New user questions about estimated range

[buruburu]

Definitely concur w/ daveo4EV's comments. On my recent trip to and back from Houston, our strategy was to do 2 hour segments. Rarely would I want to go 3 hours straight. Whenever we made our charging stops, we would charge until the charger tapered down. If I'm at 350kW charger and I'm still getting at least 150kW rates, I'll keep charging regardless if I have plenty of buffer. We're still in the situation where even though we know that the next stop will be a 350kW charger, there's no guarantee that it'll operate at that rate.

Physical limitation is a serious factor with extended driving, your entire body will be tight especially in the chest and arms. During each stop I would swing my arms around in a windmill fashion to make sure all the muscles in my arms and chest are stretched. Caffeine and salt consumption has to be carefully monitored too. Too much caffeine and you'll end up having to go to the restroom too often and not enough salt means that your body's electrolyte gets out of whack and you start developing some nasty headaches at the tail end of the day regardless of how much water you drink and then you'll be even worse off the day later.

I can do about 12-14 hours of driving a day with issue. If I want, I can push 18-19 hours but I'm going to be a horrible grouch at the tail end of that and quiet possibly the next day. Now about a decade ago, I was capable of easily driving 600 miles without cruise control in one day with only 1 stop. Nowadays, screw that, I'd rather take my time and enjoy life.

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[Tooney]

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road tripping an EV is different than a gas car but here is the thumbnail/summary
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Bumped...
@daveo4EV 's posts in this thread about estimated range and roadtripping (charge planning) in a Taycan are really good. I read this months before I got my car. Putting the advice to use now.

 

[McgR]

don’t use the range estimate - enter your destination into the Porsche nav - it takes, distance, elevation, and speed limits into consider for it’s estimate - if the nav says you can get there +/- 5% you can get there - ignore the estimate range on the dash it’s only basically true but can also be wildly optimistic.

also for planning trips start with A Better Route Planner (ABRP) it’s both an app and website - use either - and learn some EV app’s like plug-share for checking possible charging locations for when you’re not doing daily driving

road tripping an EV is different than a gas car but here is the thumbnail/summary

• start the day at 100% battery
• plan your first stop
  • typically 3 to 4 hours of driving into the day
• a fast charging stop at a reliable 150 kW (or more) charger will take 20-40 minutes for the Taycan
  • grab a bio break and eat a meal during this time and car will be ready before you are
• drive your next 3 to 4 hours to a hotel with near by fast charging or L2 EV charging - plugshare will help you find these
  • charge the car overnight at the hotel
• start out the next day - go back to the top of this list
• one 40 minute stop a day equally about 500-550 miles driven in single day
  • if you add one more fast charging stop (another 40 minutes) that’s close to 700 miles a day for 2 fast charging stops
  • if you need to drive more than 700 miles a day - well then
    • you’re a better man than I am - I don’t have that kinda of stamina
    • rent an ICE if 2 40 min stops a day are going to harsh your buzz

if you really really must know how much battery you’re going to use to get someplace - use the in-car navigation - it’s really really quite accurate

if it says you can get there +/- 5% - you can get there
more importantly - if it says you can _NOT_ get there - well then time to break out ABRP and start planning some charging stops
if it says you can get there @ 35% battery - well then you’ll need a charging stop plan for the round trip on your way back - again consult plug-share and ABRP for planning assistance.

Thanks, really useful info

What speed are you driving? A 4 hour drive would be 400 km / 250 miles when traveling on highways in Europe

If I plan a trip with ABRP to the Alps it indicates 5 charge stops. The car navigation just 3. It looks like ABRP is more conservative.

The car navigations takes temperatures and elevation in account? So I can trust it when it says I will arrive at my destination with 20% SOC at 1600 m elevations and taken a route over a mountain pass?

 

[npx]

my philosophy is that if ABRP says charge to 70 and then leave...just wait a few mins (especially on 350kw) and just charge to 80-85. a little extra buffer never hurt anyone especially when it's just a few mins and the charges are free

 

[John89]

yeah then an EV isn’t for you -but I’ll still argue this isn’t the common use case and if it is stick with an iCE.

I can’t do this physically - I need to stop every 3-4 hours for a bio break anyways - and a lot of peers and co-workers feel the same way…

my hats off to you that you can do this - but it’s not a requirement for me - and it’s not at all frequent

I use fast chargers 10–15 times a years - and most of that in one 2 week period - the annual family trip - where one stop a day does it for our travel plans.

one stop a day is 500 miles of driving - most people don’t realize that - and when I ask them about it few if any ever need to drive more than 500 miles in one day - so given average annual milage of less than 15,000 miles - the vast majority of people don’t need a vehicle that can drive 900 miles in one stop…and at $5 gallon for gas at 23 mpg that’s $200 in fuel to spend 15 hours driving - I’d rather fly for $145 and spend only 6 hours traveling - rent a car at the other end.

but to each their own

I’m not saying it’s not for you or you need to fly

I just encourage people to quit focusing on the raw milage - 260 miles doesn’t sound like a lot - but honestly it takes 5 hours to drive 260 miles - and most people don’t spend 5 hours in a car without out some sort of stop - and 2 5 hour sessions a day is 520 miles - that’s a lot of distance for 1 40 min stop - 30 min if you really really push it at a 350 kW charger.

i’m find with spending 30 minutes to drive 520 miles day - which is 10 hours of seat time -it’s about all I can physically take.

260 miles takes about 3.25 hours, max....where I live. And that would have required a stop to reach 260, close to 2 stops in the winter months

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