cometguy
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2018
- Threads
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- Messages
- 358
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- Location
- New England, USA
- Vehicles
- '21 Taycan CT4; '18 Panamera 4 ST E-Hybrid (past); Cayenne 4 Electric (planned)
- Thread starter
- #1
I just finished a 3100-mile roadtrip to see family and friends (an annual trip). It covered eight states from Massachusetts to Minnesota, and I drove through Ontario twice between NY and Michigan (so skipped Ohio and Pennsylvania). I charged at sixteen different brand-name DCFC stations, plus I charged at level-2 at my sister's house in Minnesota (she owns an Ioniq 5). I charged a lot of times around 50% SoC because of uncertainty in upcoming DCFC stations -- not knowing if they'd work or if there'd be queues, and often having long distances beyond the next DCFC station for the next one. I always give extensive comments at each charging stop on PlugShare, as I have gained a lot of help from others leaving comments and want to return the favor -- plus, I often return to stations and look back at my previous comments (several times in which those comments led me to NOT return to specific stations!). Generally, on road trips, I charge until the speed falls below 100 kW (which is usually between 80% and 90% SoC), then unplug and head out again, but if I know that I need to charge again around 50% SoC at the next stop, I'll unplug at lower SoC. I rarely stop charging when the speeds are as high as 130 kW.
I tried charging at a Circle K gas station in Rochester, MN, but could not (rare for me); my phone app -- which is necessary to charge there (I had charged there last year) -- had expired, requiring a download of an updated app, which was a nuisance, as it took lots of time. But then it required a username and pwd that I had forgotten, and the email that I set the account up on is not on my iPhone. So I gave up and left. No DCFC station should require a smartphone to charge, period. I was at two rural DCFC stations on this trip where I had very limited cellphone service.
Here's a list of the DCFC stations that I charged at. Electrify America got four visits by me (five if you count EvolveNY in Syracuse, which is basically EA); I was able to plug-and-charge simply and quickly each of the four times (including at EvolveNY). I visited the EA at Herkimer, NY, both ways. Surprisingly, the I-90 corridor in central NY state is still a DCFC desert in terms of good, reliable DCFC stations.
I visited Rivian Adventure Network three times (all in Michigan, but three different stations, and all starting up easily with a credit-card tap).
I visited two different Electrify Canada stations three times in total in Ontario -- and as with my experience with EC in the Atlantic Provinces last July, every single EC charging attempt was a royal pain; I always have had to plug and unplug and plug in again (sometimes 2-3 times), and multiple credit-card swipes/taps/inserts are needed to initiate a charge. The Ontario EC stations all looked very tired and in need of updates and attention, but they did work.
I visited two Tesla supercharger stations where they were really needed -- in DCFC deserts (the two were in Prairie du Chien, WI, along the Mississippi River, and in Marquette, MI, on the south shore of Lake Superior) that were both far from Interstate highways. The cables were too short, as usual, but nobody else was charging at Prairie du Chien, and only one other car was charging at Marquette, so I was able to easily park sideways next to the Tesla "pumps" to get the plug into my port. My Porsche NACS-to-CCS adapter worked fine, as did the Tesla iPhone app to initiate charging. But Tesla will always be a "last choice" for me because of short cables, poor charging speeds, and that dang adapter. All other DCFC stations on this trip had CCS plugs. (And, as I've stated before, it's way too early to be converting non-Tesla DCFC stations to NACS plugs in a big way, as the vast majority of non-Tesla BEVs on the road in 2026 have CCS ports still. It was also very premature, in 20-20 hindsight, for the other automakers to go NACS, but c'est la vie. Many non-Tesla DCFC stations now have both plugs, but I rarely saw the NACS plugs being used -- and then mostly by Teslas, not non-Teslas.)
I visited Pilot and Flying J once each (same company, and both in Michigan). They worked fine, with charging initiated via Mastercard tap. I also visited two Ionna stations, which also worked fine with a credit-card tap (Lino Lakes, MN; Janesville, WI).
I visited a Chargepoint station at Onvo in Fultonville, NY, off I-90, which did not take my Chargepoint RFID card (a first for me, I think), and I had to use my Chargepoint iPhone app for the first time ever (to my knowledge). I also visited a Love's gas station twice at Waterloo, NY (both ways), for which I was able to use my Chargepoint RFID card to initiate charging.
I charged at the Mercedes Benz charging station at Lee, MA, off the Mass Turnpike both ways; it's a stellar station and the best DCFC station (in my now extensive experience) between Boston and Buffalo. It's the one place I'll always stop at. There's an "ok" EA station in the same shopping plaza as a back-up that I used twice previously -- before the MB station was built. On the way out west, I used my Chargepoint RFID card to initiate charging; on the way back, I used a Mastercard tap instead.
I also stopped at Porsche Buffalo both ways on my trip to get a free charge and hang out with the guys there. I learned from Russ (sales dept.) that dealerships were informed in the last week and a half that Porsche has killed all the Turismos in the Taycan line-up (for MY 2027) -- sadly. That follows on Porsche killing its Sport Turismo for Panamera last year. I must say that I don't see many Taycan Turismos on my cross-country travels.
Other DCFC stations that I charged once at include: Kwik Charge (Ashland, WI) with Mastercard tap; Flo (Munising, MI) with Flo RFID card; Francis Energy (Brule, WI) with FE RFID card; and BP Pulse (Ann Arbor, MI) via credit-card tap. The Francis Energy station in Brule appeared to be brand new.
So the stats on initiating charging on this trip are thus (all DCFC except at family homes):
-- I started at 100% from my own home on Day 1.
-- Mastercard tapping/swiping: 13x [MB (once; first time was Chargepoint RFID card); EC, 3x; Pilot/Flying J, 2x; BP Pulse; Rivian, 3x; Ionna, 2x; Kwik Charge]
-- Plug-and-charge: 5x (EA, EvolveNY).
-- RFID cards: 5x [Chargepoint RFID card (at Love's twice; MB once); Flo RFID card at Flo's; Francis Energy RFID card at FE].
-- Free: 2x at Porsche Buffalo (with thanks to those guys!), 1x at my sister's garage at 240 volts.
-- iPhone app: 3x (Tesla twice; Chargepoint/Onvo, Fultonville, NY).
The most problematical DCFC charging was between Duluth, MN, and Mackinaw City, MI -- on US and state highways, with long distances between charging stations. It worked out fine but required planning and required that all the DCFC stations worked (they did, thankfully). I was only getting 200-230 miles range in my '21 Taycan CT4 on this trip, in which the temperature generally was in the 50s and 60s F (but sometimes in the 20s and 30s at night, and upper 40s by day).
There was basically a difference of about 2x in charging prices, from minimum (ca. 35 cents/kWh) to maximum (ca. 65 cents/kWh, generally at EA). The EC stations in Ontario were all 70 cents/kWh (Canadian dollar), as I recall. The average that I paid at all the public DCFC stations on this trip was surely close to 50 cents/kWh.
On my return home over Memorial Day weekend, I was worried about queues and having to wait to charge, but luckily that didn't happen; one station did have all four slots filled (me being one of the four).
Zero range anxiety on the trip, mainly because I plan carefully and try to always have back-up plans, but I was aware that along the south shore of Lake Superior, far from interstate highways, I'd have been in trouble if one of those DCFC stations wasn't working. Since I last did a trip in my Taycan to see family in the midwest a year ago, there definitely has been improvement in DCFC infrastructure -- but we have a long ways to go before the mainstream public feels comfortable about charging a BEV on roadtrips in many parts of the US and Canada. And even where there is better DCFC infrastructure, we have all heard the stories (some of us experiencing them first-hand) of long queues to charge on holiday weekends.
I saw many people having troubles charging at places where I did not have troubles. One couple at EC in London, ON, had a new Cadilac Lyriq that they were supposed to get free charging at EC and could not initiate despite spending a long time trying and calling customer support and changing chargers; ditto for a Mercedes BEV couple at the Mercedes DCFC station in Lee, MA; and ditto for some other stations, also. I feel bad for these people who want to get into BEVs but have troubles charging at DCFC stations.
I'll add some photos to this trip report when I get some time, and I'll try to respond with answers to any questions that readers might have. The new Porsche BEVs with 300+ miles range are a game-changer in terms of my life, and I look forward to getting one of those in the next couple of years. They'll make these road trips a lot easier, though I really don't mind the frequent stops for getting out and walking around. While my family trusts me and sees my calm in planning charging stops, they still can't get range anxiety out of their heads when the charge gets low and the charging options are limited.
I tried charging at a Circle K gas station in Rochester, MN, but could not (rare for me); my phone app -- which is necessary to charge there (I had charged there last year) -- had expired, requiring a download of an updated app, which was a nuisance, as it took lots of time. But then it required a username and pwd that I had forgotten, and the email that I set the account up on is not on my iPhone. So I gave up and left. No DCFC station should require a smartphone to charge, period. I was at two rural DCFC stations on this trip where I had very limited cellphone service.
Here's a list of the DCFC stations that I charged at. Electrify America got four visits by me (five if you count EvolveNY in Syracuse, which is basically EA); I was able to plug-and-charge simply and quickly each of the four times (including at EvolveNY). I visited the EA at Herkimer, NY, both ways. Surprisingly, the I-90 corridor in central NY state is still a DCFC desert in terms of good, reliable DCFC stations.
I visited Rivian Adventure Network three times (all in Michigan, but three different stations, and all starting up easily with a credit-card tap).
I visited two different Electrify Canada stations three times in total in Ontario -- and as with my experience with EC in the Atlantic Provinces last July, every single EC charging attempt was a royal pain; I always have had to plug and unplug and plug in again (sometimes 2-3 times), and multiple credit-card swipes/taps/inserts are needed to initiate a charge. The Ontario EC stations all looked very tired and in need of updates and attention, but they did work.
I visited two Tesla supercharger stations where they were really needed -- in DCFC deserts (the two were in Prairie du Chien, WI, along the Mississippi River, and in Marquette, MI, on the south shore of Lake Superior) that were both far from Interstate highways. The cables were too short, as usual, but nobody else was charging at Prairie du Chien, and only one other car was charging at Marquette, so I was able to easily park sideways next to the Tesla "pumps" to get the plug into my port. My Porsche NACS-to-CCS adapter worked fine, as did the Tesla iPhone app to initiate charging. But Tesla will always be a "last choice" for me because of short cables, poor charging speeds, and that dang adapter. All other DCFC stations on this trip had CCS plugs. (And, as I've stated before, it's way too early to be converting non-Tesla DCFC stations to NACS plugs in a big way, as the vast majority of non-Tesla BEVs on the road in 2026 have CCS ports still. It was also very premature, in 20-20 hindsight, for the other automakers to go NACS, but c'est la vie. Many non-Tesla DCFC stations now have both plugs, but I rarely saw the NACS plugs being used -- and then mostly by Teslas, not non-Teslas.)
I visited Pilot and Flying J once each (same company, and both in Michigan). They worked fine, with charging initiated via Mastercard tap. I also visited two Ionna stations, which also worked fine with a credit-card tap (Lino Lakes, MN; Janesville, WI).
I visited a Chargepoint station at Onvo in Fultonville, NY, off I-90, which did not take my Chargepoint RFID card (a first for me, I think), and I had to use my Chargepoint iPhone app for the first time ever (to my knowledge). I also visited a Love's gas station twice at Waterloo, NY (both ways), for which I was able to use my Chargepoint RFID card to initiate charging.
I charged at the Mercedes Benz charging station at Lee, MA, off the Mass Turnpike both ways; it's a stellar station and the best DCFC station (in my now extensive experience) between Boston and Buffalo. It's the one place I'll always stop at. There's an "ok" EA station in the same shopping plaza as a back-up that I used twice previously -- before the MB station was built. On the way out west, I used my Chargepoint RFID card to initiate charging; on the way back, I used a Mastercard tap instead.
I also stopped at Porsche Buffalo both ways on my trip to get a free charge and hang out with the guys there. I learned from Russ (sales dept.) that dealerships were informed in the last week and a half that Porsche has killed all the Turismos in the Taycan line-up (for MY 2027) -- sadly. That follows on Porsche killing its Sport Turismo for Panamera last year. I must say that I don't see many Taycan Turismos on my cross-country travels.
Other DCFC stations that I charged once at include: Kwik Charge (Ashland, WI) with Mastercard tap; Flo (Munising, MI) with Flo RFID card; Francis Energy (Brule, WI) with FE RFID card; and BP Pulse (Ann Arbor, MI) via credit-card tap. The Francis Energy station in Brule appeared to be brand new.
So the stats on initiating charging on this trip are thus (all DCFC except at family homes):
-- I started at 100% from my own home on Day 1.
-- Mastercard tapping/swiping: 13x [MB (once; first time was Chargepoint RFID card); EC, 3x; Pilot/Flying J, 2x; BP Pulse; Rivian, 3x; Ionna, 2x; Kwik Charge]
-- Plug-and-charge: 5x (EA, EvolveNY).
-- RFID cards: 5x [Chargepoint RFID card (at Love's twice; MB once); Flo RFID card at Flo's; Francis Energy RFID card at FE].
-- Free: 2x at Porsche Buffalo (with thanks to those guys!), 1x at my sister's garage at 240 volts.
-- iPhone app: 3x (Tesla twice; Chargepoint/Onvo, Fultonville, NY).
The most problematical DCFC charging was between Duluth, MN, and Mackinaw City, MI -- on US and state highways, with long distances between charging stations. It worked out fine but required planning and required that all the DCFC stations worked (they did, thankfully). I was only getting 200-230 miles range in my '21 Taycan CT4 on this trip, in which the temperature generally was in the 50s and 60s F (but sometimes in the 20s and 30s at night, and upper 40s by day).
There was basically a difference of about 2x in charging prices, from minimum (ca. 35 cents/kWh) to maximum (ca. 65 cents/kWh, generally at EA). The EC stations in Ontario were all 70 cents/kWh (Canadian dollar), as I recall. The average that I paid at all the public DCFC stations on this trip was surely close to 50 cents/kWh.
On my return home over Memorial Day weekend, I was worried about queues and having to wait to charge, but luckily that didn't happen; one station did have all four slots filled (me being one of the four).
Zero range anxiety on the trip, mainly because I plan carefully and try to always have back-up plans, but I was aware that along the south shore of Lake Superior, far from interstate highways, I'd have been in trouble if one of those DCFC stations wasn't working. Since I last did a trip in my Taycan to see family in the midwest a year ago, there definitely has been improvement in DCFC infrastructure -- but we have a long ways to go before the mainstream public feels comfortable about charging a BEV on roadtrips in many parts of the US and Canada. And even where there is better DCFC infrastructure, we have all heard the stories (some of us experiencing them first-hand) of long queues to charge on holiday weekends.
I saw many people having troubles charging at places where I did not have troubles. One couple at EC in London, ON, had a new Cadilac Lyriq that they were supposed to get free charging at EC and could not initiate despite spending a long time trying and calling customer support and changing chargers; ditto for a Mercedes BEV couple at the Mercedes DCFC station in Lee, MA; and ditto for some other stations, also. I feel bad for these people who want to get into BEVs but have troubles charging at DCFC stations.
I'll add some photos to this trip report when I get some time, and I'll try to respond with answers to any questions that readers might have. The new Porsche BEVs with 300+ miles range are a game-changer in terms of my life, and I look forward to getting one of those in the next couple of years. They'll make these road trips a lot easier, though I really don't mind the frequent stops for getting out and walking around. While my family trusts me and sees my calm in planning charging stops, they still can't get range anxiety out of their heads when the charge gets low and the charging options are limited.
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