We take several trips from Boston to relatives in western Mass. We can just get there on a full charge, but there is a dearth of charging stations in the area, and using 120V to get to a charge that’ll get us home literally takes days (the manual says that the 120V charger supplied with the car will charge at something like 2 miles/hour).
I guess the simplest thing would be to install a charging station at my in-laws’ house in the Berkshires.
So that’s what, like a 150 mile trip? There’s a CCS/SAE and a Tesla Supercharger at the Lee Service Center on the Turnpike south of Pittsfield. Granted it isn’t ideal, but I can see that driving out there, using your Level 1 charger to restore some mileage (how much are you driving your car when you’re there anyway?) and then stopping on the way back either at that rest stop or the several fast charge stations near Springfield to top off, and you can make it back to Boston for sure. Or, you drive from Boston to Springfield – what is that, like 70 miles? – and fast charge there, kind of topping up, and continue on for the outbound leg of your trip, then level 1 charge, etc.
So in my estimation, a long range BEV can do those trips – but it will not be as straightforward as a hybrid. Plus you have a growing number of options to look at now, including the Kia eNiro, the Hyundai Kona, and of course the lower cost Tesla Model 3s are out (but sounds like you’re probably want something with more storage.)
In my own personal estimation, I would say that driving a nice BEV 95% of the time would outweigh the slight hassle of this trip now and then. In fact, I’m buying a long range BEV shortly to replace my BMW i3, and I will be taking it to the Delaware beaches that are roughly 120 miles away and with roughly similar charging infrastructure. The only difference is that I won’t be going to the beach in the winter, and you may head to the mountains then.
But it is also a totally reasonable that you just don’t want to deal with all this and get a hybrid. IMHO, both are totally valid options, and as I said, I would very likely get the BEV if this is the only “long road trip” you’re concerned about.
Download the PlugShare app if you don’t have it and take another look at charging stations along the way. I had the same concerns about longer trips through Oregon because I was looking at maps for only one provider. PlugShare shows stations for every provider, and there were a lot more than I thought. Filter it down by the quick-charger type that fits your car and you might see some you didn’t know about.
Not all hybrids are created equal. I love my 1st gen Volt - it’s a true electric car until the battery is used up, which only happens on road trips. Well, and maybe on cold winter days when I do additional driving after work. I know they have stopped making the Volt but I think it’s still a good choice. Absolutely no worries about range on out-of-town road trips, of course. I don’t even need to think about finding a charger.
We have a Ford Cmax Energi at work and that seems to operate like a conventional hybrid even with the battery half full. It’s a perfectly fine car but it doesn’t feel like an electric car. I don’t think you will like it.
We own a Volt (2012) and a new Prius Prime. The Prime is a very nice plug in hybrid, but with a pretty short all-elecric range, about 25 miles. While using gas it’s a much better ride than the Volt (which sounds a bit like a lawnmower in gas mode)
Just curious, for those driving electric vehicles, are the electric power plants in your area coal burning or gas fired? Or do you even know?
Washington state is 75% hydro power. (or so I’ve heard)
We elect to upgrade to 100% green energy for a modest amount more
Why stop there? Coal and gas come from the photosynthetic output of ancient plants and algae, so you could say that all electric vehicles are solar powered.
But why stop there? The sunlight those ancient plants used to make the organic material which ultimately became coal/gas/petroleum, came from the fusion of Helium in the sun’s core,.
MY car is therefore nuclear-powered.
Also; I hate to take the wind out of your sails, but with our solar panels, we produce more electricity than we use, even when charging our EVs.
DC has a program where you can select your electricity provider. Right now, the main company, Pepco, sells electricity at about 7 cents/kWh. That’s about a third coal, 20% gas, a third nuclear, and some other stuff. I pay 9 cents/kWh for a provider that’s 99% wind and 1% solar.
But forgive me for saying this again and again: the most compelling reason to buy an electric car is not that they are eco-friendly, it is that they are much, much better cars than their gas-fueled counterparts. They are just better to drive, even with their limitations. And never having to stop at a gas station! It’s like a dull errand has been converted into leisure time.
Thanks to all for your suggestions. Ravenman describes my situation with uncanny accuracy. In order to minimize pit-stops, I think the simplest answer would to install a 240V wearherproofed outlet at my in-laws house, and just carry a level-2 charging cable when we head out there. Problem solved for almost all our travels.
You might want to keep your mind open to getting an outlet installed that is something less than the 50 amp circuit that most people use for their homes. Depending on the setup, running a bunch of expensive cable from the breaker panel to a faraway outlet can add mucho dinero. Even if you have a 240v/20 amp outlet installed, you’re going to charge a LOT faster than a 110 outlet and perhaps save significantly on the installation cost. See this chart: https://www.clippercreek.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Time-to-Charge-Chart-20190121_Final.jpg
But of course you’ll want to check what kind of EVSE you would bring with you and make sure the power/plugs are compatible with the outlet you choose to install.
Thanks for the tip!
