EV Road Trip
At the end of October, we drove our electric vehicle on a trip from Denver in Colorado to Columbus in Ohio. Since EV’s are still somewhat new, especially for long distance driving, we thought we’d share our experience. We kept track of all kinds of details along the way so we could share the numbers with you.
Day 1 Denver, CO to Salina, KS
Day 2 Salina, KS to St. Charles, MO
Day 3 St. Charles, MO to Columbus, OH
Day 7 Columbus, OH to St. Charles, MO
Day 8 St. Charles, MO to Salina, KS
Why an EV?
The only two vehicles we own are a 23 foot RV (a Winnebago EKKO we call Red Tail Lodge), and an EV (a 2022 Volkswagen ID.4 we call Heidi). We bought Heidi with the intention of only driving it around town when we are home and Red Tail is in storage. At the end of October, we planned to meet up with old college buddies to go to an Ohio State football game. We already had hotel reservations at a place that was within walking distance of the stadium. We didn’t want to drive Red Tail and leave it parked in the hotel parking lot, especially since we weren’t sure if the hotel would allow it or if there was enough space, as Red Tail overhangs a normal parking space. We had yet to drive Heidi more than a couple of hours from home and had not yet ever used a charging station to charge her. But we thought taking an EV across the country would be a nice experiment.
Planning
We knew that the super charger station network is more limited than gas stations, so we researched the charging stations along our route. Since we would be following I-70 most of the way there, the spacing of charging stations looked pretty good.
The VW ID.4 has an EPA rated fuel efficiency of 3.0 miles per kWh (3.2 city, 2.8 highway). Notice that, unlike most gas vehicles, the highway efficiency is lower than driving in the city. Since the ID.4 has a capacity of 82 kWh, that means the rated range for the highway is about 230 miles, while the city range is 262 miles. This somewhat agreed with our experiences so far, as Heidi was reporting our range at the beginning of the trip as 275 miles, which would have been based mostly on city driving at that point.
We booked hotels in Salina, KS and St. Charles, MO, taking three days to cover the roughly 1400 miles to Columbus, OH. This meant we would be covering about 460 miles per day, or about seven to eight hours of driving per day with about three charging stops per day. That isn’t much different than what we would do in a gas vehicle. We don’t like driving more than eight hours in a day and we normally need to stop every two hours to use a bathroom and switch drivers. The difference would be that where we stopped would be controlled by where the charging stations are, planned out ahead of time.
Day 1 Denver, CO to Salina, KS
We left home at 9 am with a full charge in Heidi. She was reporting a range of 275 miles, but we knew that would be changing. We set the speed control to the speed limit. Car Play kept dropping, so we connected to Keith’s phone via Bluetooth for music. We put destinations in the vehicle navigation. It shows charging stations on the map and calculates when we should stop to charge and when. We were trying to stop sooner, when the batteries first drop below 50%, so we added our own stopovers for the desired stations.
We arrived in Flagler, Colorado at 11:05 am after covering 133 miles. Heidi was down to 41% of charge. In Flagler, Electrify America has four chargers, but only three were operational. They were all unoccupied. We could see that they were in the process of installing more chargers.
We thought the I-70 diner was closed on Tuesdays (according to their website), but it was actually open. We didn't notice it was open, so we went next door to the coffee shop (Soapweed Mercantile & Coffee Shop) and had breakfast sandwiches along with using their bathrooms. Then Ann walked over to the Loaf N Jug across the street for Cokes.
We only charged Heidi to 90%, which took 43 minutes. We’re not sure what happened with the charger. We never got a receipt through the Electrify America app, we were never charged anything, and the app has no record of our charging session. We’re not sure if we did something wrong or not. Since there was no receipt, we had to estimate the kW added during the charging session.
We drove another 111 miles which took about an hour and a half to Colby, Kansas. The charging station was another Electrify America in the parking lot of a Walmart. Again, there were four stations and all were available.
We went inside Walmart to use the bathrooms. We bought a tire plug kit, fix a flat, and a squeegee. Heidi does not have a spare tire and EV stations don't provide a way to clean your windshield. While we waited for Heidi to charge, Ann walked two loops around the large parking lot for about 15 minutes.
Since Heidi was less than two years old, we were able to charge at Electrify America for free for the first 30 minutes. However, we didn't stop it right at 30 minutes, so we got charged. Charging Heidi from 41% to 86% took 31 minutes. They charged us 18 cents for the extra minute. Our new range was now 197 miles.
Another hour and a half of driving and 108 miles brought us to Hays, Kansas and another Electrify America outside a Walmart. All four charging stations were available, but another person showed up as we were leaving. Again we went inside Walmart to use their bathrooms. This time Keith bought some Mio lemonade as we were getting tired of Cokes. After a 15 minute walk around the parking lot, we were ready to hit the road again. It took 29 minutes to charge Heidi from 38% to 85%.
Our hotel in Salina, Kansas was only another hour and a half of traveling the 99 miles. For some reason, the vehicle navigation app had us get off two exits early for the hotel and took us a mile down a gravel road, then wanted us to turn onto a sketchy dead-end road. We switched over to Google Maps and got back onto the interstate.
After checking into the hotel, we drove into town to Martinelli’s Little Italy for dinner. Then we headed over to the Electrify America chargers outside of a Casey’s gas station. There were four stations, with all available. Ann went inside the Casey's to use the bathroom and bought a bottle of water and a honey stinger, then we sat in the car for 15 minutes while waiting for the full 30 minutes of charging to complete. This was the first time that we actually had to sit and wait for charging. In the 29 minutes, Heidi went from 37% to 85%. By 8:30 pm, we were back at the hotel settling in for the night.
Day 2 Salina, KS to St. Charles, MO
We got an early start on day 2, hitting the road by 8:20 am. In an hour and 35 minutes, we reached the charging station in Topeka Kansas after 106 miles. All four Electrify America stations were available, but another person showed up while we were there. As we were approaching Topeka, Ann felt uncomfortable with the way the remaining range was dropping (probably due to the rolling hills), so she dropped her speed from 75 mph to 70 mph. Then the remaining range seemed to stabilize. There was another charging station about 20 miles closer if we felt we needed to stop earlier. We made it to the Electrify America with 38 miles to spare. The low charge warning came on at 20% state of charge.
It took 40 minutes to charge Heidi from 19% to 86%, which brought our range back up to 173 miles. The price for the extra 10 minutes of charging was $5.69. While we were waiting, we went inside the Walmart to use the bathrooms and buy a Coke. Then Ann took a 20 minute walk around the parking lot.
The charging station was just off of I-70 on the bypass around Topeka. Instead of heading back up to I-70, we decided to continue on the bypass around Topeka. Unfortunately, there was some construction and we got confused by some of the blocked lanes and signs and ended up on toll road 335 heading south, with no exits for 29 miles. So we went an hour out of our way and paid a toll to do it! As we worked our way on back roads over to Kansas City, we picked out another charging station in the Kansas City area. Along the way, we made a stop at a gas station for a quick bathroom break.
Two hours and 122 miles later, we were at the charging station in Lenexa, Kansas. The one we picked out was not an Electrify America, but an EVGo station. However, it was near some food options for lunch at Oak Park Mall. Because we were not members of the EVGo Network, we had to pay a session fee of $2.99 in addition to 9.84% tax. So the cost of charging Heidi for 43 minutes, to go from 25% to 88% was $33.61. While Heidi was charging, we ate lunch at Five Guys, right next to the charging stations.
From there, it was 119 miles which took us an hour and 52 minutes to drive and reach Boonville, Missouri. The four Electrify America charging stations, outside the Walmart, were all working and available (Are you seeing a pattern here yet?). However, when we plugged into charger 3, it said to unplug it and move our vehicle because we had been idling for 192 minutes. Evidently, the charger had not reset from the last vehicle. So we moved over to charger 2 and everything worked fine. We meant to go for the full 30 minutes, but we forgot to change the vehicle charge setting from 80% to 100%, so it stopped after reaching 80%. Charging from 31% to 80% took 28 minutes. Close enough.
After about half an hour into the last driving segment for the day, we switched to Eco mode (it was in Comfort mode before). It seemed to help with the efficiency, as the difference between our range and the remaining distance seemed to increase some.
Two hours and 129 miles from Boonville, brought us to Dewey’s Pizza in St. Charles, Missouri. St. Charles was our destination for the day and it was time for dinner. We had discovered Dewey’s Pizza during Season Five and it had become our favorite pizza. So when we saw there was a location in St. Charles, we had to go there.
After dinner, we drove a couple of miles over to the Electrify America, outside the Walmart (of course). Only three of the four stations were available. While we were there, the first person left and two more vehicles arrived. That’s the most activity we’ve seen at a charging station so far.
We were still trying to figure out the order of operations at the charging station. It says to plug in first, but after we try to start the charging through the Electrify America app, it asks us to unplug and plug it back in again. It took 32 minutes to charge from 21% to 80%, so we were charged $1.08 for the extra two minutes. From there, we drove a couple of miles over to the hotel where we settled in for the night. It was 7:40 pm by the time we arrived at the hotel.
Day 3 St. Charles, MO to Columbus, OH
We got another early start on day three, leaving the hotel around 7:15 am. We decided to keep Heidi in Eco mode to help with our range.
It took us an hour and 52 minutes to cover the next 117 miles to Effingham, Illinois. This time the Electrify America stations were located outside the Firefly Grill. We’ve always wanted to try eating at Firefly Grill, but we never seem to be passing through at meal time.
When we arrived, three of the four stations were available and another person arrived while we were there. It took 41 minutes to charge Heidi from 17% to 86%, costing us $5.71. While Heidi was charging, we walked five minutes down the road to a Starbucks for bathrooms and chai lattes. Ann walked over to McDonalds to get a Coke to go. There were lots of restaurant options within walking distance.
From there it was an hour and 14 minutes to drive the 75 miles to Terre Haute, Indiana. The four Electrify America stations outside the Walmart were all available. Since it was lunch time, instead of going inside the Walmart, we walked five minutes down the road to Burger King for lunch and bathrooms. There are other fast food options in the area. We originally wanted to walk over to The Soda Shoppe at the nearby casino, but we had a long drive that day and it would have been close to a 20 minute walk each way, more time than we wanted to spend there. Plus, there is only a 10 minute grace period once charging stops before you start getting charged an idle fee. It took 39 minutes to charge Heidi from 50% to 94%, with a cost of $3.50.
An hour and 13 minutes later, we were 75 miles further along the interstate, which brought us to the Electrify America stations just off the I-475 bypass around Indianapolis. Five of the eight stations were in service, with only one available. An Electrify America employee was there putting the three chargers that were out-of-service back into service. We had trouble getting the first charger to connect, so we moved over to another charger (one of the ones that the employee had just put back into service). We did a short charge since the next charger on our route was not very far away. We started again with close to a 50 mile buffer between the expected range that Heidi was reporting and the distance to the next planned charger. It took 12 minutes to charge from 61% to 74%. Surprise, surprise, the charging stations were outside of a Walmart. So as usual, we went inside to use the bathrooms and buy a bottle of water.
Our last charging stop for the day was 115 miles and an hour and 49 minutes away, in Hubert Heights, Ohio. All six Electrify America stations were available outside yet another Walmart. To go from 22% to 77% took 29 minutes, so there was no cost.
We were meeting a relative at Skyline Chili in Blacklick, Ohio after driving an hour and 29 minutes to cover the last 76 miles. From there it was just a few miles to reach our relative’s house, where we were spending the night. At the house, we plugged Heidi into a regular 15 amp outlet. After being plugged in for 17 hours, Heidi went from 45% to 61%.
Days 4 to 6 Columbus Area
On Day 4, we drove a total of 16 miles from the house to the Hilton Garden Inn in Columbus, which took us about 30 minutes. We stopped at Panera for lunch and Whit’s Frozen Custard for dessert along the way.
For the rest of our stay at Hilton Garden Inn, we walked everywhere with our college friends. Dinner for both Day 4 and 5 were at restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. On Day 5, we walked over to the stadium for the game.
On Day 6, we drove 18 miles back to our relative’s house in Blacklick, stopping at OSU campus to walk around for about an hour to bring back some wonderful memories. It took us about 25 minutes to drive those 18 miles through Columbus.
Back at the house in Blacklick, we plugged in again. To go from 45% to 63% took about 18 hours.
Day 7 Columbus, OH to St. Charles, MO
Day 7 we started our trek back to Colorado at 8:30 am. We followed the same route as on the way out. Our charging stops on Day 7 were the same as on Day 3.
In Hubert Heights, all six chargers were in service with three available. Two people left while we were there and another one arrived. At the first charger we tried, the app said it was in use, so we moved over to another one. Thirty minutes of charging brought us from 26% to 70%.
At Indianapolis, all eight chargers were in service with three available. When we left, two others were still charging. It took 38 minutes to charge from 15% to 78% and cost us $4.61. While we were waiting, we walked over to Firehouse Subs for lunch and bathrooms.
In Terre Haute, four of the chargers were in service with three available. The chargers are set up rather strange, similar to the ones in St. Charles. The chargers are in pairs, with one facing one angled parking spot near the rear of the spot and the other facing the other angled parking spot near the front. We tried puling forward into the one spot, so the chargers were on the same side as our port, but the charger facing our spot was near the front of the car and wouldn't reach our port. So we tried using the one facing the other parking spot, since it was closer to the port on our car. However, we had trouble getting it to connect and start charging, with the charger ending up saying it was unavailable. So we switched to the other set of chargers where the one facing the parking spot was near the rear of our car. That one worked for us. When we left, a different person was there still charging. In the 16 minutes we spent charging, Heidi went from 46% to 69%. Ann only had time for a ten minute walk around the parking lot.
At the charging stations in Effingham, all four of the chargers were in service and available. Another person arrived while we were there. Again, we walked over to Starbucks for chai lattes and bathrooms. It took 29 minutes to go from 35% to 82 %.
Before reaching Saint Charles, we stopped at a rest area for a quick bathroom break. At the charging stations in Saint Charles, all four chargers were in service with three available. Two more cars arrived while we were there. At one point, all four chargers were in use, then the first car left. It took 39 minutes to charge from 24% to 90% which cost us $4.96.
We went inside Walmart for bathrooms, then sat in Heidi and searched for a place to eat. We saw that it was going to be windy the next day, so we wanted to make sure we had plenty of buffer on our range of miles.
We arrived at the hotel at 6:15 pm. From our hotel, we walked down Main Street into the old town. We ate outside at Salt & Smoke in the old town.
Day 8 St. Charles, MO to Salina, KS
On Day 8, we were on the road by 7:30 am. We had many of the same charging stops as on the way out, except we stopped in Independence, Missouri instead of Lenexa, Kansas, since we didn’t take the wrong turn to the south like on our way east.
In Boonville, Missouri, two of the four chargers were in service and available. No one came while we were there. The week before, we reported charger 3 having an issue with saying it was in idle state. Chargers 3 and 4 were now working, but Chargers 1 and 2 were reporting idle state with the Electrify America app saying they were working on the problem. In 20 minutes, we charged from 27% to 67%. The short charging time only allowed for a ten minute walk again.
In Independence, the Electrify America stations were outside of a Target instead of the usual Walmart. All four chargers were in service, but one was in use when we arrived. Another person came while we were there. We started out on charger 1 for 12 minutes (while we used Target's bathrooms), but we noticed it was only drawing 35 kW. So we moved over to charger 4, where it started off supplying 135 kW (our vehicle's max), then dropped back down to around 89 kW. While Heidi was charging at the second charger, we walked over to a nearby McDonald’s for lunch. It took a total of 53 minutes to go from 14% to 92%. Our total cost for the power was $5.33.
In Topeka, Kansas, three of the four chargers were in service and available. We had a similar experience as in Independence. We started out on charger 3 and the starting charge was 89 kW, but then it dropped back down to 35 kW. So we moved over to charger 4, where it stayed in the 64 kW range. After using the bathrooms and buying a drink inside Walmart and a ten minute walk, we stayed next to the charger to monitor it. It took a total of 34 minutes to go from 44% to 80%. Even though it was over the 30 minutes total, we were not charged anything, probably because we were less than 30 minutes on each of the two chargers.
Strong winds, 25 to 45 mph, were decreasing our range mileage, blowing the car around and kicking up a lot of dust. We looked up another stop, an EV Connect in Abilene in case we needed to stop sooner than Salina. We decreased our speed from 75 mph to 68 mph. We made it to Salina.
In Salina, Kansas, our destination for the day, all four stations were in service and available. Charging started out in the 180 kW range (we thought our max was only 135 kW!). Then it dropped down to 85 kW. Another car arrived while we were there.
We went inside Casey's for bathrooms and Honey Stingers. We didn't notice the first time we were there (probably because it was dark), but there are trash cans and squeegees for the windshield at the charging station (although the ones at the gas pumps are a short distance away). The family in the other EV lives on a sailboat, traveling across the country to check out boarding schools for their son. It took 43 minutes to charge Heidi from 14% to 92%. The cost for the charge was $7.21.
Again we went into town to have dinner at Martinelli’s Little Italy. We checked into the hotel at 6:30 pm.
Day 9 Salina, KS to Denver, CO
Day 9 was similar to Day 1, but we added an extra charging stop. We started the day at 7:21 am.
Our GPS was going wacky. Our location was way off, by miles. Google Maps on both our phones was way off, so we switched to vehicle navigation. It was OK until we got off at Hays, then it went wacky as well. Rain off and on. Winds 15 to 20 mph, mostly head winds. The temperature dropped into the 40’s, after starting out in the 70's when we left the hotel. Our range was dropping faster than the miles remaining to Hays.
At the Hays charging stations, all four were available. We had trouble connecting to charger 2, so we moved over to charger 4. We went inside Walmart for bathrooms and a drink. Since it was raining outside, Ann walked the interior perimeter of the store. Each lap was about a third of a mile, so she did six laps, about 2 miles, in half an hour. We were taking a long charge since the wind was decreasing our range and the cooler temperatures meant we would be running our heater as well, decreasing our range even more. It took 54 minutes to go from 29% to 99%, costing us $10.03.
Before we reached Colby, our next stop, the rain stopped. The wind shifted from a head wind to a side wind out of the north. We went 70 mph instead of 75 mph. The GPS finally came back (it initially thought we were in Abilene when we were in Hays).
In Colby, we used the Electrify America member card in Apple Wallet and held it up to the charger instead of starting the charger from the phone app. It seemed to make initiating the session a little faster. We walked over to Jimmy John's for lunch, about a 5 to 10 minute walk in the cold wind (we bundled up in our jackets). All four chargers were available. Another car came and left while we were there. It took 53 minutes to charge Heidi from 31% to 97% and cost us $9.52.
The rain started up again, got pretty heavy, and then turned to snow. Luckily, it wasn't sticking to the ground yet.
In Flagler, we had cherry pie a la mode in McCaffee's Diner (I-70 Diner), followed by milkshakes. The diner has changed owners. Instead of being waited on at your table, you order and pay at the counter before sitting down. But it was the same cute decor with a lot of character.
All four chargers were in service, but only three were available. The other car left while we were there. It took 59 minutes to charge from 25% to 95%, costing us $11.18.
We might have been able to make it all the way home without another stop, but it would have been close. We decided to make a quick charging stop just to ease our minds. So we stopped at a ChargePoint, outside the CORE Electric Cooperative, in Bennett, Colorado. Both chargers were in service and available and no one else came while we were there.
We walked over to the QT (QuickTrip) gas station for bathrooms and a drink for Ann. On the walk back, we stopped at Ziggi's Coffee for a chai for Keith. It took 21 minutes to charge from 44% to 69%. ChargePoint charged us $7.53 for the charging session.
We arrived home at 4:45 pm with a 53% charge still left in Heidi. We plugged her into our Level 2 charger at home. It took about four and a half hours to bring her back up to 100%. We calculated that it cost us about $5.86 for charging Heidi at home.
Trip Statistics
Our total mileage for the trip was 2776 miles with a total driving time of 44 hours and 12 minutes, with a total time of 14 hours spent during charging stops. Our total cost for fuel for the trip was $116.08. Had we paid for the first 30 minutes of charging with Electrify America, our total cost would have been $575.78. If we could have recharged using the $0.15 per kWh price that we can get at home, it would have been $161.85.
To compare those costs to a gas vehicle, if you assume that a gallon of gas costs $3 (which was about the national average during the week of our trip), then our actual fuel costs for the trip would be like getting 72 mpg. If we had to pay the full price of the super chargers, then it would be like getting 14 mpg. If super chargers would come down in price similar to electric rates at home, then it would be like getting 51 mpg. Of course, if the price of a gallon of gas is different, then the comparisons would also be different.
Our average speed on this trip was 63 mph. The average time between charging stops was one hour and 36 minutes. Our average stop time was 40 minutes, with 35 minutes of that being for the actual charging time.
For our trip, we got 389 Wh per mile which is 2.6 miles per kWh. That is somewhat in line with the EPA ratings of 351 Wh per mile and 2.8 miles per kWh.
To see more details on the trip, check out our spreadsheet: Heidi Ohio Trip Log.
Conclusion
Is an EV road trip different from a gas or hybrid engine vehicle road trip? Absolutely. Because the charging station networks are not as robust as the gas station networks, you have to change how you plan your refueling stops. You need to be aware of where the charging stations are and plan ahead, with backup locations in case those stations are out-of-order or your fuel efficiency of your vehicle changes with the weather and terrain. You can’t just drive until your charge gets low, then start looking for a charging station, as you might do with a gas or hybrid vehicle. At least not yet.
Stopping to refuel an EV takes longer than stopping for gas. However, some super chargers can charge faster than others, dependent on how fast the EV can accept that power, and some EV’s charge faster than others. We thought we would be spending more time sitting around waiting for Heidi to charge, but we found that not to be the case. While Heidi was charging, we were using the bathroom, buying drinks, eating lunch, and stretching our legs with a quick walk. Our trip to Ohio did not take that much longer than it would have by driving a gas or hybrid vehicle. We’ve driven to Ohio many times and normally take three days to get there, as we don’t like driving more than that in one day. But then again, where we ate lunch was dictated by what places there were to eat near a charging station.
Keep in mind that charging time is not linear. It is much faster to charge from 25% to 50%, than it is to charge from 75% to 100%. At home, we only charge to 80% (as that prolongs the life of the batteries), but there were times on our trip when we charged up more because we felt we needed more range. It takes less time to stop more often with shorter charging sessions, especially if you don’t need to go all the way up to 100%.
Is driving an EV cheaper than driving a gas or hybrid vehicle for long distances? That’s a hard question to answer. There are so many variables. In our case, it was cheaper, but that was mainly because we were still getting 30 minutes of free charging from Electrify America. If we had been paying the full price of the super chargers, then it would have been closer to what it would have cost us to drive our RV out to Ohio. There are much more efficient gas and hybrid vehicles out there than our RV. But there are also more fuel efficient EV’s than our VW ID.4, which is about in the middle of the range of EV’s. As the network of super chargers gets more built out, we would expect the price of super chargers to come down. If they could be more competitive with the power prices of a home, then EV’s would be cheaper.
Does driving an EV create less pollution than driving a gas or hybrid vehicle? Not necessarily, it might just move where that pollution is generated. It all depends where the electricity is coming from. A gas or hybrid vehicle is putting pollutants into the air where you are driving it. The power for an EV may be polluting the air where the electricity was generated, depending on the source. We have solar at home, so we know that part of the power for our EV when we are home is cleaner. But we do not have direct control over where the power is generated for the super chargers along our route. However, as more and more of our electricity is generated from cleaner sources, the EV should be generating less pollution than its gas or hybrid counterparts.
We found this experiment to be interesting. We hope you found this information interesting and useful as well.
Check out our related video: EV Road Trip
(Ann)