I lost my job at the end of July and I figured what a great time to take a road trip to see our National Parks and go see some friends and family along the way. I started my journey from Carlsbad, CA and am currently in Huntsville UT. I still have a ways to go traveling through CO, NM, AZ, Southern UT, NV before getting back home.
I wanted to share my progress. As of this morning, I’ve traveled 3,660 miles in my bolt over 18 days.
This is a table of my mileage, charging and efficiency stats.
CP = Charge Point
EA = Electrify America
I estimate that the electricity cost to charge my car has been $193 hard cash with each mile costing me $0.053 in fuel. Likewise, had I driving my truck @ $2.75 / g running at 23 MPG, I’d have spent almost $440 with each mile costing me $0.120 in gas.
This is a map of where I have charged.
Not all locations I have charged are included . . . I may have added a couple of 60KWH over the trip in level 1 or free level 2 stations to grab me an extra 10 to 50 miles, but this is the major activity.
I have learned a lot along the way . . .
- drive slower than the speed limit (to maximize your distance)
- PLAN your next destinations a day or two in advance.
- Check Plugshare and add new locations when you find them.
- Be Flexible in your destinations . . . ie, I was planning to go east from Yellowstone, but I didn’t feel comfortable enough to travel through SD to get to Minneapolis, so I punted SD and headed to northern UT instead.
- Download maps where you may run out of cell signal (Ie, I had to download WY maps because I have T-Mobile and mostly Verizon is the only service that provides good service)
- Be prepared for some crappy charging locations (Outside a Walmart in WILLOWS CA) and be WOWED when you get to a location that has great amenities and free Level 3 Charging (like Jackson Wy)
I’ll post more in later posts, but feel free to ask me any questions.