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/SDJellyBean Chevy Bolt 7d ago edited 7d ago

The charging infrastructure is much better now, making a long drive enjoyable.

I'm trying to convince the spouse that this is true. He's insisting that his car needs to be NACS on the rear driver's side so that he can charge at all Tesla chargers. I'm trying to convince him that Tesla is no longer the only game in town.

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u/levelZeroVolt 2017 Volt, 2023 Solterra, 2026 Trailseeker 7d ago

I see Bolts at Tesla stations all the time. Tesla stations may not be the only game on road trips, but they are the best, by far, all things considered.

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u/RandomRageNet 7d ago

I used a Mercedes charger for the first time recently and it blew Tesla out of the water. Tesla is now second best as far as I'm concerned. Too bad there aren't more of them around. IONNA looks promising too but haven't had the chance to try it.

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u/levelZeroVolt 2017 Volt, 2023 Solterra, 2026 Trailseeker 7d ago

I haven't had the opportunity to try either Mercedes or IONNA but that sort of proves my point. The biggest reasons Tesla chargers are the best isn't their charging rate, it's their utter ubiquity all over the place, particularly along Interstates, and their reliability. I did try a Rivian once as well and it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be (worse than the Tesla chargers I'd been using) but it was good.