EV Road Trip: Let’s Hit the Open Road
The Great American Pastime
For nearly a century drivers have enjoyed a unique pastime: the great American road trip. For many of us it was a rite of passage in our early twenties to make the famed cross-country trip. It was a mark of adulthood. The car has always been a symbol of independence and freedom for Americans, and the ability to travel a thousand miles across the beautiful expanses of the country was the mark of that freedom made manifest. How do we translate this wonderful old tradition into a new EV road trip.
The construction of the interstate highway system initiated by the Eisenhower administration made that phenomenon a possibility. Along with the roadways, though, was needed the fueling infrastructure to allow us to move freely for long distances. That convenience is something that generations today have never had to think about. We could always count on an exit off the interstate where we could fuel up, pick up a Slim Jim, a pack of crackers, or a bag of pork rinds (my bias giving a nod to a southern favorite). The signs were all familiar: Exxon, Chevron, Shell, etc. You could see the fifty-foot tall lighted signs from a mile away as you approached.
New Ideas
Enter EV and we’re just getting familiar with the new players: ChargePoint, ElectrifyAmerica, and others. They’re not household names. They have no massive signs, no beacons showing us the way to charge up. There are few dedicated stations with convenience stores. Up to this point those chargers have been add-ons or placed in areas which we don’t think of as the quintessential fill-up stations. They might be in a Walmart parking lot or a car dealership. Specifically, I’m talking about the level 3 charging stations that can keep a driver moving in a short period of time as she cruises on her trip.
Instead of large signs pointing us in the right direction we have apps on our phone or built into our cars’ software to tell us where to find that level 3 charger. For millennials and Z’s that may be all they care to have. They may see no need for the iconic signs hulking over the interstate.
Challenges
The main challenge remains building the charging infrastructure to allow EV’s to travel with the same ease which traditional car drivers have enjoyed for what seems like time immemorial.
That infrastructure is coming, no doubt. I recently took my EV with a 300 mile range (highway driving gave me more like 315) for a 500+ mile ride from New Orleans to Chattanooga. With a very small amount of time looking at my PlugShare app I found two level 3 chargers at the halfway mark which allowed me a smooth, one-stop trip. The chargers I found were in great shape, worked well, and were placed at a gas station where I was able to have a short lunch while I charged up at 120 kW. These kinds of trips are going to get easier and easier as the legacy infrastructure is replaced with the new. Viva la Road Trip!