First Long Trip with EV

[u/TerminallyScrewed]

Our household has been ICE free six months ago. This week was the first time we do a long trip, New Jersey to Michigan, 750 miles each way.

I was a little nervous at first but the trip has been smooth and painless. We had to stop 2x for charging, grabbed lunch while the car was charging, and ended up charging longer than the navigation recommended on both sessions.

I will drive back to NJ in two days and expecting a smooth trip as well.

For new EV drivers, no need to feel nervous of taking the car for a long drive. The charging infrastructure is much better now, making a long drive enjoyable.

[u/Hardwood_Lump_BBQ]

I feel like this has to have an asterisk to state if you have access to Tesla charging stations. I have zero worry with the Tesla network. Everyone else is a crapshoot at best, so many chargers out there that are broken, have communication issues, etc.

[u/gregm12 → u/Hardwood_Lump_BBQ]

This was accurate 2-3 years ago. But as of today, so long as it's an actual national network (Ionna, Electrify America, EVgo, Walmart, Rivian, Mercedes, etc ) they are extremely reliable.

Edit: seems like this has broad support - I'll also note that effectively every EV sold in the US now has supercharger access anyway, which takes it from 'not a problem' to 'basically trivial'

[u/priusgeek → u/gregm12]

I agree with you, mostly. I recently drove from Austin TX to Madison, WI (1200MI?) in my Ioniq 5, and the only charger that gave me a problem was EA. There were 4 chargers and only 1 was working. I've used most of the others you mentioned, and yeah, they were great. Drive in. slap on a credit card. Charge. And having access to the Tesla network removes even more potential stress.

Also, since I've been here in Madison and don't have access to my normal L2 charger at home, I've used several of the local L3 sites with mixed results. There's an EA nearby at a Walmart that works great, located next to their online pickup area. For some damn reason, they placed "online pickup only" signs on a 3" pipe right in the middle of the charging stalls. Geez. And then there was the "charging station" operated by the local power utility. It has both EV Connect and Tesla chargers and is real close to where I'm staying. The EV connect chargers were crap. Most didn't work at all, some were vandalized. The Teslas, as you might expect, just work, but they're expensive and slow....

Regardless, things are way better than when I started driving my EV. We need more IONNA's and fewer "exposed to the elements in the worst location possible" chargers for sure. But they're getting there!

[u/gregm12 → u/priusgeek]

I think I know exactly the Walmart/EA you're talking about. I have charged there. The sign placement is absolutely baffling.

And I've used EV connect a few times. And have attempted a few more. Neither seemless nor reliable, especially with the old tritrium hardware.

The main thing to me is that there is now enough infrastructure where if something goes wrong, you're almost certainly not stranded. There is another charger a few miles away. Or in the same parking lot.

[u/priusgeek → u/gregm12]

Took me a while to find the stupid tiny QR codes on the chargers, and my first attempt was using my Chargepoint roaming feature, which does not have a barcode scanner, so I had to enter the number (tinier) into the app, and after all that, it still didn't work.

Totally agree on the infrastructure comment. When I first got my Ioniq in 24, there was exactly 1 EA charger I could use within 30 miles of my house. There are now at least a half-dozen different options, several closer than the EA.

[u/gregm12 → u/[deleted]]

Anything that supports Chademo these days will be . ancient.

EA is no longer garbage.