I’m just back from a 1,600-mile vacation trip from Oregon to British Columbia and back, in my VW ID.4 (AWD). Here’s my own report that I hope will be useful (and fear-reducing).
Long EV road trips take a little thought, but aren’t hard or unpleasant at all. On the contrary—the quiet ride, acceleration power (it’s like it wants to go uphill), freedom from worry about gas prices (and odors), low cost of ownership, and lower carbon footprint make it fun and satisfying.
Sure, there’s a learning curve, sort of like the first time using a Mac (like when someone hasn’t discovered drag-and-drop yet). I’d like there to be more charge locations, but there are enough wherever I’ve wanted to go, especially now that I have a Tesla adapter. I mainly use Electrify America and just check that there’s an alternative within range of my planned charge site. Think of that like having a hard drive backup. ABRP premium does great planning, and has taught me that shorter stops at lower %’s (SOC as EV nerds say) can be more efficient. It appears to use Apple Map APIs in CarPlay when navigating, for a familiar UI. The EA app gives exact navigation via Apple or Google Maps, so there’s no mystery where they put the chargers. I use the free Chargeway app to find other sites. It comes down to a few minutes at each stop to plan the next one, although I could just leave it to ABRP.
Hotels increasingly have level 2 chargers, eliminating a charge stop. We splurged at an upscale hotel, and it was fun to get the notifications sitting in my room when the valet plugged it in.
In another parallel with computer history, I’ve found a forum, VWIDTalk, that has the answer to every question I can think of. If you’re thinking about an EV, check out used prices, which seem quite reasonable for 2-4 year old models.
About 80% vs 100%. The VW software lets me enter a time of departure, so it times the charge to finish just before we leave when overnight charging. In that case, with level 1 or 2, 100%. Charging over 80% at the fast DC charging stations can be convenient at times, but I’ve learned an informal etiquette not to charge over 80% if someone is waiting to charge. And that charge speed curve can be steep. Happy (electric) motoring!
Sammy Hagar undoubtedly has no need for an EV… And he clearly lives someplace like Utah when not in Cabo because last time I was there, speeds seemed to be largely in excess of 80 mph, especially between Salt Lake and NV.