Maine to DC in the ID4

B

Brian Prendergast

Member
Well I took the family on the first electric road trip. Was much better than I expected. I went from Maine to DC stopping at EV America sites only (with the exception of one hotel but that was not needed just did it cause I could).


So for a background, I am an engineer and enjoy learning new tech. As such when I first thought to take the ID to DC I started researching what people do months before I even had the car :). I settled on using an app called plug share to help find and map my charging stops along the way.


Keys for me:

  • Walmart stops preferred to give kids a place to walk around and use the bathroom
  • planned for ~160 miles between stops to allow for cold weather driving, higher highway speeds, extra weight from car being packed full, only 80% charge at stops
  • Planned to do the drive in one day leaving early in the morning
So I had my route planned and was ready to go a month in advance. Plug share worked great to map the course out, it was a little tricky getting the map to google maps to use in the car but it was doable. At the last minute we decided to leave late the night before and find a hotel to break the ride up a little. Not really sure why since it through all the planning I had out the window but hey it's a road trip so why not... We quickly planned a new trip, found a hotel with a charger and left. It wasn't that big a deal at all. I really wish the car had things like this integrated in but it doesn't. Pretty sure this is an area Tesla does much better than any other company but not sure since I have only watched reviews and never planned a trip myself.


Anyway the trip went with no problem, charged a few times while in the DC area, planned the trip back (stopping at all the same stations as luck would have it) and made it home in one day. Was a very fun trip and very good with kids. Gave them known stop points to look forward to. I have driven across country a couple times so I know road trips and this was nice. You could go fater in a gas car due to quicker fill times but if you are not doing the cannonball run this really wasn't bad.


Thanks

Brian
 
Thanks for posting. Plug Share (https://www.plugshare.com/) is a great app and absolutely necessary if you go off the beaten path. You can filter charging sites by charger type. Trips in the EV require a bit more mindful driving - but I appreciate the forced stops that make me relax and walk a little. It really is better for the body to stop every 160 miles or so.
 
Brian:

Nice informative post. Thanks!

Did you make a note (either mental or written) as to the vehicle's FAST-DC charge rates experienced after your moderately-deep discharges?

I too am an engineer; and have to routinely capture and analyze dynamic/changing data.

I've taken to noting the Fast-DC charge rate as the SoC is "passing thru" 70% while charging to 80%. (as I'm generally never too far below 50% SoC ... my 3,500 miles to date have been mostly "around town")

Not that it's conclusive as to overall charge acceptance curve ... but at least it's a consistent data point for comparisons.

FWIW, my own experience at this "70% point" - in generally chilly weather at EA charging stations - has been "about" 50 kW.
 
Take a look at abetterrouteplanner.com

I use ABRP to plan my trips. You can include/exclude chargers and fiddle with the extensive settings including having it plan the trip in winter weather.
 
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