“Electric vehicles are great for commuting to work—but how do they hold up for road trips?“
The following written content by Sanna Boman
There’s no question that electric vehicles, or EVs, are the way of the future. The U.K. government recently announced that it will ban the sale of new diesel and gasoline cars starting in 2030, and the state of California has a goal of 5 million zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) on the roads by the same year.
For those living in a city with easy access to charging stations, commuting in an EV can be a great way to save money on gas and maintenance. I’ll readily admit that not having to worry about regular oil changes and part replacements sounds like a dream—and a full charge at a charging station is much cheaper than a full tank of gas.
But can you take a longer road trip in an EV? Chevrolet was kind enough to loan me a 2021 Bolt for a week so I could find out for myself.
A new experience
As someone whose primary vehicle is a motorcycle, the Bolt is basically the opposite of everything I’m used to: It’s quiet, comfortable, and very easy to drive. I hit the road intent on making my way up the California coast from my home in San Diego, with a loose timeline and half-baked itinerary. By a wide margin, California is the state with the most EV chargers in the U.S., so armed with the PlugShare app, Chevy’s myChevrolet app, and Google Maps on my phone, I figured that locating charging stations would be the least of my issues.
It only took me a few hours to realize I was wrong.
I had decided to plan my days of driving around my charging breaks by looking up Level 3 charging stations, also known as DC fast chargers (see details on different charging levels below), along the route in places where it would also make sense to stop for lunch. Read more from Roadtrippers Magazine.
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