First Road Trip 2024 CT4

[PSUEric]

Completed our first long distance trip from SE Georgia to Central and Eastern Pa. Went up Interstate 95 to 26 to 77 to 81 on the way up and stopped overnight in Staunton, Va. I was a bit concerned by range anxiety, so stopped to charge with at least 20% SOC remaining just in case of charging issues at the different locations. The short answer if you don’t want to read any further is everything worked almost perfectly!

Charge stops, all EA on way up, each worked the first time and never had to wait to charge. Ave speed 75 to 78, temp was 70’s when leaving and 50’s in Pa. 20” All season Continental tires.

• Pooler, Ga - 20 min max speed 174 kW (150 kW charger) and 33 kW
• Columbia, SC - 19 min max speed 263 kW and 49 kW
• Crossroads Center Statesville NC - 24 min max speed 238 kW and 58 kW
• Brughs Mill Country Store Fincastle, Va - 10 min max speed 247 kW and 36.9 kW
• Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in Staunton- charged overnight on Tesla level 2 EVSE using my Tesla Tap
• Sheetz 192 Carlisle, Pa - 24 min max speed 231 kW and 52 kW

While in eastern Pa used an EVgo in a Trexlertown Home Depot. This area of the country does not have a lot of high speed charging locations yet.

• 33 min max speed 242 kW and 64 kW cost $35.02

On way home from Harrisburg, we drove straight through and traveled on Interstate 15 to 270 to 495 to 95. Traffic south of DC on 95 was miserable for about an hour. Only glitch on the entire trip, tried to charge at Tesla level 2 EVSE in cousins garage the night before leaving and got a fail. Replugged a number of times with a fail each time. Still don’t know why it didn’t work because the Tesla tap worked at the hotel coming up. Not many charging stations in Central Pa either, but found a 60kW by Harrisburg Airport that would get us to Fredrick

• Fredrick, Md - 28 min max speed 176 kW (150 kW charger) 54 kW
• Richmond, Va - 18.5 min max speed 190 kW (150 kW charger) 44 kW
• Carolina Premium Outlets Smithfield NC - 20 min max speed 263 kW and 62.7 kW
• Florence, SC - 17.5 min max speed 170 kW (150 kW charger) 46 kW
• Walterboro, SC - 21 min max speed 264 kW 54.7 kW

I planned using ABRP and Apple Car Play, but used the PCM because the HUD shows turns. Like many have said, the car eats up miles easily and quickly. It also charges from a fire hose, by the time my daughter and I used the restroom, the car was charged and ready to go almost every time! I had one interesting experience while charging, in Walterboro, SC a BMW SUV came rolling in and pulled in nose facing the charger. One problem, the vehicle plugs in on the rear fender. He got out realized his error and quickly pulled out and backed in at a 45 degree angle effectively blocking 2 spots. He had difficulty getting the charger to work, I offered some help, but in his best New Jersey accent, told me he knew what he was doing. Finally got things working and I noticed how much slower the BMW was charging compared to the Taycan. He was 34% SOC and I was 42%. About 10 min later I was 70 something and he was 43%. Luckily no one else was trying to charge, but I can easily imagine how this could have turned into an issue.

Final thoughts:

• With a little upfront planning, long trips are a breeze! There still are states I would be hesitant to drive through (W. Virginia, Northern Maine, N. And S. Dakota) today, but things are improving each month
• I have the 14 way seats with heat, ventilation and massage and they are great. My daughter had the massage and heat on most of the trip.
• Range anxiety is still in the back of my mind, but no longer a serious concern.
• Ride, handling, acceleration and braking of the Tacan are fantastic!
• I got the Zunsport screens for the radiators and they paid for themselves on the way up. A re-tread about 2’ long was laying in the passing lane and I was in the right lane. A pickup came rolling by me and threw the tread into the front passenger side at 75 mph. I stopped to charge shortly after and noted the clip holding the outside section of the screen had been jarred loose. I was able to lock it back into place and luckily there was no damage.

 

[cometguy]

useful report, thanks... how many miles do you have on your odometer now?

 

[M3Taycan]

Thanks for the reference on the Zunsport Screens to guard against the unexpected.

 

[PSUEric]

useful report, thanks... how many miles do you have on your odometer now?

Just went over 5,000

 

[The Riddler]

That BMW driver looks a proper tit…

 

[Jonathan S.]

Wow, so close geographically to where I have charged just slightly more to the east and north, yet a world removed for charging speeds.

 

[Tooney]

Wow, so close geographically to where I have charged just slightly more to the east and north, yet a world removed for charging speeds.

Possible user/operator errors?

 

[gtm]

Wow, so close geographically to where I have charged just slightly more to the east and north, yet a world removed for charging speeds.

@PSUEric got lucky. I made almost the exact same trip March 16 & 17 stopping at 4 of his 5 DC charging locations on North route. Just getting the tower to talk to the car required calls to EA twice. Plug and charge wouldn't work at all but the Porsche app finally worked by the time we hit Carlisle, PA. Charging speeds were consistently around 2/3 of expected. I never saw above 180 kW despite being at a low SoC with a preconditioned battery on a 350 tower. The equipment appeared to be much better maintained than in the past but EA or Porsche always seems to throw in another problem. However I will take @PSUEric's experience as a good sign. Maybe there is progress. The good news is that more alternatives are becoming available. Used the Tesla MagicDock at Columbia, SC. Easy as expected (The EA is out of the way and had always been agonizing). Used very decent Circle K chargers several times on this and other trips. FPL is good in my area.

 

[Jonathan S.]

Possible user/operator errors?

Yes, expecting to come anywhere near hitting the i4 or Taycan charging curve in New England at EA or its various miserable CCS1 competitors is indeed user/operator error.
(In all seriousness, at first I did keep blaming ourselves, even though I couldn't figure out anything we were doing wrong. Then my wife inadvertently charged at the off-limits ABB R&D facility. Oh, it works. Just like it should. Then we started charging at Magic Docks. Ditto).

 

[Jonathan S.]

@PSUEric got lucky. I made almost the exact same trip April 16 & 17 stopping at 4 of his 5 DC charging locations on North route. Just getting the tower to talk to the car required calls to EA twice. Plug and charge wouldn't work at all but the Porsche app finally worked by the time we hit Carlisle, PA. Charging speeds were consistently around 2/3 of expected. I never saw above 180 kW despite being at a low SoC with a preconditioned battery on a 350 tower. The equipment appeared to be much better maintained than in the past but EA or Porsche always seems to throw in another problem. However I will take @PSUEric's experience as a good sign. Maybe there is progress. The good news is that more alternatives are becoming available. Used the Tesla MagicDock at Columbia, SC. Easy as expected (The EA is out of the way and had always been agonizing). Used very decent Circle K chargers several times on this and other trips. FPL is good in my area.

Ah, these experiences make me feel right at home back in New England!

Circle K though, oh the irony, I used gas up at one of their stations multiple times each week.
For charging though, anywhere north and/or east of the southwestern tip of VA, their entire DCFC network comprises one single station (which seems to be just one single 120kW charger).

 

[PSUEric]

@PSUEric got lucky. I made almost the exact same trip March 16 & 17 stopping at 4 of his 5 DC charging locations on North route. Just getting the tower to talk to the car required calls to EA twice. Plug and charge wouldn't work at all but the Porsche app finally worked by the time we hit Carlisle, PA. Charging speeds were consistently around 2/3 of expected. I never saw above 180 kW despite being at a low SoC with a preconditioned battery on a 350 tower. The equipment appeared to be much better maintained than in the past but EA or Porsche always seems to throw in another problem. However I will take @PSUEric's experience as a good sign. Maybe there is progress. The good news is that more alternatives are becoming available. Used the Tesla MagicDock at Columbia, SC. Easy as expected (The EA is out of the way and had always been agonizing). Used very decent Circle K chargers several times on this and other trips. FPL is good in my area.

I guess I’d rather be lucky than good

 

[gtm]

I guess I’d rather be lucky than good

But you do realize that lucky is good, so you've got both covered.

 

[DRR]

Thanks for the write up. Shows with good planning CCS road trips are feasible. When you charged overnight at the Fairfield Hotel Level 2 NACS were you concerned someone would steal your Tesla Tap adapter or does it lock?

 

[PSUEric]

Thanks for the write up. Shows with good planning CCS road trips are feasible. When you charged overnight at the Fairfield Hotel Level 2 NACS were you concerned someone would steal your Tesla Tap adapter or does it lock?

Yeah once the car is locked, the tap cannot be removed without unlocking the car. The NACS connector can be removed from the tap, but I used the lock I got with the Tesla Tap to keep that from happening. Like anything though, if someone wants it, they can do some damage and get it!

 

[ben1]

Friendly remark: You are using the wrong units in your report. Mixing power and energy.
Power is in kiloWatt (kW), like the power of the motor, or the maximum power of a charging station.
Energy is in kiloWattHour (kWh) (equivalent to one thousend watt of power during one hour), like the capacity of the battery, or the amount of energy charged during a charging session.

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