My First EV, Half V: My First Lengthy Journey

Six months after shopping for my first EV (see My First EV — Half I), the time has come for the primary lengthy journey — Cupertino to Huntington Seashore, about 420 miles every means. We determined to go on Freeway 101 fairly than 5, about 20 miles longer, however a prettier drive. We took two days to get to the vacation spot, with one in a single day cease in Santa Maria and in the future to get again house.

Able to go, 283 miles within the tank.

We drove 931 miles, together with a couple of journeys to the seaside. We charged on the street six occasions at quick charging stations, paying a mean of $0.47/kWh. We charged in a single day on the Hampton Inn in Santa Maria at a Degree 2 gradual station, and in a single day at our host in Huntington Seashore, which had a Degree 2 charger in his storage and was sort sufficient to allow us to use it.

Sluggish and costly Degree 2 charger at Hampton Inn in Santa Maria.

We spent 3½ hours charging on the street and about 16 hours driving. The entire quick charging stations have been in purchasing facilities, welcome stops for toilet breaks, espresso, or mild purchasing.

Pit cease and cost in Soledad after 97 miles.

We purchased 138 kWh of electrical energy, spending $64 for it. This might have purchased us about 11 gallons of gasoline, resulting in an equal 84.6 mpg — rather less if I factored within the free charging at our host.

5 out of six occasions, we charged at Electrify America. 4 stations had 4 chargers every, and one had 11. A number of charging slots have been at all times accessible. With handy bank card fee, I might give it 5 stars and at all times search for it on the street.

As soon as we charged at a ChargePoint station. There have been additionally 4 chargers, however it’s a must to use your smartphone, which I don’t recognize. 4 stars.

In Ventura, we tried charging at PowerFlex. It had many charging stations, and after spending about half an hour there and on the cellphone, I gave up. Zero stars. I’ll by no means ever use PowerFlex once more.

Earlier than leaving house, I made an inventory of the entire quick charging stations on the route, nevertheless it was not needed. The Bolt GPS has a handy Cost Stations tab, which lists them by distance. Too unhealthy you can not type out Degree 2 chargers, which provide you with solely about 25 miles/hour, in comparison with greater than 100 miles/hour at a quick charger. Degree 2 chargers on a protracted journey are ineffective.

Charging in a single day on the resort was a bit little bit of a shock. It had 4 charging stations. I requested on the reception if I might go away the automobile plugged in in a single day they usually stated “certain.” Within the morning, I discovered the cost was $28, or about $1.41/kWh. They charged for the idle time greater than for electrical energy. … This was not disclosed on the charger or on the entrance desk. There was not a simple strategy to keep away from it, although, since I didn’t wish to get up at 3:00 AM to unplug the automobile, however it could be simple to keep away from with higher planning.

I drove on a regular basis with the cruise management set at 65 mph. The Bolt averaged 4.1 miles/kWh, or about $0.12/mile. The A/C was on for a lot of the journey — it had about 4% affect on the vitality consumption.

Drive Slower To Get There Quicker?

It appears contradictory, however in an EV, it may be true. These readers mathematically inclined know that E=mV2. “E” is vitality, “m” is the load of the automobile (mass), “V” is the pace. There’s not a lot you are able to do in regards to the weight. The empty Bolt weighs 3,700 lb, about 4,000 lb loaded. Saving 40 lb would add only one% to your vary, however attempt to go away the kitchen sink at house in the event you can.

Oh, however “V” is a killer, because it comes into play squared. To make it less complicated, at 85 mph, your vitality consumption is twice that at 60 mph. For a brief journey, the sooner you drive, the earlier you get there. However issues are completely different if it’s a must to cost.

On the return house, I drove 420 miles in in the future. If the journey would have been on a flat street, with no visitors, at 60 mph I might have pushed for 7 hours. At 85 mpg, I might drive solely 5 hours — if I might preserve the pace fixed. I’m not factoring within the time spent with the freeway patrol, which might fluctuate relying on the temper of the officer who stopped you.

At 60 mph, the Bolt goes about 4.2 miles/kWh. This isn’t solely my empirical statement, however after my 900-mile journey on cruise management set at 65 mph, the dashboard displayed a mean of 4.1 miles/kWh. To search out the perfect pace, I would like the reverse quantity, 1/4.2 = 0.24 kWh/mile. To search out the vitality spent per hour, I multiply 60 mph by 0.24 kWh/mile and I get 14.4 kWh/hour.

4.2 miles/kWh after 240 miles, very economical.

Assuming the electrical motor’s effectivity shouldn’t be influenced by pace, I exploit Einstein’s formulation to learn the way a lot vitality is spent per hour at varied speeds:

At 50 mph: (502 / 602 ) x 14.4 = 10 kWh/hour
At 85 mph: (852 / 602) x 14.4 = 28.9 kWh/hour

On a quick charger, the Bolt can take about 35 kWh per hour. All of the quick chargers I used weren’t on the freeway, however in purchasing facilities close by. It took a 5-minute detour to get to 1, a couple of minutes to plug and pay, and one other 5 to get again on the street. So, that’s about quarter-hour overhead on every cost.

For those who cost from 20% as much as 80%, every cost may give you about 40 kWh. I’ll assume 35 kWh because you won’t be capable of time it completely.

The outcomes for a 420-mile journey are within the subsequent desk.

Final Hour Vary Nervousness

Our final cost was in King Metropolis, at a ChargePoint station 110 miles from house. I charged for less than quarter-hour, till the odometer confirmed 170 miles of vary. Anxious to get house and with 60 miles to spare, I believed I might drive quick. I name “margin” the distinction between the automobile’s listed vary and the space to the vacation spot. Feeling protected with the 60-mile margin, I pushed it. Seventy mph, 80, 85 — I used to be simply maintaining with the visitors.

The margin began to drop like a punctured balloon. Sixty went right down to 50, then to 30. When it bought right down to 10, I noticed I needed to cost or decelerate. My spouse stated “cost,” however I didn’t need one other cease. “Let’s strive slowing down,” I stated. I dropped the pace to 60 and my margin began to creep up. I bought house with 22 miles to spare and plugged it in. The following morning, I might have one other 260 miles to go. Possibly 300 if I drove round city. I’ve photo voltaic, so charging at house is free.

Conclusions

Disclaimer: I’m not advocating driving gradual, besides when it makes logical sense. Driving quick is usually helpful, and typically even nice. I as soon as pushed my bike to 100 mph briefly, simply to see the way it feels. It looks like flying low. However I’m not advocating driving quick both. Do it at your personal danger.

A number of occasions in my life, I drove virtually 1,000 miles in in the future, clearly utilizing an ICE. It was not a nice expertise — exhausting and liable to tickets. I might not interact to greater than 500 miles per day with the Bolt. Possibly a Tesla can cost sooner and go farther. Nonetheless, driving gradual was a brand new and refreshing expertise. The Tremendous Cruise helped. After the 10-hour journey (with stops), I arrived house fairly recent and prepared for dinner.

Is it price it to drive 420 miles at 85 mph as a way to save quarter-hour? Contemplating the additional value, the wear and tear and tear on the automobile and tires, and the opportunity of Freeway Patrol encounters, I feel the reply is clearly no.

Driving quick half-hour reduce the typical to 4.0 miles/kWh

Is it price it to drive at 50 mph and spend an additional hour on the street as a way to save $10? I don’t suppose so. Apparently sufficient, the Bolt appears to be optimized across the pace restrict.

By Mihai Beffa, CEO of SequentMicrosystems.com. Additionally see half II, III, and IV.

Featured picture: Electrify America will get * * * * *