EV Trip Reports

As the title suggests, this section is devoted to our experience driving an electric vehicle (EV). In late 2014, we leased a Nissan Leaf, a mass-market EV with an official range of 84 miles. In late 2016 we bought a 2017 Chevy Volt. When the lease expired on the Nissan Leaf in the fall of 2017 we leased a 2017 Chevy Bolt EV. We sold the Volt in the spring of 2018 when we downsized to one vehicle. We now drive electric only. In the fall of 2020 we returned the Bolt to GM at the end of the lease and bought a 2020 Bolt.

ev_road_trips_web_site-jpg

EV Road Trips–the web site for EV Trips

By

The web site compiling road trip reports from EV drivers, including data on the trips, experiences, and routes mapped on ABRP trip planner.

rtemagicc_inyokern_airport-jpg-jpg

Inyokern DCFC Station Finally Live–Opens Eastern Kern County to EVs

By

Paul Gipe

The long-awaited DCFC station at the Inyokern airport is finally live after years of waiting.

rtemagicc_oak-flat-fire-lookout-tower-map-jpg-jpg

Covid-19 Escape: Oak Flat Fire Lookout Tower

By

Paul Gipe

That sounds simple enough but 15 of those miles were on an “improved” dirt road. This is a bone rattling trip over a rutted and washed out road that gave both the Bolt and its passengers a good beating.

Our Bolt EV on the summit of Breckenridge Mountain in the Sequoia National Forest after five miles on an unimproved Forest Service road.

Covid-19 Escape: First EV to Breckenridge Fire Lookout Tower?

By

Paul Gipe

Unfortunately, fires and smoke scuppered our most recent plans. So instead we headed east to Breckenridge Mountain where Forest Service web cams indicated the smoke wasn’t quite so thick.

clear-gif

Covd-19 Escape: Botanizing in Horseshoe Meadows at 10,000 Feet

By

Paul Gipe

The drive to Horseshoe Meadows is a trip we long for every summer. The drive up Hwy 395 on the East Side of the Sierra Nevada is one of the best road trips you can make in North America. The scenery is nothing short of spectacular. And when you’ve been cooped up in quasi-quarantine for weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the drive is more exhilarating than usual.

Coso Junction EA station looking toward the Sierra Nevada.

Electrify America EV Charging Payment SNAFU

By

Paul Gipe

It’s an EV driver’s nightmare. We were stuck in the middle of nowhere with an Electrify America charging station that wouldn’t charge our car.