Gasoline is a nasty thing. When we burn it we foul the air with pollutants and when we import it we cause economic and political problems. So we’re interested in switching to electricity as a fuel – are we ready?
There is no question that today’s EVs and all those planned by the automakers for the next few years are great for commuting. Whether driving a Tesla Roadster, a BMW Mini-E, a plug-in Prius, or a vintage Toyota Rav4/EV, you’ve got a great vehicle for our average daily drive of 29 miles. Just plug it in when you go to bed at night and plug it in at work if you have the opportunity, and you’ll be a happy camper.
For many people, summer is the time when people hit the road. Great memories, fantastic sights and adventures wait. But what if your plans for a road trip involve an electric vehicle? Here in the Bay Area, charging stations are located in many locations including Campbell, San Jose, San Francisco, Chico, Walnut Creek and Sonoma County. An EV driver can attend the 20th annual AT&T San Jose Jazz Festival then zip up to Walnut Creek for some retail therapy then go wine tasting in some of California’s finest wineries (try downtown Healdsberg). All without using a single drop of gasoline. ‘Staycations’ are the new in word. Traveling close to home is the perfect solution for ’09 summertime travel.
Outside of the Bay Area, what are your options when traveling in an EV? Since the electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids here now and coming in the next few years take hours to charge, how can you go farther than a single charge will take you? Here are four possibilities:
- Have two cars and use the gas one when you go to the lake or wherever you go far from home. When I used to drive a Rav4/EV, I’d use it around town and then use my minivan when it was time to go to Tahoe.
- Buy a PHEV or EREV. With my plug-in Prius, I can get 100 mpg for my commute, but when I need to I can drive to grandma’s house 60 miles from home and it switches to gas. Even if I do lots of long distance driving in my Prius I still get 60 mpg.
- Get yourself an EV with a really big battery and charge it when you sleep. That’s the Tesla Roadster. If you are going to Lexington, Mass. or Las Vegas there are now hotels, resorts and casinos that include charging stations. You could use the rest after driving that rocket for three hours.
- Looking ahead a bit, it won’t be long until you’ll be able to charge the battery on the vehicle at a service station in minutes instead of hours. The automakers are beginning work on cars that will support this “DC Charging”. You’ll do most of your charging when you sleep but then stop at the service station when you need to go far. This might be five or more years from now, so get comfortable with one of the solutions above in the mean time.
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I was wondering what you think would be a good truck accessory for my truck to store cargo in for my next road trip?
I was wondering what you think would be a good truck accessory for my truck to store cargo in for my next road trip?