[X1lclem]

Had my first long-haul trip with the truck. Trip was a success, but there were annoyances that will sour me on taking the truck on another long haul trip. To: Wilmington Vermont. 79 miles from my house. This was Columbus day weekend. We left Saturday evening after dinner for Wilmington VT. Wilmington is almost exactly in the middle between Bennington and Brattleboro. Both Bennington and Brattleboro have fast chargers (a single in Bennington, and two in Brattleboro). Wilmington only has a single Level 2 (read: slooooow) charger. And it was miles away from our inn. And therefore useless. And the wife forgot something after we were 12 miles out, so I had to turn around and head back. Started the real trip down 24 miles. Our inn had an RV hookup, but I did not know that before we left, and so I had no adapter for the portable charger in the truck. If i'd known they had one, I could have picked one up and we could have had a free charge overnight and been able to not think at all about charging on the return trips. Se-la-vie. Stopped in Bennington on the way out. Didn't need to, could have easily made it to Wilmington with not recharge. But prudence led me to top off there on the trip out. It was the right call. Because..... We drove through Brattleboro on Sunday, and I naively thought I could just use the single charger in the city. Nope. There were three cars waiting to charge when we arrived. I said "nope. Pass." and we drove to the other charger, at a Chevy dealer. That one was completely offline. Broken. What a crock. So we drove back to Wilmington. We had enough range to make it all the way back to Bennington if need be, but not back to the Albany area. I rolled the dice and hoped the Bennington charger would be less busy & not broken on Monday morning for the trip back. Left Wilmington with 60 miles on the car. No luck. Bennington charger was busy. This time we had to wait. Two cars ahead of us when we arrived. There was a woman who had a brand new Ford Mustang Mach-e, with 60% charge. (I could see the charge level on the station's screen). Greedy .... not nice. Me and this other guy in a tesla were down to 30%. (about 40+ miles for me). Her charge stopped and she had to spend like 10 minutes on the phone with the company to get it re-started. Sheesh. The guy in the tesla got sick of waiting and took off. (Hooray!). after waiting about an hour we were able to plug in. Another lady came by while I was charging, we had a nice conversation, and I waited until I had 80 miles on the truck and said "I don't wanna be greedy. There's a bunch of chargers in Albany. This one's all yours" .... Because I'm a goddamn gentleman. All in all we lost about an hour in Bennington waiting in line to charge. Made it to the fast-chargers at Stewarts off Exit 6 on the Northway with like 60 miles to spare. Didn't need to charge to make it home, but felt like topping off anyways. Fast chargers there gave me another 15 miles before..... they all just shut off. There were five of them and all at the same time they just gave up the ghost. A nice old lesbian couple from up north was trying to get to New-Paltz with a week old Nissan Leaf. Told them about it before I left. They were understandably miffed. Luckily the chargers came back online as I was pulling away, so I hope they got the charge they needed. Made it home. Had errands to run later in the day. Stopped at Walmart and holy heck, they have 6 dc fast charge stations: and they were all full, with two cars waiting in line. I spoke to some of them, and they said it's always like this on holidays. People travel, and there's only so many functional fast chargers around the area. And in spite of each charger at Walmart having two plugs.... you can only use one plug at a time to charge. So it LOOKS like you can charge 12 cars at once.... but nope. Only 6. Why have a second plug at all then?!?!?!? Went shopping, afterwards there was a single spot open. Had a nice conversation about the sorry state of chargers with a guy in a Mustang Mach-e from Connecticut. He lived in an apartment complex down there, and he had no charging where he parked, so he has to subsist entirely on fast chargers nearby. Crazy, because those fast chargers really really over-charge. Long story short: Charging infrastructure for long haul trips is abysmal. My lesson is to pack adapters for the portable charger, and assume 1/2 of all chargers will be inaccessible/broken.

 

[Busted]

Thanks - I hadn't thought about all the charging opportunities at RV Campsites.

 

[R.I.P.]

79 miles? Are you running an SR or an ER?

 

[Voltz]

79 miles? Are you running an SR or an ER?

Absolutely agree with the bottom line:
Long story short: Charging infrastructure for long haul trips is abysmal.

But, 79 miles has to be a typo. I hope.

 

[X1lclem]

To clarify, it's 79 miles each way. Plus I lost a few miles as my wife forgot stuff and we had to turn around and go back before we left. So ~175 miles going to/from, plus all the driving around southern vermont for activities. SR battery started with 212 miles of range. Getting to Wilmington was no problem. It was driving around out there that really downed the range, and finding a place to top off for the trip home was a PITA. Got it done though. Just had to wait in line at fast chargers.

 

[StanT]

On the same note, I live in a condo with indoor parking for 1 car. I got 2 quotes to install a 15-40 socket from the meter room, and for $3,500, I said I'll charge at the few DC chargers around the area. Well, in my attempt to fill up, I had to go to 4 places. Took about 2 hours to get to one that was either working or not in use. I have some long trips next week 9-hour drives, and I am worried about what it's going to be like on the road getting charged. I know Pilot is investing big time, but that's a year or so away. Hopefully, the Tesla network helps some starting next year.

 

[ChasingCoral]

And in spite of each charger at Walmart having two plugs.... you can only use one plug at a time to charge. So it LOOKS like you can charge 12 cars at once.... but nope. Only 6. Why have a second plug at all then?!?!?!?

Redundancy. EA installs two cables on each charger because sometimes a cable will go on the fritz (usually an error in the temperature sensor in the cable) and only give slow charges. Switch cables and you can often get a good charge.

 

[ChasingCoral]

On the same note, I live in a condo with indoor parking for 1 car. I got 2 quotes to install a 15-40 socket from the meter room, and for $3,500, I said I'll charge at the few DC chargers around the area. Well, in my attempt to fill up, I had to go to 4 places. Took about 2 hours to get to one that was either working or not in use. I have some long trips next week 9-hour drives, and I am worried about what it's going to be like on the road getting charged. I know Pilot is investing big time, but that's a year or so away. Hopefully, the Tesla network helps some starting next year.

Do you at least have a 110v outlet you can use to trickle charge?

 

[StanT]

Do you at least have a 110v outlet you can use to trickle charge?

Yes, I have used it but at 3 miles charge an hour is not much help, The cost difference is huge for us our rate is .09 KWH at home at DC charge EA I am paying 0.31 Once my wife's Fisker comes in it will be the best choice in the end.

 

[R.I.P.]

To clarify, it's 79 miles each way. Plus I lost a few miles as my wife forgot stuff and we had to turn around and go back before we left. So ~175 miles going to/from, plus all the driving around southern vermont for activities. SR battery started with 212 miles of range. Getting to Wilmington was no problem. It was driving around out there that really downed the range, and finding a place to top off for the trip home was a PITA. Got it done though. Just had to wait in line at fast chargers.

Yeah, >300 mile range makes all the difference if actually trying to "road trip", and you make a good case for why.

I own a number of EV's and have been road tripping EV's for a long time. The difference in comfort when I take a >300 mile capable car is significant, and I want to hit on another key point in your story; destination charging. I carry a Tesla Mobile EVSE with the NEMA kit to be able to plug into literally any outlet in America when on the road; even when not driving one of the Teslas. If there is an outlet where I am staying, I can use it.

 

[X1lclem]

On the same note, I live in a condo with indoor parking for 1 car. I got 2 quotes to install a 15-40 socket from the meter room, .... for $3,500,

That's pretty rough. Makes me wish I started out as an electrician!

You might be able to do that on your own. Buy the wire for a 14-50 plug, Buy the plug, run it into your breaker room, buy a 40 or 50 amp breaker, wire it up. that's how I did it. YouTube assisted with every single step. Total cost was a few hundred bucks. Had to drill a couple holes to get the wire from my circuit breaker in the basement to the plug location in the garage, but got it done.

 

[StanT]

That's pretty rough. Makes me wish I started out as an electrician!

You might be able to do that on your own. Buy the wire for a 14-50 plug, Buy the plug, run it into your breaker room, buy a 40 or 50 amp breaker, wire it up. that's how I did it. YouTube assisted with every single step. Total cost was a few hundred bucks. Had to drill a couple holes to get the wire from my circuit breaker in the basement to the plug location in the garage, but got it done.

I would have for sure, but with home associations, all work by licensed contractors with permits pulled, etc. I agree with this as there is a safety/fire concern about charging BEV in confined spaces.
We have 40 vehicles in our garage and 5 are electric. Long-distance runs need to compensate for voltage drop etc. Not everyone is doing the right thing on some of these installations.

 

[ChasingCoral]

On the same note, I live in a condo with indoor parking for 1 car. I got 2 quotes to install a 15-40 socket from the meter room, and for $3,500, I said I'll charge at the few DC chargers around the area. Well, in my attempt to fill up, I had to go to 4 places. Took about 2 hours to get to one that was either working or not in use. I have some long trips next week 9-hour drives, and I am worried about what it's going to be like on the road getting charged. I know Pilot is investing big time, but that's a year or so away. Hopefully, the Tesla network helps some starting next year.

How long is the run? $3500 seem like a lot for an outlet.

 

[StanT]

So it is all drop ceiling about 250ft run MC cable and adding an electronic sub meter since we have our CB panels in the condo. This is about right for this as others all have paid about the same. So much easier when we had our house.

 

[X1lclem]

I carry a ....Mobile EVSE with the NEMA kit to be able to plug into literally any outlet .... If there is an outlet where I am staying, I can use it.

Agreed. Lesson learned.

 

[Ford Thunder]

Is this unique to non-Tesla vehicle?

And are you pulling a RV trailer?

My daughter drives her Tesla X sometimes over the 7,000+ ft above sea level and sub-zero Donner Pass on 432 miles round trip and never had this kind of issues. She charges on destination or mid-way in case she makes a lot of rounds in the city proper.

YouTube is already inundated with these range and charging issues about F150 Lightning and many discouraged future customers are cancelling their reservations. Got the letter from Ford that I have to do an order by summer 2023 and I'm hesitating to make the order (plus their new upward pricing issues).

 

[Leaf to Lightning : )]

I came from the RVing world, where finding a NEMA 14-50 240v 50amp for full power to the large coach was not always available - sometimes a 30amp 120v outlet was all we had access to, and a few times, only a 20amp 120v outlet. ADAPTERS are a great backup, although you hope you'll never really need one. But, you never know. Arriving at a charger and 'assuming' you'll charge and be on your way quickly can be easily aggravated by others who've had the same plans. While you can certainly arrive at a gas station and wait a long while to find a fuel pump on holiday weekends when everyone is trying to 'get outta town'... the current DC Fast Charging infrastructure can feel somewhat the same way, MUCH of the time : /

 

[R.I.P.]

Is this unique to non-Tesla vehicle?

And are you pulling a RV trailer?

My daughter drives her Tesla X sometimes over the 7,000+ ft above sea level and sub-zero Donner Pass on 432 miles round trip and never had this kind of issues. She charges on destination or mid-way in case she makes a lot of rounds in the city proper.

YouTube is already inundated with these range and charging issues about F150 Lightning and many discouraged future customers are cancelling their reservations. Got the letter from Ford that I have to do an order by summer 2023 and I'm hesitating to make the order (plus their new upward pricing issues).

There is no question that at least for the moment, Tesla vehicles have the charging infrastructure advantage. For a few years now they have been my default choice for road tripping because charging is simply not an issue.

There is also the magic range wall at 300 miles. With the exception of the newest super-fast charging vehicles, EVs with <300 mile range require considerable more dedication and time then their >300 mile range counterparts. The OP is road-tripping with a Standard Range pack, which most (admittedly not all) would say is not really the best use for that version of the vehicle.

 

[R.I.P.]

I came from the RVing world, where finding a NEMA 14-50 240v 50amp for full power to the large coach was not always available - sometimes a 30amp 120v outlet was all we had access to, and a few times, only a 20amp 120v outlet. ADAPTERS are a great backup, although you hope you'll never really need one. But, you never know. Arriving at a charger and 'assuming' you'll charge and be on your way quickly can be easily aggravated by others who've had the same plans. While you can certainly arrive at a gas station and wait a long while to find a fuel pump on holiday weekends when everyone is trying to 'get outta town'... the current DC Fast Charging infrastructure can feel somewhat the same way, MUCH of the time : /

You bring to mind a point that I have not seen made in this forum. Since there may be folks new to EVs reading these pages, I want to put out a tip that all you veteran EVrs know:

Simple cord adaptors of the type used in the RV world will not work with your EVSE. I watched a you-tuber try that and was stranded when it did not work. Tagging a 20a 110 adaptor cord onto the end of your 14-50 EVSE plug will just result in the breaker blowing.

The amount your EVSE draws must be able to be adjusted to match the max draw from the outlet being used. Tesla sells one for $200 (dirt cheap) that will do this automatically, which is why I recommend them, even for non-Tesla EVs.

 

[ChasingCoral]

So it is all drop ceiling about 250ft run MC cable and adding an electronic sub meter since we have our CB panels in the condo. This is about right for this as others all have paid about the same. So much easier when we had our house.

OK, 250' is a long run of such heavy wires.