I’m planning a road trip (San Diego <-> Tucson) shortly after getting my ID.4. It feels risky to do that with a brand new car. Please share your experiences with road trips 250+ miles and using EA DC chargers in towns between larger cities.
Road Trips with a new ID.4
1 - 20 of 86 Posts
Not too risky. Just keep your speeds to 70-ish and add more charge than you think you need in case you hit a bad charger and need to keep going. Also check Plugshare beforehand to make sure there's no outages.
In a week, I'm doing LA -> Mammoth along 395. The charging infrastructure is there, but the first time will always be an adventure. Also no fast charging in Mammoth yet, but we only drive about 5-10 miles/day while in town. We have wall outlets at the condo to replace that. I'll report back.
In a week, I'm doing LA -> Mammoth along 395. The charging infrastructure is there, but the first time will always be an adventure. Also no fast charging in Mammoth yet, but we only drive about 5-10 miles/day while in town. We have wall outlets at the condo to replace that. I'll report back.
We will do a San Diego - Ventura round trip almost immediately after we get the ID4 (assuming it gets here next week, fingers crossed). That’s exactly 180 miles door to door and should easily work on one charge. I hope to check out the EA station in Camarillo on the way back.
Put an EA or a Chargepoint at Vons. Huge lot, plenty of power.
They are doing a community center that will have fast charging. Not until 2022, though
I'm on a road trip now! We drove about 250 miles yesterday and will drive home tomorrow. Charging wasn't a concern for me though driving mostly on I-95 there were literally five EA options on our route 
We picked one that was 140 miles in with good food options and stopped for lunch. The car went from 24% to 80% in 36 minutes and was ready to go before we were!
Super comfy and performed great. I didn't think about range at all and drove the speeds I wanted, used climate as needed, and generally had a great first trip. The travel assist, rain sensing wiper, massage seats, AA spotify integration and even the nav system which identified an accident while en-route and routed us around it all worked great.
But I'm from Phoenix and know things out west are much different with huge gaps between civilization. Good luck!
We picked one that was 140 miles in with good food options and stopped for lunch. The car went from 24% to 80% in 36 minutes and was ready to go before we were!Super comfy and performed great. I didn't think about range at all and drove the speeds I wanted, used climate as needed, and generally had a great first trip. The travel assist, rain sensing wiper, massage seats, AA spotify integration and even the nav system which identified an accident while en-route and routed us around it all worked great.
But I'm from Phoenix and know things out west are much different with huge gaps between civilization. Good luck!
We also live in the Phoenix area. We are suppose to get our id.4 sometime next week. Our first trip will be to Vegas. Have any of you made this trip. Looks like chargers may be diffuse to find.I'm on a road trip now! We drove about 250 miles yesterday and will drive home tomorrow. Charging wasn't a concern for me though driving mostly on I-95 there were literally five EA options on our route
Super comfy and performed great. I didn't think about range at all and drove the speeds I wanted, used climate as needed, and generally had a great first trip. The travel assist, rain sensing wiper, massage seats, AA spotify integration and even the nav system which identified an accident while en-route and routed us around it all worked great.
But I'm from Phoenix and know things out west are much different with huge gaps between civilization. Good luck!
Joined
·
1,262 Posts
EA has chargers on phx to vegas. Here is ABRP showing how you do it with 2 stops: Buckeye and Needles:
ABRP phx-vegas
But the best route may depend on where in phx you live, and you can try your address easily at that link. There is also an option going through Flagstaff that may be better if you live on the north side of phx. If you are on the west side, you might skip the Buckeye one.
ABRP phx-vegas
But the best route may depend on where in phx you live, and you can try your address easily at that link. There is also an option going through Flagstaff that may be better if you live on the north side of phx. If you are on the west side, you might skip the Buckeye one.
Yeah I saw that route. We live in San Tan. The faster route is through sicken burg and kingman. Wickenburg only has Tesla supercharger and kingman EA isn’t completed yet.
Stopped in Barstow on the way back from LA to Vegas. I must be cursed since the chargers ive used have had faults but the car won’t stop communicating with the charger, so it has been a massive headache to get unplugged to move to another station. Once I’ve found working stations, beautiful to charge!
Dusk Blue Metallic ID.4 Pro S (Statement) RWD - Step 4/7
Joined
·
46 Posts
Now that some of you are getting experience driving and road tripping (I’m still at step 4, but planning ahead), would you be comfortable making this trip? I’ve put it in ABRP previously and it recommended a 20 minute charge in Cincinnati, but I checked again and this time shows all the way to Georgetown.
I’m planning a long weekend with some friends and the house we’re staying in is conveniently 2 miles from an EA Charger at a Walmart. I’m sure we’ll be stopping for supplies, so there would be plenty of time to charge there.
This assumes 95% SOC to start, and I’m sure I’ll be running metrics constantly before passing the EA in Cinnci. Based on experience would you feel confident or nervous about this? August, so assume some AC, but not cold.
![2540]()
I’m planning a long weekend with some friends and the house we’re staying in is conveniently 2 miles from an EA Charger at a Walmart. I’m sure we’ll be stopping for supplies, so there would be plenty of time to charge there.
This assumes 95% SOC to start, and I’m sure I’ll be running metrics constantly before passing the EA in Cinnci. Based on experience would you feel confident or nervous about this? August, so assume some AC, but not cold.
I have a similar question. I have a FE that is in transit, but am having 2nd thoughts. I frequently (as in 4x a year or more) go from my home in KC to NW Arkansas. From my house to the nearest charging station is 228 miles. It's all interstate driving so the speed would be around 70-75 MPH. There are literally no high speed chargers in route (I used the Department of Energy website to map locations). While I am eager to have an EV I don't want to get stranded. I am leaning towards waiting for a version with 300+ range. Thoughts?
I don't have any experience, but from what I've read about highway range, that's going to be cutting it close at best (and probably impossible in winter). You could,go 20 miles out of your way down I-44 E to the Mt Vernon, MO EA charger, but even that is 180ish miles out, making it a little dicey for a worst-case scenario (cold weather + into the wind).
Unfortunately, unless road trips are along the coasts or an east-west interstate that ends in a 0 (and not in the Dakotas, Wyoming, or I-20 between Montgomery AL and Dallas), there will be gaps like this where an EV won't work yet. Hopefully it will be different in the next few years.
Since there’s uncertainty about EA stations working at all/delivering slower than expected speeds/being all full, I’d be inclined to charge up more than ABRP suggests (say 80% instead of 65%). Bird in the hand and all that. Also I’d like to have a plan B, a station further down the road that’s reachable in case the first one doesn’t work out. I’m planning a PA to VA trip (450 miles) and by tweaking the settings for how long to stay at each stop, ABRP suggests two stops of 38 min each with a 10% arrival.
Thank you for your input! I would be in a different boat if this was an extra car for me. Unfortunately, it will be my only vehicle. When the final EPA rating went from the 300 projected to the 250 actual, it changed things for me
For what it is worth, I regularly make somewhat shorter trips of 150 miles. I never bother to charge above 80%, and usually have at least 50 miles on the GOM when I get there.
I would also note that for the person brought this up, that there are some L2 at about the halfway point at a Walmart. Maybe a little slower than is ideal, but it would be a plan B in case it seemed like you were cutting it too close.
I would also note that for the person brought this up, that there are some L2 at about the halfway point at a Walmart. Maybe a little slower than is ideal, but it would be a plan B in case it seemed like you were cutting it too close.
Back to this question: I’d feel safe in your case, you have chargers in the middle for plan B. One change though: Start at 100% charge. I feel going on a road trip like this without fully topping off is foolish. Your battery doesn’t suffer from the occasional full charge, and you can avoid spending extra time at chargers while en route. Same for the return trip. Back at home for everyday driving you can revert to 80% charging.
Joined
·
46 Posts
I plan on going for road trips immediately and I am in a semi dead-zone for EVs (South Eastern Alabama) the closest EA to my house is about 50 miles away. There is a Nissan dealership about 30 miles away and a couple plug share level 2s 30 ish miles away. I will definitely need to plan around where EA places are when I go on my first road trip.
1 - 20 of 86 Posts
Join the discussion
