That's why staying longer at each stop may be worth doing, as well as possibly eliminating the last stop if your efficiency is better than expected. Or, having a late night stop in a deserted parking lot be much quicker because you don't need as much charge.

Since EA keeps reducing the "per minute" states, it's less of an issue but in those states charging is about 1/2 the cost - Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

In those states, I charge up at least to 80%, now to 90% with the faster charging curve for the Mach-E. My Ohio big charges top $20, in the per minute states they don't come near $10.

 

[LightningShow]

I'm sure it's highly location dependent. I don't plan on doing long road trips except heading to DC to visit my parents. The great majority of my longer distance driving is in NH/ME/VT. The DCFC infrastructure isn't great but they all seem to be pretty convenient.

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