Please help me get my Mini home

T

Tetrodotoxin

Member
At some point my Mini is going to land and I'll need to drive it a long way home. It will be my first electric car and I am planning my first road trip. I need some help.

The first gap that makes me nervous is getting from :

https://www.plugshare.com/location/180100
to
https://www.plugshare.com/location/166774

The only "fast" chargers in between that I can find are two car dealerships that I would be arriving to after hours.

Driving my new car 113 miles makes me very nervous.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/100...4c363de068!2m2!1d-89.0413771!2d40.4898318!5i1
 
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It looks like there is a Chargepoint fast charger CCS station between those two points - 755 W Iowa 80 Rd - Walcott, IA. World's Largest Truck Stop. Check that.
 
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Tetrodotoxin said:
Driving my new car 113 miles makes me very nervous.
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You should be able to make that on a single charge in the summertime, but even 30 minutes at a Level 2 charger will guarantee you'll have enough range. That's not too bad, you can stretch your legs and get a drink or something and it'll be done before you know it.

Just make sure your dealer puts a 100% charge on before you go to pick it up. Also make sure the Level 2 charge setting is set to MAX. (Edit: I see now this just one leg, but you should still confirm the Level 2 rate so you can get maximum charge rate.)
 
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It looks like my original suggestion - World's Largest Truck Stop - is still between those two addresses.
 
Another thing to keep in mind is that the shortest distance isn't always the best route for an EV, because you need to follow the rivers of electrons. Looking at PlugShare it might be better for your route to go through St. Louis and back north to Bloomington, there are a lot more charging options along that route even though it's a much longer distance.
 
Have you considered an auto transport delivery service?

There are a lot of variables in EV road tripping. You may not want to explore them or experience them on your very first drive.



Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
1) keep your speed down.
That is the trick to range.
Switch the display to show percentage battery remaining. Then with the trip counter reset do the mental math at convenient increments (like at 75% left, whatever miles you already covered multiplied by 3 is how many miles range you have left).
If you can’t handle going too slow on the freeway then travel on old school minor roads at 50mph.

2) hope for cooler weather, the less your AC has to work the easier it will be. This means setting the AC as high as you can comfortably handle. The car interior should not be icy cold. On that note, keep the windows and sunroof closed.

3) ensure the tyres are properly inflated

4) look further down the road and plan ahead to make the most of regen braking.

5) a regular L2 charger will add about 25 miles of range per hour, a wall outlet will add only 4-5. But to get to the end of your leg maybe you only need a little extra?

6) a strong headwind will kill you, 20mph headwind is like traveling 20mph faster than you are. See (1).

7) a very wet road will also reduce slightly, less than 5% I would think though;


With the above tips in mind I drove 115miles at speeds up to 70mph on the freeway however traffic and construction often had me down to 60, and I arrived with 15% remaining. That was at 25degC outside temperature.
On slower back roads the car can do 170 miles to a charge.

The car goes a lot further than you might think and there’s 10 miles of reserve below 0% from tests I’ve seen done in the UK.

You’ll make it.
 
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Just drive 62 miles east to Lasalle city hall BLINK Level 2, grab a bite to eat, relax and then drive another 66 miles south to your final destination. Make sure you set your Level 2 charging to maximum 7.4kW and not reduced 3.7kW charging. It's a longer drive but probably less stressful?

Also, if you want to make a new friend you should go search a residential charger and contact the owner. Take the person out for lunch in Peoria!
 
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You can also contact a campground to use an RV outlet. Many campgrounds will charge a small fee to charge or some are even free if you ask nicely. Park, plug in, take a walk/hike for an hour or 2, then continue on.
 
Thank you all for your feedback. Auto transport is around $1100, more than I care to pay.

http://abetterrouteplanner.com/ is awesome !

My choices now are fly out and drive the Mini back or drive 800 miles in my 4Runner and haul the car back.

Atm, I'm thinking I prefer 800 miles in the Mini over 1600 miles in the 4Runner but I've got some time as the Mini is floating offshore of Baltimore atm.
 
Is a one-way car rental an option? That's what my wife/I just did last month to get her Tucson hybrid about 2 hours away. I'm pretty sure it would be cheaper than either a flight or the extra gas for your 4runner.

800 miles away, what are the start/end locations? With charging it's going to be a 2 day trip?
 
800 miles is a long trip in an BEV. If any of the charging locations are out of order, what is your backup plan?

If this is simply a pleasure trip and you have unlimited time and funds, than the risks are all addressable. You can simply check in to a hotel and sit by the pool until the out of order charging station is repaired.

Or you could go to Home Depot and buy a generator. But, all of the Plan B options are expensive, which makes the transport deliver option seem less expensive in comparison.

Even brand name Level 3 charging stations have a very high failure rate. A recent survey in the San Francisco Bay area found over 50% of charging stations were out of order on any given day.

I’m not really trying to be a wet blanket here, but just want you to be well informed and attempting this road trip with your eyes and mind wide open.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
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