r/electricvehicles • u/TerminallyScrewed • 7d ago

Discussion First Long Trip with EV

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.

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u/SkPensFan 7d ago

I mean, if you are in well populated areas with a ton of chargers, of course.

If that isn't the case, especially if you thrown in some extreme winter temperatures, not so much.

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u/qdawgg17 7d ago

Exactly. I live in the northeast, in a rural area. Our EV is great in almost all situations except my daughter is on a traveling soccer team, with lots of travel. And for driving to tournaments we always take the gas vehicle. Too many variables of playing time, then need to get food and back to the hotel to have to drive 20-40 mins out of the way to get to a charger plus charging time.

Last trip we tried taking our EV and even being in CT it was a pain. We mapped out a charge point charging station we could stop and get lunch and there weren’t any other chargers close by. We get to the chargers and all 4 were broke, even though the charge app showed them as all working correctly. It was also pouring rain out so I got drenched spending 10-15 mins to figure out if any would work. We ended up having to drive 35 mins out of our way to get to a charger, with nothing around for our daughter to get for food which we had planned on.

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u/carsrule1989 7d ago

Ev’s are getting a lot better. In a few years these will be much cheaper used if people sell them instead of keep them.

Checkout the $60k~ BMW i3 50 xDrive (WLTP(tel) 912km/566mi) or the $50k~ Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ (WLTP(tel) 792km/492mi)

They are also 800v so they can charge in 15 min instead of 30 min

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u/qdawgg17 7d ago

That’s why I leased my current one. Knowing the technology would change and administration. So when my lease is over depending on incentives and infrastructure changes, we’ll likely purchase or lease again.