Tucson to El Paso and back - trip report

[Zprime29]

Charging up in Deming on the return leg and wanted to share the charge rate I got. Will write up the rest of my trip later tonight.

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[Zprime29]

Ok, finally have a moment to write some things down.

Tucson to El Paso (my house to the grandparent's house) is about 325 miles for me. We normally do this in the Honda Pilot in one go. Or at least we try, which means the kiddos don't get much to drink on the road but I'd say probably 30-40% of the time we end up stopping somewhere for a quick restroom break anyways. Typically a 5-5.25 hour trip.

Left my house with 98% charge, temp around 55F, light wind. Picked up the eldest from school and hit the road. First stop was an EA charger at the Walmart in Benson, AZ. Short trip, took less than an hour and arrived with 79%. Got dinner at Burger King (which was right next to the chargers) and then plugged in. Kid decided they had to use the restroom so we ran into Walmart, picked up some kleenex (cuz I forgot to grab a box when packing) and went back to finish eating. The truck hit 90% before I finished so we left as soon as I finished. Total time spent at the stop was about half an hour, though only 20min of that was charging.

Next stop was EA at a Walmart in Deming, NM. Winds were gusty but in our favor. I set cruise at 75mph most of the way and still got 2-2.2 MPK. Arrived with 27%, picked up Frosties at the Wendy's (again, right next to the chargers) and plugged in. Kids both needed to use the restroom at this stop, which wasn't a big deal. Still made it back to the truck and enjoyed our snack while waiting to hit 85%. The grandparents only had level 1 accessible and this was a drop off and I would be returning the next day (today) so I needed enough charge to get back to this location. There were a couple 50kW stations in Las Cruces but nothing else between here and their house. This could have been a quick 10-15 min stop had I been staying longer but we hung out for about 35 min. Averaged around 125kW.

We arrived at their house house just shy of 11pm. Given the time change and when we left my kid's school it took us a little over 6 hours. Not bad in my book. The thing that I was truly surprised about was how NOT tired I was. I used Blue Cruise nearly the whole way and it was fantastic! Deming into El Paso is more or less down hill the whole way so I arrived with 51% and a trip average of 2.0 MPK.

On the return leg, I'm glad I got some extra charge at the house as I was going up hill and now against the wind. Temp was still mid 50's and left with 60%. I ended up slowing down to 70 and then 65 mph about 20-25 miles and 10 miles out as I was getting a little nervous about range. Pulled in to the charger with 13%, averaged 1.6 MPK. This is where I got the above charge rate, it held very strong for a good long while. Made it to 60% shortly after finishing lunch, which was enough for me to make to Lordsburg, just 60 miles down the road. I wanted to check it out and see about getting from there all the way home and make the trip just a one stop next time.

Arrived at the EA station, next to a Chevron and across the freeway from a Loves. I liked the setup of these chargers better than the Walmart's, there was much more room to park. This was a longer stop, arrived with 34%, avg 1.8 MPK. Charged up to 85%, those last 5% definitely took a while. I saw my first R1T at this stop. They pulled into the other 350kW station (I was at one, more out of convenience) but I heard the guy mention something to the lady he was with that the app was saying it's unavailable. I thought this was odd since a Kia had just departed maybe 5 min before they arrived. I only needed a couple percent and told them I was about leave. Asked them a couple questions about their truck and then hit my target. Said good-bye and left for home.

Thankfully, at this point the wind had died down and the temp was rising into the 60's. I made it home with 23% left, avg climbing up to 2.2 MPK after I hit the city. I set cruise at 75 mph, especially when going down hill, but did bump it down to 70 mph during up hill stretches and 65 mph once I hit Tucson city limits.

One additional note about the hands free blue cruise, I was still very happy to be using it but I found myself getting very irritated at it on the way from El Paso to Tucson. It would turn off at nearly every exit and make me take over for about 1/4 mile then kick back on. That update can't come soon enough. I would happily pay for a month here and there when we make this trip. It was so much more enjoyable.

 

[Zprime29]

Oops, almost forgot to mention that I made it home in around 6 hours. I think we can cut down on that time a little by doing one 40 min charge there in Lordsburg or two 20 min charges in Benson and Deming. I think I like the second option a little more, given the better amenities in the vicinity.

 

[TaxmanHog]

It would turn off at nearly every exit and make me take over for about 1/4 mile then kick back on.

As you approached the exit zones, were there short dashed lines to define the continuation of the road and where the exit taper begins?

I think this helps BC/HF confidence level while traveling in the right lane as you drive past the exit.

Not having them increases the chance of a take over warning from what I've experienced.

 

[Zprime29]

It was a mix, some exits had the dashed lines and some didn't. I agree with your assessment, the exits that didn't have them are the ones where I had to take over. I had a couple places where the right lane merged in and it didn't like those either. Seems to be any place where the road suddenly got wider without markings means I had to grab the wheel. I eventually noticed that it was a short enough time that all I had to do was wiggle once and let go. The lane centering still did a fairly good job keeping me straight and before it would complain BC/HF would resume.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I did a 430 mile road trip Sunday, through Mass, RI, CT , NY and NJ. I-95, NY-Parkways, NJ-TPK

The design of the right side lane markings were inconsistent among the five state.

I paid close attention to each approach to the off ramps, in locations where there were hash lines from start to end of taper the Lightning would maintain hands free mode, this included on-ramp tapers. In locations where there was a gap at the start of an off ramp taper or end on an on ramp taper, then I would have consistent HF disengagements.

The other issue causing disengagement of HF were lane count reductions, such as those found at the end of various wide areas accommodate multi-lane merges, ie. 5 to 4 to 3 lanes being condensed, these areas have a few hundred feet of lane with no marks until the merge is complete.

Hands free resumes a couple hundred feet after the markings reappear.

Next up, hilly roads, I-95 in CT is very hilly rolling rises and drops, as I was approaching some of the crests, BC/HF did not have enough site view of the upcoming surface to reaffirm that we were ontrack, occasionally I would get a preemptive warning to place my hand on the wheel but HF continued to maintain control, after going over the crest, the line sight improved and HF remained engaged while the warning had passed because I gave the wheel a reassuring grasp/nudge.

The states need to standardize how lanes are marked to facilitate a more reliable experience with hands free driver systems, make it a requirement to mark from start to end. While in Mass it would be nice if they even put any paint on the roads, I-495 is poorly marked in many stretches that HF just gives up altogether.

 

[Zprime29]

I had one mountain pass in AZ that I went over, had no disengagement but it was a gradual peak so there must've been enough road in sight to maintain. Knowing in advance where it's likely to want that wiggle on the wheel makes improves the experience. It was a while ago when I watched Out of Spec's video on the new version of BC/HF, but I seem to recall them mentioning that the MachE they tested it with did a better job where the lane marking disappeared. I hope we don't have to wait another year to get that update. I'd like to be able to test it before my free trial period ends.

 

[Zprime29]

Made the trip back today to pick kids up. Good news is the grandparents are still alive!

I had one snag, I wanted to try multiple quick stops to see if that would be faster but I was unable to charge in Benson. I had trouble getting the truck close enough to charge at the 2 available chargers. One was unavailable and the other has a tesla using it. After several attempts I gave up and went to Lordsburg and did a longer charge there.

Meet a guy with an ID.4 and we chatted for a bit. He mentioned seeing a bus that was charging along this route. Like a giant double decker RV. Didn't know they made anything like that.

Getting back to these Wal-Mart EA locations, anyone have a tip on how to more easily access them? It feels like there are only 2 that are useable given the length of cable and the charge port location.

 

[Zprime29]

@trev5150 nope, I haven't exited there in years. Is it red?

 

[Zprime29]

I set cruise at 70 for most of the way back. Between that and less wind, I had much better efficiency. I averaged closer to 2.0 most of the way and made it back with just two 30 min stops at Deming and Lordsburg. The Deming charger had a connection issue and ended up being free! First that's happened, was a nice bonus.

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