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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.
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...
Very encouraging to hear, especially that you didn’t have to wait to begin charging - so different from so many other east-coast EV road trip reports I’ve read…
In my experience, once you understand the rhythm/cadence of EV road-tripping, it’s an extremely pleasant way to travel.
That guy in the iX was being extremely rude. I own one and if you just back straight in to the charger there is plenty of cable length. The iX will pull 195 kWhr initially if it starts around 15%-20% SoC, but its charge curve is poor versus the Taycan as it unfortunately drops off quite quickly. I really wish BMW had designed it around 800V architecture.
...The iX will pull 195 kWhr initially if it starts around 15%-20% SoC, but its charge curve is poor versus the Taycan as it unfortunately drops off quite quickly. I really wish BMW had designed it around 800V architecture.
The ix50's charging speed isn't bad - it's the iX40's that's not competitive.
Regarding 800V vs. 400V architecture, the 800V Taycan only charges about 10% faster than a 400V BMW iX50 or 400V Tesla Model S LR, so there's clearly more to charging speed than voltage...:
The ix50's charging speed isn't bad - it's the iX40's that's not competitive.
Regarding 800V vs. 400V architecture, the 800V Taycan only charges about 10% faster than a 400V BMW iX50 or 400V Tesla Model S LR, so there's clearly more to charging speed than voltage...:
I guess those numbers are from personal experience for the Taycan. However, that's not what I see when I charge mine. Pre-conditioned, at low SOC, I typically see 265-269 kW all the way to 30-35% SOC. Very similar to this curve
Most of them were EA, so free for the first 30 minutes. The 60 kW in Harrisburg and the EVgo are in areas with not allot of chargers, so they can charge pretty much want they want. When we can begin using Tesla stations, things will change.