Excellent reporting that we have needed amongst all the EV hype; a couple of women decide to rent an electric vehicle and take a road trip from New Orleans to Chicago and back. They logged all events and time taken, so we have a complete view of their experiences.
The quick summary is that these two young ladies would not do it again!
I like to bullet-list the essential data, so here goes:
Vehicle: KIA EV-6
Miles driven: 2,013
The number of charges: 10, a recharge every 201 miles.
Total charging cost: $175
The equivalent gas cost is estimated at $275 ($100 savings). Home charging is usually much cheaper than public charging stations.
Off-peak charging for my home in Phoenix is 5 cents per kWh, and every fast-charging station in Phoenix/Flagstaff is listed at 43 cents per kWh.
Hours spent waiting to charge: 18
Hours of sleep: 16
Calories of junk food consumed (estimated): 1,465
Specific Experiences and lessons learned:
Fast Chargers are not as available as everyone believes - even New Orleans lacked one. Note later reference to what entails a ‘fast’ charger.
I did a search on the PlugShare app for Phoenix and Flagstaff for a minimum of 200 kW charging stations - only found 4 (three in Phoenix). None of the reviews reported a charge at this level.
The trip requires meticulous planning to ensure you don’t run out of charge. iPhone apps used to locate and identify charging locations are mandatory.
Chargers slow down significantly when capacity reaches 80%. Calculate range using 80% only.
A Charger at a Kia dealership in Meridian, Mississippi, is listed as a fast charger on the app. They had trouble finding it, and a mechanic told them it gets little usage. They quickly found out why - it was charging at 20 kW/hour, which would fully charge the batteries in 3 hours. It turns out that fast chargers can use the term if they meet a minimum of 24 kW (this one lied?). But the issue is that some fast chargers produce as much as 350 kW - a very broad range and resulting wait times required.
The author could have referenced newer data on apps that list kW/hour available, price per kW, plug types, amenities available, and even user reviews. I used PlugShare - one with the largest amount of reviews. This app lists Meridian Kia as having only 24kW/hour availability. To be fair, maybe she didn’t understand the complexity of charging rates - remember that all gas stations pump at about the same rate - a five-minute fill-up is almost universal.
I have seen multiple reviews of charging stations only charging at 50 kW while listed as 350 kW - reviews after this listed no issues?
Difficult to determine if the charger is broken or not - you may be depending on a single charger location that is out of service. In one location, a McDonald’s was listed in the app as broken; a call to the fast-food stop to verify it was working didn’t succeed - the worker refused to check as it was raining. The women took a chance, and it was indeed working.
Some charging stations are in dicey locations where security is questionable for young women…and me. Remember the sites of some public payphones?
While the vehicle used on this trip was listed as having a range of 310 miles, they only got a range of 200 miles on the highway with high winds. Without regenerative braking, highway range is often less than local driving. To extend the range when it was low, they unplugged their cellphones, turned off the radio and air conditioner, and even lowered the wipers' speed! Cue hot screaming kids in the backseat as screens unplugged.
Note that fast charging may degrade the battery faster due to heat - there is still debate on this issue. Most EV manufacturers recommend that you not fast charge daily.
Consumer complexity for EV charging is much more than a gas station and needs to be reduced asap. A gas station visit requires only a few decisions, diesel or gas, and what octane. EV charging requires you to understand what kind of plug you have, what rate of charging is needed, and what app/credit card you need to pay. Signs outside listing what the cost is are non-existent so it must not be a buying decision?
Don’t confuse Tesla charging stations’ information - they are not able to charge anything but a Tesla ( A Shell gas station that only provides gas to Cadillacs). Tesla’s are able to use other stations with an adapter.
Have you ever seen any of these EV signs depicting a nearby charging station? I have never seen any, but again, I am not needing a charge.
In conclusion, the infrastructure (primarily fast charging) is still not built out for cross-country trips in an EV and is too complex for consumers. Using an EV as a second car (local trips only) and overnight home charging is still the preferred model if you can afford the initial vehicle cost.
How do i recover the cost of my lost time? Three hour pit stop vs 30 minutes. I’m billable at $125 an hour. Where do I send my invoice, Pete Budajudge or Joe Biden. I ain’t saving nothing. Costs me money.
It looks like it may be a long time before EV vehicles are practical for anything but local driving. Another question - how do they handle in snow or other bad weather?
How do i recover the cost of my lost time? Three hour pit stop vs 30 minutes. I’m billable at $125 an hour. Where do I send my invoice, Pete Budajudge or Joe Biden. I ain’t saving nothing. Costs me money.
It looks like it may be a long time before EV vehicles are practical for anything but local driving. Another question - how do they handle in snow or other bad weather?