What I learned from my first EV road trip

I had never driven an electric car before, so, naturally, I made sure my first drive covered 500 miles across two states in one day. Although public opinion on electric cars is still mixed, facts suggest these cars are not a passing fad. Electric vehicle sales in the U.

S. topped 1 million for the first time in 2023, quadrupling the figure three years prior. And although demand has slowed, a recent study by industry group Cox Automotive found that more than half of shoppers previously identified as skeptics are poised to enter the EV market in the second half of the decade.

While my first experience with an EV was unusual — I rented one to drive from San Jose, California, to a work event in Las Vegas — it included many situations a prospective buyer would want to consider. If you’re new to EVs or just curious about what a road trip in one is like, here are the lessons I learned. The 2023 Chevy Bolt EV 1LT that I drove has a combined miles-per-gallon equivalent ( ) of 120 and a maximum range of 259 miles, according to the U.

S. Department of Energy. These totals didn’t translate to real life.

That’s because an electric vehicle’s maximum range doesn’t take into account the use of anything in the car, including air conditioning/heater, the infotainment system, charging your phone or the terrain you’ll drive through. It’s just a measurement of what the 100% charged battery is capable of. It turns out, though, that an electric battery functions best when it is betw.