- First Name
- Van
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2024
- Threads
- 2
- Messages
- 13
- Reaction score
- 12
- Location
- NC, USA
- Vehicles
- 2021 Tesla Model Y LR, 2022 Chevy Bolt
- Thread starter
- #1
I picked up my new Oak Green Metallic 4S Friday a week ago, and this Friday I had to take my daughter down to Savannah for an incoming freshman weekend at SCAD. It seemed like a good first road trip, so we the new Macan. The car I traded in for the Porsche was a Tesla Model Y Long Range, and so I was comfortable road-tripping an EV. (I had put over 97,000 miles on the Tesla in 4 years.)
I charged up to 90% overnight on Thursday, and then bumped it up to 100% right before we left. We probably could have made it to Savannah at a very low state of charge if I drove slow, but I decided not to risk it until I was more familiar with the new car. So, I ended up stopping twice on the way down, because the logical single stop is a busy Electrify America site where one of the four chargers, a 350kW unit, is known to be unreliable.
Our first stop was at the new EVgo site at the Pilot/Flying J near the terminus of I-77 with I-26, in Cayce, SC, just south of Columbia. We arrived with 61% SOC. There were no other cars there, so we had our pick from among the four 350kW chargers. I started the charge with the EVgo app (which showed the site at the wrong address, as several Plugshare users had noted).The charging started at 143kW, which is higher than my Tesla would have been charging at that SOC. Because we used the restroom and waiting in line to buy drinks, we ended up charging for 11 minutes and paying $11.32 for 23 kWh.
Because we were making good time--thanks to the Porsche nav re-routing us around a long traffic jam on I-26 South--I decided to stop at the logical stop as well, the Electrify America in Walterboro, SC. The one working 350kW charger happened to be free, so I plugged in for 6 minutes and received 17.6 kWh, at no cost because of the 1-year of free EA charging from Porsche in the U.S.
We arrived at the event right on time and with about 40% SOC. Afterwards, we drove out to our hotel near the airport. We charged up to 90% by the next morning at no cost, using one of the hotel's Tesla level-2 chargers with my Lectron Tesla-to-J1772 adapter. Surprisingly, no other cars used the other three level-2 chargers that night.
We drove back into town the next morning for more new students events. That afternoon, we drove around town a bit, and then started for home with around 80% SOC. We arrived at the EA in Walterboro with around 55% SOC. This time we were the only car there. I plugged into the working 350kW unit and we went into the Walmart to buy snacks. My daughter took such a long time to decide on a snack that I went out and moved the car, because it was approaching 90% SOC and only charging at about 40kW by then. We had received 28.8 kWh in 19 minutes at no cost.
The car estimated that we would arrive back at our house in Charlotte with 13% remaining. That estimate dropped to 12% shortly after we got back on the highway. However, we soon ran into traffic from a wreck ahead, and the stop-and-go driving used less energy and the estimated arrival SOC started ticking back up. Even after we cleared the traffic and started going at the normal pace , the estimate kept climbing. We eventually arrived back home with 21% SOC.
Our efficiency on the highway was about 350 w/mi. My rule of thumb for my Tesla was that, with a full battery, its actual highway range was around 240 miles. That's a little over 300 w/mi, so the Macan is not quite as efficient. However, the Macan's bigger battery would give it a greater usable range than the Tesla, 95 kWh / .350 kWh is around 270 miles.
One more note: I had heard good things about the Macan's version of Innodrive, and I was anxious to see how it compared to the Tesla's basic Autopilot (adaptive cruise contral + lane centering). I was pleased to find that Innodrive is every bit as good as Autopilot. In one way, it's even better: whenever I want to change lanes, I just signal and Innodrive stops steering, I manually change lanes, and Innodrive quickly detects the new lane's lines and starts steering again. With the Tesla there was the extra step of disengaging Autopilot with an accompanying bong, and another extra step of manually re-engaging it with two more accompanying bongs.
The Macan handles well on the road; the suspension alone is such an improvement over the Tesla's stiff ride. The cooled seats were also a nice new feature that came in handy with the unusual warm spell in the Southeast this weekend. Overall, I'm extremely impressed with my new car.
I charged up to 90% overnight on Thursday, and then bumped it up to 100% right before we left. We probably could have made it to Savannah at a very low state of charge if I drove slow, but I decided not to risk it until I was more familiar with the new car. So, I ended up stopping twice on the way down, because the logical single stop is a busy Electrify America site where one of the four chargers, a 350kW unit, is known to be unreliable.
Our first stop was at the new EVgo site at the Pilot/Flying J near the terminus of I-77 with I-26, in Cayce, SC, just south of Columbia. We arrived with 61% SOC. There were no other cars there, so we had our pick from among the four 350kW chargers. I started the charge with the EVgo app (which showed the site at the wrong address, as several Plugshare users had noted).The charging started at 143kW, which is higher than my Tesla would have been charging at that SOC. Because we used the restroom and waiting in line to buy drinks, we ended up charging for 11 minutes and paying $11.32 for 23 kWh.
Because we were making good time--thanks to the Porsche nav re-routing us around a long traffic jam on I-26 South--I decided to stop at the logical stop as well, the Electrify America in Walterboro, SC. The one working 350kW charger happened to be free, so I plugged in for 6 minutes and received 17.6 kWh, at no cost because of the 1-year of free EA charging from Porsche in the U.S.
We arrived at the event right on time and with about 40% SOC. Afterwards, we drove out to our hotel near the airport. We charged up to 90% by the next morning at no cost, using one of the hotel's Tesla level-2 chargers with my Lectron Tesla-to-J1772 adapter. Surprisingly, no other cars used the other three level-2 chargers that night.
We drove back into town the next morning for more new students events. That afternoon, we drove around town a bit, and then started for home with around 80% SOC. We arrived at the EA in Walterboro with around 55% SOC. This time we were the only car there. I plugged into the working 350kW unit and we went into the Walmart to buy snacks. My daughter took such a long time to decide on a snack that I went out and moved the car, because it was approaching 90% SOC and only charging at about 40kW by then. We had received 28.8 kWh in 19 minutes at no cost.
The car estimated that we would arrive back at our house in Charlotte with 13% remaining. That estimate dropped to 12% shortly after we got back on the highway. However, we soon ran into traffic from a wreck ahead, and the stop-and-go driving used less energy and the estimated arrival SOC started ticking back up. Even after we cleared the traffic and started going at the normal pace , the estimate kept climbing. We eventually arrived back home with 21% SOC.
Our efficiency on the highway was about 350 w/mi. My rule of thumb for my Tesla was that, with a full battery, its actual highway range was around 240 miles. That's a little over 300 w/mi, so the Macan is not quite as efficient. However, the Macan's bigger battery would give it a greater usable range than the Tesla, 95 kWh / .350 kWh is around 270 miles.
One more note: I had heard good things about the Macan's version of Innodrive, and I was anxious to see how it compared to the Tesla's basic Autopilot (adaptive cruise contral + lane centering). I was pleased to find that Innodrive is every bit as good as Autopilot. In one way, it's even better: whenever I want to change lanes, I just signal and Innodrive stops steering, I manually change lanes, and Innodrive quickly detects the new lane's lines and starts steering again. With the Tesla there was the extra step of disengaging Autopilot with an accompanying bong, and another extra step of manually re-engaging it with two more accompanying bongs.
The Macan handles well on the road; the suspension alone is such an improvement over the Tesla's stiff ride. The cooled seats were also a nice new feature that came in handy with the unusual warm spell in the Southeast this weekend. Overall, I'm extremely impressed with my new car.
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