At this point it’s already kind of obvious — electric cars are slowly becoming the new norm, we just have to go through this readjustment period. But even though people are becoming more welcoming of electric vehicles, it doesn’t mean that our infrastructure is there yet.
Yes, Tesla might have to change the scene for good, but we definitely have a long way to go. Like, for example when we’re looking for making a road trip with our battery-powered car, we have to research hotels with EV charging spots and plan every little detail in order to make sure we don’t end up on the side of the road waiting for road assistance to tow us to the nearest charging station.
If we have to be realistic about it, all of us have to readjust and do some extra things when it comes to road-tripping with a Tesla (or even a BMW now that bigger car manufacturers are starting to produce full-electric cars).
So, we thought it would be a great idea to sit down and share some actionable tips that we learned through our experience of road-tripping with a Tesla. Now, without wasting any of our time, let’s get straight into it.
Make sure you spend a little longer searching for a hotel before you make the final reservations.
The first thing that we have to get out of the way is that you will have to find and book a hotel that offers charging stations.
But why don’t I just charge the car at a nearby station, you may ask. Well, when you’re on vacation, there are far more important things than making sure your car’s batteries are full. See, we don’t want to spend our entire road trip around worrying if we’ll get to the next destination before we run out of battery.
I mean, it’s enough worrying if your iPhone’s battery will hold up, let alone having to worry about your car running out of battery too.
Create a plan with all the charging stations that you can use enroute and how to spend the time while waiting.
So, to eliminate all worries about your car running out of batteries, it’s important to make a plan with all the charging stations that you will pass through before reaching your final destination. See, the trick to travelling stress-free with an electric vehicle is to make sure everything is planned, and you will have charging stations within reach.
This pretty much eliminates all the worries that you may have of not having enough battery. Of course, you’ll have to keep in mind other things as well. Like, for example how busy are those charges, at what time will you arrive at the charging station (you really don’t want to be there during prime time)?
And when you’re going on a family road trip, you will have to make sure that there’s something interesting to do in close proximity to the charging spot. You don’t want to spend one hour just sitting around, do you?
Be mindful of range and plan your entire route around chargers that provide faster charging.
Also, while we mentioned briefly to be mindful of range between stations, it’s important to note down and use as many fast-charging stations as possible.
Often times, when we’re on the road, time is of the essence and everything is planned to the last minute. That’s why you want to make sure you are using as many fast-charging stations as possible.
Do your research for the area that you’ll be travelling to. There’s plenty of info online, as well as numerous Facebook Groups and forums for electric vehicle owners that you can find the relevant information that you need.
If you’re travelling during winter, make sure to bring some warm clothes with you.
Finally, if you are travelling during the winter, make sure that you have some warm clothes on. One of the biggest things that will draw battery life is heating.
See, when you’re driving a car with a combustion engine, as long as that engine is running you’ll have some type of warmth coming in. That’s because the engine will turn some of the power it produces into heat, warming the chassis and interior of the car too.
But when you’re driving a battery-powered car, you don’t have that combustion happening, so you don’t get the warmth as well. Yes, the batteries will warm up, and they will produce some type of heath, but batteries are much more efficient in the way they produce and utilize that power, so they don’t get anywhere as near as hot as engine powered cars.