BEV and a 500 Mi Trip. Should I do it?

[Zeeroi3]

I have a 18 I3s BEV. Covid has thrown a wrench into travel plans, as I'm sure it has for many of you. I am planning to visit some family in the NJ/NY area, which is 500ish miles from me.

The question is simple really. Should I do it? I can get about 100 mi range on the highway at around 70mph. This means at a minimum stopping 5 times to fast charge. This turns a 9ish hour drive to 12hrs. Given the distance I was going to stop at least 2-3 times anyway, but for much shorter time.

What has everyone's experience been with long journeys on a similar BEV? Did you regret it? Did you experience any issues with so many fast charges?

We do have an ICE we can use for the trip, but the risk taker in me wants to try it out.

 

[trumpetdoug]

Good question. I don't think I would do it.

I have a 2017 REX, and think that would make the trip a bit easier on the car / battery.

It's my understanding that fast charging (especially as much as you would need to do) is a bit hard on the batteries.

Just my 2 cents. Best of luck.

Doug - out

 

[websterize]

I completed a 700-mile roundtrip journey last summer in my i3 Sport, and the heat generated from high speeds and ambient air temperatures on the high-voltage battery cut the recharge rate in half by the second or third DC charge. The rate dropped as low as ~20 kW, I assume because of the car's temperature safeguards for the pack.

If you opt to drive straight through, I would plan on taking longer than 12 hours. And I would really study the charging infrastructure of your route (and lodging) on plugshare.com.

 

[Zeeroi3]

Thank you for this insight. Heat was one of my concerns. It makes sense that charge speeds would be throttled with so many fast charges + summertime. Given that this is only a weekend trip for us, I think it may make sense to use the ICE. No sense is making the trip longer than it ought to be. If we were planing a lodging stop on the way I'd definitely take the i3.

Part of me has a tiny bit of regret not opting for a longer range EV. But in reality, I drive around 5k miles a year. Did not feel worth the added cost for the occasional road trip. When I got the car, I mentally prepared for a max 300-mile journey. Figure 3 charge stops wouldn't be too bad.. a 500-mile or longer journey really pushes my sanity, EV or ICE.

 

[jadnashuanh]

The status of CCS charging has gotten better on the east coast, but it still can be spotty. What would you do if you got to a unit, it was out of service, or there were already two people ahead of you waiting to use it? It's not like filling up the gas tank where probably 10-minutes for the guy in front of you would be a long time. Plus, keep in mind that going from 80-100% really can slow down during the charge cycle. Otherwise, not getting close to 100% would mean at least another stop and the potential for big disappointments.