Yesterday I did the road trip back from Salisbury CT to Washington DC, considering all the stops to quell my range anxiety on the way up, I wasn’t super pumped to get back on the road. For the return trip I planned a different route, rather than doing the turnpike which has a lot of charging stations, I decided to go my usual route that I’ve taken over the years, across to Newburgh NY, down 87, to 287 to Bridgewater NJ and then hop on to the Jersey Turnpike. I’d tested out two EVgo charging stops and now figured I would hit up the Electrify America Network on the way back. Bridgewater has an Electrify America Station at the Target.
Salisbury to Bridgewater was easy, 150 miles. I had no hesitation to go through, no range anxiety, I was already feeling more confident with the Etron onboard computer telling me exactly home much battery charge and distance I had left, and there were at least two more fast charging stations within range if the Bridgewater station was out.
I pulled in to the Bridgewater Target parking lot and plugged in to the Electrify America charging station, I have to admit I miscalculated and had just assumed all Electrify America Stations were super chargers that were rated at 150 kw or above, not so. I guess the Bridgewater station was one of the earlier installs and only charged at 50 kw, so serious let down. Regardless, once agin, the ritual of taking the dog for a long walk around the parking lot. I went to the Target to use the bathroom. I did some shopping getting cleaning supplies and paper goods. Checked emails on my phone. I did also manage to confirm that there was a 150 kw Electrify America station in Abingdon Maryland – one hour stops to charge my car, is not going to work on a long term basis. In order for me to love my new electric vehicle I need to get that hour long stop, down to 20 minutes. I killed an hour at the Target and took off again.
Bridgewater NJ to Abingdon Maryland was another 150 miles. Second and hopefully last stop before DC, I need about 60 miles to get home. I pulled in to the Walmart and found the Electrify America stations no problem, checked the stickers and they all had either 150 kw or 350 kw on the units, the holy grail, super fast charging stations. I had trouble plugging in to and getting the units started, I had to call customer service and switched to two different units before customer service was able to get the charging session to initiate. But we got it going. I stopped for a minute to watch as the station screen updated with how much power it was delivering to the car, almost 150 kw, that means in less than 40 minutes, if my battery had been completely empty I would have fully charged up my car, but I only needed another 40 miles or so. Once agin, took the dog for a very quick walk, went to the Walmart to use the bathroom, didn’t feel like I needed to do any shopping since I’d already stocked up at Target earlier. Back to the car, it’s been plugged in for less than 15 minutes and I have more than enough juice to get me back home.
Made the trip home Abingdon to DC no problem. Home with maybe 20 miles left on the battery. Mission accomplished, first full long distance, multiple stops to charge, road trip in the Etron done.