Normally, I’m on board with EV charging and figuring out ways to make any given trip work. However, there have been a few times in two years / 50,000 km, when an EV just doesn’t work and we have to give in and drive an ICE car.
Case 1: Eastern seaboard trip from DC area to rural NJ in late Jan.: Supercharger in Edison was about 120 miles round trip, but there was considerable local driving to be done. Record cold temperatures were predicted. Hotels near the destination could not provide even so much as a 110 V outlet. It was indeed brutally cold and a cold soak without power did not seem like a good idea. We ended up being happy not to have the Tesla because of a nasty blizzard that made our return trip quite dangerous. This one seems excusable, given the extreme conditions, but lack of destination charging was notable.
Case 2: Weekend trip from DC area to Rochester in Nov.: We have a CHAdeMO adapter and Sheetz has a CHAdeMO charger in Harrisburg. However, Harrisburg to Rochester is not possible on a single charge, and there is nothing along the way except EVplug chargers, and a HPWC in Lewisburg at Bucknell University. Bucknell to Rochester is also a stretch, passing through remote areas of western PA and NY, with the “darkest skies east of the Mississippi”. The route crosses I-80, but there are no SCs along I-80 yet, though one appears to be planned. It also intersects I-86 at Corning NY, but there are no plans for a SC along I-86 between Binghampton NY and Erie PA. I’m not willing to detour 100 km through Delaware to pick up chargers at Newark and Binghampton, which could (just) do the trick in currently mild weather. Time is too limited. A SC is coming (for a long time now) to Allentown/Whitehall that would make it easier but no shorter.
Bottom line: The lack of destination and highway charge points can exert strong pressure toward using an ICE vehicle when time is limited. I don’t understand why major E-W interstate highway superchargers are not at least on the books as planned. In the northeast, there seem to be too many SCs in urban areas and not enough on rural stretches of interstate highway, with insufficient destination charging even near the largest cities. Great progress is being made, but priorities seem muddled.
Case 1: Eastern seaboard trip from DC area to rural NJ in late Jan.: Supercharger in Edison was about 120 miles round trip, but there was considerable local driving to be done. Record cold temperatures were predicted. Hotels near the destination could not provide even so much as a 110 V outlet. It was indeed brutally cold and a cold soak without power did not seem like a good idea. We ended up being happy not to have the Tesla because of a nasty blizzard that made our return trip quite dangerous. This one seems excusable, given the extreme conditions, but lack of destination charging was notable.
Case 2: Weekend trip from DC area to Rochester in Nov.: We have a CHAdeMO adapter and Sheetz has a CHAdeMO charger in Harrisburg. However, Harrisburg to Rochester is not possible on a single charge, and there is nothing along the way except EVplug chargers, and a HPWC in Lewisburg at Bucknell University. Bucknell to Rochester is also a stretch, passing through remote areas of western PA and NY, with the “darkest skies east of the Mississippi”. The route crosses I-80, but there are no SCs along I-80 yet, though one appears to be planned. It also intersects I-86 at Corning NY, but there are no plans for a SC along I-86 between Binghampton NY and Erie PA. I’m not willing to detour 100 km through Delaware to pick up chargers at Newark and Binghampton, which could (just) do the trick in currently mild weather. Time is too limited. A SC is coming (for a long time now) to Allentown/Whitehall that would make it easier but no shorter.
Bottom line: The lack of destination and highway charge points can exert strong pressure toward using an ICE vehicle when time is limited. I don’t understand why major E-W interstate highway superchargers are not at least on the books as planned. In the northeast, there seem to be too many SCs in urban areas and not enough on rural stretches of interstate highway, with insufficient destination charging even near the largest cities. Great progress is being made, but priorities seem muddled.
