Roadtripping an EV in 2021
Challenging for now, but will get easier over time.
Yes, there is no question that roadtripping in an EV will add time to the trip.
Yes, things are improving on both the availability of fast charging stations, vehicles in the market that can charge at higher rates of speed, and the general public’s understanding the purpose of parking lot charging stations.
But the recent death of my father had me making countless runs to my father’s house. That was a 240+ mile round trip. Some were taken in a VW e-Golf. Many were taken in an Audi e-tron. Each offered a different experience due to their driving ranges and speed at which they could ingest power from a DC fast charger. The VW would require a forty minute stop on the way, while the
e-tron was able to go the one way distance, only requiring a top-off on arrival, or the next morning, depending how productive I was feeling, what time I arrived, or if the trip required more stops before reaching my final destination.
Consider this… it was only six months ago that I was planning a cross country trip from Los Angeles to New York. For help I turned to A Better Route Planner, an app for planning out charging stops (it offers navigation as well) along a route. I was discouraged to learn that a plan routing through the South Wes, between Arizona and New Mexico, was impassable because no DC fast charging infrastructure existed between two points along the route. A short three months later and this is no longer the case thanks to new chargers installed by Electrify America.
Yes, I live on the West coast. I am fully aware that we have an abundance of DC charging stations with more being installed on a daily basis. I am also aware that such is not the case for rural communities and stretches of middle America.
Yes, EV roadtripping has some downsides – now. But this is a temporary thing. Time will improve the cars, the infrastructure and the general public’s awareness of what those large white boxes with TV screens on them are for.