New EV owner makes first road trip

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sailordude

New member
Joined
Oct 7, 2024
Messages
3
Location
Virginia
Hi All. Purchased used 2022 S Plus in eastern US last month as I had always wanted an electric car and federal rebates made it attractive, though I had to visit three dealerships to find one that would do the IRS paperwork.

Have enjoyed the car with home Level 2 charging using an old 220V dryer outlet but wanted to try a road trip. Just completed 1200-mile trip from Virginia through western PA to upstate NY and return via NE Pennsylvania. Planned carefully and used the various apps. As a sailor, I'm used to planning a voyage and calculating legs for fuel stops etc. so that was nothing new.

Lessons learned:

Useful range varies depending mainly on speed. At highway speeds (60-65+ mph) the actual range is about 91% of what the guessometer predicts. At 55 MPH it seems to be about 95% of the estimated range. I planned my recharging stops accordingly.

Fast charged five times the first day and the battery temp went up, but never reached red zone. Outside temp about 70 degrees F.

PlugShare zoned out in eastern PA during the trip which made it essential to have other apps as well. ChargePoint seemed to be the second most useful.

Only one CHADEMO plug was available in western PA between Bedford and Bradford. Fortunately it worked. They were even scarcer in NE Pennsylvania. Still, made the trip in good shape. CHADEMO still lives and Fairfield Inns have J1772s free for guests so I could fully charge overnight.

All in all a very informative trip. I don't plan to make more long trips in this car, just local errands and groceries, charging at home. For that I expect a long life for this car. My next vehicle will be an EV with longer range and either CCS or whatever NACS turns into three years down the line.

Sailorman
 

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Thank you for posting this! I am originally from NEPA but moved to VT so was wondering about NEPA availability in case I attempt a trip back there. Good to know about Fairfield Inns. I worked in Hershey and seem to remember one there, and quite a few near Chocolate World even way back in 2016. Ive only had my 2025 Leaf for 11 days and am so grateful for this and other forums filling in the gaps of knowledge I have and not making me read between the lines in the manual. I feel a bit like Leaf owners are a bit like early aviators planning their trips and making sure they can hit a waypoint safely without running out of fuel (albeit a lot safer than a plane, in theory) Happy Motoring!
 
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