[agorski]

Just finished driving from Prescott AZ to Tulsa OK, so the trip is halfway done.

Used Electrify America exclusively because Free. Almost no charging issues. Charging plan was conservative: stop in Flagstaff with backup in Winslow, stop in Gallup with backup in Grants, etc. Several Wal-Marts, a couple of Love's truck stops, a Sam's Club, and a mall. The EA app was accurate in reporting chargers down (typically 1 out of 4) and a couple of these had repair guy on site when we were there. Only once did a charger fail to do the initial connection with Plug and Charge, so I just switched to another charger.

Used Level 2 ADAS for about 80% of the time with looking at the side mirror to change lanes. Nearly perfect. It only tried to kill me once when it suddenly swerved my car towards the rear of a semi I was passing.

Fun experience overall.

[mjr24]

Originally Posted by agorski

Just finished driving from Prescott AZ to Tulsa OK, so the trip is halfway done.

Used Electrify America exclusively because Free. Almost no charging issues. Charging plan was conservative: stop in Flagstaff with backup in Winslow, stop in Gallup with backup in Grants, etc. Several Wal-Marts, a couple of Love's truck stops, a Sam's Club, and a mall. The EA app was accurate in reporting chargers down (typically 1 out of 4) and a couple of these had repair guy on site when we were there. Only once did a charger fail to do the initial connection with Plug and Charge, so I just switched to another charger.

Used Level 2 ADAS for about 80% of the time with looking at the side mirror to change lanes. Nearly perfect. It only tried to kill me once when it suddenly swerved my car towards the rear of a semi I was passing.

Fun experience overall.

That’s concerning. Why do you think it swerved? All it takes is once…..

[MiGs550e]

So what I want to know is how many times did you have to stop to charge and how long total did it take to do all those changes. It's a 15 hour trip non-stop.

[agorski]

Originally Posted by MiGs550e

So what I want to know is how many times did you have to stop to charge and how long total did it take to do all those changes. It's a 15 hour trip non-stop.

I took my time and spent 2 nights in motels. 9 stops. Looks like a total charging time just under 3 hours. I limited each charge to 80% because it gets a lot longer if you charge higher than that.

[agorski]

Originally Posted by mjr24

That’s concerning. Why do you think it swerved? All it takes is once…..

No clue.

There were plenty of times when the yellow warning would come on to tell me to take control, usually in places where the lane markers were not well painted. But it would re-acquire the lock within a few seconds.

[agorski]

Completed the return trip back home uneventfully.

There were high cross winds most of the way back and I was shocked at the drop in efficiency. On the way out I averaged around 3.4 m/Kwh and coming back it was more like 2.4 m/Kwh. Cruise set to 81mph most of the time.

Since the ADAS only works up to 85mph I quickly learned to pay attention to it kicking off when I passed someone.

One of the EA chargers in Erick OK (close to the Texas panhandle) was destroyed when I came back. Someone shattered the screen and it fell inside the cabinet. Welcome to rural Oklahoma!

[Mattl0806]

Originally Posted by agorski

Completed the return trip back home uneventfully.

There were high cross winds most of the way back and I was shocked at the drop in efficiency. On the way out I averaged around 3.4 m/Kwh and coming back it was more like 2.4 m/Kwh. Cruise set to 81mph most of the time.

Since the ADAS only works up to 85mph I quickly learned to pay attention to it kicking off when I passed someone.

One of the EA chargers in Erick OK (close to the Texas panhandle) was destroyed when I came back. Someone shattered the screen and it fell inside the cabinet. Welcome to rural Oklahoma!

That’s quite a drop in efficiency. Was it also cold? If not, that’s scary to think what would happen in those winds at sub freezing temps.

[btlalum]

I had a '19 Tesla MS Long Range for almost 5 years, and took a couple of 4000-mile road trips in it...even in summer, with the winds agorski described, 20-25% loss of efficiency was pretty much how it went, particularly with frontal head- or quartering winds. Likewise, winter temperatures brought on more like 25-30% reduction in range in general--nature of the beast.

[agorski]

Originally Posted by Mattl0806

That’s quite a drop in efficiency. Was it also cold? If not, that’s scary to think what would happen in those winds at sub freezing temps.

In the mid-high 40's. But a 40 mph crosswind.

[SkykingUSA]

Could any of your efficiency drop on the way home be due to an overall change in elevation? If your home is at a higher elevation than your destination, then the ride home would be less efficient than the ride out.

I see that difference affect my efficiency significantly 2 or 3 times each week on a 20 mile round trip because my home is at a higher elevation than my destination. My home is 1541 feet ASL and my destination is 1290 feet ASL (about a 251 foot difference). That difference in elevation over a 20 mile round trip means on the way there my efficiency is usually between 4.3 and 5.0 mi/kWh and on the way home it's usually between 3.0 and 3.3 mi/kWh. On average for the round-trip I get between 3.8 and 4.0 mi/kWh.

You can use this website to check the elevation at both your places.

https://www.freemaptools.com/elevation-finder.htm

[agorski]

Originally Posted by SkykingUSA

Could any of your efficiency drop on the way home be due to an overall change in elevation?

Probably not. The trip was up and down all the time but certain stints were pretty flat and I still saw the low efficiency coming back.

[Scrapula]

I have to drop 300 ft to get to the freeway or into town. My navigation finds the spots with gentler inclines. It makes a difference. I don’t really notice how much I go up or downhill when I am driving.

[PeterC4]

Originally Posted by agorski

I took my time and spent 2 nights in motels. 9 stops. Looks like a total charging time just under 3 hours. I limited each charge to 80% because it gets a lot longer if you charge higher than that.

9 Stops and 3 hours of charging time to travel 1,060 miles? Brings new life to the old Doris Day commercial, see the "USA in a (BMW)". At least you had a number of stops available to you.

PS. That was Dinah Shore as pointed out by btlalum

[btlalum]

Dinah Shore Show, I think....and sort of sobering (depressing?) that I remember her show!

[Frupal]

Originally Posted by agorski

I took my time and spent 2 nights in motels. 9 stops. Looks like a total charging time just under 3 hours. I limited each charge to 80% because it gets a lot longer if you charge higher than that.

This confirms my concern about taking an EV on a road trip. 3 Hours of charging compared to 15 minutes gassing up? Not sure I would like that!

[agorski]

Originally Posted by Frupal

This confirms my concern about taking an EV on a road trip. 3 Hours of charging compared to 15 minutes gassing up? Not sure I would like that!

Probably an hour total for 3 gas stops plus potty breaks.

[tsbrown]

Originally Posted by agorski

Probably an hour total for 3 gas stops plus potty breaks.

That’s still 2 more hours of stops plus another overnight hotel stay vs ICE. I know because I drive 1000 miles every May and September and it’s 15-16 hours on the road and 1 night in a hotel, even with my wife and a pet. The last thing I want to do is make that longer. I have to make 1 gas stop first day, refill at the hotel stop and refill at the destination. Any other stops are brief food or bathroom breaks.

[Icarus1_1]

As you did more then 5 stops, did you get the slower charging speed ? As it got limited ?

Originally Posted by PeterC4

9 Stops and 3 hours of charging time to travel 1,060 miles? Brings new life to the old Doris Day commercial, see the "USA in a (BMW)". At least you had a number of stops available to you.

[PeterC4]

Originally Posted by btlalum

Dinah Shore Show, I think....and sort of sobering (depressing?) that I remember her show!

you are right Dinah Shore

[agorski]

Originally Posted by Icarus1_1

As you did more then 5 stops, did you get the slower charging speed ? As it got limited ?

No limit on charging rate. It was the same every stop. I've got the EA 2 year unlimited 30 minute charging sessions. Since I was doing 20-80% charges I never exceeded 30 minutes. So $0 for the whole trip.

Did BMW change the offer on later cars that would cause a lower charging rate?

[agorski]

Originally Posted by tsbrown

That’s still 2 more hours of stops plus another overnight hotel stay vs ICE. I know because I drive 1000 miles every May and September and it’s 15-16 hours on the road and 1 night in a hotel, even with my wife and a pet. The last thing I want to do is make that longer. I have to make 1 gas stop first day, refill at the hotel stop and refill at the destination. Any other stops are brief food or bathroom breaks.

That's what I did with my previous car. But I'm getting old and cranky and decided to spend an extra motel night each way. The extra motel night was paid for by the free electrons.

I created this post to let folks know what they're in for if they go EV. In my case, this is my once a year road trip and, yes, it's slightly more annoying in these early days of fast EV charging. The rest of the year driving around town the EV experience is SO much better than ICE that I think it's a fair trade-off.

But I understand where you're coming from.

[SkykingUSA]

Originally Posted by agorski

No limit on charging rate. It was the same every stop. I've got the EA 2 year unlimited 30 minute charging sessions. Since I was doing 20-80% charges I never exceeded 30 minutes. So $0 for the whole trip.

Did BMW change the offer on later cars that would cause a lower charging rate?

The program changed for the 2025 vehicles, but not with respect to the charging rate. Instead of unlimited 30 minute sessions, there is a cap on the total kWh you're allowed to use. I think it's 2000 or 3000 kWh total.