Using an electric car for your daily commute and other everyday needs is mostly problem free. The range of modern electric cars make them go far and it’s hard to imagine that you would have any trouble getting through your day in a single charge that you could easily get at home, during the night.
But what about longer trips? Will you be able to find charging stations when travelling outside of the area where you usually move around? Is it indeed possible to go on a car vacation with your electrical car without ending up constantly searching for a charging station?
The answer is yes and now, or perhaps, it depends. In Europe as well as the US there is an ever growing number of charging stations springing up in major cities. For instance you will find charging stations near most hotels in Copenhagen, just to bring up one example.
This is very good news, because it means that you can expect to charge your car overnight wherever you end up, at least as long as you keep to bigger cities.
Make a reasonable plan
So, you can actually take your EV on a road trip, but you will benefit from planning ahead a bit.
A good first step is to check your car’s actual mileage on a full charge. Sure, the manufacturer will give you a number, but you should never really count on it being correct, because the real number depends on so many factors, but mostly, probably, on your driving habits.
Check your range and then make a detailed travel plan for your trip and make sure to adapt your daily trips to the range of your car. With a petrol or diesel engine you can just go, but with limited battery capacity you’ll probably end up making one or two stops each day to recharge.
New operators of car charging stations pop up constantly and new sites are added every day. Be sure to check what operators are active in the areas you’re visiting and check any prices and subscriptions before you go. It may save you a ton of headache and a lot of money.