When Idiots Attempt an EV Road Trip

[maddie]

I entered this general plan:

https://abetterrouteplanner.com/?plan_uuid=9694f69d-1a4d-402f-b07a-9440c4e3a547

Hope this gives you some idea. You can change the general points to more specific addresses.
Good luck, feel free to ask questions.

Great Thank you ! Makes a lot more sense now

Sponsored

 

[kort]

Well, yes clearly it was driver idiocy...
Revel drivers work for Revel, that doesn't mean the training is extensive or this guy may not have been relatively new to the drive.

If you've spent any time in the back of an NYC cab,

one would think that the revel drivers are a step or two better than a yellow cab driver
have you ever tried the revel service?

 

[kort]

Scary ! I do see the comments and that this is probably not a well planned trip.

so much for understated.
it appears that there was no research or planning. relying on L2 chargers on a road trip like this one is the most foolish way to do it.

 

[TYKHAAAN]

Like my drill instructor in boot camp used to say, 6 Ps, Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. These people aren’t idiots, but willfully ignorant I’d say. I’ve done multiple 700 mile trips in my EV and even before the first one, I planned that out and it only took a few minutes research and app routing. The article is garbage journalism at its best.

 

[Hirschaj]

Like my drill instructor in boot camp used to say, 5 Ps, Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. These people aren’t idiots, but willfully ignorant I’d say. I’ve done multiple 700 mile trips in my EV and even before the first one, I planned that out and it only took a few minutes research and app routing. The article is garbage journalism at its best.

I hope your drill instructor didn’t teach math. ?

 

[TYKHAAAN]

I hope your drill instructor didn’t teach math. ?

? Well he sure didnt teach typing

 

[kort]

I couldn't disagree more with your take that WSJ is biased. Perhaps you're confusing it with MSNBC and CNN?

ALL media outlets have biases.

the "news" section of the WSJ has deteriorated significantly in the last couple of years

 

[kort]

It’s the Murdoch press. They set out with an agenda which they know is detrimental to society but which they push for the sake of profits from targeting a certain segment of society. You’re never going to win an argument with them because they will not rationally consider their viewpoint and opposing arguments.

and what is that cancel culture from the left that I hear so much about? there is massive intolerance across the board.
the problem these days is that people are unable to have rational conversations despite their differing viewpoints

 

[DerekS]

This is a nice road trip report. Comparing long trip Mach E, Taycan, Ioniq 5, Model X, Model 3. 830 miles trip.

Shows that fast charging is more important than a longer range for road trips.

For those without 2+ hrs to burn, this broke down on charging-speed lines:

1. Taycan
2. Ioniq
3. Tesla
4. Tesla
5. Mach E

So yep - it's all about the charging speed. Some of the Tesla chargers were v3 (250kW) but not all.

 

[Windpower]

the "news" section of the WSJ has deteriorated significantly in the last couple of years

The editorial section is even worse. I don't bother to read their editorials anymore.
I used to read WSJ religiously but I switched to Barons on-line for my daily read.

 

[McgR]

For those without 2+ hrs to burn, this broke down on charging-speed lines:

1. Taycan
2. Ioniq
3. Tesla
4. Tesla
5. Mach E

So yep - it's all about the charging speed. Some of the Tesla chargers were v3 (250kW) but not all.

And also charging strategy. The Taycan went down to 8% SoC and the Ioniq charged at 60% obviously leading to much slower charging speeds (266 vs just under 100). The Tesla M3 driver was an experienced Tesla driver but still couldn’t beat the Porsche. Probably this was the best comparison. The model X driver just had his car and didn’t know anything about EV. So a lot of possible bias. I thought the Tesla model 3 ended second? And the Ioniq 4th? Would have to watch again. Mach E was last. Has a good range but a slow charger.

 

[Jsherid!]

Thanks for posting the link, just finished the story. They did set themselves up for failure in terms of their preparation and their choice of charging app.

A few thoughts--If they had used ABRP, they would likely have used EA fast charging stations almost the whole way making 10 stops totalling a little over 3 hours for an EV6 Standard Range. Most of those stops (9 of 10) would have been at Walmarts right on the highway with little time lost along the way. If they had done that the story would have been a lot less dramatic--"We drove on the highways, sampled a lot of Walmart bathrooms, ate a lot of junkfood and listened to a lot of whatever it is that Millennials listen to".

As a boater, I actually like that there is some planning involved in doing an EV road trip and that there is a little sense of adventure involved. The charging infrastructure has a ways to go but it's a lot better than the article portrayed it if you have half a clue and do even minimal planning. Granted I have learned about the need to plan a bit the hard way with my Lindale road trip near debacle but you learn from your mistakes. These two didn't seem to have learned much over the course of 3,000 miles or so.

 

[cometguy]

This is a problem of "investigative" journalism today generally -- journalists writing without having proper "refereeing" or reviewing of their articles before publication, and editors allowing this to happen. I've had a lot of experience in my work (science) with the news media over decades, and they can be very frustrating: they often do not know their topic material and are arrogant about not passing their articles by experts before publication (I've tried hard to get them to do this -- a few will allow me to read over their writing before publishing to get some constructive input toward correcting mistakes, but most will not). The NYT, Washington Post, WSJ, USA Today, and all the wire services (AP, Reuters, etc., not to mention TV news) -- they're all the same in this regard, sadly. It's not a political thing; it's bad editorial managing.

The WSJ writer that's discussed in this thread didn't necessarily write a bad article from beginning to end, but it lacks balance and should have corrective information from people with BEV public-charging experience. Much of what they say is valid, but they did not choose the best route-planning software, and as journalists, they owed it to their readers to do a better job in that department (and a better job in providing balance to their reporting -- namely, that it's possible to do much better than they did in terms of choosing the best charging stations and understanding that you can actually call charging companies like EA to get help in real time, like starting stations that aren't working). She nailed a lot of the problems -- charging stations lacking canopies to protect from the rain; charging cords that are too stiff; charging stations in undesirable locations, etc., etc. -- and that's a good thing to point out those problems that are in urgent need of correction. But the problems inherent in her article are symptomatic of news journalism in general. In my field of science, with much smaller readership, we require refereeing of articles before publication; I've also worked in newsprint journalism in my life, and I understand the pressures of time on getting news stories out -- but this is not a time-sensitive article (as so many violent stories are today), and it could have and should have received serious review prior to publication.

 

[Tesla2Taycan]

Very disappointing article, and certainly won't help EV adoption.
Thanks a lot WSJ.

I've got two road trips coming up this summer and plan to document the hell out of them. Frisco TX<->Los Gatos CA and Frisco TX<->Nashville TN.

Hopefully mine go better, having the sense to plan around EA and avoid crappy chargepoint etc.

Is the key (expert trick) to avoid chargepoint and use EA instead? Assuming EA is more reliable(?)
What’s everyone’s experience with EA? Any Tesla folks here who can share their experience on reliability of EA vs. Tesla superchargers? I haven’t taken a road trip in my Tesla but I’ve only heard of wait time issues at certain popular stations but rarely about reliability.

 

[DerekS]

Is the key (expert trick) to avoid chargepoint and use EA instead? Assuming EA is more reliable(?)
What’s everyone’s experience with EA? Any Tesla folks here who can share their experience on reliability of EA vs. Tesla superchargers? I haven’t taken a road trip in my Tesla but I’ve only heard of wait time issues at certain popular stations but rarely about reliability.

Essentially...yes, stick to EA if at all possible. EVGo is reliable but usually only 50kW. Chargepoint are all over the map but I've never found a fast one.

If you're going to use plugshare to find your chargers, at least filter it to 100 or 150kW+ to avoid time wasters like Harley dealerships, Kia dealerships, etc.

Those kind of chargers are really only good for emergency use and just enough to get you to a grown-up EA charger.

Tesla, with their closed proprietary network, makes all of this seamless.

Sponsored