By Location

ID.4 Roadtrip, Phoenix to Idaho Falls

For those of you familiar with our antics, changing vehicles, homes, cell phones, etc. is a very regular occurrence with us (for better or worse ;)). One of our better choices was to move towards electric vehicles and we made this switch this summer. We choose the 2022 VW ID4 as our roadtrip vehicle and very quickly planned a trip to visit family in Idaho Falls, ID.

Nathan is always fascinated by the specifics and details of new technology so here is his run-down of our trip, including all the nitty gritty details on how a 16-hour roadtrip goes in a fully electric vehicle.


Trip Details:
Starting Location: Peoria, AZ
Ending Location: Idaho Falls, ID
Hotel Stop – Outbound: St George, UT – Hampton Inn SunRiver
Hotel Stop – Inbound: Spanish Fork, UT – Hampton Inn

Outbound Charging Stops (Trip Started @ 100%)

  • EA: Kingman, AZ – Smiths
  • EA: Las Vegas, NV, Bonanza Rd – Smiths
  • Hampton Inn SunRiver: St George, UT – Level 2 Overnight
  • EA: Cedar City, UT – Walmart
  • EA: Scipio, UT – Flying J
  • EA: Perry, UT – Walmart
  • EA: Pocatello, ID – Walmart

Inbound Charging Stops (Trip Started @ 92%)

  • EA: Perry, UT – Walmart
  • EA: Spanish Fork, UT – Walmart
  • EA: Scipio, UT – Flying J
  • EA: Cedar City, UT – Walmart
  • EA: Las Vegas, NV, Bonanza Rd – Smiths
  • EA: Kingman, AZ – Smiths

Trip Experiences

  • Used Travel Assist the entire time
  • Cruise never exceeded 75 (rarely exceeded for passing)
  • A/C Set at 76*
  • Estimated SoC from ABRP was consistently lower than our actual SoC
  • Always used the app to start charging, and the vehicle to stop charging

Overall Thoughts
The ID.4 made the trip exceedingly stress-free and easy. Each direction was about 3 hours longer than with an ICE vehicle due to the additional charging stops, but we had no significant issues with the charging stations for the duration of the trip and the vehicle features made the trip quite relaxing and comfortable. I have had several vehicles with ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control), but none of them can compare to the ID.4 in any way. All of my other experiences with ACC were very uncomfortable with abrupt braking and acceleration that did not inspire confidence. In addition, all of my other ACC experience fail completely when the sun is involved. All of my other vehicles generate ACC errors and disable it when heading into the sun which makes ACC essentially useless. I have not had a single issue with either ACC or Travel Assist (ACC with Lane Keeping/Centering) in the ID.4, no disconnects or other errors and no phantom activity either. I do wish the steering wheel was capacitive instead of requiring force on the steering wheel, but that is a nitpick and was not an issue for this trip. In addition, the massaging seats are very comfortable and excel at relieving pressure during long stints. I was initially apprehensive that they turn off automatically after 15 minutes, however, this was actually a nice experience.

There are several outstanding issues with the ID.4 that are just annoying at this point.

  • The heater errored in the first 500 miles of ownership, in the first week. The part is backordered, and I’ve been waiting for over a month just for a status update. I’m hoping the heater is available before the temperatures start to drop, and I’m curious if not having the heater had an impact on the charging rate for parts of this trip.
    • The heater was finally replaced by Volkswagen under warranty in late September with 3900 miles on the ID.4.
  • Normal software 3.1 issues. There is a constant error for something related to the mobile network in the car. This error is in addition to a random error related to 2G and emergency calls that I occasionlly receive. I’m unable to login to CarNet to setup a user in the vehicle so I’m always an “Anonymous Guest”, but I’m not sure what the impact of this is. Finally, while I’m supposed to be able to change the network provider from T-Mobile to Verizon, I don’t seem to have the ability to catually do this, but I haven’t called CarNet yet so I might have to. Where we are, Verizon exists while T-Mobile has no coverage at all.
  • The MyVW app is exceedingly crap. It cannot be stated enough, this is just a PoS that deserves to be taken out back and shot. There is nothing about the app that is worth mentioning. It’s features are pathetically limited and even those features fail 90% of the time. It’s just terrible at every interaction.
  • I’m not a fan of how the ID.4 handles locking the charging cable. My other EV is an i3 and only locks the charging cable if you lock the vehicle. The ID.4 on the other hand locks it anytime the vehicle is charging, and occasionally when the vehicle is not charging and not even locked. This is a PITA compared to the i3 which I can walk up to and unplug without issue, while the ID.4 requires me to get in it, wait for the screen to load, and then manually stop charging to unlock the charging handle. Occasionally I can get the charger to unlock by unlocking the vehicle, even though the vehicle isn’t locked. It’s just a bad experience compared to my other vehicle.

Outbount Trip

  • Total Duration: 26 hours
  • Travel Time: 18 hours (2 of this was terrible traffic between Vegas and St George)

Home – Kingman
Left the house at 100% SoC at ~1315. No significant traffic on US-60 past Wickenburg. Thunderstorm upon arriving at Kingman. Did beat the thunderstorm, but there was a wait at the Kingman EA. We arrived with 1 charger inoperable followed within a minute by a Mustang Mach-e. All three other stations were taken. A Rivian in station 4, a Leaf in station 3, station 2 inoperable, and a Bolt in station 1. While we were parked in inoperable station 2 the thunderstorm hit and dropped heavy rain and hail, up to about a nickel in size. Once the Leaf left we moved to replace it while the Mustang waited, they followed the order we arrived wihtout any conversationn. The station screen was non-responsive, however the app was able to start the charger and we charged with no issues at normal speed.

We charged from ~25% SoC up to 80% within the 30 minute free charging window. During this time we picked up food/drink from Smiths for dinner and used the restroom. All of this was performed while charging, and we returned to the vehicle with approximately 5 minutes remaining to charge to 80%. The Mustang owner asked if the charger was working correctly and how much time was remaining. Advised that yes it was working correctly for us, and 5 minutes left. When we left, both the Rivian and the Bolt were still in charging. I never saw the Rivian driver and the Bolt driver never left the vehicle.

Kingman – Vegas
Leaving Kingman and heading to Vegas there were no issues. Traffic was not heavy and we were able to set the cruise and just go. We arrived in Vegas at the EA station on Bonanza and there were no other vehicles charging. We had no issues charging. During this time we visited the Smiths to use the restroom. This Smiths is not in a great part of town and requires a code to use the restroom. We also picked up some snacks here. We noticed there is a McDonald’s in this parking lot as well for the return trip.

Vegas – St George
Leaving St George was simple as well, although Google Maps did route us West to I-15 instead of North to I-15 which may have been faster but didn’t logically make a lot of sense. However, there was SIGNIFICANT traffic starting about 20 miles West of Mesquite due to road construction. The Travel Assist and ACC made this experience a piece of cake and it was quite relaxing. It took about 1.5-2 hours to get through this 20 mile section of traffic which meant we were much later than expected arriving in St George.

Hampton Inn & Suites SunRiver
This Hampton Inn has four (4) Level 2 chargers that are free for hotel guests to use. We arrived at approximately 2330 and all four charging stations were open. It was great to see that no ICE vehicles had parked in these spots. While not right in front of the hotel, they are easily accessed directly from the side entrance to the hotel. Once parked, we finished our check-in and the front desk person walked out and turned on the charger. We charged at approximately 10kW and the car was fully charged before we left in the morning, up to 100%. It took approximately 5 hours to charge, and we had arrived with ~40% SoC if I recall correctly.

St George – Cedar City
We left in the morning and headed to Cedar City. While this is not a significant distance, the terrain between St George and Cedar City is very mountainous and we used approximately 50% charge to travel this distance. The temperature was also pretty cool, in the 60’s, and the heater in my ID.4 is not functional, so this may have affected the energy usage. It definitely appeared to affect the charging speed in St George, as while we had no issues charging the charging rate was lower than expected. We charged to approximately 90% in the 30 minute window. This Walmart is a nicer Walmart and is a much better experience than other stops we will make as part of this trip.

Cedar City – Scipio
The travel from Cedar City was entirely uneventful. Traffic was light and cruise control was set to 75. We arrived at Scipio with plenty of SoC remaining, but since this was our first trip we stopped to charge anyway. We were still learning how well the efficiency of the ID.4 is and didn’t want to take any chances. The next charging station after Scipio is Spanish Fork and we didn’t want to take the risk. There was one other person attempting to charge with a Bolt, but we pulled right up to station 4 and started charging without any issue. We charged for the full 30 minutes and used the restroom in the Flying J. When we left, the Bolt had switched to a different station and appeared to be charging.

Scipio – Perry
The route plan according to ABRP had us going to Salt Lake City for the next stop, followed by a stop in Perry. However, we had plenty SoC left as we were travelling through Salt Lake City so we skipped the SLC stop and went straight to Perry instead. We arrived at the Perry EA station with two other vehicles already charging. We pulled right in to station 1 and started charging without any issue. However, the station itself was not working correctly and gave an error that our payment method was declined and constantly showed the “Please Plug-In” screen for the duration of the charge. Not sure what the issue was, but our payment method is the “2022 ID.4” plan so not sure how that could have been denied, but still allow the station to charge? We arrived with ~25% SoC and charged to 76% by the end of the 30 minute free session. We used the facilities at the Walmart and grabbed some snacks. I also saw my first Lucid Air as well as my first Lightning.

Perry – Pocatello
The segment from Perry to Pocatello was not the longest segment, but was very mountainous going through Malad Pass. We used a decent amount of charge going up through Malad and the long lead-up to it, but achieved a good efficiency rate once we passed Malad Pass. We arrived in Pocatello with a comfortable SoC remaining, just not quite enough to finish the trip to Idaho Falls. There was nobody at the EA charger, and we arrived and started charging without issue. Google Maps did route us through the light to turn into the Walmart, however, they have erected barricade between the parking lot with the light access and the Walmart parking lot, so we had to head back out to the main road and turn into the Walmart parking lot. The EA chargers had visibly sun-damaged screens, however we had no issues charging. We stayed for the full 30 minutes so that we would not need to charge immediately upon arriving in Idaho Falls.

Pocatello – Idaho Falls
The final segment of our trip was easy and quick. We arrived with plenty of SoC remaining to visit family and head to dinner, before topping off at the EA charger at the Walmart in Idaho Falls. Same experience here, no issues at all and a completely empty charging station. While we were charging another vehicle showed up, a surprise given the area we were in.

Inbound Trip

  • Trip Duration: 23 Hours
  • Travel Duration: 16 Hours (Much lighter, but still some, traffic between Mesquite and Vegas)

Idaho Falls – Perry
We decided to save some time and left Idaho Falls with a 92% SoC around 1800 and the drive to Perry was uneventful. Once again, heading up Malad Pass used a good chunk of charge but coming from Idaho Falls it’s a much more level trip until you arrive at Malad Pass. Once we were over the pass we had good efficiency as it’s a relatively long downward slope to Perry. We arrived at Perry and once again charged without issue at the same charging stsation as our way in. We grabbed some sandwiches from the Walmart before continuing. Again we stayed under the 30 minute charging limit, and again the charging station stated our payment method was declined but we charged without issue.

Perry – Spanish Fork
The drive to Spanish Fork was nice with light traffic. We arrived pretty late, around 2300, and there were two other vehicles charging. We pull,d up to station 4, and were warned by another driver they were not able to start charging from that station. However, we had no issues and charging worked without issue. We were able to charge to 80% within the 30 minute window and headed the two blocks down the street to stay at the Hampton Inn for the night. This Hampton Inn did not have charging, but we needed to get some sleep for the next days drive.

Spanish Fork – Scipio
We left the next morning, grabbed our McDonald’s, and headed down the road. The traffic was light and we had no issues on the way to Scipio. The charging station was empty, we pulled into the same station we used on the outbound trip and once again had no issues charging. We used the facilities at the Flying J and it was as close to a normal ICE stop as you could get. We were only able to charge to 76% in the 30 minute window, which I think was caused by battery temperature. It was a cool morning and with the heater in my ID.4 I bet the battery temperature was too low to allow for full speed charging.

Scipio – Cedar City
Once again ABRP showed our next stop should be Beaver, however, we had plenty SoC and continued straight to Cedar City. Traffic again was light and there were no issues at all with this segment. We arrived at the charger which had one other vehicle charging. We started charging without issue and popped into the Walmart. Once again, this is a nice Walmart and it was a good place to stop.

Cedar City – Vegas
We charged for the full 30 minutes and headed out towards Vegas. We had to make a quick stop at the Hampton Inn we stayed at on the way out, since we had left an item we needed to pick up. With that out of the way we continued to Vegas. We ran into traffic outside of Mesquite again, due to road construction, but this was a much shorter period of traffic compared to the outbound trip. This only added perhaps 30 minutes to the trip and once again the Travel Assist and ACC made this a low stress experience. Once we were past traffic we continued on without issue to the EA on Bonanza that we had used on the outbound trip. We decided to use the McDonald’s at this stop instead of the Smiths for lunch, and even the McDonald’s had locked restrooms that the staff had to unlock. However, the McDonald’s is in really good condition and all of the staff was very friendly. We charged for the full 30 minutes and then headed on to Kingman.

Vegas – Kingman
The trip segment between Vegas and Kingman was uneventful until we arrived outside Kingman. As is typical, traffic backed up pretty far due to the fact you must go through a stoplight in Kingman to get on I-40. Since we were charging in Kingman, we took a back route and avoided most of the traffic to head to the EA station. We arrived to one other vehicle at the charging station and using the previously inoperable charger. Once again we used the facilities at the Smiths and grabbed snacks. While we were charging, a test mule with Porsche arrived and started charging next to us. The vehicle looked like a Panamera, but had lots of tape and covered areas all over the vehicle so I’m really not sure what it was. It did not look like a Taycan, but it may have been. Before we left, the vehicle changed stations from 4 to 1 and then the people in the vehicle put a car cover on it while they left it to charge. That was a pretty cool experience.

Kingman – Home
The trip from Kingman back to the house was uneventful. Traffic was good and again, low stress using Travel Assist. I didn’t have to worry about trying to pass slower vehicles or deal with slow traffic, I just let the ID.4 handle all of that and just relaxed. We arrived at home with no issues, having successfully completed our first road trip with an EV and the ID.4.

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