Yes, it’s absolutely possible to take an epic, cross-country road trip in an electric vehicle (despite my skepticism!), as wonderfully captured by my friends (and former colleagues) Myke and James in their three-part travelogue.

One standout of their travelogue was The Trip in Numbers, which captures the unique experience of road-tripping with an EV (a Rivian R1T truck). They had to navigate different charging networks (they used five of them across 40 stops) and work through “EV deserts” and non-functional chargers.

And they included some nerd-bait, too! They created a meticulous spreadsheet of their entire trip—routes, hotels, charging stops, even the exact cost of and time at each one. That’s my kind of obsessive! 

Their conclusion:

It’s definitely possible to road trip cross-country in an EV! We probably spent a little longer at charging stops than we would in a gas vehicle, and there still aren’t as many chargers as there are gas stations in the country. But with just a little planning ahead, it’s definitely possible.

Seeing Myke and James complete this trip gives me more confidence, while simultaneously highlighting the importance of improved charging infrastructure. We’re moving closer to “don’t worry, just drive,” but we’re not quite there yet. Soon, I hope. Soon.

Tim Levin reports on an InsideEVs interview with Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson:

… the California-based EV startup’s CEO and CTO, thinks the future of transportation hinges on EVs with less range—way less, in fact.

I definitely didn’t expect that from the CEO of the electric vehicle company selling the only car to over 500 miles on a full charge.

Rawlinson’s argument is very forward-looking. Convincing more people to buy 180-mile EVs anticipates significant improvements to the charging infrastructure—basically, chargers everywhere you park, especially the slower, less expensive “Level 2 chargers”—which can in turn shift consumer thinking about how much range they need. If drivers can find charging stations as easily as they do gas stations (or parking meters), they may be more accepting of lower range cars, which would mean smaller batteries, which in turn would lead to cheaper electric vehicles. Of course, that puts the industry in a chicken-and-egg conundrum: Getting more 180-mile EVs works only if Level 2 chargers are ubiquitous, which no one wants to build out without enough EVs to use them, and around we go.

I’m excited for a-charger-on-every-block future, and for most of my daily driving, a reduced-range EV would be fine (as it could be for many urban dwellers)—I’ve investigated several lower-range EVs myself— but I remain skeptical about its broader appeal and practicality. In 2010 I wrote (on my now-defunct personal blog) that there was one reason I thought pure electric cars weren’t ready for the real world:

Road trips.

Call me when I can drive to Disneyland from San Francisco with nothing more than 10 minutes to top off.

We’re almost there, 15 years on—assuming the right car and the right chargers—but most EVs still require both a longer charge time and a longer route to find a charger. That 6.5-hour drive to Disneyland could take eight hours or more in a 180-mile electric car—that’s hardly progress.

Admittedly, most people might make a trip of such distance only once or twice a year, and could rent a more capable car instead, but I doubt many people would bother. Who wants the hassle and the additional expense?

We absolutely need massive improvements to our vehicle charging infrastructure, but I don’t believe the answer is a reduced range car that needs to be constantly charged, anymore than it makes sense to buy a low-MPG car that demands weekly or more top-ups at a gas station.

Less expensive EVs are an important step toward the mass marketization of electric vehicles, and 180-mile variants could be a necessary component of that evolution, but I don’t expect such vehicles represent their final form.

(Via mmalc.)