4 ms·

How much longer range driving do you personally need? I drove a 2018 Chevy Bolt EV 12,000 miles per year on average for four years (totaled it this past Memori

How much longer range driving do you personally need? I drove a 2018 Chevy Bolt EV 12,000 miles per year on average for four years (totaled it this past Memorial Day weekend). Never got stranded/ran out of juice. Plenty of fast charging (55kW doesn't even reach 1 C (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_charger#C-rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_charger#C-rate) so I can basically fast charge with no concern for my long-term battery health), plenty of slow charging (1kW on my home 120V EVSE), 60kWh was more than enough for trips to Montréal, Vermont, and Chicago (from Philadelphia) over those four years.

officeplant 4y ago
As someone that often travels across texas. I need a lot more range, but its a unique case. It doesn't help that I also need a van and Fords E-Transit line can barely push 130 miles on a charge when its partially loaded down. Even looking at long range teslas they don't have enough juice to make it past stretches of chargerless road going from Texas to Colorado to visit friends, even before the losses from having to drive uphill.
- neon_electro 4y ago
  >I need a van Say no more - I totally understand the situation you're in and a Chevy Bolt EV would obviously not fit your needs.
  - officeplant 4y ago
    Trust me I wish it did. I really like the styling of the new Bolt. I tested one out at the local chevy dealer during the whole battery replacement fiasco's beginnings.
- sliken 4y ago
  That doesn't sound right. I drove from Sacramento (elevation 30 feet), over the sierras (7200 feet or so), across many mountain ranges in Nevada, through Utah, and through most of Wyoming and came nowhere close to running out of power. Literally I packed the car, hit the listen button, and said "Navigate to Denver, Colorado". Is any route from Texas to Colorado really have less charging than Wyoming (the least populated state)? I found 20+ superchargers between Houston and Denver. Even with a family of 3, dog, packed car, and bikes on the back I had no problems with Sacramento -> Denver, only in the most deserted stretches of Wyoming did I need anywhere close to half of my range. I looked for the sparsest charging and it does indeed look like it's Wyoming, it's 360 miles from east to west and has 5 super chargers on 80. Judging by eye the longest stretch is Rock Springs WY to Rawlins WY and that's only 108 miles. Even on Secondary highways that don't show up at the state level maps there's charger stations in Wichita Falls TX, Childress TX, Amarillo TX, Clayton NM, and Trinidad CO. From there Salida (West 147 miles) or Colorado Springs (North 130 miles) will get you to the rest of the state. Salida to Montrose (130 miles) gets you to west slope. Keep in mind elevation doesn't hurt that much, and while I have gotten a bit worried when I'm at under 60% climbing to a 14k foot peak, I was very surprised to end up with over 80% once I descended again. This is all just using the Telsa charging network, there's many other places to charge as well.
  - officeplant 4y ago
    The route from Dallas, TX to Trinidad, CO is the particular one I'm aware of that lacks charging stations. Things could have changed because its been like a year or two since I last made the trip, but it was well known as one of the tougher routes for EVs to conquer, particularly the stretch of it in New Mexico.
    - sliken 4y ago
      Ah, indeed, things have changed quite a bit. Looks like Dallas (with 10 ish chargers) to Henrietta (134 miles), 127 miles to Childress, 117 miles to Amarillo, 132 miles to Clayton, and 104 miles to Trinidad. Depending on which Tesla you have you could likely skip half of those stops or so. The model 3 LR has a range of 358 miles, but most like to keep 10-15% in reserve. One nice thing about EVs is that they are crazy efficient, so most of the losses are wind resistance, which is the square of speed. So you get 1.3x the range going from 75 mph to 65 mph. Another 1.4x going from 65 mph to 55 mph. So if things are dire you can extend the range significantly. The record is around 600 miles range if you have the patience for driving at 20-30mph. While driving the car watches your progress and gives update coaching you about how much battery you'll have at the next charger or destination, and things like "staying below X MPH will get you there with 15% battery left".

officeplant 4y ago

As someone that often travels across texas. I need a lot more range, but its a unique case. It doesn't help that I also need a van and Fords E-Transit line can barely push 130 miles on a charge when its partially loaded down. Even looking at long range teslas they don't have enough juice to make it past stretches of chargerless road going from Texas to Colorado to visit friends, even before the losses from having to drive uphill.

neon_electro 4y ago
>I need a van Say no more - I totally understand the situation you're in and a Chevy Bolt EV would obviously not fit your needs.
- officeplant 4y ago
  Trust me I wish it did. I really like the styling of the new Bolt. I tested one out at the local chevy dealer during the whole battery replacement fiasco's beginnings.
sliken 4y ago
That doesn't sound right. I drove from Sacramento (elevation 30 feet), over the sierras (7200 feet or so), across many mountain ranges in Nevada, through Utah, and through most of Wyoming and came nowhere close to running out of power. Literally I packed the car, hit the listen button, and said "Navigate to Denver, Colorado". Is any route from Texas to Colorado really have less charging than Wyoming (the least populated state)? I found 20+ superchargers between Houston and Denver. Even with a family of 3, dog, packed car, and bikes on the back I had no problems with Sacramento -> Denver, only in the most deserted stretches of Wyoming did I need anywhere close to half of my range. I looked for the sparsest charging and it does indeed look like it's Wyoming, it's 360 miles from east to west and has 5 super chargers on 80. Judging by eye the longest stretch is Rock Springs WY to Rawlins WY and that's only 108 miles. Even on Secondary highways that don't show up at the state level maps there's charger stations in Wichita Falls TX, Childress TX, Amarillo TX, Clayton NM, and Trinidad CO. From there Salida (West 147 miles) or Colorado Springs (North 130 miles) will get you to the rest of the state. Salida to Montrose (130 miles) gets you to west slope. Keep in mind elevation doesn't hurt that much, and while I have gotten a bit worried when I'm at under 60% climbing to a 14k foot peak, I was very surprised to end up with over 80% once I descended again. This is all just using the Telsa charging network, there's many other places to charge as well.
- officeplant 4y ago
  The route from Dallas, TX to Trinidad, CO is the particular one I'm aware of that lacks charging stations. Things could have changed because its been like a year or two since I last made the trip, but it was well known as one of the tougher routes for EVs to conquer, particularly the stretch of it in New Mexico.
  - sliken 4y ago
    Ah, indeed, things have changed quite a bit. Looks like Dallas (with 10 ish chargers) to Henrietta (134 miles), 127 miles to Childress, 117 miles to Amarillo, 132 miles to Clayton, and 104 miles to Trinidad. Depending on which Tesla you have you could likely skip half of those stops or so. The model 3 LR has a range of 358 miles, but most like to keep 10-15% in reserve. One nice thing about EVs is that they are crazy efficient, so most of the losses are wind resistance, which is the square of speed. So you get 1.3x the range going from 75 mph to 65 mph. Another 1.4x going from 65 mph to 55 mph. So if things are dire you can extend the range significantly. The record is around 600 miles range if you have the patience for driving at 20-30mph. While driving the car watches your progress and gives update coaching you about how much battery you'll have at the next charger or destination, and things like "staying below X MPH will get you there with 15% battery left".