WasserGKuehlt
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Finally - my turn to speak about the Taycan from my own experience (and also to start my first thread). Should you decide to read what will undoubtedly be a lengthy post, I'll talk about collection day, weather, a kid from Colorado, stitched with my views about the car, the philosophy of road tripping, misguided empathy, the ratio-of-assholes-to-land-beauty index, scars, and a haiku. Nah, just kidding about that last one, but I do mean to talk about charging because of course. What you won't find here are efficiency metrics, charging speeds or graphs thereof. You've been warned.
Prelude
Back in (whenever), upon seeing the x-turismo Mission E concept, I said to myself (and everyone around me) "that'll be it for me". I was truly ecstatic when the CT was officially launched, spent way too much time in the configurator and finally, around April '22, made the dubious decision to spend on a car more than 2x than I ever had before ā and so I found a dealer, and plonked down a deposit. Last weekend all of that came to a culmination, as I picked up my 4CT from Denver and drove it back to Seattle(ish). This was my first new Porsche, my first EV ā including the first I ever drove, and the first time I spent more than 30s even sitting in a Taycan ā never mind drive one. On the other, sane side, it was my 4th fly-n-drive (3rd in a Porsche), and I've had - still do - a lifelong obsession with the brand, as this would be my 5th. In other words, āI know what Iām doingā and āwhat could possibly go wrongā. (Maybe "sane" is relative?)
Before we proceed, my thanks to every single one of you who have shared anything here for the simple purpose of sharing - I owe you much of the conviction that "everything will be fine", and which made this trip seem reasonable. And a special shoutout to @thecoloradokid, who graciously carved out time from his weekend to meet me, shared road tripping tips, and in general is a great dude (though not a kid). Cheers, mate, was awesome!
Day 1 - Denver to SLC
I'm circling the dealership, waiting for 9am to arrive. I imagine all sorts of kitschy ceremonies, involving drapes dramatically yanked to reveal something I've been obsessing over the past 6-to-9 months, and me having to smile for dealer staff who'll take my picture. Second pass around the dealership - and there it is, parked by the side entrance, being topped off with Watts. Wait.. this is _my_ car - I'm stopped in my tracks, and this is most certainly a far more impactful intro. Once inside the dealership, folks are friendly and down-to-earth ā none of the nonsense I envisioned, which is great as I didn't have room for the embarrassment of posing for taking possession, and I've no idea what I'd have done with the bow. (There is a bow, right? Do they keep it, or..?)
We do meet and greet (my SA was just the greatest, and he'll forever be my Porsche/Audi go-to person), we do paperwork, set up the car and a brief tutorial. Many hours spent on the simulator or reading here definitely helped. Bloody hell, this is a big car - it's just .. vast. And very comfortable - but I have no idea yet, and Iām jumping ahead. I then meet The Kid, get a run through The Kid's (travel) kit and just have a blast with a high-bandwidth conversation. Time to go, though, after a quick snack stop at a nearby Safeway.
I70 West - moderate traffic, and I'm being the overwhelmed EV noob in the slow lane, trying to divide my attention between the SoC indicator and, you know, everything else around me. Thankfully my SA had turned on the radio and picked a station earlier, which diffused a bit of the overwhelmingness of the situation. I doubt Iād have been able to focus long enough to safely turn on the radio. The range and SoC are dropping visibly and alarmingly, and I find myself minimizing the throttle and maximizing coasting; those behind me no doubt find my self to be very annoying, what with the lack of constant pace. The map keeps getting updates, which resets the route and - more alarmingly - my next freaking stop! I thought I could make it, and stop for 20 min, now you're showing me a 3 hr stop in a place I never saw on ABRP before?? Oh, there you are again with the initial stopover, whew.
Colorado is beautiful, like - achingly so. Drivers are fast but well-behaved, and lane discipline is almost Germanic. There is Copper Mountain.. Vail.. Aspen? WTAF, are these resorts really all by the side of the road? I can make out the color of skiersā boots ā and maybe even the brand, but I mustnāt squint, I didnāt come here to ski. Coverage looks good, but somehow feels artificial. Focusing back on driving, the big mountains on a blue sky give way to a descent through a narrow canyon covered with a lid of foreboding clouds. Itās all very dramatic, demanding and yet rewarding ā itās as if the car has infinite grip, and Iām just coasting! Funās over, though, as Iām finally almost at my first charging stop - Glenwood Springs, and the charger is a long way from the interstate. Still, I'm genuinely relieved I made it here - thought that climb to 11k ft was going to drain the battery and fill me with anxiety. Being the noob that I am (and EA using shades of green for all their stations), I fail to snatch the last open 350kW station, and I pull in front of a 150. Bloody hell, this is a big car - maneuvering is tricky, and the cameras are just making fun of you ā especially the rear one. By the time I realize my mistake and want to relocate, an i4 pulls in and takes the 350. The other 2 stations are hosting an ID4 and something else, both charging at a trickle. Plug&charge doesn't work - here we go; the chargerās screen says āpayment declinedā. The MyPorsche app says it can't reach the server. I call EA, and the friendly operator (D.) sets me up for a complimentary session. I go inside the nearby Target, sync with family and The CO Kid (thanks again, P!), burn more time in the Big5 and come out to a replenished "tank". This is.. relaxing, I could get used to this. Back in the saddle, time to go - lost more than 40min here, and I have a good chunk of the dayās 500 miles ahead of me. (The ID4 and the something else are still there, still trickle-charging on a 350 station.)
By now all my ABRP plans are forgotten, along with any other plan Bs. I take a quick count and realize I'm fresh out of fucks (to give), so this next stint is going to be just pure driving fun, economy and range be damned. I've got a near-full battery and only 90 miles to the next station, and so I grab it by the scruff and give it the beans, shoving them with the spurs for good measure (itās my thread and Iām entitled to torturing metaphors). We're flying around 90ish mph - straights or turns, doesn't matter. It's planted, it's giving me the right feedback, it's _supremely_ comfortable, and makes the same noise at 60 or 100. The real ultimate driving machine. Or I should say "mean, clean coasting machine" - this thing is insane. Launch it a bit on a straight or shallow downhill, and it'll coast like cartoon characters sliding on ice; ffs, it coasts _uphill_, only gently losing speed: 89.. 87.. 85.. 80.. It's surreal. I have to recalibrate my sense of scrubbing off speed in traffic ā and soon.
Speaking of straights, now that I'm out of the mountains I finally find a bit of time to survey the environment. The seats are comfy - almost the same driving position as in a 911, perhaps a tad taller but the same stretched/horizontal legs, and much better than the Macan's. The steering wheel feels a bit feeble - I should've gone for the GT sport, as the rim is on the thinner side. (Had some concerns about the protruding thumb rests impeding sight of the instrument cluster; nonsense, get it if you're thinking it ā who cares what time is it or whatās the temp outside.) The plastics are on the underwhelming side - the shelf is nice and feels like good quality, but the front lip is just .. won't do. It's some sort of pleather, as you can see the stitching around the cowl, but it's hard and has a cheap feel to it. The (Gen1) Macan's is definitely better - softer material, with a more leather-like texture and print. I object, in principle, to luxury in a Porsche (not my idea of what the brand stands for), and I'd still not get the full leather package, but I really wish the standard trim was a bit better. The door ergonomics are equally poor - the handle is too far forward, and the controls are paradoxically too far back. You have to twist or push your elbow unnaturally back to adjust the mirrors while in the normal driving position. I think the Macan did it better, as does the 911. (Won't even dignify the center console cubby. Itāsā¦ got a lid, so thereās that.) The leather on the seats is fine, and I'm really pleased with the color - it's a far more muted "beige" than the Luxor in the other models; this isn't yellowish, it's more of a sand/light brown. The seat cushion seems to have some "space" in between the leather and the foam underneath. I'll keep observing, but a bit unsettling to see. Lastly, there's a rattle (high freq) just over my left shoulder, almost at ear level. I figure it's something in the seal, as it seems to go away if I pull the door in, or slam it shut harder. Speaking of, the door is very light, and takes some getting used to for proper closing without slamming. (I hate slamming doors, whether it's me or others.)
Enough BS, back to driving. Grand Junction stop - another charging failure. I call EA customer support, and bump into the same operator, D., who jovially makes short work of remotely starting another complimentary session. I'm getting a bit ticked off, as it's been hours and by now surely the Porsche servers are back online? Thatās how you run a service, right? Oh, sweet child.. Next stop - Green River, and I'm looking forward to the famous coffee. More spirited driving, with a short stop at a view point. As I arrive in Green River, it's dark and empty, the station is a ways from the interstate, I fail to spot the chargers and here I am, in the middle of undeveloped land, with unpaved roads. WTF, nav, what do you mean "restricted access", and where the hell exactly is this street whose name you got wrong? I find the station, obviously plug&charge still isn't/doesnāt, the Porsche app still fails, so I'm again on the phone with EA. Not my friend D. this time, but an equally empathetic operator who really wants to sort this out for me. So we try 2 chargers, and each of the 4 plugs, several times. (That rear view camera really is useless.) Then we reboot, we wait, and we try again. I am shocked to see it doesn't work (../s), but truly thankful for yet another remotely started session. I just wish I wouldn't have to spend so much time getting to the point where charging finally starts. And speaking of - bloody hell, these cables are unusable. They're stiff, the positioning is off - whether the pull-to or the pull-alongside type of station. There's tension (heh) in the cable so alignment with the carās port is tricky, there are protective steel pylons getting in the way ā mine and the cableās, and who the hell thought that aligning the charger with the center of the parking spot is the optimal placement? I mean, I get why, but a charger placed in between 2 adjacent (parallel lengthwise) spots would have made for easier access/closer to the typical position of any carās charging port. No matter, another charge complete, ready for the next leg. Bloody coffee shop is long closed, and it looks like the winter storm is early. Things are about to get serious.
Off I70, through the mountains now hiding in the darkness, on a mostly-single-lane road, framed neatly by snow banks. Itās raining, ā¦ and now itās snowing ā hard. The auto long beams seem to work well ā itās detecting accurately oncoming cars, or cars I catch up to, so Iām a bit impressed with not having to deal with that myself. Bummer, though, that the long beams are kinda useless in whatās become a dense, blinding snow storm. Itās not settling yet, but here and there thereās a slushy patch. No slippage, though, and Iām glad to see the all-seasons are competent enough. Itās below freezing, Iāve no idea what my consumption is, all I do is constantly subtract the distance to the next stop from the estimated remaining range, try to make out just how big these mountains are, and squeeze the steering wheel some more. (Theyāre big, and close, and theyāre flashing unforgiving rocks contoured with snow at me. Why is it that I always do these drives mostly in the dark?)
The descent is easing, and Iām approaching my next stopover, EA in Spanish Fork. The snow turned to rain, plug&charge has been long disabled, and I resolve to make one last attempt at charging with the app. Yeah, thought so ā useless. On the phone again, yet another EA operator who tries to help me diagnose and try various remedies. Please, māam, I just want to charge, and yes, I authorize a charge to my card. I did learn something useful, though ā after setting up my EA account, adding a card, selecting a plan etc., I still had to āloadā an initial $10 before automatic debiting/replenishing kicks in. Many thanks, and I realize how hard it must be to stay genuinely empathetic on so many late night phone calls. I suspect some customers would be quite irate, and vent their frustration with Porscheās ineptitude at the poor EA customer support. This is a short charge, as I donāt have far to go ā tonightās stop is in South Jordan, just South of SLC.
The storm is now properly here; itās warm, but downright torrential: vertical waves of rain are sweeping the highway, and Utahaians (Utahoans? Utahists? Utahicists? Yeah, that keeps me amused for a few miles) are definitely aiming for the crown of Worst Drivers in the US of A. (Sorry, Washingtonians will never relinquish that title.) There are people driving on every of the 5-6 lanes, at only slightly different speeds. Thereās one turned perpendicular to the direction of travel ā itās a miracle the car ahead of me stopped in time and didnāt veer into my lane, or this trip would have been way shorter. I make it to the hotel, itās almost 10pm, itās dumping and I need a charge. There is an EVPassport station, and itās pleasantly quick to get a charge going: scan a QR code, authorize Apple Pay, and Iām getting 6-something kW.
Day 1 tally: 9.5 hrs of driving, 507 mi, 41.5 kWh/100 mi, 56 mph average. Gotta do better, dude, monster day tomorrow.
Day 2 ā SLC to Seattle(ish)
I feel rested, the car put away 60kWh overnight, and weāre headed for Perry, UT, where the deserted part of the trip begins: long stints, must charge to the brim at every stop. 8am on a Sunday morning, roads are empty and itās raining. The plan is to drive until noon and reassess whether reaching home is doable tonight. Also, must get out of this storm ā North and West of here should be clear, and Iām out of the mountains. Well, as Iām leaving SLC the snow is coming down hard, big and wet, and the traffic focuses on a few of the lanes. In the other direction, a police car with sirens on is doing a slalom, perhaps to break up the settling slush. Itās now wide-open fields, just me and a few lone big trucks, and this car feels like itās unflappable. Changing lanes is white-knuckle, and as I approach Perry it gets a bit serious ā especially off the highway. Iām still naĆÆve about Porscheās service availability (they must have seen my failed attempts, this is at least a severity 2 incident and theyāve been working overnight to mitigate, right? Rofl), and so I try the app once more. Right. This wonāt do today, itāll be straight up authentication and payment with the EA app. The car is pulling 274kW, itās buzzing, and the steam coming out from under the car is both amusing and concerning.
The snow has stopped, but itās still cold, some of the turns on I84 are rather sharp and a bit icy. The car still doesnāt care, carries speed through the corners, uphill and the day begins to brighten. Literally, too, Iām out in the open now, the straights are longer, and the clouds are retreating higher in the sky. Stinker Store stop in Heyburn, and I make one final attempt with the plug&charge, the P app and EA customer support. No, please donāt reboot the statio.. oh well. It was worth the wait and the phone call ā I just found out the contact phone (itās one eight hundred p o r s c h e), and that their hours of operation are (smth) to (smth); they will return to the office on Tue. WTAF ā Iāll be long home by then, and wonāt need to charge on the road for a long time. Iām wondering who is hosting Porscheās services, ācause that sounds like a worthy challenge. (I wonder what theyād issue as a company car, although I kinda like mine.) 258kW brings me from 26% SoC to āready to driveā in no time, itās now sunny and I make it to Mountain Home around 1pm.
Time to reassess: 4 hrs 20m, 310 miles, 74 mph average and 51kWh/100mi. 4 out of 5 aināt bad, and by now I figured out myself what The Kid had told me: 80mph is the sweet spot, and as you approach 90 efficiency drops off a cliff. 550 miles to go, and I make the call: bring it.
Next worry is another EV first for me: stop-and-go just out of Mountain Home; will I lose range idling, and how much? Should I turn off the A/C, or open the windows to help it? The traffic crawls for about 15-20 min, until we pass the site of a nasty accident: a large SUV yay over there in the median, and another, almost halved from the rear impact, being loaded on a platform. Hope they made it.
The scenery is beautiful and barren, Idahoans are great drivers (the few I encounter) and by now Iām friends with the truckers I passed so many times already on this trip: thereās the Prime guy, thereās the other dude who just loves Elefantenrennen, and thereās the UHauler towing his WA-plated car. I swear heās going to beat me home. And this has got me thinking: I used to hate stopping on long trips, itās as if Iām losing hard-earned āprogressā. But with that comes fatigue, headaches and stiffness. Yet here I am, doing 80-to-130 mile stints, stopping for about 20-30 min each time, and Iām completely relaxed, fresh and could not care less about that progress. As Iām peeling off I84 for my next stop, an ICE car pulls into the gas station right off the exit, while I have 4.5 miles to go on a country road to the tiny ācityā of Huntington. Itās very pretty here, but suddenly Iām very well aware of how out of place my car, me and the general idea of EV is in a town like this. The folks are friendly, and one strikes a conversation asking about speed and power; I play it safe and say itās the base model, and it really isnāt that fast. I donāt know if heās disappointed, or Iāve helped reinforce some already-held beliefs, but his āthatās it?ā reply to the 469hp number shows heās no stranger to high-powered hardware. (I didnāt have the heart to tell him thatās only in launch mode.) Trip check: 6hr20m, 433 mi (exactly halfway home), 70 mph average, and slightly better at 49.9kWh/100mi. Iāve gained an hour (itās 3pm), and ETA home is now a much better 11pm.
Oh, my, Oregon truly is the best and prettiest of States, and this bit of I84 North of Huntington is truly better than our I90 up in the NW corner. Itās a steep descent with tight curves, and so I find the opportunity to turn on the g-meter; .4g feels like a little, but reads like a lot. I canāt imagine what 10x would be like, for 2 hrs (F1) or for 24. The carās nav tries to goad me into skipping my next planned stop (Island City), and go straight for Hermiston. Iām not comfortable with that thought, as itās ~150 miles and itād bring me at the stopover with less than 10% SoC. It seems to ignore my 20% lower limit, and itās done that several times. Itās a short stint then, and Iām trying to keep it civil, until a Macan catches up with me. I yield, politely, when we catch up to other traffic, but s/he seems to wait on my 7 oā clock, goading me into demonstrating passing speed. Ok then ā and this is the cool thing about this car: if you need 100mph from just about any speed, you just press the pedal and count to 1, or 2. (I suspect you would not have time to count to 2 in the S, or at all in the turbo.) So we come up to another fun bit of twisties, Iām coasting and gaining speed, s/he lets me by and ā for the first time on this trip ā I floor it. Bloody. Fucking. Hell. Itās uphill, and the car is well into triple digits almost instantly. Itās actually a bit scary ā it wasnāt violent, but how those numbers change without nary a hint that something might be different from inside the car.
It's getting dark now; I stop in Stanfield, where the EA stations are by the side of the parking spots. I donāt quite get how 2 chargers, with 4 ports, are meant to serve the 2 adjacent spots.. An F150 Lightning is charging up, and I make the rookie mistake of pulling alongside, to the same station. I get out, get ready to charge, and then it dawns on me Iāll be robbing my fellow EVist (EVian?) of probably-much needed amps. So I get in the car again, back out (I just hate that rear camera), and move to the farthest charger. Remember, kids, the algorithm to pick the optimal charger is exactly the same as that for picking urinals in a public restroom. (Thatās an xkcd reference.) Trip check: 8hr 40m, 598mi, 48.6kWh/100mi, 71 mph average. Itās 6:20, and Iāll have a beer at home tonight.
Iām now in Yakima, fun time is over, drivers are idiots again, but it smells like home and Iāve been told the pass ā the last obstacle on my trip ā is bare and wet. I pull at a decidedly-shady-looking EA station at the Walmart, where a ratty van ICEd a parking spot, and a Mach-E is using one of the 2 350kW chargers. Bloody hell, I failed again to recognize the shade of green corresponding to the 150, so I back out, and pull uncomfortably close to the ratty van so I can use the other 350 charger. The car is huge, visibility is near 0, and that rear camera is just a hateful thing asking for punches. With a nail setter. Iām at 26% SoC, and I glance at the Mach-E: 53%. By the time I tidy up the interior and make a quick call, Iām at 32%, heās at 54. They go into the store, I go in as well for a bio break and a quick walkthrough. I come back out, Iām at 56% and the other car is barely over 60. I decide itās impolite to even furtively check and compare, and I realize there is no ICE equivalent to this. Trip check: 10hr 24min, 711mi, 48.5kWh/100mi, 70mph. Itās 8:40pm, ETA is 11:30pm, and the lunatic charge planner says next stop is home. Dude, thatās 150 miles, over a few mountain passes, and Iād arrive home with 27 miles of spare range. Hell no, Iāll make a quick stop in North Bend.
And then things got serious: as the climb started, the snow was now settling deep and wet, weāre down to 2 lanes, and the signs changed from ātraction tires advisedā to ārequiredā. (Thankfully, WA classifies anything with tread blocks as a ātraction tireā, so I was safe. <- sarcasm) This car is a beast ā it knows exactly where it wants to go, and thatās where I point it. The speeds are a bit high, and it's definitely sketchy, but weāre all awesome drivers here so we drive within inches of each other. At speed. In 2-3ā of wet snow. At night. (Beat that, Utahaians. Did I mention here in WA we love to use the high beams at all times?) Down the other side itās even crazier ā rightmost lane is open, and everyone is scything through everyone else on the 2 left lanes. Snow gave way to rain, and Iām now in full red mist of āalmost homeā. I just need a quick top-off, to add some 50 miles of range.
Well, EA couldnāt keep their flawless record for this trip: I stroll into the deserted āpremium outletā parking lot at 10:18pm; itās raining, and for the next 40 min I curse in every language I ever heard, while not adding a single mile. Fastest car/driver up and down the pass my arse, the slowest on the mountain tonight is by now long at home, with a hot tea, slippers and ready for tomorrow. And here I am, plugging and unplugging every goddam port, moving the car back and forth, and explaining to the very kind operator in which way each station is failing: one has Ā½ ports unavailable and a network connection failure on the card reader; another has 2/2 ports unavailable, and the 3rd (and truly, the worst) says ācomplimentary charge; plug inā but doesnāt do anything: wonāt recognize the car, canāt be rebooted remotely ā itās just standing there, teasing people. Iāve been on the phone for 20 min, Iām whining I just need 20 miles and I donāt want to debug the station in the rain, and now Iām sorry that my complaining has made the operator feel sorry for me. (Canāt make this stuff up.) A complimentary remote session is finally starting, and Iām so relieved. I try not to think about my failure to check the status on PlugShare (3 earlier reports on that day confirmed the station was failing), or that my āfastest up and downā BS may have cost me miles and time. A few kWh later, Iām on the final stretch of curvy, familiar roads. (This car is _wide_, stay sharp.) Home at 11:40pm, and despite this having been a long day, I feel like I could have done 3-5 hours more. Well done, you electric horse, thanks for bringing me home swiftly and silently. Weāll do this again soon.
Day 2 tally: 12hrs 45min, 859.5mi, 48.2kWh/100mi, 69mph average.
+/- (heh)
+: extremely competent, comfortable, sure-footed; crushes continents; best car ever, bar none. Charges from a fire hose.
-: lighted up inside like a lounge; I really donāt need that many screens, lights of different luminosity levels and colors, wish I had a ānight flightā mode. Plug&charge failed consistently the one time I needed it, and Porscheās live-site isnāt. I took one pebble and it: left a dent on the hood, chipped the paint in 2 places, chipped the windshield. All minor and perhaps unavoidable, but smarts. A hint of torque steer (could it be?), so RWD fans ā rejoice in the purity of your steering feel.
(sheepish edit) "Services are hard" said he condescendingly, while duplicating pics in a simple bit of html.
Prelude
Back in (whenever), upon seeing the x-turismo Mission E concept, I said to myself (and everyone around me) "that'll be it for me". I was truly ecstatic when the CT was officially launched, spent way too much time in the configurator and finally, around April '22, made the dubious decision to spend on a car more than 2x than I ever had before ā and so I found a dealer, and plonked down a deposit. Last weekend all of that came to a culmination, as I picked up my 4CT from Denver and drove it back to Seattle(ish). This was my first new Porsche, my first EV ā including the first I ever drove, and the first time I spent more than 30s even sitting in a Taycan ā never mind drive one. On the other, sane side, it was my 4th fly-n-drive (3rd in a Porsche), and I've had - still do - a lifelong obsession with the brand, as this would be my 5th. In other words, āI know what Iām doingā and āwhat could possibly go wrongā. (Maybe "sane" is relative?)
Before we proceed, my thanks to every single one of you who have shared anything here for the simple purpose of sharing - I owe you much of the conviction that "everything will be fine", and which made this trip seem reasonable. And a special shoutout to @thecoloradokid, who graciously carved out time from his weekend to meet me, shared road tripping tips, and in general is a great dude (though not a kid). Cheers, mate, was awesome!
Day 1 - Denver to SLC
I'm circling the dealership, waiting for 9am to arrive. I imagine all sorts of kitschy ceremonies, involving drapes dramatically yanked to reveal something I've been obsessing over the past 6-to-9 months, and me having to smile for dealer staff who'll take my picture. Second pass around the dealership - and there it is, parked by the side entrance, being topped off with Watts. Wait.. this is _my_ car - I'm stopped in my tracks, and this is most certainly a far more impactful intro. Once inside the dealership, folks are friendly and down-to-earth ā none of the nonsense I envisioned, which is great as I didn't have room for the embarrassment of posing for taking possession, and I've no idea what I'd have done with the bow. (There is a bow, right? Do they keep it, or..?)
We do meet and greet (my SA was just the greatest, and he'll forever be my Porsche/Audi go-to person), we do paperwork, set up the car and a brief tutorial. Many hours spent on the simulator or reading here definitely helped. Bloody hell, this is a big car - it's just .. vast. And very comfortable - but I have no idea yet, and Iām jumping ahead. I then meet The Kid, get a run through The Kid's (travel) kit and just have a blast with a high-bandwidth conversation. Time to go, though, after a quick snack stop at a nearby Safeway.
I70 West - moderate traffic, and I'm being the overwhelmed EV noob in the slow lane, trying to divide my attention between the SoC indicator and, you know, everything else around me. Thankfully my SA had turned on the radio and picked a station earlier, which diffused a bit of the overwhelmingness of the situation. I doubt Iād have been able to focus long enough to safely turn on the radio. The range and SoC are dropping visibly and alarmingly, and I find myself minimizing the throttle and maximizing coasting; those behind me no doubt find my self to be very annoying, what with the lack of constant pace. The map keeps getting updates, which resets the route and - more alarmingly - my next freaking stop! I thought I could make it, and stop for 20 min, now you're showing me a 3 hr stop in a place I never saw on ABRP before?? Oh, there you are again with the initial stopover, whew.
Colorado is beautiful, like - achingly so. Drivers are fast but well-behaved, and lane discipline is almost Germanic. There is Copper Mountain.. Vail.. Aspen? WTAF, are these resorts really all by the side of the road? I can make out the color of skiersā boots ā and maybe even the brand, but I mustnāt squint, I didnāt come here to ski. Coverage looks good, but somehow feels artificial. Focusing back on driving, the big mountains on a blue sky give way to a descent through a narrow canyon covered with a lid of foreboding clouds. Itās all very dramatic, demanding and yet rewarding ā itās as if the car has infinite grip, and Iām just coasting! Funās over, though, as Iām finally almost at my first charging stop - Glenwood Springs, and the charger is a long way from the interstate. Still, I'm genuinely relieved I made it here - thought that climb to 11k ft was going to drain the battery and fill me with anxiety. Being the noob that I am (and EA using shades of green for all their stations), I fail to snatch the last open 350kW station, and I pull in front of a 150. Bloody hell, this is a big car - maneuvering is tricky, and the cameras are just making fun of you ā especially the rear one. By the time I realize my mistake and want to relocate, an i4 pulls in and takes the 350. The other 2 stations are hosting an ID4 and something else, both charging at a trickle. Plug&charge doesn't work - here we go; the chargerās screen says āpayment declinedā. The MyPorsche app says it can't reach the server. I call EA, and the friendly operator (D.) sets me up for a complimentary session. I go inside the nearby Target, sync with family and The CO Kid (thanks again, P!), burn more time in the Big5 and come out to a replenished "tank". This is.. relaxing, I could get used to this. Back in the saddle, time to go - lost more than 40min here, and I have a good chunk of the dayās 500 miles ahead of me. (The ID4 and the something else are still there, still trickle-charging on a 350 station.)
By now all my ABRP plans are forgotten, along with any other plan Bs. I take a quick count and realize I'm fresh out of fucks (to give), so this next stint is going to be just pure driving fun, economy and range be damned. I've got a near-full battery and only 90 miles to the next station, and so I grab it by the scruff and give it the beans, shoving them with the spurs for good measure (itās my thread and Iām entitled to torturing metaphors). We're flying around 90ish mph - straights or turns, doesn't matter. It's planted, it's giving me the right feedback, it's _supremely_ comfortable, and makes the same noise at 60 or 100. The real ultimate driving machine. Or I should say "mean, clean coasting machine" - this thing is insane. Launch it a bit on a straight or shallow downhill, and it'll coast like cartoon characters sliding on ice; ffs, it coasts _uphill_, only gently losing speed: 89.. 87.. 85.. 80.. It's surreal. I have to recalibrate my sense of scrubbing off speed in traffic ā and soon.
Speaking of straights, now that I'm out of the mountains I finally find a bit of time to survey the environment. The seats are comfy - almost the same driving position as in a 911, perhaps a tad taller but the same stretched/horizontal legs, and much better than the Macan's. The steering wheel feels a bit feeble - I should've gone for the GT sport, as the rim is on the thinner side. (Had some concerns about the protruding thumb rests impeding sight of the instrument cluster; nonsense, get it if you're thinking it ā who cares what time is it or whatās the temp outside.) The plastics are on the underwhelming side - the shelf is nice and feels like good quality, but the front lip is just .. won't do. It's some sort of pleather, as you can see the stitching around the cowl, but it's hard and has a cheap feel to it. The (Gen1) Macan's is definitely better - softer material, with a more leather-like texture and print. I object, in principle, to luxury in a Porsche (not my idea of what the brand stands for), and I'd still not get the full leather package, but I really wish the standard trim was a bit better. The door ergonomics are equally poor - the handle is too far forward, and the controls are paradoxically too far back. You have to twist or push your elbow unnaturally back to adjust the mirrors while in the normal driving position. I think the Macan did it better, as does the 911. (Won't even dignify the center console cubby. Itāsā¦ got a lid, so thereās that.) The leather on the seats is fine, and I'm really pleased with the color - it's a far more muted "beige" than the Luxor in the other models; this isn't yellowish, it's more of a sand/light brown. The seat cushion seems to have some "space" in between the leather and the foam underneath. I'll keep observing, but a bit unsettling to see. Lastly, there's a rattle (high freq) just over my left shoulder, almost at ear level. I figure it's something in the seal, as it seems to go away if I pull the door in, or slam it shut harder. Speaking of, the door is very light, and takes some getting used to for proper closing without slamming. (I hate slamming doors, whether it's me or others.)
Enough BS, back to driving. Grand Junction stop - another charging failure. I call EA customer support, and bump into the same operator, D., who jovially makes short work of remotely starting another complimentary session. I'm getting a bit ticked off, as it's been hours and by now surely the Porsche servers are back online? Thatās how you run a service, right? Oh, sweet child.. Next stop - Green River, and I'm looking forward to the famous coffee. More spirited driving, with a short stop at a view point. As I arrive in Green River, it's dark and empty, the station is a ways from the interstate, I fail to spot the chargers and here I am, in the middle of undeveloped land, with unpaved roads. WTF, nav, what do you mean "restricted access", and where the hell exactly is this street whose name you got wrong? I find the station, obviously plug&charge still isn't/doesnāt, the Porsche app still fails, so I'm again on the phone with EA. Not my friend D. this time, but an equally empathetic operator who really wants to sort this out for me. So we try 2 chargers, and each of the 4 plugs, several times. (That rear view camera really is useless.) Then we reboot, we wait, and we try again. I am shocked to see it doesn't work (../s), but truly thankful for yet another remotely started session. I just wish I wouldn't have to spend so much time getting to the point where charging finally starts. And speaking of - bloody hell, these cables are unusable. They're stiff, the positioning is off - whether the pull-to or the pull-alongside type of station. There's tension (heh) in the cable so alignment with the carās port is tricky, there are protective steel pylons getting in the way ā mine and the cableās, and who the hell thought that aligning the charger with the center of the parking spot is the optimal placement? I mean, I get why, but a charger placed in between 2 adjacent (parallel lengthwise) spots would have made for easier access/closer to the typical position of any carās charging port. No matter, another charge complete, ready for the next leg. Bloody coffee shop is long closed, and it looks like the winter storm is early. Things are about to get serious.
Off I70, through the mountains now hiding in the darkness, on a mostly-single-lane road, framed neatly by snow banks. Itās raining, ā¦ and now itās snowing ā hard. The auto long beams seem to work well ā itās detecting accurately oncoming cars, or cars I catch up to, so Iām a bit impressed with not having to deal with that myself. Bummer, though, that the long beams are kinda useless in whatās become a dense, blinding snow storm. Itās not settling yet, but here and there thereās a slushy patch. No slippage, though, and Iām glad to see the all-seasons are competent enough. Itās below freezing, Iāve no idea what my consumption is, all I do is constantly subtract the distance to the next stop from the estimated remaining range, try to make out just how big these mountains are, and squeeze the steering wheel some more. (Theyāre big, and close, and theyāre flashing unforgiving rocks contoured with snow at me. Why is it that I always do these drives mostly in the dark?)
The descent is easing, and Iām approaching my next stopover, EA in Spanish Fork. The snow turned to rain, plug&charge has been long disabled, and I resolve to make one last attempt at charging with the app. Yeah, thought so ā useless. On the phone again, yet another EA operator who tries to help me diagnose and try various remedies. Please, māam, I just want to charge, and yes, I authorize a charge to my card. I did learn something useful, though ā after setting up my EA account, adding a card, selecting a plan etc., I still had to āloadā an initial $10 before automatic debiting/replenishing kicks in. Many thanks, and I realize how hard it must be to stay genuinely empathetic on so many late night phone calls. I suspect some customers would be quite irate, and vent their frustration with Porscheās ineptitude at the poor EA customer support. This is a short charge, as I donāt have far to go ā tonightās stop is in South Jordan, just South of SLC.
The storm is now properly here; itās warm, but downright torrential: vertical waves of rain are sweeping the highway, and Utahaians (Utahoans? Utahists? Utahicists? Yeah, that keeps me amused for a few miles) are definitely aiming for the crown of Worst Drivers in the US of A. (Sorry, Washingtonians will never relinquish that title.) There are people driving on every of the 5-6 lanes, at only slightly different speeds. Thereās one turned perpendicular to the direction of travel ā itās a miracle the car ahead of me stopped in time and didnāt veer into my lane, or this trip would have been way shorter. I make it to the hotel, itās almost 10pm, itās dumping and I need a charge. There is an EVPassport station, and itās pleasantly quick to get a charge going: scan a QR code, authorize Apple Pay, and Iām getting 6-something kW.
Day 1 tally: 9.5 hrs of driving, 507 mi, 41.5 kWh/100 mi, 56 mph average. Gotta do better, dude, monster day tomorrow.
Day 2 ā SLC to Seattle(ish)
I feel rested, the car put away 60kWh overnight, and weāre headed for Perry, UT, where the deserted part of the trip begins: long stints, must charge to the brim at every stop. 8am on a Sunday morning, roads are empty and itās raining. The plan is to drive until noon and reassess whether reaching home is doable tonight. Also, must get out of this storm ā North and West of here should be clear, and Iām out of the mountains. Well, as Iām leaving SLC the snow is coming down hard, big and wet, and the traffic focuses on a few of the lanes. In the other direction, a police car with sirens on is doing a slalom, perhaps to break up the settling slush. Itās now wide-open fields, just me and a few lone big trucks, and this car feels like itās unflappable. Changing lanes is white-knuckle, and as I approach Perry it gets a bit serious ā especially off the highway. Iām still naĆÆve about Porscheās service availability (they must have seen my failed attempts, this is at least a severity 2 incident and theyāve been working overnight to mitigate, right? Rofl), and so I try the app once more. Right. This wonāt do today, itāll be straight up authentication and payment with the EA app. The car is pulling 274kW, itās buzzing, and the steam coming out from under the car is both amusing and concerning.
The snow has stopped, but itās still cold, some of the turns on I84 are rather sharp and a bit icy. The car still doesnāt care, carries speed through the corners, uphill and the day begins to brighten. Literally, too, Iām out in the open now, the straights are longer, and the clouds are retreating higher in the sky. Stinker Store stop in Heyburn, and I make one final attempt with the plug&charge, the P app and EA customer support. No, please donāt reboot the statio.. oh well. It was worth the wait and the phone call ā I just found out the contact phone (itās one eight hundred p o r s c h e), and that their hours of operation are (smth) to (smth); they will return to the office on Tue. WTAF ā Iāll be long home by then, and wonāt need to charge on the road for a long time. Iām wondering who is hosting Porscheās services, ācause that sounds like a worthy challenge. (I wonder what theyād issue as a company car, although I kinda like mine.) 258kW brings me from 26% SoC to āready to driveā in no time, itās now sunny and I make it to Mountain Home around 1pm.
Time to reassess: 4 hrs 20m, 310 miles, 74 mph average and 51kWh/100mi. 4 out of 5 aināt bad, and by now I figured out myself what The Kid had told me: 80mph is the sweet spot, and as you approach 90 efficiency drops off a cliff. 550 miles to go, and I make the call: bring it.
Next worry is another EV first for me: stop-and-go just out of Mountain Home; will I lose range idling, and how much? Should I turn off the A/C, or open the windows to help it? The traffic crawls for about 15-20 min, until we pass the site of a nasty accident: a large SUV yay over there in the median, and another, almost halved from the rear impact, being loaded on a platform. Hope they made it.
The scenery is beautiful and barren, Idahoans are great drivers (the few I encounter) and by now Iām friends with the truckers I passed so many times already on this trip: thereās the Prime guy, thereās the other dude who just loves Elefantenrennen, and thereās the UHauler towing his WA-plated car. I swear heās going to beat me home. And this has got me thinking: I used to hate stopping on long trips, itās as if Iām losing hard-earned āprogressā. But with that comes fatigue, headaches and stiffness. Yet here I am, doing 80-to-130 mile stints, stopping for about 20-30 min each time, and Iām completely relaxed, fresh and could not care less about that progress. As Iām peeling off I84 for my next stop, an ICE car pulls into the gas station right off the exit, while I have 4.5 miles to go on a country road to the tiny ācityā of Huntington. Itās very pretty here, but suddenly Iām very well aware of how out of place my car, me and the general idea of EV is in a town like this. The folks are friendly, and one strikes a conversation asking about speed and power; I play it safe and say itās the base model, and it really isnāt that fast. I donāt know if heās disappointed, or Iāve helped reinforce some already-held beliefs, but his āthatās it?ā reply to the 469hp number shows heās no stranger to high-powered hardware. (I didnāt have the heart to tell him thatās only in launch mode.) Trip check: 6hr20m, 433 mi (exactly halfway home), 70 mph average, and slightly better at 49.9kWh/100mi. Iāve gained an hour (itās 3pm), and ETA home is now a much better 11pm.
Oh, my, Oregon truly is the best and prettiest of States, and this bit of I84 North of Huntington is truly better than our I90 up in the NW corner. Itās a steep descent with tight curves, and so I find the opportunity to turn on the g-meter; .4g feels like a little, but reads like a lot. I canāt imagine what 10x would be like, for 2 hrs (F1) or for 24. The carās nav tries to goad me into skipping my next planned stop (Island City), and go straight for Hermiston. Iām not comfortable with that thought, as itās ~150 miles and itād bring me at the stopover with less than 10% SoC. It seems to ignore my 20% lower limit, and itās done that several times. Itās a short stint then, and Iām trying to keep it civil, until a Macan catches up with me. I yield, politely, when we catch up to other traffic, but s/he seems to wait on my 7 oā clock, goading me into demonstrating passing speed. Ok then ā and this is the cool thing about this car: if you need 100mph from just about any speed, you just press the pedal and count to 1, or 2. (I suspect you would not have time to count to 2 in the S, or at all in the turbo.) So we come up to another fun bit of twisties, Iām coasting and gaining speed, s/he lets me by and ā for the first time on this trip ā I floor it. Bloody. Fucking. Hell. Itās uphill, and the car is well into triple digits almost instantly. Itās actually a bit scary ā it wasnāt violent, but how those numbers change without nary a hint that something might be different from inside the car.
It's getting dark now; I stop in Stanfield, where the EA stations are by the side of the parking spots. I donāt quite get how 2 chargers, with 4 ports, are meant to serve the 2 adjacent spots.. An F150 Lightning is charging up, and I make the rookie mistake of pulling alongside, to the same station. I get out, get ready to charge, and then it dawns on me Iāll be robbing my fellow EVist (EVian?) of probably-much needed amps. So I get in the car again, back out (I just hate that rear camera), and move to the farthest charger. Remember, kids, the algorithm to pick the optimal charger is exactly the same as that for picking urinals in a public restroom. (Thatās an xkcd reference.) Trip check: 8hr 40m, 598mi, 48.6kWh/100mi, 71 mph average. Itās 6:20, and Iāll have a beer at home tonight.
Iām now in Yakima, fun time is over, drivers are idiots again, but it smells like home and Iāve been told the pass ā the last obstacle on my trip ā is bare and wet. I pull at a decidedly-shady-looking EA station at the Walmart, where a ratty van ICEd a parking spot, and a Mach-E is using one of the 2 350kW chargers. Bloody hell, I failed again to recognize the shade of green corresponding to the 150, so I back out, and pull uncomfortably close to the ratty van so I can use the other 350 charger. The car is huge, visibility is near 0, and that rear camera is just a hateful thing asking for punches. With a nail setter. Iām at 26% SoC, and I glance at the Mach-E: 53%. By the time I tidy up the interior and make a quick call, Iām at 32%, heās at 54. They go into the store, I go in as well for a bio break and a quick walkthrough. I come back out, Iām at 56% and the other car is barely over 60. I decide itās impolite to even furtively check and compare, and I realize there is no ICE equivalent to this. Trip check: 10hr 24min, 711mi, 48.5kWh/100mi, 70mph. Itās 8:40pm, ETA is 11:30pm, and the lunatic charge planner says next stop is home. Dude, thatās 150 miles, over a few mountain passes, and Iād arrive home with 27 miles of spare range. Hell no, Iāll make a quick stop in North Bend.
And then things got serious: as the climb started, the snow was now settling deep and wet, weāre down to 2 lanes, and the signs changed from ātraction tires advisedā to ārequiredā. (Thankfully, WA classifies anything with tread blocks as a ātraction tireā, so I was safe. <- sarcasm) This car is a beast ā it knows exactly where it wants to go, and thatās where I point it. The speeds are a bit high, and it's definitely sketchy, but weāre all awesome drivers here so we drive within inches of each other. At speed. In 2-3ā of wet snow. At night. (Beat that, Utahaians. Did I mention here in WA we love to use the high beams at all times?) Down the other side itās even crazier ā rightmost lane is open, and everyone is scything through everyone else on the 2 left lanes. Snow gave way to rain, and Iām now in full red mist of āalmost homeā. I just need a quick top-off, to add some 50 miles of range.
Well, EA couldnāt keep their flawless record for this trip: I stroll into the deserted āpremium outletā parking lot at 10:18pm; itās raining, and for the next 40 min I curse in every language I ever heard, while not adding a single mile. Fastest car/driver up and down the pass my arse, the slowest on the mountain tonight is by now long at home, with a hot tea, slippers and ready for tomorrow. And here I am, plugging and unplugging every goddam port, moving the car back and forth, and explaining to the very kind operator in which way each station is failing: one has Ā½ ports unavailable and a network connection failure on the card reader; another has 2/2 ports unavailable, and the 3rd (and truly, the worst) says ācomplimentary charge; plug inā but doesnāt do anything: wonāt recognize the car, canāt be rebooted remotely ā itās just standing there, teasing people. Iāve been on the phone for 20 min, Iām whining I just need 20 miles and I donāt want to debug the station in the rain, and now Iām sorry that my complaining has made the operator feel sorry for me. (Canāt make this stuff up.) A complimentary remote session is finally starting, and Iām so relieved. I try not to think about my failure to check the status on PlugShare (3 earlier reports on that day confirmed the station was failing), or that my āfastest up and downā BS may have cost me miles and time. A few kWh later, Iām on the final stretch of curvy, familiar roads. (This car is _wide_, stay sharp.) Home at 11:40pm, and despite this having been a long day, I feel like I could have done 3-5 hours more. Well done, you electric horse, thanks for bringing me home swiftly and silently. Weāll do this again soon.
Day 2 tally: 12hrs 45min, 859.5mi, 48.2kWh/100mi, 69mph average.
+/- (heh)
+: extremely competent, comfortable, sure-footed; crushes continents; best car ever, bar none. Charges from a fire hose.
-: lighted up inside like a lounge; I really donāt need that many screens, lights of different luminosity levels and colors, wish I had a ānight flightā mode. Plug&charge failed consistently the one time I needed it, and Porscheās live-site isnāt. I took one pebble and it: left a dent on the hood, chipped the paint in 2 places, chipped the windshield. All minor and perhaps unavoidable, but smarts. A hint of torque steer (could it be?), so RWD fans ā rejoice in the purity of your steering feel.
(sheepish edit) "Services are hard" said he condescendingly, while duplicating pics in a simple bit of html.
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