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Home for the Holidays: 1500 Mile Round Trip in a Chevrolet Bolt EV
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- Опубліковано 31 гру 2019
- Happy New Year! Fair warning: this is a long one. I wanted to get our full road trip over to Cleveland, Ohio and back to Boston up as quickly as possible so that I can dive into different aspects of route, performance, cost and convenience over the next few weeks.
Even with heavy edits this still crossed the half-hour mark, so I've added timestamps below for the relevant sections. Skip to the part that interests you or sit back with some munchies and watch the whole shebang!
Taken as a whole, I think there are several interesting takeaways from this EV road trip. The outbound leg was all about comparative convenience (relative to other electric vehicles) but still worked out very affordable, while the return leg focused on minimizing cost and taking a more scenic route. The latter worked out ridiculously cheap, with the whole journey home costing less than $15 in charging fees! But was going out of our way worth the lower fees? I cover it a little here and will do a lot more in a future video on the Southern Tier of NY route.
Whatever your stage of EV adoption, whether you're considering an EV for the first time or have been driving them from day one, this trip provides a diverse look at how the infrastructure is quickly changing. Road trips in electric vehicles can vary greatly, depending on the route you take and the conditions along the way, so plan accordingly!
My thanks and best to everyone who has watched and left feedback on the channel during 2019. I wish you all an exciting and prosperous 2020!
Please e-mail any feedback and/or questions to plugandplayEV@gmail.com or share your EV road trip experiences in the comments below... what's the most cost-effective route you've ever taken, for example? Or the most expensive?!
It's always good to listen and learn from other owners and the comments often help other viewers, so thanks in advance for contributing.
Timestamps:
1:10 - Video Summary
1:45 - Happy New Year! (and thanks)
2:12 - Fully Charged + Ready to Roll
2:42 - Traffic + Albany, NY 123 Miles
2:58 - Lee, MA Service Plaza EVgo (Winter Worries)
3:57 - Single Stations = No Redundancy
4:34 - Arriving in Albany (Electrify America Stop #1)
5:50 - Handshake Issues + Cable Relief
7:18 - How to Overcome Cable Weight + Albany Charge Start/Stop/Start
9:08 - Goodbye Albany, Hello Herkimer
10:10 - Arrival at Herkimer (Electrify America Stop #2)
10:42 - 300 miles in, 3 miles per kWh
11:10 - Arrival at Hotel, Day 1 Recap + Destination Charging
12:18 - Reminder of 15-20 Miles Range Buffer + Regen Off Interstate
13:05 - Fairport, NY: Model EV Community Meetup
14:45 - Day 2 Start + Fully Charged Summary (Torque Pro Battery Heater)
15:10 - Back on the road to Cleveland, OH via Fredonia, NY + Erie, PA
15:59 - Brief Flash of Fredonia - Electrify America Stop #3
(Edit Cock up! - Charged 24 mins to 22-56% / 17.9kWh / $3.99)
- Will post proper session details in a subsequent video.
16:19 - Arrival at Erie, PA - Electrify America Stop #4
16:45 - End Erie Charge - PA More Expensive Rate Than NY or OH
17:18 - How the Teslarati Live / Comparison to Electrify America
18:03 - Final Leg to Cleveland, OH + Recap of Energy Consumption
19:26 - Trip Stats - Boston, MA to Cleveland, OH (+ Christmas in Strongsville, OH)
20:10 - Previewing Return Journey Route, Temps + Conditions
21:13 - Why Southern Tier is “the Frugal Route”
21:52 - Instagram Plug + Comparing to Previous Road Trips
22:28 - Skateboard and Keyboards and Baggage, Oh My
23:00 - Trolling Tesla Slowpoke… (our family members ;- )
23:40 - Onto I-86 - Southern Tier Expressway
24:10 - Arriving into Jamestown, NY ChargePoint DCFC (15 cents per kWh)
25:30 - Ending Session + Charging by Energy Delivered vs. Minutes Taken
26:10 - Energy Consumption 300+ Miles Into Return Leg
26:38 - Hotel Arrival + Destination Charging
27:25 - Starting Final Day + 184 Miles Fully Charged / 3.2 mi/kWh
27:56 - Back on the Road
28:30 - Heavy Rain at Binghamton + Arrival at Southern Tier Welcome Center
29:20 - Reviewing Journey + Energy Consumption Over Last 100 Miles
30:10 - Charge Session Summary + Jump to Capital Region Welcome Center
31:00 - Plugging in at Capital Region in Low Temps
32:10 - Charge Session Wrap w/ Hyundai Kona Electric + Discussing Last Leg into Mass.
33:09 - Snowy in Chicopee for Electrify America #5 (Where It All Began!)
34:00 - Starting Final Charge Session at 23% State of Charge
35:20 - Unplugged Session Summary + Look at Energy Consumption
35:57 - Final Summary Post-Trip + Complete Trip Details
Thanks for the video. I've also found EA to be hit or miss. Hopefully they'll get things worked out before the new VW and Ford EV's hit the market. It won't be pretty if a bunch of new EV owners have problems charging.
The Albany stop was the only hiccup on this route, with three subsequent charge sessions working seamlessly. They do have areas to improve, though, and I'm now confident they're listening to customers on those issues.
I'm considering a Bolt, and your video helped me get a good feel for the experience of charging the car on a road trip. Thanks!
That's great to hear, thank you. Good luck with your decision!
13:30 Wow, thats a huge L2 charging facility! Biggest one I have ever seen personally is in Fairborn, OH - it has 2 free Chargepoint plugs. (the other 4 in OH have 1 plug, and mostly are in sucky locations)
Actually its a nice little station, middle of "old downtown". A little park with trees. Couple of pubs in easy walking distance and some shopping.
Yes, Fairport was very early to the charging party and also has a couple of DCFC units now. As you describe in Ohio, these pleasant little towns that are worth exploring (this one on the Erie Canal with plenty of food and drink options) and charging options add that much more incentive to visit/linger.
If you are on the Mass Pike in the Westfield area there are a few chargers, even free ones. so if you think it's a busy time you could always stop at a Westfield Big-y or Stop&Shop have a lunch while you top off. I So want one of these... 2023 Bolt EUV. Also I abhor the new Mass Pike exit numbering system, I couldn't even tell you right now what exit Westfield is anymore.
It's funny, as we rarely need to get off the Masspike on our way out and not that often in, either. A full charge typically gets us to Albany, NY or Danbury, CT unless the temperature is really low, so we haven't had to pay attention to the exit numbers all that much.
Definitely appreciate the local info though and it looks like Springfield and surrounding towns will soon become quite a hub for EV charging. Pride Convenience stores are slated to receive funds for DC fast charging at 7 or 8 sites, in addition to a few others going in at Burger King and 7-Eleven. Should serve you well in the Bolt EUV, if you ever need to top off quickly!
I just bought a 2019 Bolt LT (Slate Gray 🦏 color) with the battery replaced January 2022. It's a Chevy Certified Used vehicle as well. 40k miles on the chassis and maybe 200 miles on the new battery pack. These cars are a steal right now! Buy one that's Certified Used from Chevy before they start hiking the price up!
Personally I preferred the cloth seats because it gets HOT where I live and the 3k mark-up on the Premier wasn't worth it to me. I'm 40+yrs old and I know how to use my mirrors, stay between the lines, etc. But there are two things I want on the LT that only comes on the Premier. The roof rails and the cargo shelf in the trunk. Cargo shelf is $135 and installing it is ridiculously easy. For me at least. And I'm handy enough to install the roof racks should I find a pair. The wheels on the Premier do look better in my opinion. But it wasn't a deal breaker for me since I'm considering buying a set of the 2022 wheels and then selling my wheels on eBay. If that doesn't happen it's not like the silver wheels don't look good on their own anyway. But seriously.....if you're on the fence about buying one get off of it and go buy one now. This car is exceeding my expectations.
Always good to know that some of the upper trim features can be added DIY to the entry trim. We like the non-cloth seats because the clean up is easier with kids, but we Boston in summer isn't especially hot so we don't lose anything there. Congrats on your savvy purchase!
Pancakes are for adults too (mmmm, pancakes...)
Your efficiency isn't all that bad from what I could see. I traveled down the California coast for the holiday during fairly off-hours and it wasn't much warmer (high 30s to low 40s), same amount of rain and only a little better miles/kWh. Otoh I only did ~1000 miles total & never dealt directly with snow so a real wuss trip comparatively.
And hey, I think this might be the first time I've heard your kids & spouse in the background.
My go-to strategy is to order something vaguely healthy and then pick at the inevitable kids' leftover pancakes...pretty sure the calories don't count that way...!
We did okay, although I'd have liked to be closer to 3.3 mi/kWh to maximize the efficiency of our outbound stops. It wasn't to be with the cold, though, and at least the cabin was comfortable with the extra heat.
Kids have been in a couple - "Crossing PA" for sure and a couple of other vids around that time - if I recall, but I don't typically put them in directly. They probably won't thank me when they're older and there are all kinds of restrictions coming about kids in videos, so background sounds and random cameos are the order of the day for a while longer!
Excellent video! Happy New Year and thanks for all your hard work on these. I'm planning a 1500 mile spring trip to Chattanooga, TN in my 2019 Bolt so these longer road trip videos give me lots of helpful perspective.
I was surprised to see that you didn't lose charge due to battery conditioning even with some pretty cool temperatures. It's been around 0C/32F here (wind chills bring that down a bit) and I'm sitting at around 5% battery conditioning usage over the past couple of weeks.
Thanks, I appreciate the feedback and glad it's helpful! I was wondering why Chattanooga sounds familiar, then realized it's where Volkswagen will be building the ID. 4 for North America... very cool!
I think the lack of any recorded conditioning was down to our using destination charging. The car probably did take some energy to keep the battery warm overnight, but pulled it from the wall and then reset the Energy Detail screen numbers once fully charged, erasing any details. I'll have to go back through the times I opened Torque Pro to see when the battery heater was running, but I'd bet it took the energy to do so from either the wall or the fast charger rather than the pack. That gives me something to research and perhaps add into a future video, though, so thanks!
Steve! Thanks for making me feel better about perhaps making a trip one day with fast chargers! Gonna go to Cedar Point in 2021 and it looks like they do now have an EA charger on the way there using the myChevrolet app!
Absolutely, you got this! Sandusky looks a bit sparse but a meal break DC fast charge in one of the areas approaching it should have you covered, especially in the warmer months. Ohio is actually doing a pretty good job on fast chargers, from what I've seen.
@@plugandplayEV Ohio should put some money into more chargers with all that “Gas Tax” they make us EV’s pay! An extra $200 per year for registration.
@@kyliefan7 Someone asked me about that the other day: "how do we deal with EV drivers not paying for the roads they drive on?" I pointed to the sudden EV registration fees in some states and something like "try asking Ohio drivers that question!"
Charger infrastructure can only improve, I can see owning an electric, but not for trips, unless I am retired, which is years away
Totally fair, everyone has their different tolerance levels and use cases for longer trips, which are undeniably a bit longer in an EV for the moment. The gap has closed rapidly in the last few years, though, and by 2025 I see the fueling/charging gap as being so negligible that a majority of car buyers will be ready to make the transition.
Great video... Nice to see a real road trip.
I believe the Kona can charge at 75-77kw max rate.
Thanks! Although in the immortal words of Bachman-Turner Overdrive: "you ain't seen nothing yet." Big plans for a massive Bolt EV trip in the next couple of months and hoping to confirm this week.
Re. the Kona Electric, I think it briefly hits ~75kW, but in the same way the Bolt quickly touches 55kW then pulls back down. If the comparisons I've seen are accurate, the Kona is only 5-10 mins quicker to charge than the Bolt on a normal session. Still better, but only an incremental improvement.
@@plugandplayEV
I think your right about the Kona .
Out of Spec Motoring did a 1500 mile trip in one,
That 10-15 min more spread over a cross country trip does add up..
For trips that are just one or two charging stops it's not a big deal.
One issue is it can touch the limit on Electrify America, and put you into the next tier..
Looking forward to your upcoming videos.
If the unit shuts off before it reaches your set state of charge, THEY should owe YOU $.40/min for the wait time...
Right! Financial penalties for malfunctioning hardware is about where a lot of people are looking now, especially in terms of allocating NEVI funds... no help unless you commit to reliable chargers.
But I should note that Electrify America hasn't levied idle fees for some time now, at least at the locations we visit. So there's currently no financial penalty for early cut outs (or overstaying a charge session, which is obviously a downside).
The crappy quality of the charge connectors on the infratructure side seems like a big problem, especially for the mass adoption of EVs. Traditional fuel pumps are just blocks of metal. This plastic junk seems like it will cause a lot of problems.
I haven't encountered that much with fast charging stations yet, but I guess it rings true for some older L2 stations we use locally. Worth exploring and we'll be running through some older local fast charging sites soon, so I'll factor that in to look at, thanks.
That adapter to hold the CCS charging head in place...do you know if anyone has marketed that?
I just bought a Bolt and I have heard that when using Elctrify America’s liquid cooled cables, the weight can pull the charger head out of alignment a bit, and in Bolts this causes failure to start the charge.
I’d rather not have to hold the cable, in place until charging starts, so if this little adapter is available on the market, that would be great!
I haven't seen it as a commercial product, but if you have access to 3D printing, this is the spec link: www.thingiverse.com/thing:3862271 -- I saw a Bolt owner use www.shapeway.com to get it printed, but have no experience with the service myself.
If you'd like mine, I can actually part with it as we only have the 2020 Bolt now and the charge port doesn't have this problem on newer models. Email plugandplayEV@gmail.com with your details if so and I'll be happy to send it your way.
@@plugandplayEV Oh cool. I also bought the 2020 Bolt manufactured in October of last year so hopefully new enough it doesn't have this issue then.
@@jonemeigh5588 Okay good, I thought you meant you'd bought used. No, 2020 you should be fine. We've done full trips summer and winter in the 2020 now and had no problems with the weight of the cable... now there are other potential pain points with Electrify America, but that one is at least checked off the list!
Hello, where can I get this piece of plastic that we see in the video at 6mins12sec? Thanks.
Hi. Mine was a gift. I haven't seen them on sale anywhere, but if you can access a 3D printer the design is available here: www.thingiverse.com/thing:3862271
Also just a note that I didn't get it to work on the attempt in this video. That said, I'll try testing again later this month, hopefully in less frigid/rushed conditions.
@@plugandplayEV Thanks, I have the same problem here in Quebec !
No problem. I love it up there but have only visited in summer, so I can only imagine how much harsher your winters would be than ours!
8 stall supercharger station has lower capacity than a 4 stall EA station (assuming 2 of the stalls are 350kW which is typical).
Not sure I follow the logic... the 8 stall Supercharger here would be able to accommodate 16 cars at full capacity, no? Meanwhile, the EA site can only charge four at one time. Granted, the Teslas are power-sharing, but they can still get on a plug and start the charge. Not that I've seen it happen, but the fifth car at an EA station is going to have to wait and can't even plug in until one of the EVs charging leaves.
If we're talking capacity as a function of power level, it all gets a bit hypothetical. The numbers of cars sold that can actually get anywhere close to making use of even the 150kW stations is miniscule, so the likelihood of four e-Trons turning up to the same four-stall EA station just isn't something we can compare to the current Supercharger network, IMO.
@@plugandplayEV it isn't theoretical anymore as the Taycan charges at 250kW 😉
Relating this back to your point about California, I think the probability of me seeing four Taycans at the same Electrify America station on this side of the country is roughly the same as me personally being able to afford a Taycan.
Nonetheless, I'd like to see the photo of it when you first see it in the Golden State... after all, I can dream!
@@plugandplayEV LoL, I won't be getting one either. Even if I could afford one, it seems silly to buy something like that and then drive at 5mph in LA traffic.
Not to say there aren't a lot of people who will do exactly that (I see Ferraris, Lambos and McLaren's inching next to me in 5mph traffic all the time).
I think I get what you are saying. Four EA stalls will be two 150kw + two 350kw plugs. The v2 Supercharger stalls will be four 150kw then each 150kw is split. So that makes 1mw of power for EA and 600kw for Tesla.
I dare argue with the current mix of cars on the road, the Tesla chargers will be able to service more cars quicker even when busy. They are effectively using that 600kw more efficiently than the 1mw on EA. If all cars connected on EA could reach their max stall speeds then you could see more cars churned out than a v2 supercharger. V3 however changes this as 8 dedicated stalls at 250kw will be 2mw of available power. The best part is we don't need to wait for the cars to catch up as the bulk of Tesla's on the road are Model 3's and can take advantage of the added speed even on a standard rage version (170kw IIRC).
EA takes sooo long to start the charge ... I just used EA yesterday and it took probably 2 minutes to start charging (I have a 2019 Bolt which doesn't have the support issue).
@B. Allen only the '17's have the problem.
To be honest, not having to call customer service or suffer underpowered charging (only got 20-25kW on a similar journey last July) felt like a step up to me. I do look forward to the Plug&Charge tech where the car does all the work or you, but in the meantime I'll take a minute or two and not having to make a phone call to Virginia :-)
@@plugandplayEV I've never had to call customer support to have a DCFC work. There have been chargers that aren't working of course, but there has always been one that is working at any site I've stopped at and they have always worked first time (although, as I said, the one yesterday was *really* slow starting). The only problem has been waiting for the working charger to free up (unless it's a new site that not everyone knows about yet).
I'm thinking more and more that I just caught them in a rough patch. Our trip through Pennsylvania in spring was a royal PAin in the bum, while the summer travel saw us visit many of the locations with Efacec stations that had reduced power due to cooling system issues. Minor inconveniences at Albany aside, this trip was flawless in terms of EA station reliability/availability.
why are you charging a kilowatt when driving
Not sure which section you're referring to, but the Bolt's power gauge will show energy output (yellow) and input (green) while driving. The former is obviously acceleration and any accessories using energy (heater or A/C), while the latter is charging, which when in motion comes from regenerative braking. So the car is taking the kinetic energy of slowing down and putting that back into the battery pack. Hope that helps!
Welcome to the future. This has been the problem in California for a while. If there are 4 or fewer chargers at a site, then the odds are that they will all be occupied when you arrive. With one charger at a site it is a certainty (unless it's 3am) that it will be occupied.
That's typically the case... whatever we see reported from California is what we can expect to see over the next 12-18 months. We're seeing it with L2 locally, to some extent, but it's only just breaking out into DCFC as a trend in the Northeast.
On the positive side, we still have the early adopter benefit of complimentary charging. Expect that to phase out in the next year or so as well.
@@plugandplayEV actually, there has been a (probably temporary) reprieve lately as an enormous number of EA sites opened up in the last month.
Good to hear (apart from the "temporary" caveat :-)
How much did 1500mi cost?
$57.34 -- a little under 4 cents per mile.
@@plugandplayEV sweet thats definitely way cheaper than gas
@@jerometruitt2731 For sure, although we benefited from some complimentary charging, as the video shows. In general, EV road trips aren't much cheaper than gas, but regular commuter/daily driving with home charging easily comes in at 4 cents per mile (less if you''re in a region with cheap electricity).
Go electric !