There's a Hundred-Thousand Streets in This City
I drive an electric car. Not for any environmental reason (all cars are environmentally devastating), but because I thought it would be neat. Most of my driving is short trips, and when I bought the car, I thought I was done taking road trips. Two years later, I find myself driving to Atlanta several times a year, and this month alone, I’m going to Atlanta, two state parks, and Orlando. All in a cheap electric car with a small, slow-charging battery. I drove from Savannah to Atlanta earlier today, and it went about as well as could be expected.
The Route
My car claims to have a range of 250 miles, but that’s driving the speed limit in perfect conditions. My house to Atlanta is 243 miles. Mostly freeway. I don't get anywhere close to the estimated maximum mileage on a trip like this. I have to stop at least once to charge along the way. But I actually like to stop twice, just in case something goes wrong. It's one of the things that comes with owning an electric car: range paranoia. There was one trip where I tried to make it on just one charge, but when I got to the charge station, ¾ of the chargers, were out of service and I ended up having to wait almost an hour just to get a charge. So now I always make that extra stop, even if it's just for 10 minutes to charge while I get a drink or a little snack.
The Stops
There are basically two places on the I-16 for me to stop and charge before I reach my main charging point. One is at a gas station. It has one charger. The other is at a Burger King. It has one charger. They are about 45 minutes apart, each directly off the freeway. Today when I stopped at the gas station the charger was in use. An old Chevy bolt. I think. The doors were open and the driver was sitting on the ground, head in hand, The telltale sign of a long charging session. When you drive one of these cheap Chevys, it's not like the Kevin Bacon commercials where you get 60% charge in 15 minutes. It takes a long time to charge a cheap EV. Sometimes there's nothing to do other than sit on the ground. I've been there before, although with me, it was in a Walmart parking lot. Seeing the charger was in use for a long charging session, I flipped around and got back on the highway and headed towards the Burger King.
There are Vultures in the Burger King Parking Lot
You would think vultures in the parking lot would be a bad omen, but the charger wasn't in use and it was working just fine. Got my charge, along with a Whopper, Jr. and a red Hi-C. I thought red Hi-C was closer in flavor to fruit juicy red Hawaii punch, but this red drink was weak, barely more than water. Disappointing. I spent 24 minutes at the Burger King and the charge cost about $9.
Walmart: The EV Oasis
My main stopping point to charge on the way to Atlanta is a Walmart in Forsyth, Georgia. It's a good place to stop. It's got four chargers that are usually working, and there are a Popeyes and a Jersey Mike's within walking distance. I've gone into the habit of shopping at the Walmart while I charge, buying snacks for the hotel room and reveling in my ability to purchase a USB cable without having to get someone to unlock the case like I would at a Savannah Walmart. Today one of the four chargers was broken, but fortunately one person charging was walking out with their groceries, so I only had to wait a few minutes for them to get the kids in the car and pull away. I did my shopping. (Water, comb, USB cable, Skittles) and was on my way in about 27 minutes, with the charge costing $13.
I Have No Concept of Time
The two charges to get my car to Atlanta added a little under an hour to my trip time. But because I'm doing something while charging and not just sitting in the car waiting, it doesn't feel like any time is being added. And stopping at the Walmart actually feels like I'm saving time. I don't have to find snacks near the hotel, and I don't have to remember to go shopping before I leave. I'll even do a lot of my grocery shopping on the way back while I charge, saving myself the dreaded post vacation trip to the store to buy something to have for breakfast the next morning.
You Are The Navigator
Today's trip was about as good as it gets with EV travel. There was only one broken charger, and didn't impact my charging time all that much. The charging infrastructure for EVs is very spotty. There are certain places in Georgia (like a lot of West Georgia) where it would be difficult for me to go because I have no place to charge my car. But in the strange way, the lack of reliable charging infrastructure is one of the fun things about owning an EV. When I was choosing where I wanted to go this summer, access to charging was an important part of things. It makes you look for places that you might not actually think of going. It feels like driving back before GPS, when you had to plan your route in advance using the atlas you kept in the backseat.
