Ford EV Road Trips: Can “Go Anywhere, Do Anything”

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Ford’s got an interesting approach this year of highlighting customers stories in order to promote its electric vehicles. I assume the company learned that what potential buyers need more than anything else is evidence from other humans that electric vehicles work for them. Spec sheets, kilowatts and kilowatt-hours, 0–60 mph times — that’s not getting through to normal mainstream buyers Ford needs to connect with. However, customer testimonials do.

Drive Quality Is Just Better

This is the thing that sells electric vehicles perhaps more than anything else — electric vehicles just feel nicer to drive. And that was the case for Robert Hayes. “After years as a Ford engineer, working on everything from climate control systems to powertrain strategy, a benchmarking drive in an electric vehicle sparked an unexpected passion in Hayes. The silent power, the instant torque — it was a revelation.” We’ve all been there, right? The first drive in an EV is a revelation.

After this experience, Hayes didn’t need any convincing. He was one of the first to buy a Ford Mustang Mach-E, receiving his vehicle in 2021. And Robert really intended to drive the thing!

“People say, ‘an electric vehicle just wouldn’t work for me’ — I’m here to prove them wrong,” Robert noted.

Racking Up The Miles — Ford Mustang Mach-E Road Trip

In about three years, Robert reached a whopping 70,000 miles on his Mustang Mach-E. “These weren’t just leisurely drives, though Hayes made sure to squeeze in trips to plenty of national parks; they were rigorous tests; pushing the limits of his vehicle and his own understanding of the broader electric vehicle landscape — all on his personal time, before Hayes had even joined Ford’s Model e team.” (Ford’s Model e team is basically the company’s internal EV startup.)

Robert also highlights something that isn’t said enough — exploring new charging stations is often a fun experience! We tend to focus so much on any challenges with charging, or simply on pointing out how easy it can be, that we often forget to note that it’s fun and exciting finding new stations, and potentially talking to others at these locations.

“Mapping out chargers and routes was always a fun game for me,” said Robert. “That game has obviously been made quite a bit easier with the BlueOval Charge Network doing most of the work for me, but no less enjoyable.

“I like to visit a variety of chargers on my trips — everything from a free Level 2 charger at a local grocery store to new Tesla Supercharger locations to really get a good idea of the charging landscape today.”

Robert also more recently bought a Ford F-150 Lightning. I’m sure he’s enjoyed that he can do even more with the Lightning than the Mach-E, thanks to the vehicle-to-load capability, pickup bed, etc.

Here are routes he has driven in his Ford Mustang Mach-E and Ford F-150 Lightning:

“I’ve done everything from cross-country road trips to city driving to an 1800-mile loop north of the Arctic Circle in an electric vehicle. When people are skeptical, I can speak from personal experience,” Robert notes.

Working to Make Charging Even Better & Easier

His experience with EV life and passion for it — as well as broader passion for new cleantech, including installing solar panels and replacing his furnace with a heat pump — led to Robert getting a new role at Ford helping to improve the charging experience. You can learn a bit more about that on the Ford website if you’re curious.

Basically, though, this is Robert’s motto: “I don’t want anyone to say that there’s a limit to what they can do with their electric vehicle. These are go anywhere, do anything vehicles, so my mission is to share that feeling with our customers.”