EV road trip: Are we there yet? Nope
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Love's Travel Stop in Ripley, N.Y., was the only charging station we encountered that had a protective canopy. Photo: Bill Rapai for Axios
My 1,900-mile road trip last week in an electric vehicle proved it's easily doable, but the charging experience is still not as seamless and convenient as pumping gas.
Why it matters: Driving an EV is delightful. Charging an EV is what gives people anxiety. Until that problem is solved, EV sales in the U.S. will remain lackluster.
Driving the news: My husband and I drove from Michigan to New Hampshire and back in a Toyota bZ on loan from the automaker's media test fleet.
- I wanted to see for myself how the world's largest automaker had upped its EV game after disappointing customers with its first model in 2022, the bZ4X. (It's way better, with a bigger battery and longer driving range.)
- The bZ is one of four new Toyota EVs hitting the market this year.
The big picture: This was our fourth long road trip in an EV, and they keep getting easier.
- There are a lot more fast chargers available now compared to my first Michigan-to-Florida trek in 2023, and reliability has improved.
- And getting access to Tesla's Supercharger network has been a game-changer for non-Tesla owners. (Tesla drivers, of course, have enjoyed easy charging from the start.)
Catch up quick: We recharged 12 times over the 1,900-mile journey, usually for about 25-30 minutes — long enough to use the bathroom and grab a snack or coffee.
- I figure the stops added about two hours of driving time to the journey, compared to bathroom breaks and refueling stops in a gas car.
- 🤦 (It would have been less if we didn't have to double back in Massachusetts when I realized I had set my purse down next to a charger and forgot it!)
My husband Bill's take as we cruised the New York State Thruway: "I've concluded that charging is not that inconvenient. Yeah, you'd like to be on the road faster, but this gives you a chance to check your email or texts and to stretch your legs. It really doesn't take that long."
Open embedded content from datawrapper.dwcdn.netFollow the money: Public charging is more expensive than charging at home — usually around 60 cents per kWh, compared to 20 cents per kWh for residential power in Michigan. (Some states are higher.)
- Of course, gas is expensive, too — the national average is just below $4 a gallon.
The intrigue: An unexpected factor, however, was the heat wave that spread from the Midwest to the East Coast over the July 4th holiday.
- Running the car's air conditioner cut anywhere from 20 to 40 miles off our estimated driving range.
- The bZ FWD Plus has an EPA-estimated driving range of 314 miles, but our tester averaged about 276 miles.
- By comparison, a 2026 Toyota RAV4 gas-electric hybrid gets 40 miles per gallon on the highway. Under ideal conditions, it could go 580 miles between fill-ups.
What we found: While some charging sessions were pretty seamless, there's still too much friction in the process.
Case in point: Most non-Teslas need a NACS adapter to plug in at a Tesla Supercharger, for example, and the cables are too short for many other EV brands, depending on where the charging receptacle is located.
- We didn't want to be jerks by parking the Toyota sideways across multiple spaces, so we learned to look for plugs situated perpendicular to the bank of Superchargers.
- The bZ already has a built-in NACS port, but we needed a CCS1 adapter to charge at other networks, like Electrify America.
Another annoyance: You have to download multiple apps and set up payment accounts for many separate charging networks.
- You can always swipe a credit card, but we found it sometimes takes a few tries and you can't always get a receipt.
What we're watching: Some automakers are trying to streamline public charging by integrating more networks into their vehicle app.
- That way, you only have to use one app and set up one payment method, no matter which network you're using.
- In Toyota's case, it has easy plug-and-charge arrangements with two of the six charging networks we used on our trip — Tesla and Ionna (the charging network owned by eight automakers).
- Plug in and then swipe on the Toyota app to begin charging. The receipt goes directly to your Toyota wallet.
💭 My thought bubble: If every charging session could be as smooth and seamless as that, more people would be lining up to buy EVs.
The bottom line: EV charging is improving, but it's still got miles to go until it's truly convenient.
