GregsTaycan
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2023
- Threads
- 1
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 14
- Location
- Michigan
- Vehicles
- Porsche 912, BMW i3, Taycan GTS
- Thread starter
- #1
I took my first long-haul trip in my Taycan from Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Savannah, Georgia, for the Thanksgiving weekend. I was concerned that this trip would be littered with long lines and broken chargers along the way, but that was not the case.
I had a total of 5 charging stops in each direction. All but four stops were Electrify America charging stops (350kW and 150 kW), and because I have free charging, I didn’t pay anything for those. The other 4 were Circle K (400kW), ChargePoint (65kW), and two EVgo (350kW) charge locations. In only one location did I experience an EA 350kW charger being out, and only in one area did I experience any wait. In an EA location at a Walmart, I was 4th in line to charge, with one car fully charged that sat that charger the entire time I was there. Yes, it was a Chevy Bolt. I only waited for 30 minutes with only 3 of the chargers accessible, so that didn’t bother me at all.
I found it difficult initially to follow the Porsche Charge Planner advice to only fill the battery to whatever level they recommended. Still, as I started to trust it more, I realized it gave me good advice based on the charge cycle and time to top off to 85% - 90%. The max I charged to was 90%, but most, once I trusted the Charge Planner, was typically 70% - 75%.
In looking at the actual cost of electricity vs. gas, if I had to pay for the charger, that delta was essentially a wash, but because I didn’t pay for charging at most locations, I came out ahead. The total cost for charging was $111 for 2000 miles of driving. The total cost in my ICE would have been about $235 (just for gas, not considering the need for an oil change) at 30 miles per gallon. I averaged about 2.7 miles per kW. As it turned out, I got better “mileage” when I drove faster than when I went slower, which was a little surprising.
I spent about 50% of the time in Normal mode and 50% in Range mode. I tried to stay in cruise control but was often accelerating to make passes.
I had zero problems with the car. It started at about 6000 miles and finished at 8000 miles on the odometer. The drive on Wednesday and Sunday was brutal because of the holiday weekend. I spent a lot of time in bumper-to-bumper traffic and a fair amount of time at a standstill. Surprisingly, it didn’t bother me that much. The fact that I didn’t have to do much in an electric car made it easier than I think it would have been in my ICE car. It did add about 2.5 hours in each direction when I had to stop for charging versus the time I would have spent at a gas station. On the way home, I drove straight through, and that experience took about 22 hours because of the traffic. For context, only the first 10 hours were in heavy traffic because the last 12 hours were from 9:30p to 9:30a on a Sunday evening/Monday morning.
In summary, would I do it again? Absolutely! But I will never travel on a Thanksgiving holiday when my travel days are too close to the actual holiday. Tuesday before Thanksgiving (Thursday) was no issue, and Monday after the holiday was fine for traffic, but Wednesday and Sunday were BRUTAL! The EV experience was fantastic; I didn’t mind the charging stops because I got out of the car, stretched my legs, and took a bathroom break. The car was perfect and was a very comfortable ride, even for 22 hours on the road in one shot (I have the 18-way seats). Most of the complaints I saw online about crappy infrastructure and broken chargers were coming from the West Coast, and since my trip focused exclusively on the East Coast, I did not have those problems. Most charging locations had at least 2 or 3 chargers open after I plugged up. I also did not see much difference between using 350kW chargers and 150kW chargers. I would say that, at most, it cost me 10 minutes. I saw about 246kW from the 350kW chargers and about 160kW on average from the 150kW chargers. Also, I did love the Circle K 400kW charger that I got to use once. It averaged about 264kW and continued to feed a consistently higher kW amount through the charge cycle than I had seen on the Electrify America 350kW chargers. What I did notice throughout the trip is that the infrastructure does need to be built out. I had very few options if I were to experience “West Coast” problems. If I arrived at a location and the chargers were down, I probably would have been in deep kimchee. I would have loved more options along the way that would have gone a long way In relieving some of the anxiety I felt about taking that trip for the first time and on a holiday weekend.
All in all, you should do a long-haul trip yourself. My experience was good, and I’ll definitely consider doing more in the future.
I had a total of 5 charging stops in each direction. All but four stops were Electrify America charging stops (350kW and 150 kW), and because I have free charging, I didn’t pay anything for those. The other 4 were Circle K (400kW), ChargePoint (65kW), and two EVgo (350kW) charge locations. In only one location did I experience an EA 350kW charger being out, and only in one area did I experience any wait. In an EA location at a Walmart, I was 4th in line to charge, with one car fully charged that sat that charger the entire time I was there. Yes, it was a Chevy Bolt. I only waited for 30 minutes with only 3 of the chargers accessible, so that didn’t bother me at all.
I found it difficult initially to follow the Porsche Charge Planner advice to only fill the battery to whatever level they recommended. Still, as I started to trust it more, I realized it gave me good advice based on the charge cycle and time to top off to 85% - 90%. The max I charged to was 90%, but most, once I trusted the Charge Planner, was typically 70% - 75%.
In looking at the actual cost of electricity vs. gas, if I had to pay for the charger, that delta was essentially a wash, but because I didn’t pay for charging at most locations, I came out ahead. The total cost for charging was $111 for 2000 miles of driving. The total cost in my ICE would have been about $235 (just for gas, not considering the need for an oil change) at 30 miles per gallon. I averaged about 2.7 miles per kW. As it turned out, I got better “mileage” when I drove faster than when I went slower, which was a little surprising.
I spent about 50% of the time in Normal mode and 50% in Range mode. I tried to stay in cruise control but was often accelerating to make passes.
I had zero problems with the car. It started at about 6000 miles and finished at 8000 miles on the odometer. The drive on Wednesday and Sunday was brutal because of the holiday weekend. I spent a lot of time in bumper-to-bumper traffic and a fair amount of time at a standstill. Surprisingly, it didn’t bother me that much. The fact that I didn’t have to do much in an electric car made it easier than I think it would have been in my ICE car. It did add about 2.5 hours in each direction when I had to stop for charging versus the time I would have spent at a gas station. On the way home, I drove straight through, and that experience took about 22 hours because of the traffic. For context, only the first 10 hours were in heavy traffic because the last 12 hours were from 9:30p to 9:30a on a Sunday evening/Monday morning.
In summary, would I do it again? Absolutely! But I will never travel on a Thanksgiving holiday when my travel days are too close to the actual holiday. Tuesday before Thanksgiving (Thursday) was no issue, and Monday after the holiday was fine for traffic, but Wednesday and Sunday were BRUTAL! The EV experience was fantastic; I didn’t mind the charging stops because I got out of the car, stretched my legs, and took a bathroom break. The car was perfect and was a very comfortable ride, even for 22 hours on the road in one shot (I have the 18-way seats). Most of the complaints I saw online about crappy infrastructure and broken chargers were coming from the West Coast, and since my trip focused exclusively on the East Coast, I did not have those problems. Most charging locations had at least 2 or 3 chargers open after I plugged up. I also did not see much difference between using 350kW chargers and 150kW chargers. I would say that, at most, it cost me 10 minutes. I saw about 246kW from the 350kW chargers and about 160kW on average from the 150kW chargers. Also, I did love the Circle K 400kW charger that I got to use once. It averaged about 264kW and continued to feed a consistently higher kW amount through the charge cycle than I had seen on the Electrify America 350kW chargers. What I did notice throughout the trip is that the infrastructure does need to be built out. I had very few options if I were to experience “West Coast” problems. If I arrived at a location and the chargers were down, I probably would have been in deep kimchee. I would have loved more options along the way that would have gone a long way In relieving some of the anxiety I felt about taking that trip for the first time and on a holiday weekend.
All in all, you should do a long-haul trip yourself. My experience was good, and I’ll definitely consider doing more in the future.
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