Level 2 Charging experience (CX-90 PHEV)

Trip CX90

Trip CX90

:
2024 CX90 PHEV Premium Plus
Finally got a Level 2 charger installed. Took awhile to find a competent electrician but the one I found did a great job. I got the inspection report shortly after and was able to submit the application for the state incentive.. The application for the North Carolina incentive was straightforward and I was reimbursed in about three weeks. $1,100 check via snail mail.

I got an Emporia charger on Amazon. I hit it at the right time and it was on sale for $250. It’s nothing too fancy. It does have Wi-Fi and some scheduling and data built-in but it doesn’t seem as app robust as other chargers. It does come with a 25 foot charging cord. It plugs into a 14-50 outlet that electrician installed. He used quality parts and there is no issue with the outlet getting warm, which could be a fire hazard with cheaper parts.

The level 2 charger really is a game changer. Being able to fully charge the car in just 90min is AMAZING. With 26-30 miles of range available on a full charge (with cold weather maybe 15 - 20 miles tops), a typical weekday looks like….
  • Morning school drop off, run errands, plug in
  • Full range for lunch errands, plug in
  • Full range, afternoon school pick, grocery shopping, plug in
  • 2 hours later, the car is fully charged to go out for the evening
Currently the gas tank is at 3/4 with 800 miles on the trip odometer. The car has been in EV mode for most of the last 3 weeks because I could quick charge between trips. Barring a long distance trip or multiple trips into the city, I can conceivably stay in EV mode for another 3 weeks and go nearly 1,500 miles before I need to fuel up. That would probably be topping up with 11 gallons, which would work out to 1,500 miles / 11 gal = 136 MPGe 😳 Jesus that’s insane for a 5,000 lb 3 row SUV.

Love the PHEV drive train. We work from home and it works perfectly with our driving habits. All the benefits of an EV without the range anxiety for longer trips when needed. This is a must have for my next car. I haven’t been impressed with the CX90 overall but if there aren’t any other SUV PHEV options when the lease is up, I‘d get into another CX90 for the PHEV alone.
 
That is the way to do it and this is the perfect car for your situation. The PHEV is the vehicle that would fit my situation as well and I need to purchase my next car with my brain and not my heart (which wants the inline 6).
 
What's the MPG rating when the battery is depleted? Like when you take it on a cross country trip. How many of those trips do you take in an average year?

I ask, because we were once concerned with range anxiety, but since buying our Model Y, have never had any real concerns. We've taken a couple 400 mile trips, which just require a 15 minute charge to accomplish it. We are planning a trip from IL to TX in a few months, but will probably be taking our ICE, mostly due to its larger size. If we took the Tesla, it says it would take 3 hours in charge time, so it does add some time.

I know BEV's are not practical for everyone, so please don't take my post as negative. I think a PHEV is a great choice for those people who take several longer trips a year, or live in rural areas with no charging infrastructure. We probably wouldn't have bought the Tesla if we didn't have an ICE as a back up, due to our initial range anxiety concerns. It just hasn't been a thing.
 
We do have one long-distance trip of about 400 miles under our belt. I did not charge up at all once the initial charge depleted. We were able to make it to our destination and back on one full charge and a single tank of gas with a quarter of a tank left over. Fuel economy worked out to 28.5 MPG. That’s in the ballpark of other similar SUVs, and not bad for the size and power output.

We usually do two or three trips between North Carolina and Pennsylvania every year, round trip 1,400 miles. We have not done one yet in the CX90, but will be in a couple of months. Our route takes us across NC, north thru the mountains of WV and VA, into PA thru Pittsburgh, and north to Lake Erie.

There arn’t a ton of charging stations along the route. We’d have to change up our route if we had an EV. And I also think a one day one way trip would turn into two days. Where we have seen chargers at hotels and other public places, they’re usually full. The other concern is from news reports I’ve seen, the stations are often in need of repair or vandalized making even fewer chargers available. With the current infrastructure, an EV wouldn’t be the best choice for us.

What will be interesting with the CX90 on the first NC-PA trip, is going thru the mountains. Either direction, it’s about an hour of driving straight up (and then an hour straight down). I’m wondering if the battery reserves for the full power rating and boost mode will get depleted. I’m sure Mazda has considered it but all the same, still curious about it.
 
At that rate, the engine may be broken-in sometime next year :oops:

Does it track separate mileage for the engine?
 
N7turbo said:
At that rate, the engine may be broken-in sometime next year :oops:

Does it track separate mileage for the engine?
Click to expand...

That’s a great question. I need to crack open the owners manual and see if it says anything about how the service intervals are calculated. My last few Mazdas were set service intervals. I don’t know if the CX90 is the same or has some intelligence behind it like Honda’s Maintenance Minder.
 
They would love for you to come in on a regular schedule, but oil doesn't "go bad" in 6 months. You're very likely looking at a yearly oil change, and even that is likely going to change out oil that still has life left in it.
 
Sig cx-5 said:
What's the MPG rating when the battery is depleted? Like when you take it on a cross country trip. How many of those trips do you take in an average year?

I ask, because we were once concerned with range anxiety, but since buying our Model Y, have never had any real concerns. We've taken a couple 400 mile trips, which just require a 15 minute charge to accomplish it. We are planning a trip from IL to TX in a few months, but will probably be taking our ICE, mostly due to its larger size. If we took the Tesla, it says it would take 3 hours in charge time, so it does add some time.

I know BEV's are not practical for everyone, so please don't take my post as negative. I think a PHEV is a great choice for those people who take several longer trips a year, or live in rural areas with no charging infrastructure. We probably wouldn't have bought the Tesla if we didn't have an ICE as a back up, due to our initial range anxiety concerns. It just hasn't been a thing.
Click to expand...
PHEV is picking up momentum in sale.
EVs, other than Tesla, are not selling well in US.
Maybe solid-state battery will change the game a bit.
Personally, I am concerned about battery recycling.
Automakers should be forced to recycle batteries they produced.
 
TimelessMazda said:
I'm sure they are okay with this as they will just add the cost to the vehicle.
Click to expand...
Well, they can fetch $ for the used batteries if they hand them over to a recycler. Doubtful they will do it themselves unless they wanted to recover some of the materials. In which case, there shouldn't be any extra cost to the user.
 
Sig cx-5 said:
What's the MPG rating when the battery is depleted? Like when you take it on a cross country trip. How many of those trips do you take in an average year?

I ask, because we were once concerned with range anxiety, but since buying our Model Y, have never had any real concerns. We've taken a couple 400 mile trips, which just require a 15 minute charge to accomplish it. We are planning a trip from IL to TX in a few months, but will probably be taking our ICE, mostly due to its larger size. If we took the Tesla, it says it would take 3 hours in charge time, so it does add some time.

I know BEV's are not practical for everyone, so please don't take my post as negative. I think a PHEV is a great choice for those people who take several longer trips a year, or live in rural areas with no charging infrastructure. We probably wouldn't have bought the Tesla if we didn't have an ICE as a back up, due to our initial range anxiety concerns. It just hasn't been a thing.
Click to expand...
PHEV don't need charging infrastructure, charging is done at home except for those who live in apartment. I have a 240V/50A outlet installed by the home builder in my garage in anticipation of EV and PHEV. I use the charger cable from my Chevrolet Bolt EUV to charge my CX-90 PHEV (for 2 hrs or less depending on how much EV miles left over).

The Bolt EUV comes nicely with a dual voltage 240V/120V charger cable (using a removable adapter). It works fine with the CX-90 PHEV since they both use J1772 connector. I believe all EV and PHEV built for America use same J1772 connector except Tesla.

Even though the Bolt EUV is a really nice car, charging it on roadtrips was painful and hence comes the CX-90 PHEV. There are not that many charge stations for non-Tesla owners and when you arrive at one (in working condition), there's a good chance someone is already there and will take around 1/2 hour (on average) or longer to complete.
 
Last edited:
Trip CX90 said:
Finally got a Level 2 charger installed. Took awhile to find a competent electrician but the one I found did a great job. I got the inspection report shortly after and was able to submit the application for the state incentive.. The application for the North Carolina incentive was straightforward and I was reimbursed in about three weeks. $1,100 check via snail mail.

I got an Emporia charger on Amazon. I hit it at the right time and it was on sale for $250. It’s nothing too fancy. It does have Wi-Fi and some scheduling and data built-in but it doesn’t seem as app robust as other chargers. It does come with a 25 foot charging cord. It plugs into a 14-50 outlet that electrician installed. He used quality parts and there is no issue with the outlet getting warm, which could be a fire hazard with cheaper parts.

The level 2 charger really is a game changer. Being able to fully charge the car in just 90min is AMAZING. With 26-30 miles of range available on a full charge (with cold weather maybe 15 - 20 miles tops), a typical weekday looks like….
  • Morning school drop off, run errands, plug in
  • Full range for lunch errands, plug in
  • Full range, afternoon school pick, grocery shopping, plug in
  • 2 hours later, the car is fully charged to go out for the evening
Currently the gas tank is at 3/4 with 800 miles on the trip odometer. The car has been in EV mode for most of the last 3 weeks because I could quick charge between trips. Barring a long distance trip or multiple trips into the city, I can conceivably stay in EV mode for another 3 weeks and go nearly 1,500 miles before I need to fuel up. That would probably be topping up with 11 gallons, which would work out to 1,500 miles / 11 gal = 136 MPGe 😳 Jesus that’s insane for a 5,000 lb 3 row SUV.

Love the PHEV drive train. We work from home and it works perfectly with our driving habits. All the benefits of an EV without the range anxiety for longer trips when needed. This is a must have for my next car. I haven’t been impressed with the CX90 overall but if there aren’t any other SUV PHEV options when the lease is up, I‘d get into another CX90 for the PHEV alone.
Click to expand...
@Trip CX90 I'm in NC too. Can you link me to the application.
 
CX90NC said:
Thank you. Did you hire the contractor or have Duke Energy choose the contractor?
Click to expand...

I hired an electrician. Initially, I had no idea the incentive existed. I went through a number of electricians trying to find one that would respond and had a reasonable $ quote. I went with Next Level Electric and he told me about the incentive. Had I known about the option to find someone through Duke, I probably would have done that. Trying to find electricians, plumbers, etc…. is such a frustrating process.
 
Just FYI… Wanted to comment about the outlet that was installed for the charger. It’s a 14–50 outlet, similar to what an electric stove or an electric dryer would use.

I’ve seen comments on the Internet when researching that people said this would cause a fire. As long as your electrician uses quality parts, this should not be an issue. Electric stoves and dryers run for long periods of time and have no issues. Same thing with the EV chargers. Even held my hand up to it while charging and it does not get warm at all. If it does, there may be cheap parts in there.

Have had it installed for about two months. Zero issues with it and our monthly electric bill has not gone up much at all compared to the same time last year. Well, kw hours are the same. The rates are criminal and have gone up 😝 but charging the PHEV has had minimal impact on how much energy the house uses overall. I’m saving about $200 a month in gasoline. So the charger and most of the installation, with the incentive, pretty much paid for everything at this point.
 
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