One of the most common questions we hear from clients considering an electric car at Cartelligent is, “How can I charge it when I’m traveling?” As recent electric car owners, my husband and I put this to the test when we took our brand-new, all-electric Volkswagen ID.4 to Mendocino County for the weekend.
We had booked an Airbnb in Albion a couple of months in advance. Once we knew we were getting an electric car, we reached out to the owner to see if we could plug it in while we were there. He was a little unsure about it, but said to reach out if we needed to give it a try. We decided to get by using public charging stations on our trip to spare our host the cost of charging our electric car.
The ID.4 has an impressive 240+ mile battery, so driving up to Mendocino from our home in Marin was no problem at all. We wound our way up coastal Highway 1 so we could enjoy the majestic views.
We had downloaded several car charging apps, including Chargepoint and EV Go, which helped us locate chargers in Mendocino itself, as well as several in the surrounding areas. What we did not realize was that not all EV charging stations are fast.
The first day, we stopped at Van Damme State Park (128 miles from Marin), thinking we could charge while we hiked and come back to a full car.
We soon discovered that this charger’s charging rate was 20 miles per hour—unless we were on a 12-hour hike, this was not going to work out!
On our second day, we drove down to Point Arena (10 miles from our Airbnb in Albion) and used the public chargers there while we explored the town. Once again, we had a gorgeous drive, but the car only charged at a trickle.
We did get some really yummy muffins from Franny’s Cup & Saucer though.
The third day, we went up to Fort Bragg. There were a couple of charging stations there, but again our electric car charged at a trickle. After two hours, it charged 40 miles, and it was 20 miles to get up back to Albion!
It was time to reach out to our Airbnb host. We explained that we weren’t sure we could get home if we weren’t able to charge our electric car at the property. He was hesitant about how much it would cost him, so we offered to leave a little extra cash when we left. We stopped at a hardware store to pick up an extra-long extension cord. We were finally able to get a decent charge.
That said, we still opted to plug in when we went down to Elk for breakfast on our last day. We got a few miles on the car while we soaked in phenomenal views and ate at Queenies Roadhouse Cafe.
On the way home, we found a fast-charger in Cloverdale and couldn’t resist topping off while we grabbed another bite to eat!
The lesson we learned: do your research on how fast the chargers are where you’re going. The best answer is a fast charger or the ability to charge at the place you’re staying. It was a fun adventure, and we’re definitely wiser about road charging than we were before embarking upon it!
Planning an electric vehicle road trip of your own? Whether you’re considering making the switch to an EV or plug in hybrid, having the right vehicle and the right guidance makes all the difference. At Cartelligent, our concierge team can help you buy or lease a new electric car for your lifestyle and answer all those questions you might have about charging, range, and travel. Let us help you navigate the EV journey with confidence—get started with Cartelligent today.
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