33 Months of EV driving...

[SpaceEVDriver]

This is my summary of our EV driving.
We've been driving EVs for most driving since February 2022 when we picked up our Ford Mustang Mach-E (43,791 miles). We went all-EV in April of 2024 when we traded our Tacoma for a Lightning (11,748 miles). We've been to 10 states, and plan to go to at least a few more in the next year.

We've chosen the Lightning over the Mustang for most of our long-distance driving since April. The Lightning is just so much more comfortable.

This map shows all the places that I can remember we've taken one or the other of our EVs since late February 2022.

• Would I buy another EV? Yes, without question. We won't go back to gas.
• Would I buy another Ford EV. Yes. We're not brand loyalists. The Lightning was the only truck option that we could afford when we bought it. The Mustang was the best SUV option when we bought it. When the Mustang reaches 100k-150k miles, we'll probably retire it and get something else. What brand we buy will depend on what is being offered. The top of the list are the Scout Traveler and the Rivian R2.
• Any regrets?
  • I would have preferred a Lightning Pro with the extended range battery, but that wasn't available to us. We got the Lariat at a too-high, but reasonable price for an EV.
  • I wish we'd had the Lightning at least a few months earlier than we got it. We would have been able to put Arkansas on the map too.
• What could be better?
  • Lots of things.
  • The prices could be better.
  • The Mustang has too harsh a ride, even with low pressure in its tires. It's better than most cars we'd had before it, but nowhere near as nice as the Lightning
  • The Lightning is bigger than I'd prefer--I would prefer a Maverick- or Tacoma-sized electric truck.
  • I'd like a simple way to tell the battery to warm up or cool down before I drive.
  • I'd like to have a little more efficient heater for the cabin.
  • I wish BlueCruise was more reliable and dependable. It's too aggressive with its slow-downs at curves and it doesn't give me enough information when it turns itself off.
  • I'd like a faster interface in the tablet. I would remove all the entertainment apps, games, karaoke, and Alexa--perhaps that would speed up the interface a bit.
  • The stock tires that came with the Lightning are pretty soft and allow too much body roll. The soft ride is nice, but the tires aren't conducive to a reliable working truck. I have to baby it when I'm towing or hauling because of the soft sidewalls.
  • The dealership experience is unpleasant at best.
  • Probably a few other things.
• Major problems?
  • None.
  • The Mustang had the a high-voltage junction box recall, which I finally acquiesced to have done. It was mostly painless. It didn't change my willingness to take the car anywhere, just put to rest the nagging from Ford. The first dealer we went to failed to even try to replace the hardware, so we went to another dealer an hour and a half away. They completed the job as expected.
  • Got a flat in the Lightning. No problems.
  • Had a slight shudder in the Lightning while accelerating between about 45 mph and 55 mph. Rotated and balanced the tires myself and the shudder is gone.
  • Got a flat in the Mustang. It's probably time to get my repair job fixed--I think we're losing a small amount of air over a few weeks.

Overall, we are incredibly happy with both of our EVs.

 

[KarlT]

This is my summary of our EV driving.
We've been driving EVs for most driving since February 2022 when we picked up our Ford Mustang Mach-E (43,791 miles). We went all-EV in April of 2024 when we traded our Tacoma for a Lightning (11,748 miles). We've been to 10 states, and plan to go to at least a few more in the next year.

We've chosen the Lightning over the Mustang for most of our long-distance driving since April. The Lightning is just so much more comfortable.

This map shows all the places that I can remember we've taken one or the other of our EVs since late February 2022.

• Would I buy another EV? Yes, without question. We won't go back to gas.
• Would I buy another Ford EV. Yes. We're not brand loyalists. The Lightning was the only truck option that we could afford when we bought it. The Mustang was the best SUV option when we bought it. When the Mustang reaches 100k-150k miles, we'll probably retire it and get something else. What brand we buy will depend on what is being offered. The top of the list are the Scout Traveler and the Rivian R2.
• Any regrets?
  • I would have preferred a Lightning Pro with the extended range battery, but that wasn't available to us. We got the Lariat at a too-high, but reasonable price for an EV.
  • I wish we'd had the Lightning at least a few months earlier than we got it. We would have been able to put Arkansas on the map too.
• What could be better?
  • Lots of things.
  • The prices could be better.
  • The Mustang has too harsh a ride, even with low pressure in its tires. It's better than most cars we'd had before it, but nowhere near as nice as the Lightning
  • The Lightning is bigger than I'd prefer--I would prefer a Maverick- or Tacoma-sized electric truck.
  • I'd like a simple way to tell the battery to warm up or cool down before I drive.
  • I'd like to have a little more efficient heater for the cabin.
  • I wish BlueCruise was more reliable and dependable. It's too aggressive with its slow-downs at curves and it doesn't give me enough information when it turns itself off.
  • I'd like a faster interface in the tablet. I would remove all the entertainment apps, games, karaoke, and Alexa--perhaps that would speed up the interface a bit.
  • The stock tires that came with the Lightning are pretty soft and allow too much body roll. The soft ride is nice, but the tires aren't conducive to a reliable working truck. I have to baby it when I'm towing or hauling because of the soft sidewalls.
  • The dealership experience is unpleasant at best.
  • Probably a few other things.
• Major problems?
  • None.
  • The Mustang had the a high-voltage junction box recall, which I finally acquiesced to have done. It was mostly painless. It didn't change my willingness to take the car anywhere, just put to rest the nagging from Ford. The first dealer we went to failed to even try to replace the hardware, so we went to another dealer an hour and a half away. They completed the job as expected.
  • Got a flat in the Lightning. No problems.
  • Had a slight shudder in the Lightning while accelerating between about 45 mph and 55 mph. Rotated and balanced the tires myself and the shudder is gone.
  • Got a flat in the Mustang. It's probably time to get my repair job fixed--I think we're losing a small amount of air over a few weeks.

Overall, we are incredibly happy with both of our EVs.

On a general level, rather than needing to go into specifics, how would you compare refueling of EV vs ICE. Finding a station, paying, time it takes, safety of stations, are stations working? Thainks.

 

[pwrofgrayskull]

On a general level, rather than needing to go into specifics, how would you compare refueling of EV vs ICE. Finding a station, paying, time it takes, safety of stations, are stations working? Thainks.

Agreed. I have these same questions. Thanks!

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

On a general level, rather than needing to go into specifics, how would you compare refueling of EV vs ICE. Finding a station, paying, time it takes, safety of stations, are stations working? Thainks.

Assuming one is willing to use the tools available, they're about the same. Road tripping with an EV for me has been cheaper than gas.

• Finding a station: Easy if you use the tools available.
• Paying: Super easy (plug and charge) or easy (use app to pay)
  • Some stations have flakey internet connections, but I haven't had this issue in a long time
• Time: About the same (for us)
• Safety: About the same
• Working: Haven't had an issue in more than a year

TLDR; EV road tripping has been about the same level of effort, cost, safety, and time as it was road tripping with a gas vehicle. But we have always done things differently from what a lot of people say they do. We like to stop and go for a walk after 3 hours of driving. We like to eat in a restaurant or picnic or whatever instead of in the car. We don't do pee-bottle kind of driving. We take care of our bodies while road tripping. We've done this for decades, so for us road tripping with an EV adds no more than about 10% more time to our drives and we feel far more refreshed when we arrive than we did when pushing a drive.


---

It takes me about the same time to stop because I have for decades planned my stops according to my body's needs rather than the vehicle's needs. So I stop at a place to stretch, use the restroom, eat, etc., and refuel while doing these things. This tends to save time because we only have to stop once to plug in the car then we head to a nearby restaurant instead of get in a gas line, refuel, pay, etc., then find a restaurant. I don't eat in the vehicle unless there's a compelling reason to do so.

Most stations are pretty safe, though the few in the back lot of a Walmart are sometimes questionable, especially for a woman on her own, late in the day (for example). I've only ever been accosted by anti-EV people, never by general people. Most EV drivers are friendly and I've only ever once had two be jerks, one because I inadvertently skipped in line (I moved back to my proper place in line) and the other unplugged me while I was charging at a T stop. Note that I haven't experienced a line to charge in more than a year.

EV refueling is very poorly advertised, so you generally can't look up at an upcoming exit and say, "oh, there's a station here, let's stop."

I use the tools that are available. I plan my next stop just before I leave my current stop. I usually plan for between 2.5 and 3 hours of driving before stopping again. I ask Google to plan to go to my ultimate destination and then look at what it thinks is the appropriate next stop. I will sometimes accept the stop and sometimes reject it. When we're about 20 minutes out, we'll double-check the station's availability. If it's a brand-T station that's half-full or more, we'll skip it if possible because of the peculiar way many T drivers park in every other spot and make it impossible for our Fords to charge. If it's an EA station that looks like it only has one station left, we might skip it and go to another--it's usually fine, but sometimes it'll be taken before we arrive.

Paying is generally done via app or the car just takes care of it for you once you set up your account and payment method. Most new chargers have CC readers (with the exception of brand-T), but sometimes communications can be flakey, just like at a gas station.

If you're a cash-only person, you won't be able to pay for EV charging while on a road trip. You can still charge at home, but you'll be limited in your range.