Question for Houston owners about my commute if I bought one

[merkurmaniac]

I live in a suburb of Houston and leave for work at 5:45 am. I go this early to avoid traffic. I can usually drive the 20 miles to work at about 75 mph. In the summer I need a/c. I can usually head out in the evening at 4:15 and may be able to swing 80 mph on the way home. If there is traffic, I may travel at 30 mph for most of the trip. So...

40 miles round trip each day , totally flat roads, hot humid climate. I know that this high speed driving is not good for the range, but could I get away with a comfortable 40 mile commute at 80 mph without charging at work ?

I would have bought a leaf a while back, but my wife dislikes the looks more than I do. The FFE looks to have slightly less range, but also seems to not suffer from the battery degradation that the leaf does. With the LEAF, it seemed that even if I could swing the commute for a year or two, the battery would get hammered enough that before too long, I'd not be able to do the 40 miles at higher speed.

I drive this fast, since both ends of my commute are "before" rush hour. If I waited 30 minutes in the afternoon, traffic can get bad enough that I may leave 30 minutes later, but get home a full hour later. I know that I'd be willing to limit the speed if I needed to in order to swing the range, but it would be nice for that NOT to be an absolute requirement.

Any Houston drivers or others with flat, high speed commutes, in the hot south ?

 

[jmueller065]

The A/C on the FFE is pretty efficient and thus doesn't use up much of the battery. Your bigger problem is going so fast--(the amount the A/C would use is negligible in comparison).

Here in MI we are relatively flat and have to use heat (which is far far far more costly than A/C). My commute is 30 round trip, and I have a coworker who also had an FFE who's commute is 50 miles round trip. We both could make that in the depths of winter (using probably just as much electricity as your high-speed commute would) without having to charge at work.

Of course, if you are buying new and can wait until December or so then you could get an FFE with 100 miles of range and not be as worried.

 

[kalel14]

I live in hot, flat Florida with a highway commute. You'd be biting your nails every day trying to get 80 miles out of the car on the highway. During the usual Texas cold snap in winter, you wouldn't make it if you turned on heat. And without a 240 volt charger, it would take 20 hours to recharge from each day's trip. Wait for next year's model.

 

[Pearl]

The OP is only driving 40 miles round trip each day. Even with the high discharge of fast driving, it should be possible. Although not good for the long term life of the battery.

 

[campfamily]

My commute is 52 miles round trip. I leave early in the morning, and so 75% of my morning commute is at 75+ mph. Most of that is downhill (my house is at 1000 ft elevation, where I park my car is about 150 ft). Coming home in the evening is a mix of high speed and traffic; I'd guess about 40 to 50% of the time I'm going 60+ mph, the rest of the time is pretty much 20 mph or less. When I get home, I typically have about 15 to 20 miles remaining showing on the GOM. I run A/C all of the time. On colder morning, I'll run the heater as necessary. I also pre-condition my car when it is plugged in at home on cold mornings.

I think your commute is very doable in a FFE. However, it will require you installing a Level 2 charger at home, as the Level 1 charger will not be able to keep up with the energy you will be using.

Keith

 

[Run2forever]

I live in Houston, but no longer commute . On the other hand, I drive over 60 miles per day pretty regularly. I don't think you will have any problem with a commute as you have described. Driving at 80 mph will decrease your range, but the "remaining range" readout will help you optimize your range/speed calculus
on the way home.
Any chance you can park by an electric plug at your workplace?

 

[brogult]

@merkurmaniac

The AC doesn't hurt the range much, not nearly as much as heat. Your speeds will cut it some, but not enough to worry about. The warm weather will actually improve battery performance--to a point. Your car may ask to be plugged in on hot days--is this possible at work?

The closest I've come to your commute is a straight freeway shot from LAX to my house on a full charge. It is 56 miles uphill (about 1700 feet) and traffic was 80+ for a good part of it. I drove at least 10 miles of that trip in the carpool lane on the speed limiter (85MPH) with two people, luggage and the AC on. I got home with 12% battery, IIRC.

IMO, you will be able to do the commute and precool the car at your workplace and still have plenty of reserve. Your battery would probably have to degrade 30% to even start causing you range anxiety. This usage won't "hammer" the battery, it is pretty much normal use.

 

[Pearl]

Any chance you can park by an electric plug at your workplace?

Even at 120V, if you can plug in while at work, you'll be able to add nearly 30 miles of range by charging from 8-5.
Ask your employer.

 

[merkurmaniac]

Thanks all for the replies. I had defo planned on adding level 2 charging at home, and I already have a 60 amp sub-panel installed. the "plug" for it could be about 2 feet away.

I appreciate everyone's input. There are no hills here, the biggest elevation change is literally a freeway overpass. Driving 80 mph is not a strict requirement, I just wanted to make sure that I would'nt be stuck driving 55 mph to be able to make the round trip, as this could literally be dangerous in the afternoon. It seemed like it would be almost an expectation with the leaf, after a year or two.

The other reason that I'd like the FFE is that I have a daughter who is a freshmen in high school, and a son in the 6th grade. I don't plan to move anytime soon, so I am looking at 6 years of constant trips to the high school, and lots of short range commutes that I'd love to do without burning any gasoline. My daughter may well end up with it, as she will not be driving far from home for the next several years, and my current car is a stick shift acura TL with 169,000 miles and she'd prefer not to drive the stick in high school bumper to bumper traffic. I'd like to use the focus for work whenever I can, maybe most days... we'll see.

Now, at work ,we are in the middle of a mega downturn and are laying off a lot of people. It would be poor timing, perhaps to ask about a plug for an electric vehicle, but I had talked with the architect at my work a few years back and he thought it would be no big deal. I'd suspect that the company would look at it as cheap "green cred" which they don't really care about now, but may in the future. Its possible I could plug into 110v, but I'd like to not depend on it. I have lots of friends at work whose cars I could borrow for sudden longer range emergencies, and such.

I am considering buying a used FFE, sort of near Houston.

 

[michael]

My trip is 37 miles each way, and my car has a significantly faded battery at 50,000 miles.

This morning I made the trip at 70-85 MPH using about 12 kWh, leaving about 3 kWh in reserve.

You should be OK, but if you buy a used one, look for one with lower miles, and take a 40 mile drive to verify the battery is in good shape.

 

[Elektra]

I live in Dallas and there's more hills here. I take a trip that's 50 miles once or twice a month going about 70 mph with a/c on. Going there, about 30% battery capacity remain, going back about 20% remain. You should make your trip easily in this heat going 80 mph. It may be harder when it's below freezing and the older cars lost capacity. Some people plug in 12v electric blankets instead of using the cabin heater. When you test drive the car, ask the dealer to fully charge the car. When you get in, use the directional controller on the left side of the steering wheel to go to the trip settings. Reset it by holding down the ok button on the left side. Drive it at highway speed for 20 miles and return to the dealer. The left screen will tell you how many kWh you consumed. Then tap on the leaf icon on the center dash screen to see how many % battery is left.

 

[TomEV]

I have a flat 36 mile round trip commute, partly at 80 mph, and have no trouble even with AC this summer. The AC has little effect. Would suggest you wait for the 2017 version and then you have absolutely nothing to worry about. A level 2 charger will help a lot too. With the federal tax credit on both the car and charger, you should find a new one reasonable to buy.

 

[merkurmaniac]

Well, I bought one today. A "blue candy metallic" one that had been owned in Morgan Hill, CA and also in Gilroy, CA. It has carpools stickers on the back bumper. I am curious if it belonged to anyone here.

Thanks,
Richard

 

[jmueller065]

What is the VIN?

 

[merkurmaniac]

1FADP3R45DL159532

Looks like it was on their lot since Sept last year, so its probably not yours.

 

[jmueller065]

No, I already found mine:
https://spareelectrons.wordpress.com/2017/01/12/wow-found-it/

 

[Magnetoreluctance]

Well, I bought one today. A "blue candy metallic" one that had been owned in Morgan Hill, CA and also in Gilroy, CA. It has carpools stickers on the back bumper. I am curious if it belonged to anyone here.

Thanks,
Richard

Great choice!

 

[EVA]

No, I already found mine:
https://spareelectrons.wordpress.com/2017/01/12/wow-found-it/

Sweet. I'll have to follow the same advice.

I was kind of halfway hoping I could still track the car with the app or MFM. But Ford took care of that very quickly.