I recently took a 950-mile road trip in our 3-month-old XC40. It worked out great. Thought I'd post what I learned in case it benefits others. Please add your tips!
We used Electrify America charging stations exclusively for high speed. All were 150kW minimum, many 350kW - though 350kW is only useful for the Taycan and the planned Ioniq 5, EV6, and GV60.
1) Since the car charges much faster at low State of Charge, work from the bottom of the battery, not the top. Plan to get down to 15-20% SOC at each charging stop (use a higher number in rain or cold weather).
2) When you arrive at the charging location, check that the charging station seems functional first, then plug in.
3) Get out your phone, open the EA or Chargepoint app and hold the phone near the charger's NFC pad to start charging. I subscribed to EA's $4/mo membership for the one-week duration of my trip to save on charging cost. It paid back in two charges.
4) WAIT a minute for the charger to start charging successfully.
5) Find the bathroom/lunch/etc.
6) Get back in the car. Switch driver profiles if you are switching drivers.
7) Set the next charging location as destination into Google Maps. You have to ask for "Petaluma Electrify America", not "Electrify America in Petaluma". Don't know why.
8: Press the Start button on Google Maps to start navigating, even though you just started charging. The estimated State of Charge at Destination shown in Google Maps will now begin to update as you charge, moving up from 0%.
9) Once the estimated state of charge at your destination (next charging stop) reaches 20-25%, you're good to unplug and go. Driving very fast (80mph in a 70mph zone) will have you arriving at the next charging station at 15% SOC rather than the 25% estimated when you unplugged the charger. Driving at the speed limit or slower will have you arriving more or less at the estimated SOC, so unplugging when estimated SOC at destination shows only 20% SOC would be OK.
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We used Electrify America charging stations exclusively for high speed. All were 150kW minimum, many 350kW - though 350kW is only useful for the Taycan and the planned Ioniq 5, EV6, and GV60.
1) Since the car charges much faster at low State of Charge, work from the bottom of the battery, not the top. Plan to get down to 15-20% SOC at each charging stop (use a higher number in rain or cold weather).
2) When you arrive at the charging location, check that the charging station seems functional first, then plug in.
3) Get out your phone, open the EA or Chargepoint app and hold the phone near the charger's NFC pad to start charging. I subscribed to EA's $4/mo membership for the one-week duration of my trip to save on charging cost. It paid back in two charges.
4) WAIT a minute for the charger to start charging successfully.
5) Find the bathroom/lunch/etc.
6) Get back in the car. Switch driver profiles if you are switching drivers.
7) Set the next charging location as destination into Google Maps. You have to ask for "Petaluma Electrify America", not "Electrify America in Petaluma". Don't know why.
8: Press the Start button on Google Maps to start navigating, even though you just started charging. The estimated State of Charge at Destination shown in Google Maps will now begin to update as you charge, moving up from 0%.
9) Once the estimated state of charge at your destination (next charging stop) reaches 20-25%, you're good to unplug and go. Driving very fast (80mph in a 70mph zone) will have you arriving at the next charging station at 15% SOC rather than the 25% estimated when you unplugged the charger. Driving at the speed limit or slower will have you arriving more or less at the estimated SOC, so unplugging when estimated SOC at destination shows only 20% SOC would be OK.
