Roadtrip from Boston to Halifax, NS - 2025 Taycan Cross Turismo

[corgidad]

My planning for today’s trip was meticulous.
The outcome though was quite stressful.

Which is always what has happened to me whenever I’ve dared charge in the northeast anywhere except for Magic Docks (and the lonely NEVI station in Bradford VT).

When I planned for my trip, I read PlugShare comments / check-ins and scores, and I’d avoid locations with just one DCFC unless as backup…

The part of New England you often travel to (white mountains, green mountains) does lack DC charging infrastructure...

The FLO chargers I used in Canada did charge successfully but they were all 20-40% slower than the rated speed. I didn’t look carefully at their labels - maybe their DC output voltage is much lower than 800V. I’ll do some research on that and keep that in mind in the future when I have to use FLO chargers again.

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[corgidad]

Before I bought my place in Twin Mt, I took a lot of trips in May 2023 to a friend’s place in Jackson NH with my wife’s i4.
Even though my friend owns a Model Y, he never bothered installing L2 at his place up there, relying instead of the relatively short drive from his primary residence in the Lakes Region and the free charging at AMC PNVC.
Once I thought about staying at hotel in North Conway, but even that was slim pickings for a place with enough L2 units to be assured of overnight charging.

The one exception is Great Glen / auto road. Probably because manager is an EV driver (which I know because he posts his PS reviews under his full name, often of the dysfunctional West Lebanon EA).

I know that EA station in West Lebanon! “Christopher” is trying really hard to make EA fix the broken charger there!

I wish EA could put in more stalls in that location. The nearby Rivian Adventure Network seems to work very well. I thought they were going to open their network to all compatible EVs later this year, apparently it hasn’t happened…

 

[Jonathan S.]

I know that EA station in West Lebanon! “Christopher” is trying really hard to make EA fix the broken charger there!

I wish EA could put in more stalls in that location. The nearby Rivian Adventure Network seems to work very well. I thought they were going to open their network to all compatible EVs later this year, apparently it hasn’t happened…

Day 53 for broken Charger #3 at West Lebanon according to "Christopher"!
And should that unit ever be fixed, another one -- or the same one -- will soon break.
Labor Day of 2023 set a new record for all four chargers there being entirely out of service, and this year came perilously close with three out of four broken at one point.

Two days ago he varied his routine with:

"19 days from a new broken charger record. With so many positive reviews being left we have a chance to break the record."​

He's definitely correct in pointing out the flawed nature of the PlugShare binary scoring system.
Can you imagine a review system for, say, restaurants when a perfect 10 score might mean reviews that ALWAYS complain about a long wait for a table, slow service, etc., but hey, at least you eventually got something to eat!
However, he is incorrect in his implicit conclusion that leaving negative reviews will prompt EA to do anything.

re RAN, when I first read about that puzzling proprietary network, FOMO was minimal upon checking out their minimal coverage.
But with apparently competent stations of six 180kW plugs each at the key locations of West Lebanon NH, Brattleboro VT, and Holyoke MA (for my fellow skiers from CT and NYC traveling further north into VT), I am ready to storm the company HQ in Irvine CA to demand access!

Meanwhile, I am so saddened to see that world's slowest DCFC, at a mere 23.92kW-rated speed (yes, that's right, 23.92kW theoretical max!), in Greenfield MA, in front of the Big Y supermarket, and looking more like some random piece of industrial equipment (to such an extent that I walked by it dozens of times before realizing it was a DCFC charger upon seeing someone actually charging with it), with no identifying network name or anything else ("How the heck are you suppose to use this random company charger?!" from one PS checkin), now has a broken plug.

 

[PSUEric]

My planning for today’s trip was meticulous.
The outcome though was quite stressful.

Which is always what has happened to me whenever I’ve dared charge in the northeast anywhere except for Magic Docks (and the lonely NEVI station in Bradford VT).

Unfortunately many areas in the NE are still a desert for charging. Where’s all that money for building infrastructure we’ve been told is available?

 

[Jonathan S.]

^ That $7.5b is almost entirely unspent. But you can amuse yourself by reading the official NEVI plan prepared by your state DOT, full of all sorts of analyses by some consulting firm on transportation corridors with the highest priorities for charging infrastructure, even though most of those states have yet to install a single charger with their share of that aforementioned $7.5b.

 

[corgidad]

^ That $7.5b is almost entirely unspent. But you can amuse yourself by reading the official NEVI plan prepared by your state DOT, full of all sorts of analyses by some consulting firm on transportation corridors with the highest priorities for charging infrastructure, even though most of those states have yet to install a single charger with their share of that aforementioned $7.5b.

I've seen so many "Coming soon" chargers that were supposed to be open by summer 2024 but still not yet...

 

[corgidad]

Day 53 for broken Charger #3 at West Lebanon according to "Christopher"!
And should that unit ever be fixed, another one -- or the same one -- will soon break.
Labor Day of 2023 set a new record for all four chargers there being entirely out of service, and this year came perilously close with three out of four broken at one point.

Two days ago he varied his routine with:

"19 days from a new broken charger record. With so many positive reviews being left we have a chance to break the record."​

He's definitely correct in pointing out the flawed nature of the PlugShare binary scoring system.
Can you imagine a review system for, say, restaurants when a perfect 10 score might mean reviews that ALWAYS complain about a long wait for a table, slow service, etc., but hey, at least you eventually got something to eat!
However, he is incorrect in his implicit conclusion that leaving negative reviews will prompt EA to do anything.

re RAN, when I first read about that puzzling proprietary network, FOMO was minimal upon checking out their minimal coverage.
But with apparently competent stations of six 180kW plugs each at the key locations of West Lebanon NH, Brattleboro VT, and Holyoke MA (for my fellow skiers from CT and NYC traveling further north into VT), I am ready to storm the company HQ in Irvine CA to demand access!

Meanwhile, I am so saddened to see that world's slowest DCFC, at a mere 23.92kW-rated speed (yes, that's right, 23.92kW theoretical max!), in Greenfield MA, in front of the Big Y supermarket, and looking more like some random piece of industrial equipment (to such an extent that I walked by it dozens of times before realizing it was a DCFC charger upon seeing someone actually charging with it), with no identifying network name or anything else ("How the heck are you suppose to use this random company charger?!" from one PS checkin), now has a broken plug.

I came across EA network update for this West Lebanon location today here:
https://cloud.email.electrifyamerica.com/network-and-planned-maintenance


New Hampshire

• Upcoming Station Upgrade: Unavailable beginning on the following date while legacy hardware is upgraded to the newest generation of chargers.
  • October 28, 2024
    • Walmart (Station 110042) at 285 Plainfield Rd, West Lebanon, New Hampshire 03784

Hopefully it'll be more reliable

 

[Jonathan S.]

^ Only with EA does a station need new chargers after being operational for only two years.

 

[Alex74]

What's a better way to spend a beautiful fall weekend, than taking the new 2025 Taycan Cross Turismo on a road trip from Boston to Halifax?

My charge plan from Boston to Halifax

• Leaving Boston with 100% SoC
• (158 miles) 200kw ChargePoint at West Gardiner Service Area
• (214 miles) 350kw Electrify Canada in Woodstock, NB
• (211 miles) 350kw Electrify Canada in Amherst, NS
• (121 miles) Hotel in Halifax

Travel day:

The first leg was fairly uneventful. Beautiful fall colors along I-95.
We had to stop to pee before arriving at the first charging stop.
It turned out the travel time of EV road trip was limited by our bladders, not the car or charging.

When we arrived at the first charging stop at West Gardiner, there was a Ford F150 Lightning charging at the slower charger.
That particular charging stop has 4 chargers: two 200kw and two 62.5 kw. We pulled in at the 200kw one.
Battery was preconditioned and I tapped my ChargePoint card in Apple Wallet. It worked like a charm.
We took the dog out and went in the service building for food.

The Dunkin’ here was SLOW! The car was charged to 90% before we got our food and coffee.
When I unplugged, all four chargers were occupied. I was happy that we arrived a bit earlier.
The car was ripping 190+ kw all the way till about 70%, which was great.
I also really like ChargePoint because it gives you the charging curve.
I wish its horizontal axis is SoC instead of time.

When we were leaving, the two faster chargers became available again. I was pleased to see no one was hogging the charger.

And we headed to the second charger in Canada.
When we just left West Gardiner, the car reported the SoC upon arrival would be 14%.
And it just kept dropping as we drove into the hillier terrain (I-95 between Boston and Portland is mostly along the coast, so it is very flat)
until it stablized around 7%. I started to get anxious and concerned. But I also reminded myself that even at 7%,
I was able to drive at least 20 miles.
And the charger at Woodstock NB has really good PlugShare score.
I was a bit worried the car would enter “Turtle Mode” where the power is significantly reduced so we would only be able to drive at 30-40mph.
When we crossed the US-Canada border, the Canadian border agent didn’t even ask for the document for the dog (Rabies certificate) because my dog was very quiet didn’t make any noise.

OMG Woodstock NB is windy and cold. It was no fun to battle with the thick and heavy CCS cable in the wind.
But after we plugged in, my Porsche app said “Authorisation error” and the payment screen on Electrify Canada station popped up.
So – the free charging Porsche gives out for Electrify America doesn’t work for Electrify Canada,
though they’re the same company. However it was absolutely ripping when the charging started.
Three seconds in, the car was pulling 300+kw – that was a new record for the car.

We went to the Tim Hortons next door to use washroom and got coffee.
We were gonna get some food, but the Tim Hortons there was disgusting and they didn’t even have enough ingredients to make my meal.
So we got refund and walked the dog.
The car was charged quickly to 90% and we were on our way to the next stop at Amherst, NS.

Very uneventful all the way to Amherst. Again, beautiful fall foliage along Trans-Canada Highway.
The car was better at estimating the SoC at arrival now after the terrain change.
The Electrify Canada at Amherst is in a huge parking lot with A&W across the street.
This one has 6 stalls and all working properly according to the app.
Three was being occupied when we arrived. And it was already dark outside.
So my partner went to get food while I sit in the car with the dog.
We didn’t need to charge to high SoC at this stop, but we needed to eat something anyway.
I snapped a quick pic – I thought it was a beautiful sight with the glowing green chargers and the Porsche Taycan taillight!

The last leg of the trip was quick and easy. I didn’t find the free charger for the hotel guest at first –
there are two chargers from another company that are not free.
I walked around in the garage and found the free one! It was a ChargePoint level 2 shared.
There was a Ford Lightning charging already. So I took the other one and was charging at 3.3kW.
I can’t complain since it’s free, and we didn’t plan to use the car for another day.
When I woke up the next morning the car was pulling 6+kW which meant the Lightning left!

Return to Boston

My plan

• Leaving with 100% SoC from the hotel
• (258 miles) Oromocto Gateway Plaza, NB (I chose this because this has many food options nearby, and I only needed to top up to reach the next faster charger)
• (73 miles) 350kw Electrify Canada in Woodstock, NB
• (203 miles) Tesla Supercharger at Comfort Inn Civic Center, Augusta, ME
• (165 miles) Home in Boston

The first leg is a bit of a stretch, but I was confident that we could arrive without any problem (which turned out to be naive of me).

We hit a short but heavy rain storm, and it hurt the efficiency so bad because of the water on the road.
The estimated SoC upon arrival dropped from 9% to below 5% instantly.

And the terrain again worked against my calculation. Even though I was mostly driving at speed limit (or a little above),
the estimated SoC upon arrival kept dropping. Sometimes it showed 3% and sometimes 2%.
The cold weather probably hurts a bit too – ambient temperature was around 40-50 F.
I’d be lying if I say I wasn’t panicking a bit. When we entered NB, I told myself I’d stop to charge briefly if the estimated arrival SoC drops to 1%.
Shortly after that, it went to 1%. So I found the next DC charger at Youngs Cove.
And of course someone was using it! How lucky. I only needed to charge for about 10 mins so I could make it to Oromocto travel plaza.
It is eCharge network using FLO charger, only 50kW but better than nothing.

I plugged in the level 2 and activated with FLO app (worked like charm, great app), used the washroom and walked the dog a bit.
It was cold and windy, so we waited in the car. I was getting myself mentally ready to wait there for like 30 mins (That's how long
the level2 would take to get me to the planned charging stop).
However, 10 mins later, the driver who was charging at DC left.
I can’t describe how happy I was! Even though I was only pulling in 40kW but 10 mins was all I needed.

We were on the way to Oromocto shortly. I saw a KIA Kona on the highway approaching the charging stop,
and I made sure I passed them so I’d arrive at the charger before them.
There are three 100kw stalls there, but I didn’t want to risk. Again FLO app worked flawlessly.
Though I was only charging at 60-70kw. I knew FLO chargers are really reliable, but the charging speed is a bit disappointing.
We were charging for a while since we’d have food at McDonald’s and coffee from the Starbucks next door.

Next stop was the same one I used before – the Woodstock Electrify Canada.
Again it was charging at amazing speed. Peak was 314kW! Another new record for me!

I could use the West Gardiner again, but I figured I’d want to check out the new Tesla Supercharger with MagicDock in Augusta.
It has v4 dispensers and I was curious if the cabinet is also v4.
So it turned out the cabinet is still v3 – max 500V DC output.
So Taycan being a 800V car, we don’t get full speed of 250kW that the charger can do.
We still get around 130-140kw though.

The Tesla Supercharger is across a very busy street from a gas station and a KFC.
We used the bathroom in the gas station and had KFC for dinner. Also played fetch with the dog.
The car was dirty, but I am pleased. It is well travelled!

And we were headed home in Boston. I switched to Google Maps for navigation as it has better traffic information and plans routes better.
The car indicated that we’d arrive with 14% SoC. But when I got home, SoC was 19%!
Terrain really has a huge impact!

What I learnt
I really enjoyed the EV road trip. Taycan is a fantastic road trip car.
It is so comfortable yet very engaging to drive thanks to the air suspension.
Active Lane Keeping and Adaptive Cruise Control with InnoDrive worked great on the highway.
Cross Turismo is very practical with luggage and the dog crate.

As for charging and EV, the only thing is to have a plan to make unexpected charging stop.
You’ll never get stranded from the charging perspective.
Don’t panic. Most of places have plenty of DC chargers to get you to the next one.

Thank you for reading and let me know what you think!

Hi, nice ride and resume of your drive

can i ask you something else? I see you are from Boston.
could you get a ticket for the Boston Marathon In 2025? Or know someone, that has a ticket, but can not run? Or by charity?
i need this last one for my six stars
thank you in advance
alex

 

[corgidad]

Hi, nice ride and resume of your drive

can i ask you something else? I see you are from Boston.
could you get a ticket for the Boston Marathon In 2025? Or know someone, that has a ticket, but can not run? Or by charity?
i need this last one for my six stars
thank you in advance
alex

Hi Alex, I'm not a runner and have never participated in Boston Marathon... I know the qualification is very competitive though...
And I don't know anyone who will run the marathon next year either

Sorry I can't help

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