Видео

Thank you kindly!

Thanks, Walter. I have to wonder how many interesting places we sped past on this trip... also passed Normal, IL and all the Rivian sites without a stop. Just the nature of a relatively short window trip crossing this big ol' country, I suppose.

Needed to replace 12V prematurely at 38k miles and the rear hatch had a phantom closing issue that was fixed under warranty. Other than that, it's mostly first-year model stuff like going to dealership for firmware updates (e.g. adding battery preconditioning) or known issues (ICCU diagnostics).

Right, it felt a bit of an addition heading for those break/destination activities either side of charging rather than during, but I'd say both were walkable to attractions and bought our wallets to the local area in different ways. Those kind of stops are where we fondly remember the Bolt EV leases. Lots of yummy spots in NY and PA found over a 50-minute charging session :)

Accurate for six more months. From another perspective, we either paid upfront (baked into new car price) or Hyundai/Volkswagen are footing the bill... either way, $0 to charge on the day.

Thanks, glad it's of interest. We were certainly pleasantly surprised to find so many Ford locations ready and waiting to back up Electrify America!

Yes, they were Power Electronics units (Model #: NB240SU, according to my spec plate photos :)

It was the first of a few encounters and a great welcome to the Plains, for sure. We usually get between 220-240kW in the IONIQ 5. It will start a little below 200, then ramp within a few minutes to the peak. Holds that for a middle section of the charge then begins ramping it down through the 100s in the last third of the pack.

@@plugandplayEV Okay, cause I usually get over 230 at EA 350s. Your first stop you seemed to say you were pleased with 170-ish at a 350.

Yeah, just happy to start up with that rate, as opposed to it bring the peak. I can usually tell it will ramp to 230/240 kW when the 80% estimate is between 12-18 minutes. If it's going to derate, the start rate is usually below 100kW and 80% time closer to 30 minutes.

My wife was along for much of it, yes. Didn't add to her burdens with camera work, though... I'm just glad she doesn't mind visiting all the chargers!

Yep, slightly better than a standard outlet and handy in a pinch, but 14-50 is so much more effective for a single night. ⚡⚡

Yep, I thought about blurring and then realized there's nothing on there that isn't already on my social profiles!

I used an induction cooker on our big trip with no issues, mostly plugged into this unit. It goes up to 1300 W, if I recall correctly, but we found 800-900 W max was more than enough to hear evenly. I've also used corded garden tools (mower and hedge trimmer) with it, but I don't recall their power draw off the top of my head.

Cheers, Ron! I was definitely glad to have the full 14-50, even with an extra 0.5kW on the 30A socket... leaving with 100% never goes unappreciated!

Thanks! It was a pleasant area and Iowa in general had several spots I would have liked to explore more. No desire to square up to a herding creature in anything less than a robust metal box though, thanks all the same! 😳

Accidental engagement farming... hurrah! Hopefully the strange accent gives me a form of immunity. I got the Champaign EA location on the way back as well with similarly satisfying results. More EVs charging there that time but everything seemed to run smoothly. Typically, if we saw newer EA hardware on this trip, it went perfectly. Happy to have Ford Charge with the assists though.

Thanks for the tip off... comments could have been a bloodbath if not!

Thanks, Tom. Turns out you can filter on Ford Charge only in Plugshare... not such a huge presence in the Southeast but they're growing rapidly.

I initially thought it was only the Northeast that had a few ambitious Ford dealers, then realized that these were our best alternatives to EA heading across the Midwest. Beat out the likes of Circle K in Illinois and Tesla in Iowa, based on stall count and power levels. Definitely a pleasant surprise but it's unfortunate they haven't hit the region with the most EVs yet. Didn't encounter any in Washington or Oregon, either. EDIT: my blind spot in WA... looks like Tacoma/Seattle area has a couple of similar stations at Ford dealers.

Morning, Brad! Yes, the Ioniq 5 will precondition heating the pack for DCFC in cold conditions, but I've never seen it go to work en route to cool the pack. All of that typically happens during and after our charges. We're rarely in the hottest parts of the country, however, so that doesn't mean it never happens.

Thanks for the comment and thoughts! Air mattress was okay but too high, overall. We'll be investing in an Exped Automat for the next trip, which seems to blend lower footprint with more even comfort. Downtown Mitchell did have L2 chargers, so that could have added 10-15 kWh during our exploring, but my interest in Ford Charge had been piqued by this point. I think dealer charging has been (correctly) dismissed based on early installs and limited access, but Ford is doing it the right way IMO. These sites are easily on par with most EVgo and many older EA sites, for our needs.

Thanks!

Glad it's of use and thanks for the feedback. I'm starting to add Ford dealerships in general to my back ups. Both on this trip and across my Northeast travels, they're installing some genuinely useful stations.

The road is yours...! ⚡🛣️

Useless trivia; I saw The Rolling Stones at Cyclone Stadium (Ames) in 1994. An incredible show & first college road trip.

And incredible that they're still doing it decades later... must be something in the tea ☕! More scenery than charging in the next one and Jen's favorite: the Prairie Dogs! 🤩

Perhaps for your preferences, which is all good of course. For most people who stop to eat/stretch/see sights on vacation, the fit with 20 minute stops after several hours driving is a good one. All one needs to do is look at the rest areas on Interstates to see that vehicles are stopping for at least that length, often more like 30-45 minutes when these areas are busy. Add the time it takes to fill up gas on top of that (because charging happens while the rest break is occurring) and it's easy to see why travel times are similar in EVs to a regular journey on gasoline.

If you need it powered while the car is turned off, as with parking mode, yes it needs to be hardwired to the car's power. We've only used it during driving so far, which is why this install only uses the 12V power socket.

Sure thing.For it's electric, check out www.itselectric.com. For the podcast, we're at plugnplayev.com/coast-to-coast-evs-show and this specific episode is here: www.RUclips.com/live/y3r6JmhXx90

Great to hear it's holding up well and appreciate the additional feedback on the app, thanks.

Thanks Ron, always appreciate the feedback.

You'd think that, but Tesla was a real bust for us on this trip (and not just because of the voltage limitations at Superchargers). All the locations heading through South Dakota were V2, so no use to any non-Teslas, and we only encountered two Magic Docks that might have been useful (Forks, WA and Moab, UT)... but both of those locations had more powerful CCS1 options within reach. Until the power limitations are resolved between Hyundai-Kia/Tesla, I'm finding more interest in when the Rivian Adventure Network opens to us than Superchargers.

Absolutely. Over 80% of California's population is in the Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco/San Jose metroplexes, but the coverage issue is not just about population, it's also about geography. California north of I-80 represents close to a third of California's geographic area, so having only basic public DC charging coverage on Highway 101, insufficient public DC charging coverage on I-5, and zero public DC charging coverage on Highway 395 is an issue. This is even more of a concern because Electrify America's mission was to bolster disadvantaged communities, and a majority of the counties in the North State that have no EA/no public DC infrastructure would be classified as disadvantaged.

@@newscoulomb3705 The Washington and Oregon plates at the EA station in your NorCal update alone emphasize the underlying point of this episode: DCFC needs to serve a wide range of users, even in locations where population is small and/or EV uptake is low.

@@plugandplayEV Yes. These are the connecting routes between Portland/Seattle and San Francisco/Los Angeles. Many people with Idaho, Oregon, and Washington plates that I meet at Northern California chargers are on their way to places like Disneyland in Southern California. It simply isn't possible to drive 1,000 to 1,500 miles without stopping to fuel, and sometimes, that takes us through very remote areas with very low population densities.

We received three years free charging from EA when we bought our Audi. We live Solano County and there is a lack of chargers off I-80 that are not J or for government use only. EA’s customer service is horrible with their agents lacking strong English skills aka outsourcing.

Very excited to see some of the models you mention. Feel like a good fit for the North American market.

I think there's now an active Magic Dock in Selinsgrove, PA, although that was online after we passed through Lewisburg. On the way up to the Finger Lakes through PA in June (because we came from staying with family, not Boston), we used a dealership charger in Painted Post, NY to bridge the gap to Geneva. Would be tough in winter though, I expect.

@@plugandplayEV Sheetz in Selinsgrove has Tesla chargers now with MagicDoc? (God I’d hate having to give money to Tesla, especially when I still have free EA credits.)

@@plugandplayEV I see it’s a Target…

Yes, new V4 with 16 stalls at the Target. Definitely one of the more useful Magic Dock locations and I don't see any CCS1 alternatives coming soon, unless dealerships on the Susquehanna add something.

@@plugandplayEV Disappointing that not one of the three Sheetzes on the run up the Susquehanna went CCS.

Yes, unfortunately. At 40-50mph mixed 3.6 mi/kWh is sadly our high. I sometimes see above 4 mi/kWh in suburban driving with no A/C, but it's rare. Just something I've normalized but there was certainly a time when 5 mi/kWh for mixed driving and around 4 mi/kWh for Interstate were the norm, back in the Bolt days.

@@plugandplayEV Have you tried auto regen? I see level 3 on your dash, auto may improve your efficiency. It’s good to reduce regen, and drag, sometimes. I’ve been averaging 4.4, last two charges 4.5 and 4.8, in my EV6.

Level 3 is usually just around town or getting off exits. I tend to go down to 1 or off completely for Interstate travel. Auto feels a bit uncomfortable to me but I should get over that and do a proper test, for sure. Are you in the Limited trim? What kind of efficiency do you get on that run from Philly to Rochester?

@@plugandplayEV I have an WV6, not an I5, so second trim, Wind w/Tech Pkg. I get around 3.4 going up and around 3.7-3.8 coming back in spring or summer. Goes down a bit to closer to 3 when we go in November if it’s cold. What could you be uncomfortable with about Auto Regen, it only modulates regen up and down based on what it sees. I used to paddle regen up or down predominantly using 3 but I saw a video of a guy going through the outcome of various regen options in his I5, so I tried Auto Regen in Normal mode and it’s been very efficient for me. I use HDA or cruise sparingly unless it’s a long flat run like I70 to Indy, although the headwinds on I70 going west can be crushing to a car’s efficiency. Did that run three years ago in my wife’s Prius and her mileage dropped from an expected 64MPG to ~34MPG.

@@JohnCap523 Gotcha. The EV6 has slightly better efficiency with its shape and will be a bit lighter than us to boot, so that explains some but not all of the gap. I'll give Auto more of a try. I've avoided for similar reasons to HDA2 in traffic: I prefer to be in control of the adjustment myself. I find the car's decisions aren't typically quick or smooth enough for me in the latter, but perhaps Auto regen has a more seamless integration. As I say, I haven't given it a fair shake so I'll make a note to experiment more in the weeks and months ahead.

DO. IT. ⚡👍

The DC charging is definitely Hyundai-Kia's superpower. Both peak power and charging curve are almost ideal for travel scenarios. That said, I'd still rather set off early with 100% right from my accommodation than after an early morning fast charge with 90%!

It seems to be a favorite for locals charging their car for the first time and/or to 100% (like the Mach-E next to us in this vid). I probably should have said something, but we were so close to our destination by then that I just wanted to get away and to bed! Thanks for watching!