How to Travel 490 Electric Miles Without Using DC Fast Charging
Guest contributor, Robert Fernatt, discusses a recent road trip in his Model Y and free, hotel charging at his destination.
Plugged In EV welcomes Robert Fernatt, an IT specialist, a cat dad, and a electrification and solar advocate. Recently, Robert wrote a LinkdedIn post about a vacation getaway road trip with his wife and was kind enough to share with us. Robert is also the President of the West Virginia Electric Auto Association.
The post details long-distance traveling in an electric vehicle and how it can be easy, even with so many news reports about non-Tesla DC fast charging issues. The caveat here is Robert’s “getaway” trip didn’t even need Level 3 DC fast charging and relied on free hotel charging! In this post, Robert discusses how the EV’s range and the destination charging — level 2 — at the hotel was all he needed. Enjoy!
Visiting Ocean City in a Model Y - by Robert Fernatt
DC Fast Charging gets a lot of press and for good reason. Slower, Level 2 destination charging is great, but you have to reach your destination in a reasonable amount of time which may only be practical with DC Fast Charging (DCFC).
However, one fantastic use case for Level 2 AC charging, among others like home and work, is hotel stays. The ability to conveniently 'refuel' at a hotel that offers EV charging as an amenity is underrated, but seems to be gathering traction. The large deal Hilton just made with Tesla shows that hotels are starting to understand the importance of EV charging when offering amenities that will attract customers.
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Here's my latest real world hotel example. My wife and I just finished a 490 mile trip to Bethany Beach, DE and we stayed overnight with IHG Hotels & Resorts in nearby Ocean City, MD. That was roundtrip mileage with some small side jaunts and other miscellaneous stops. There was no charging between my home and the hotel both ways. With complimentary hotel charging and home charging at no additional cost (solar), there was no cost for fuel and no time spent charging while on the road.
We selected the hotel because it offered convenient EV charging with an ocean front view. Like the Hilton example above, we hope to see more EV charging offered at IHG hotels.
Trip from Martinsburg, WV area to Ocean City, MD:
90% to 25% State of Charge (SoC),
222 miles
214 wh/mi (159 MPGe)
Trip from Ocean City, MD back home:
90% to 11% SoC,
269 miles
216 wh/mi (156 MPGe)
P.S. If you estimate total range possible based on either leg of that trip using 100% of the battery, it's greater than the car's 330 mile EPA range. Admittedly, dry weather in the mid 60s to low 70s was great for this trip, it's a relatively flat route, chill mode was enabled, there is only 60 miles or so of interstate driving with the rest of the route being 55 mph or lower speed limits, and I tend to drive at or a hair over the speed limit. So, the conditions were close to the EPA's testing methodology.
P.S.S - A quick addition: Across my vacation starting Oct 8 and including the trip to the coast described above, I traveled a total of 753 electric miles through Oct 16. Efficiency averaged 214 wh/mi (159 MPGe) and there was no additional cost for EV charging at home or on the road. If fast charging had been needed, then there would have been a cost, of course.
My wife's small, 4 cylinder ICE crossover would have cost a bit more than $94 to travel that many miles assuming it was getting the 28.4 MPG it's averaging and the $3.56/gallon that gas costs around home.
— Post by Robert Fernatt, a member of the West Virginia Electric Auto Association