First trailer towing experience

[DBN66]

Agree, and thought about that. Pulled the pin on each side and laid it flat on the bed for the trip home. With a slight tailwind and only my display to look at, I could only speculate about what I gained.

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[RickLightning]

Glad you know about the Departure Timer, you might have been able to make the round trip with mid trip charging on both legs!

A couple points to maximize your performance in COLD conditions:

Set maximum charge SOC to 95%, plug in and let the schedule bring your SOC to this point as your TOU allows, leave plugged in through the night or prior to trip.

Set your departure time for an 60-90 minutes prior to real leave time, that will get the battery warmed up for the trip.

1 hour prior to leave time hit the charge to 100% button, this will top up your battery.

15 minutes before actual leave time use REMOTE START to warm up the cabin.

Following these steps in order will improve your range, pay attention to your energy consumption rate (MPK) as you go, time your charging stops so that energy level is in the 10% to 30% low level, then only charge to 80%, go higher if the distance to next available DCFC station is out of reach.

Given that a departure time warms the cabin in the last 15 minutes, what's the point of the remote start?

Also, have you evaluated how hitting Charge to 100% impacts the in-process Departure Time? AC charging warms the battery less than a Departure Time.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Given that a departure time warms the cabin in the last 15 minutes, what's the point of the remote start?

Also, have you evaluated how hitting Charge to 100% impacts the in-process Departure Time? AC charging warms the battery less than a Departure Time.

The cabin gets cold again depending on the severity of cold, YMMV.

YES, I have, reread my 2/29 report going to the NJ Supercharger event, you were on the road at that time and might not have caught it.

In a NUTSHELL, having the battery at 100% inhibits battery warming phase, that s why I reduced the initial charge to 95% so that battery warming can proceed, then add the last 5% after the departure time warmer finishes it's work.

 

[RickLightning]

I guess I'm not getting the advantage of this complicated process. Here's mine, not saying it's better:

1) Set a departure time for 8AM if I'm departing at 8AM. Sometimes 7:45 because it will stay warm and be done if I leave a few minutes early.
2) Night before I hit "Charge to 100%" once my off-peak window opens (7PM).

 

[TaxmanHog]

I guess I'm not getting the advantage of this complicated process. Here's mine, not saying it's better:

1) Set a departure time for 8AM if I'm departing at 8AM. Sometimes 7:45 because it will stay warm and be done if I leave a few minutes early.
2) Night before I hit "Charge to 100%" once my off-peak window opens (7PM).

This routine will not allow battery warming phase to occur at around 6:30 to 7:30 time frame, I've tested it several times, with a/b/a testing routines proving that setting max charge to 95% will allow the PTC to activate as the system decides when it needs the time to warm up the battery, we know that is a highly variable point depending on ambient temps.

My ultimate goal that day [2/29] was to achieve maximum down trip range [210 miles] without the need to charge so that I would be at minimal SOC for the TESLA test. Morning temps were near freezing conditions when I left and it got colder as the drive continued.

Would I do this, spring summer or fall, hell no, but in winter and making a long journey in the interest of science, I'd do it again.

 

[cal]

Please don’t think this trip is really reflective of what it’s going to be like towing. The temps and wind killed you. I have a spread sheet I started last summer documenting temp, trip distance, KWh to recharge and cost. I’ve already seen huge differences when temps drop in the winter. This summer I’m going to add a towing section. My 5x10 dump trailer is 3500lbs and will haul 7000lbs.

 

[RickLightning]

Wind...

On a trip with our Mach-E, I was getting 2.7. Really strong headwind hit and my average dropped to 2.1.

 

[RickKeen]

Pulled the pin on each side and laid it flat on the bed for the trip home.

THIS ^^^

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