In this inaugural episode of the Zero E--Michigan podcast, we welcome guest Luke Wilson to discuss EV road trips. Luke and his family bought a Ford Mustang Mach E and dove right in to EV road tripping with a family journey from Michigan to the US East Coast as well as a necessity trip to Minnesota.
We dive into EV road trip planning including tools like PlugShare Trip Planner, the Ford Pass app, and A Better Route Planner.
Show Notes:
- West Michigan EV and Plug-In Vehicle Enthusiasts Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WestMichiganEV
- Consumers Energy EV pages: https://www.consumersenergy.com/ev
- Consumers Energy EV e-Newsletter June 2022 issue: https://consumers.mypreferencecenter.com/Global/StandardEmailView?subscriberId=69d088bc-118b-43ba-a31a-15653d65638b&campaignSendId=1a1791d5-8dbc-4666-83d3-bc25ba65cfe4&isTest=False
- Consumers Energy EV e-Newsletter Luke Wilson story: https://cdn.questline.com/asset/get/1c35e967-d8a4-4ec9-8d37-8de27e691d5a?rand=433183687
- National Drive Electric Week: https://driveelectricweek.org/
- PlugShare: https://www.plugshare.com/
- PlugShare Trip Planner: https://www.plugshare.com/trip-planner.html
- A Better Route Planner: https://abetterrouteplanner.com/
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:47 Luke Wilson guest introduction
02:02 Luke's family EV road trip
04:28 Planning Process
07:00 Where did the plan fall apart?
08:33 Electrify America station struggle and solution
09:58 Ford Pass free energy
11:03 Charging costs and statistics
12:33 Public reaction to the Ford Mustang Mach E
13:40 The car is done charging faster than the people
14:22 Anatomy of an EV road trip: cadence
17:26 Traveling in a PHEV
24:22 Dual port charging! GM and Zero
25:24 Luke's road trip to Minnesota
27:48 Lessons learned, MN trip
29:34 When not to take an EV on a road trip
35:36 Planning an EV road trip out West
36:52 What is your ideal road trip EV?
45:45 Final EV road trip advice
46:25 Take advantage of Level 1 charging
50:37 Have conversations about EVs with people
53:14 Support "free" charging with tips and business
53:59 EV News - Chevy Electrek's car of the year
55:36 EV News - Muskegon Airport adds Level 1 chargers
56:53 Value Added - Hart, MI ChargePoint back online
58:04 Value Added - Cinema Carousel chargers
59:59 Value Added - Adapters for Tesla Destination Chargers
1:01:35 Value Added - Rockford has Tesla Destination Chargers near amenities
1:02:11 Outro