This fall, I’m planning my first long trip, 1,700 miles total, in an electric vehicle. I haven’t had to worry about range before, as my trips have been relatively short and I’ve always charged at home. My EV has a good range on a full charge, but I will need multiple charges. Are there big gaps between charging stations on the route? Will they be available and working when I get there? How do I pay for the charging? What do I do while the EV is charging?
Research has eased those worries, and I’ll describe how I expect the trip to go later. First, let’s talk about range anxiety and why it’s becoming less of a worry.
Origin of EV range anxiety
Early in the modern EV era, about 20 years ago, charging stations were few and far between and EVs had shorter ranges between charging. DC fast chargers (Level 3), which can charge most EVs to 80% in 20 to 30 minutes, were nonexistent. Reliability was also an issue. It was common to find charging ports broken, or the payment mechanism confusing or not working as expected.
The best range you could hope for then was a little more than 200 miles. On a 500-mile trip, the chances of finding a working charging station every 100 to 150 miles were slim, especially in less densely populated regions. Given these limitations, it’s no wonder that range anxiety hindered early EV adoption and that it lingers today.
Things have changed. The U.S. now has 85,554 charging stations with 277,750 ports, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Of those, more than 73,000 are DC fast chargers. The growth rate of Level 2 chargers, which provide up to 40 miles of charge per hour, is about 20% a year, and Level 3 chargers are increasing at a 30% annual clip. Reliability issues persist, but they are improving.
EV ranges now are as high as 500 miles for some luxury models, with many affordable models providing 300 miles or more. That, along with the rapid increase in charging stations, takes the stress out of a 500-mile road trip in an EV.
Planning for an EV road trip
Long trips in an EV take more planning than gas-powered cars. For my trip to Cincinnati, there are plenty of charging stations at short intervals the entire way. Planning, then, is more about timing, and about selecting stations with DC fast charging and the adapters and charging network I use. Route-planning apps make this all easy.
Choosing a planning app: I’m using two, PlugShare and A Better Routeplanner. PlugShare’s value is its crowd-sourced data. Users report obstacles like broken or unavailable ports, and they post photos and reviews of charging stations. That information can save time when your first choice for a charging station is no longer an option. ABRP offers more detailed trip planning and has EV-specific data on things like range and consumption rates. It also takes weather and other factors into account.
EV manufacturers often install onboard trip-planning apps, too, but they might not include every charging option. A backup app is a good idea.
Timing: Charging an EV using DC fast charging will take 30 to 45 minutes to reach an 80% charge, depending on the remaining charge and how fast the EV charges. Why 80%? After that level, charging slows down for most EVs to protect the battery. At 80%, I will have about a 240-mile range.
I plan to start my trip at 100% charge, which will give me about 300 miles of range — enough to get me well into New York. It will take at least three charging sessions to get me to my destination, and I am planning those around meals and breaks to give me something to do while I wait. I plan to use ABRP and Google Maps to find nearby restaurants or places to relax during charging.
Selecting stations: Ideally, I want to find charging stations that support my EV’s charging adapter and that use my favored payment network. I’m confident that I can plan for that, but I might need to find a second choice due to a lack of available ports at my selected stop.
Fortunately, I have options. My Hyundai Kona can use the two most common DC fast charging adapters. Its standard adapter port is the Combined Charging System (CCS), but I can get an adapter to use the North American Charging System (NACS). That covers nearly all the charging ports I’ll encounter on my trip.
Many charging stations require that you use a specific payment network and app. I will have two of those apps on my phone, probably EVgo and Electrify America.
For more information about EV trip planning, see Recharged’s trip planning guide: recharged.com/articles/how-to-plan-ev-road-trip.
EV workshop coming up
The Peterborough Renewable Energy Project will host an EV Workshop and EV Expo on June 6. The workshop will be in the Eben Jones Classroom at the Peterborough Town Library from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., and the expo will be in the All Saints Church parking lot from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Both events will allow attendees to learn about the EV experience, including lower operating and maintenance costs.
Michael Nadeau is a member of the Community Power Committee.