There was a time when electric vehicles (EVs) couldn’t get as far on a road trip. “There is probably twice as much charging infrastructure today as there was a year and a half ago, so it’s really improved,” said CAA Atlantic EV expert Kurt Sampson. CAA recently tested 22 of the most popular EVs to see how they perform on a typical leg of a road trip. The circuit was a 365-kilometre route through part of Ontario – what Sampson calls a “weekend getaway” scenario. “There was the 230-kilometre section where we measured efficiency, the 15-minute charging section, and then people were free to drive a little more freely on the way back. It was kind of a roundtrip circuit,” said Sampson. Of the 22 vehicles tested, the three with the lowest energy consumption were the Toyota bZ, the Tesla Model Y and the Tesla Model 3. Fast-charging test While none of the vehicles needed to stop to charge to complete the route, the circuit included a mandatory 15-minute public fast-charging test. “Every single EV in our test, including the lowest range one that we had, which is one of the lowest range ones you can buy, made that 365-kilometre full route. That was a pleasant surprise,” Sampson said. The vehicle that gained the most kilometres during that time was the Lucid Gravity with 178, followed by the Hyundai IONIQ 5 with 136, and the Mercedes-Benz CLA with EQ Technology with 135. Sampson noted EV fast chargers often share available power, so if several vehicles are plugged in at the same station at the same time, they may charge more slowly. “If someone’s charging in 1A and the rest of them are open, you don’t want to go in 1C, you want to go into two or three or four, so you get the full speed of that bank,” he said. ‘No longer less convenient’ He also noted stopping for gas on a road trip often eats up more time than charging. He said on his drive to Ontario, the main reason for stops along the way wasn’t to fuel up, but rather to get something to eat or go to the washroom. “If you stop, plug-in and do those, I didn’t have to wait at all to fuel my vehicle on the whole trip,” said Sampson. “If I was fueling with gas, there would have been several times where I was standing there holding a nozzle for five minutes here and there, so maybe 15 minutes of time that I was just holding a nozzle. I didn’t have to do that.” While charging vehicles on-the-go does cost money – much more than charging at home – Sampson said there are still savings to be found compared to a gasoline vehicle. “For instance, a roundtrip to Ontario for gas might cost you just shy of $700. In an EV, it’s probably going to cost you $400,” he said. Sampson has made that drive several times, including last week to participate in the circuit. “It’s really hit a milestone time where it is no longer less convenient. If you’re driving a good EV and there’s good infrastructure on your way on the trip that you’re doing, then it’s really a pleasant experience.”
