2017 FFE let's get some real data here.

[Jon_h]

My father just got a 2017 FFE too. He drove 117 miles "up north" and still had 25 left on the GOM.

No freeway. 55 mph the whole way.

[joeyfraser]

Summer is coming soon and we already have higher numbers on the GOM this morning!
132.5 miles / 212 km.

[pcph]

I want to share my experience with fast charging my 2017 FFE.

I recently did a trip of 200+ km one way, with a stop in the middle to fast charge. Shortly after plugging in, the charging rate was somewhat stable around 320V 125A, according to the panel on the charging station. My car went from 10% to 80% charge in about 30 minutes. I unplugged after roughly 41 minutes, by then I had reached 95% and the charging rate was down to about 320V 40A. It would have probably fell some more if I had waited longer. During my attempt, it did not drop all the way to a speed similar to a 240V charger, like a previous poster mentioned, but I suppose in the last few percent it could happen.

On the way back (2 days later, after trickle charging back to full from the wall for 30 hours), I had a similar experience, but I allowed the car to recharge to 100% unattended, so I don't know how low the charging rate got. That thing charges pretty damn fast.

Overall it was pretty much painless and it seemed to charge unbelievably fast. Don't think I've ever seen a battery, ANY battery, charge this fast. However, the big disadvantage I can see here is time: a 2.5 hours trip took 3.5 hours. By going on this trip with my FFE, I just proved myself that it is very much possible to do this kind of trip with an FFE, but I think that for the sake of convenience in the future I will do longer trips with my ICE car. (please don't grab the torches and pitchforks now, guys!) The one hour delay kinda sucks.

A note on the economic aspect: due to the higher cost of charging at a fast charging station, my savings VS doing the same trip with gas have been impacted. I estimate it cost me about half of what it would cost in gas. While this is still lower, to put this into perspective, you should know that my cost to drive electric is usually between 1/4 (for trips at high speed) and 1/10th (under absolutely ideal urban conditions) of the cost of gas for the same trips. In addition, while fast charging, I was more or less obligated to eat at the nearby, somewhat expensive, restaurant, which negated any leftover savings. One more reason to use the ICE for this trip.

[pcph]

Summer is coming soon and we already have higher numbers on the GOM this morning!
132.5 miles / 212 km.

Probably due to higher inflation of the tires due to higher exterior temperatures. I've also started seeing 200+km on the GOM and we live in the same climate. Last time I checked my tire pressure, it was up to 45 psi, instead of the 41 psi I put some weeks ago.

[EVA]

PCPH - nice you took a long trip. That's very cool.

Charging for an hour isn't really that horrible. Doing something else while waiting is a good plan, eating at a restaurant or taking a nap are good things to do with that time. Your other option would be to Uber to a less expensive restaurant. Or grab carry out from a restaurant on your way.

We discovered there is a Cracker Barrel that does this all the time - phone when you are about 20 minutes away and place your order. Then stop by, pick up the food, head to the charging station, and eat while you charge. Either eat in the car, or bring along a chair to have a picnic. It does end up being a nice time.

[ghiebert]

Charging station providers should be obligated also to provide free Wi-Fi, especially if they are in the middle of nowhere.

I don't personally find an hour delay to be horrible if I'm by myself, but I can see that it might be trying for a passenger who wasn't into the whole "EV" thing. I look for opportunities and excuses to build breaks into my day, so I actually see this as a plus.

[triangles]

I want to share my experience with fast charging my 2017 FFE.

I recently did a trip of 200+ km one way, with a stop in the middle to fast charge.

Thanks for sharing! Depending on how long you are at your destination 200ish km away, you could just stop for 15 min at a quick charge to give you a little buffer to get to your destination and then L2 charge once you are there. This of course assumes L2 charging is available and you are there long enough for it to charge. Then you could head home with maybe another 15min break to add a little range buffer.

[EVA]

Charging station providers should be obligated also to provide free Wi-Fi, especially if they are in the middle of nowhere.

I don't personally find an hour delay to be horrible if I'm by myself, but I can see that it might be trying for a passenger who wasn't into the whole "EV" thing. I look for opportunities and excuses to build breaks into my day, so I actually see this as a plus.

Wow we have taken this thread a long ways off track...

Even though you put a joking face at the end of the WiFi statement, I'm guessing you would like to see that happen. The more demands put on somebody to include things with a charging station would increase the cost and lower the likelihood that they would install the stations. I'd love to see free WiFi. I'd rather see more charging stations. And my solution is to just turn my phone into a hotspot and use that. I don't see anything wrong with using my own data that I pay for if I need the internet.

The passenger thing depends a lot on the person, and how you approach the trip. Flipping around from, oh darn we have this EV we HAVE to charge for an hour, let's figure something out to do. To, hey let's have a picnic or go out to dinner / lunch / breakfast - and while we're there we can charge the car. That's a whole different program.

[ghiebert]

Wow we have taken this thread a long ways off track...

We have indeed. But why stop now?

Even though you put a joking face at the end of the WiFi statement, I'm guessing you would like to see that happen.

Not really "joking", but more "lighthearted". I'm completely kidding with the word "obligated", but really, who wouldn't want to see that? (Also, my "middle of nowhere" might mean just more than a kilometre from a coffee shop.) You could take the word "free" out of my sentence, and it would still mean the same to me, as long as anybody could sign up.

I suppose you and I may come from different worlds, but around here "free" Wi-Fi is commonplace and mobile data is typically rather expensive.

The passenger thing depends a lot on the person, and how you approach the trip. Flipping around from, oh darn we have this EV we HAVE to charge for an hour, let's figure something out to do. To, hey let's have a picnic or go out to dinner / lunch / breakfast - and while we're there we can charge the car. That's a whole different program.

Or better yet: "Hey, why don't we take a break? We'll find something nearby to interest you while I sit here with my own thoughts. Oh, and I can charge the car while I contemplate things."

[fbitz777]

A few remarks:

Seems to me that the "one hour" fast charging of the '17 FFE brings a totally different set of expectation and trip profiles.

I noticed that moving to the TeslaX 3 weeks ago and the idea of superchargers (1 hour charge) is a similar shift for me from my '16 FFE.

I now dream life with Tesla around superchargers and their amenities (food, lodging) not even bothering with L2 chargers (unless at home).

Let's remember that until the '17 FFE the FFE would take at least 3 hours to charge (80 miles) rendering long trips impractical.

I have not yet studied the location of the fast DC chargers around me (I have however found a free one 2 miles from me at 50kw) so not sure the '17FFE is really for me (although I have one on order).