“How long does it take you to charge?”
“How many times do you have to stop to charge?”
These are common questions people ask owners of an electric vehicle when discussing taking a road trip in an EV. They are legitimate questions, including for owners of EVs who may have yet to take a long road trip. But the answers can vary greatly based on many variables, including:
- The range of the EV
- Availability of fast charging stations along the route
- Charging speed capabilities of the EV and charging stations along the route
- Mileage length of trip
- Preferences and needs for resting, food and bathroom breaks
But putting all these variables aside for a moment, the fundamental question people are really asking is: How long will a road trip in an electric vehicle take in comparison to the same trip taken in a gas- or diesel-powered vehicle?
And so the answer to that question then requires a different way of thinking about electric vehicle road trips and measuring them differently. Does it really matter that much how long it takes to charge or how many times you stop to charge if your trip takes roughly the same total amount of time as when driving a gas vehicle?
To read the full article visit EVAdoption: “Trip Duration”: The Better EV Road Trip Metric.