Range anxiety is the boogie man if you want to roadtrip in an electric vehicle. Finding fast chargers along your route can be a kind of Easter egg hunt. And when you do find them they’re often occupied or out-of-order.
I took my Ford F-150 Lightning out to Pioneertown without too much effort. I found a charger in Beaumont on the way out and one in Redlands on the way back.
This time I’m pushing myself a little more, heading out to see Burro Schmidt’s Tunnel.
The EV Mindset – CarPlay to the Rescue
Road tripping in an EV requires a different mindset than a standard gas vehicle. Normally you’d choose your destination and head out, figuring you’ll stop halfway to get some coffee, top off the gas tank, and use the restroom.
But with an EV it’s better to map the journey a little more precisely, looking for likely locations to charge along the way.
Fortunately Apple CarPlay has partnered with Ford to include a feature that monitors your battery charge and finds charging stations along the route.
One of the things I want to test is whether its better to plug in your entire route – such as ghost towns that are up the road from Burro Schmidt’s Tunnel – or whether it’s best to choose the destination for this leg of the route.
You get different results whichever way you choose. Some of the ghost towns are far from any charging stations, so I may need to be sure and get a full charge before I head for my camp site. But if I just plugged in the campsite the app might say “you’ll have 30% charge, you’ll be fine.”
Onward!
