The Key to a Profitable EV Highway Journey — In a single day Charging

Over the previous three summers, our household of 4 has pushed round 12,000 miles, throughout 20+ states, on our now annual electrical automobile street journey. 

After many days on the street, we will confidently say that some of the vital methods (if not probably the most) for a profitable multi-day, multi-state EV journey is to cost your automobile in a single day wherever you’re staying. This may appear apparent, nevertheless it’s sufficient of a change in journey planning in comparison with gas-fueled street journeys of the previous, that it deserves its personal publish. 

In a single day EV street journey charging usually means plugging right into a Stage 2, 240-volt outlet or charging station. Trickle charging at a 120-volt outlet is nice when you get to your vacation spot and plan to remain a few days, nevertheless it doubtless gained’t present the identical advantages as Stage 2 whenever you’re hitting the street day after day on an extended journey.

Why is In a single day Charging Essential?

The plain fantastic thing about in a single day charging is that your battery fills up when you’re sleeping. It saves 20–half-hour at a quick charging station the following day. When you’re doing a full day of driving, this sometimes means two charging stops as an alternative of three. It additionally lets you hit the street with a full battery so your first cease is 2–3 hours into the drive moderately than a couple of minutes after you permit your lodging.

An in a single day cost fills your battery to 100%, whereas a quick charger most probably will get you to someplace round 80% (since charging slows considerably after 80%, drivers sometimes don’t waste the time on the remaining 20%). 

In a single day charging can be nearly all the time free and thus saves cash on gasoline. It’s not unusual for us to cost 50 kWh at an in a single day charger, which might price greater than $20 at a Tesla Supercharger. In a single day street journey charging can thus reduce your fueling bills by as much as a 3rd. 

Lastly, in a single day charging lets you enterprise to the now uncommon locations that may not have conveniently positioned quick chargers. There are nonetheless some quick charging deserts on the market (although they’re shortly disappearing) and if you happen to plan to remain someplace with in a single day charging, you’ll be able to nonetheless go off the crushed path and never fear about having a Stage 3 charger close by.

Woke as much as a full battery after charging in a single day within the Grand Canyon. Photograph by Joe Wachunas.

The right way to Discover In a single day Charging

In a single day charging does require a bit extra planning however you’ll make up that point with a sooner, smoother EV street journey. We depend on a mix of Tesla’s vacation spot charging map, Airbnb’s EV charger filter, and PlugShare.

Tesla’s vacation spot charging map is a incredible useful resource for the 60% of US EV drivers with a Tesla (and shortly for the numerous extra autos shifting to Tesla’s NACS charging commonplace). It lists all of the accommodations and mattress and breakfasts with Tesla Stage 2 vacation spot chargers in darkish grey.

Tesla charger map displaying quick charging in purple and vacation spot charging at accommodations in darkish gray.

On this summer time’s street journey from Washington, DC, to South Carolina, we scanned the map and located a High quality Inn en route. We deliberate our resort particularly based mostly on charging entry. Clicking on the map’s darkish grey electrical bolt confirmed three Tesla vacation spot chargers at a resort off the freeway, making us assured there would doubtless be one out there for our use. There’s nothing like the sensation of pulling right into a resort with lower than 20% battery, and plugging right into a charger, figuring out we’ll get up with a full cost at no cost. 

Airbnb not too long ago added an EV charging filter that permits friends to seek for a rental that may present your automobile with some candy electrons when you sleep. However it’s not the best filter to search out; click on on the filters button after which, below “Facilities,” click on “present extra” to search out it.

Buried in Airbnb’s Facilities filter is the EV charger button.

On a cross-country, southern street journey in 2021, we drove from Fort Value, Texas to Carlsbad, New Mexico the place there have been zero quick charging choices at our vacation spot on the time. However because of the Airbnb filter, we stayed in an condominium with a 240-volt outlet that gave us 300 miles of vary by morning and allowed us to go to Carlsbad Caverns Nationwide Park and attain our subsequent quick charger far down the street. We provide our residence’s 240-volt charger as a part of our Airbnb rental and simply had our first visitor request to make use of it. (Hosts take notice: because the EV revolution features steam, you’ll have a aggressive benefit if you happen to supply EV charging.)

Lastly, we additionally use the PlugShare app to search out different Stage 2 charging choices close to accommodations and Airbnbs that don’t supply charging. PlugShare provides plenty of useful data together with the associated fee to cost a automobile and a ranking system so you understand how doubtless chargers are to work or to be free. In Boise, Idaho for instance, PlugShare led us to an extremely beneficiant automobile restore store, inside two blocks of our Airbnb, that had 4 chargers for most of the people. In Savannah, Georgia, we discovered a metropolis owned parking storage the place we may cost in a single day for the $10 parking charge. In Springfield, Illinois we discovered a extremely rated auto physique store that once more kindly let EV voyagers cost free of charge. On the Oregon coast, we stayed at a Glamping resort that had Stage-2 Rivian chargers at a speedy 12 kW per hour.

On the Oregon coast having fun with our first use of a Rivian charger. Photograph by Joe Wachunas.

For the few journey nights we haven’t stayed in a spot with in a single day charging, the following day’s drive was tougher. The automobile battery was chilly within the morning and didn’t have time for Tesla’s automated “preconditioning” which meant it charged at half the velocity.

As EVs start to take over, Stage 2 charging will turn out to be commonplace in houses, flats and accommodations, which can make in a single day charging and EV street journeys even simpler. However till we arrive within the promised land of ubiquitous EV charging, take it from us! In your subsequent EV street journey, be sure to remain in locations the place you’ll be able to cost when you sleep. You’ll journey farther and sooner and spend much less cash on clear, electrical gasoline.

This text is a part of a sequence referred to as Decarbonize Your Life. With modest steps and a middle-class earnings, our household has dramatically decreased emissions and is sequestering what stays by means of a small reforestation mission. Our life is healthier for it. If we will do it, you’ll be able to too.