My first, absolutely freezing, road trip

[dgkhn]

I live in NH. Comparing two trips, one done about a month ago, when ambient temps were in the 60s F, average speed 51 mph (including extensive 70-73 mph driving): 29.1 kWh/100 miles. Today, with ambient around freezing, average speed 46 mph (again including a fair amount of 70-73 mph driving): 35.7 kWh/100 miles.

I would say high-latitude winter road-tripping is not the ideal use case for Macan's (and most likely any EV). So far, I've only truly needed to DC-charge once (and did it twice more just for practice.) So, as long as you can limit yourself to 200 or so miles daily and have daily access to an AC charger, you're good.

 

[Duke95]

Update, first stop home, EA 350...as Yves said...takes time to precondition! Car was at 45 degrees and about 20-25 from the station it took itself to about 75 degrees. Got here, plugged in, 265 kw within a minute, off and on the road again! Nice. So lesson learned...give the car PLENTY of time to precondition in the cold!

 

[PanameraFrank]

I've done a number of ski road trips in the Taycan and i4. EVs work AWESOME for winter road trips. Tons of grip for bad conditions, high level of comfort, remote heating, etc.

It takes some getting used to the range loss and planning out charging w preconditioning but once you get used to it it's really not a problem. Destination charging, even if slow, is always a huge help. A lot of smaller towns have free slow chargers near city center. Plugshare!!

 

[Fun TC Driving]

Shell Recharge will treat you fairly when you talk with them on Monday. I had a similar experience with them initially, but in the end as a result of our conversing, similarly a few days later, they treated me fairly.

 

[Rocket Roger]

As I've learned while driving EVs since 2011, driving fast on long trips does not save time and costs more due to more frequent charging events.

 

[Duke95]

Back in Chicago! Funny thing, at the first charging stop I met a guy who rolled up next to me in an Ice Gray Taycan Sport Turismo...so we had matching Ice Grays next to each other. Quite a sight! We were both slightly envious of the other's car! And then at the charging next stop, he rolled in a minute after me and we did it all over again. I am sure that happens all the time, but a first for me, and funny we had sister cars down to the color.

2nd stop more of the same as the first I reported earlier: rolled in preconditioned, it ran up to 270 kw pretty much right off the bat. Sweet.

Notably, after that stop I averaged 2.4 miles/kw at an average speed of 79 (started the trip computer once I got up to speed from the charging stop, in 27 degree weather and 4 people heating their seats. I am pretty happy with that. Car said it would get home at 17%, got home at 24%, and again did not exactly drive slow.

So: My first winter, freezing, Macan EV (and in general, EV at all) road trip: Lessons learned and questions I need people to answer!

1. Not sure why the two different EA stations in the West Des Moines area never got over 100kw. Sure I started cold but why not when the battery was at ~50% charge and in the 70 degree range? I guess some chargers just don't live up to their advertised capability...

2. Cold weather recommendations: Preconditioning is just absolutely key...as is, if possible, getting the cabin up to temp while plugged in. Unfortunately, my hotel did not have charging. As well, stayed at a friends but did not bring my L1 charger...they are just sooooo slow. BUT...could have used it I suppose to at least to precondition for the next trip? With the car and battery warm and happy, a solid 2.3 miles/kw travelling 83 mph at 27 degrees and 4 heated seats. I assume that should translate into a very nice miles/kw in the summer and at something more like 75 mph.

3. So, the big question here...I wake up at my hotel, it is 14 degrees outside, I have a 10 minute drive to the charger: it was only long enough to get the battery to about 30 degrees. Is there no way to precondition an unplugged car? Or, perhaps I should have woken up 30 minutes earlier and turned the pre-climate on? Does pre-climate precondition the battery?

4. A PS on my InnoDrive commentary. Note that, a little fishtailing aside, it did great and I used it +95% of the time.

5. Porsche nav consistently does not know when a charger is out of order. 3 times, I would show, for example, 2 of 4 available, when the truth was 2 out of 3. Twice this meant I thought there was a space and when I got there there wasn't....EXCEPT that I used PlugShare and EA apps as well, and those were accurate.

6. Has been said elsewhere...I expect Porsche nav to often not show me the best way, often would switch between Waze and Porsche for best directions and then range status. Fine, I expect that to be true...Porsche is not attempting to be Waze. But...could the nav say things like "take a right on 123rd street" instead of just "take a right"?? Thank you.

If any of my commentary on any posting sound negative...nope. Love the car. Don't expect perfection. Don't expect range-amazingness in any car until solid state batteries start rolling out in 2029 give or take.

Many on this forum are Porsche veterans and/or EV veterans. I am neither and many others are like me...I hope this is helpful for those as inexperienced as me.

Now...tomorrow I might just post a post about whether to drive fast or charge more...I have thoughts and spreadsheets!! But I am sure it has been discussed elsewhere, probably a lot. And I am sure the answer is, it depends on how many stops, the weather, charging speed, etc. So by all means point me to such posts!

 

[sarinotropeano]

Great discussion. I’d like to thank everyone for their input.
This is my second EV. Had the etron Edition One. So have had many road trips with mixed results.
As EVs have become more popular the charging stations have become more crowded.
the two biggest improvements in my Macan vs the Audi are the ability to see if stations have open spaces and the increased range. wish I could see if the car is actually pre-conditioning or a way to manually turn it on.
what I’ve learned from my road trips is to plan ahead and only charge as much as needed with a small buffer.
I agree that slower speeds will increase the range but honestly I like to drive fast and the car is so comfortable at speed it feels safe. If the charging stations were closer to the highways it would be a much better experience.
I also had trouble with the Plug and Charge feature but it’s been resolved. Had to call Porsche support.
final note in my rambling is that the Flying J /GM chargers are consistently excellent.

 

[Doggo]

Duke95 - Curious what tires are you driving with?

Side question (and this thread is super helpful), does the car keep the battery warm under any conditions? Eg whenever I get into my car, even if overnight and it's been 32f, the battery temp is 52f, with nothing activated (pre climate etc).

 

[daveo4EV]

Back in Chicago! Funny thing, at the first charging stop I met a guy who rolled up next to me in an Ice Gray Taycan Sport Turismo...so we had matching Ice Grays next to each other. Quite a sight! We were both slightly envious of the other's car! And then at the charging next stop, he rolled in a minute after me and we did it all over again. I am sure that happens all the time, but a first for me, and funny we had sister cars down to the color.

2nd stop more of the same as the first I reported earlier: rolled in preconditioned, it ran up to 270 kw pretty much right off the bat. Sweet.

Notably, after that stop I averaged 2.4 miles/kw at an average speed of 79 (started the trip computer once I got up to speed from the charging stop, in 27 degree weather and 4 people heating their seats. I am pretty happy with that. Car said it would get home at 17%, got home at 24%, and again did not exactly drive slow.

So: My first winter, freezing, Macan EV (and in general, EV at all) road trip: Lessons learned and questions I need people to answer!

1. Not sure why the two different EA stations in the West Des Moines area never got over 100kw. Sure I started cold but why not when the battery was at ~50% charge and in the 70 degree range? I guess some chargers just don't live up to their advertised capability...

2. Cold weather recommendations: Preconditioning is just absolutely key...as is, if possible, getting the cabin up to temp while plugged in. Unfortunately, my hotel did not have charging. As well, stayed at a friends but did not bring my L1 charger...they are just sooooo slow. BUT...could have used it I suppose to at least to precondition for the next trip? With the car and battery warm and happy, a solid 2.3 miles/kw travelling 83 mph at 27 degrees and 4 heated seats. I assume that should translate into a very nice miles/kw in the summer and at something more like 75 mph.

3. So, the big question here...I wake up at my hotel, it is 14 degrees outside, I have a 10 minute drive to the charger: it was only long enough to get the battery to about 30 degrees. Is there no way to precondition an unplugged car? Or, perhaps I should have woken up 30 minutes earlier and turned the pre-climate on? Does pre-climate precondition the battery?

4. A PS on my InnoDrive commentary. Note that, a little fishtailing aside, it did great and I used it +95% of the time.

5. Porsche nav consistently does not know when a charger is out of order. 3 times, I would show, for example, 2 of 4 available, when the truth was 2 out of 3. Twice this meant I thought there was a space and when I got there there wasn't....EXCEPT that I used PlugShare and EA apps as well, and those were accurate.

6. Has been said elsewhere...I expect Porsche nav to often not show me the best way, often would switch between Waze and Porsche for best directions and then range status. Fine, I expect that to be true...Porsche is not attempting to be Waze. But...could the nav say things like "take a right on 123rd street" instead of just "take a right"?? Thank you.

If any of my commentary on any posting sound negative...nope. Love the car. Don't expect perfection. Don't expect range-amazingness in any car until solid state batteries start rolling out in 2029 give or take.

Many on this forum are Porsche veterans and/or EV veterans. I am neither and many others are like me...I hope this is helpful for those as inexperienced as me.

Now...tomorrow I might just post a post about whether to drive fast or charge more...I have thoughts and spreadsheets!! But I am sure it has been discussed elsewhere, probably a lot. And I am sure the answer is, it depends on how many stops, the weather, charging speed, etc. So by all means point me to such posts!

answers to numbered "observations"

1. yes many EA stations advertised charging rate is aspirational - it's not always that you will achieve max charge rate - most of the time the restriction is the charging stations for a myriad of reasons - rarely is the car the limiting factor
2. a little prep/planning will mitigate cold weather impacts, but not eliminate them - overnight "charging" even with 120V is best reason to carry an EV roadwarrior kit in one's frunk - although outside of cold weather usage, actual need for the kit will be low
3. yes this is a short fall on porsche's part to not allow remote or more direct pre-conditioning - having vehicle plugged in overnigth and setting a cabin pre-condition timer will help but not entirely address this issue
4. Macan's innodrive is better than my 2020 Taycan, 2021 Cayenne, 2022 911 - but not as good as my 2018 Model 3 Performance - but Macan's tech is a step forward from what I can tell so far
5. PCM navigation will note the existence of charging stops (although some are mythical) but I do not rely on their status - as far as stalls available even the apps can be wrong - stalls available is so fluid I'm not sure personally what the point of this is - when I show up to a location I'm going to need to charge - my preference is that the site is "real" and not "imagined/future" - it was recently in working order…
6. I used Porsche NAV for road trips only for two reasons - all other times I used AppleMaps, Google, Waze when I need a trip computer, or driving directions…
   1. battery estimate @ destination - sometimes for informational purpose, other times to monitor status/progress/likelyhood
      1. in both my Taycan and Macan I have found the PCM navigation battery estimate to be an invaluable road-trip tool as it provides real time feedback as to my consumption
      2. I've also noted on the Macan that it appears to have a 5% "hold" back - so if it says 17% I often arrive above 20% - YMMV (literally)
   2. pre-condition the battery when navigating to a "known" fast charger

glad you're home safe/sound and that you enjoy the car - my experience with road tripping an EV (even it cold weather) - it's a bit harder than gas cars, but not by a lot with a few modified expectations - but the pain/hassle are outweighed by the convenience the other 50 weeks of the year…no oil changes, gas staion visits, and car is full every morning for my daily driving needs.

Also these days I'm finding 5 hours stretches with no break to a be a challenge for personal reasons, so stopping every 3.5-5 hours for a charging stop is honestly no big deal and would be necessary with a gas cars anyways for personal reasons.

enjoy your Macan and your EV!!

 

[Duke95]

Duke95 - Curious what tires are you driving with?

Side question (and this thread is super helpful), does the car keep the battery warm under any conditions? Eg whenever I get into my car, even if overnight and it's been 32f, the battery temp is 52f, with nothing activated (pre climate etc).

I have the 21s....they gave me Michelin. The car battery does not keep warm. The lowest I saw on this trip was getting into it on a 14 degree day, I turned on pre-climate about 2 minutes before I got into my car, and the battery was I think 26 or 29 degrees...upper mid 20s! Next cold trip I will set the preclimate say 15-20 minutes before and see what happens...assume it will warm the battery.

 

[daveo4EV]

Duke95 - Curious what tires are you driving with?

Side question (and this thread is super helpful), does the car keep the battery warm under any conditions? Eg whenever I get into my car, even if overnight and it's been 32f, the battery temp is 52f, with nothing activated (pre climate etc).

unless you have battery "saving" enabled (80% and cool) the battery's thermals are only minimally managed while the vehicle is off and not plugged in - but the battery is fairly dense and heavy so it's quite the thermal mass - it's temperature will track to ambient very slowly - even overnight in a "cold soak" situation it will lag ambient temperatures but trend towards them…

simple charge/discharge of LiON cells (i.e. using them) will cause residual heat - the more charge/discharge the more heat will be generated (driving is the best since that has the highest potential for high-discharge, and therefore high-heat)

my recommendation for cold weather parking overnight outside is to plug-in if possible, and pre-condition the cabin and charge the battery if possible - charging the battery isn't so much to gain SOC in this circumstance, but rather charging the battery will cause it to heat up - setting a cabin pre-conditioning timer is the best way to cause some thermal load into the battery if that is your goal - but this of course needs to be combined with charging plan to get on with your day with sufficient battery charge for your day's road trip needs!! I've also found even parking under car port makes a difference due to less radiated thermal transfer in terms of overnight "low temperature"…

batteries given their thermal mass are expensive to warm up or cool down - and if aggressively managed will sap battery power quickly - I've found most EV's take a lassie fair approach to battery temperature management and only step in aggressively when temps are approaching limits that will affect warranty status - if the vehicle is used on a daily basis most 12-16 hour overnight temps will be manageable from residual heat from the previous day's normal usage - and simply driving the vehicle will bring the battery back in line with ideal minimums/maximums in the normal course of usage…

for long term storage (i.e. many days/weeks) best practice is to store the vehicle (and it's battery) inside and plugged in - storing it in sub-freezing temps or blistering hot is not ideal for LiON battery chemistries and deny'ing the vehicle power (i.e. not plugged in) to manage the battery temp is also less than ideal - so if you must store an EV - store it plugged in and set it up to charge so maintain he battery above 30-40% and less than 80% - the car's software will charge the battery as necessary - and since it's plugged it, the vehicle will have access to power for thermal management if required (heat or cool as necessary).

but mostly there is no nothing you can do - the environment around the vehicle is a much bigger thermal mass vs. the battery, and the laws of thermodynamics will dictate the battery's temps will trend towards ambient conditions - and the car will not spend battery power to maintain temps unless it's plugged in- but also won't do it aggressively, only when "necessary" to protect the battery - pre-conditioning will help ,but the best way to bring the battery in line with 'better' temps is to charge it or drive it - and honestly overnight isn't enough for any major problems since that is not long term exposure.

 

[Doggo]

Great info - personally I do have battery saving enabled (80% and cool) but was not sure if this would impact heat at all? So dumb question, if the car is left for say 3 months outdoors in 0f, but plugged in, the battery will draw power to maintain a certain temp?

 

[daveo4EV]

Great info - personally I do have battery saving enabled (80% and cool) but was not sure if this would impact heat at all? So dumb question, if the car is left for say 3 months outdoors in 0f, but plugged in, the battery will draw power to maintain a certain temp?

best to ask porsche this question - but I do not believe they would consider that "proper storage"…not sure how much the car would manage battery temps in that circumstance, and I think Porsche would advise you to "avoid that scenario". But best to ask them and share their answer with all of us - cause now I"m curious.

 

[CandianPorsche83]

Great discussion. I’d like to thank everyone for their input.
This is my second EV. Had the etron Edition One. So have had many road trips with mixed results.
As EVs have become more popular the charging stations have become more crowded.
the two biggest improvements in my Macan vs the Audi are the ability to see if stations have open spaces and the increased range. wish I could see if the car is actually pre-conditioning or a way to manually turn it on.
what I’ve learned from my road trips is to plan ahead and only charge as much as needed with a small buffer.
I agree that slower speeds will increase the range but honestly I like to drive fast and the car is so comfortable at speed it feels safe. If the charging stations were closer to the highways it would be a much better experience.
I also had trouble with the Plug and Charge feature but it’s been resolved. Had to call Porsche support.
final note in my rambling is that the Flying J /GM chargers are consistently excellent.

If you listen to 22:40 mark of this video, it appears Kyle talks to someone at PCNA and they suggested there is at least a way to see if the car is being pre-conditioned although he sounded skeptical.

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