Longest trip with your Ev?

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We did a 9 day round trip 6582 kms (4080 miles) from Vancouver to the Yukon in our Ioniq 6 at the end of June. Car performed flawlessly, and made for a very relaxed road trip enjoying the incredible scenery along the way. Car did all the work, and I just followed along with a light rest of my left thumb on the lower wheel, so no nags.

We stayed in hotels along the way, and used mostly the car nav to tell us where to charge. We stopped more often for scenic stops and pics, bio breaks, a bite, etc, than for needing a charge. Most charge stops were about 20 min, and the car was usually finished before we were. Charging infrastructure is very good up north, incl the Yukon where it is all free. Northern BC had faster charging stations (because they were newer), mostly 100, 180, 200 and even 350 kw. Never any congestion and waits.

Some highlights were stopping in at Steward BC. The drive down to the coast there from the Stewart/Cassiar has to be the most scenic stretch of road in all of BC. It is a narrow canyon, and at that time of year still lots of snow at the top of the mountains. On the north wall of the canyon lots of waterfalls from the snow melt (temp was 30C at the time) and south side had snow slides right down road level. And fantastic glacier views.
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We saw quite a few bears alongside the road. This Grizzly paid no attention to us as we slowed down for pics through my window.
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Drove down to Skagway AK, over top of the mountain. But in town full of tourists from 3 cruise ships docked there.

Lots of scenic stops for a rest or short hike like this one. There were rafters just up stream from here. Guess they had a good portage stop.
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Yukon is a fantastic place to visit. We are already talking about when to go back
 
Beautiful scenery. I do want to do some more exploring in Canada. I've only been to Montreal and Toronto.
Quebec is on the short list.

An Alaska cruise followed by a week out west is on the long term plans.
 
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We covered a lot of territory and quite quickly. We wanted to see as much as we could on this first trip to the Yukon and now we know where we want to spend more time there, and do more things the next time. On the west side, there is Kluane Park with mountains over 19,000 feet, highest in Canada. You can take a ski plane up there and land on the ice fields. Want to do that. Would like to do some river rafting, lots of big rivers there, from larger cruisers to small 8 or 12 person rafts.

We went down to Alaska, so that is done with. Much cooler down by the ocean. The interior is quite warm and dry being in the rain shadow of the Kluane mountains. What was surprising too, was no mosquitoes. That's because of the sandy soil and lack of water pooling for them to hatch. Talked to the locals and they said there are only mosquitoes on clay soils and bogs. Watson Lake was the only place where we saw mosquitoes. Most of northern BC (except the coast areas) have lots of bugs, but not here. It is very much campers heaven from big rigs to bicycle packers (lots of them). Lots of tourists from all over the US and EU.

Anyway, it is a great place to go with an EV (all free charging). Oh, and food and lodging was also a lot cheaper than back home in southern BC. Gas was 1.30 per litre (CAD), way cheaper than Vancouver. You can get and do a lot with your vacation money there.

As for local EVs (Yukon plates) only saw F150 Lightnings and Subaru Solterras. Talking to them at the charging stations, there is a big Subaru dealer in Whitehorse. Saw a lot ICE Subarus there as well. Saw a few Teslas (nothing like back home) and other EVs, but they were all tourists like us. Nearest Hyundai dealer was over 1600 kms away in Prince George BC.

Weather in June through July is very nice. Only 4 hours of no sunlight takes a little getting used to, though. Highways there are very good, and well maintained. And no traffic.
 
My first trip with my parents was along the St Lawrence River (back then a "sea way"), when I was about 13 years old. I drooled at 'les belles filles' walking in the Summer sun along side the road whose memories still linger 50 years later. But my parents and four younger brothers were on a quest to visit relatives in Maine.

I would like to meet them today, the age appropriate ones for this 75 year old man.

Bob Wilson
 
In Autumn of 2022, we drove from Sacramento, CA, through Grand Tetons and Yellowstone (camping 2 days in each Park), through the northern USA, through the Great Lakes and into Ontario and Quebec, then down into Maine along the East Coast to North Carolina, then primarily on I-40 back to Sacramento. The road trip was 8,840 miles in our 2018 Tesla Model 3 long range RWD. We never had to wait in a line for a DC fast charger at any Tesla Superchargers, never had any broken chargers, and also had free destination chargers at 1/3 of our hotels. We saved over $1,750 by using electricity, rather than gasoline.
We thoroughly enjoyed our road trip and were only worried about chargers in North Dakota (still were able to reach them). We used our Tesla navigation, which recommended where, and for how long, to stop to charge. We changed those recommendations only twice during the entire trip. Stopping every 3-4 hours for bathroom, charging, or food is what we would have done in our gasoline vehicles in the past. Our charging stops were usually only 15-25 minutes long, perfect to stretch, eat, or rest. We NEVER felt like we were wasting time.
We even used a 120V outlet to charge at a bed and breakfast, ending up encouraging the owners to add a simple 240V, 30amp+ EVSE for future customers with EVs.
We had absolutely zero issues with our Tesla or with charging, except for an 80amp Rivian EVSE in Wyoming which failed to operate twice, until we switched to its second cable. We had to dispute the charges assessed to our credit card since zero electricity flowed until we switched sides of the EVSE. That was resolved correctly.
Would we recommend that anyone else take a similar road trip in an EV? DEFINITELY WE WOULD, but only one with access to the NACS Tesla Supercharger network!
 
We've done several long trips. A great bonus is to find a b&B or hotel with a charger. This has two advangatges you can arrive with minimum charge left, plug in and get on with your evening with the confidence your car will be recharged overnight. If you plan it properly you can start the next day with 100% charge giving you maximum mileage for your next evening. If you need a top-up during the day plan it so that you'll arrive and be able to do that full overnight recharge.
 
I used to think this until I compared the cheapest motel and a fast DC charge with more expensive but badly managed chargers. The last straw was being charged at a higher $/kWh than the fast DC charger.

Bob Wilson
 
Our experience is even some people haven't charged us anything for filling up our EV. Perhaps they're naiive, perhaps they thought costs were covered in other charges. But it certainly is a pleasant bonus.

Some overnight accommodation haven't got a charger themselves but there's a nearby public on. You take what you can get, of course.
 
Similar to Cat e-Tron, we travelled from the Oregon coast to the coast of Maine and back, 7,500 miles: Trans-canada Hwy and I-80 (mostly). Wonderful trip in 2019 Model 3. The only charger that was full was outside Boise, ID on our way back and it opened up after about 3 minutes. Every charger worked as it should have. Lots of good scenery, good people, good food and good economy. Stayed in motels and ate at a variety of places. I wanna do it again! One of my favorite road trips ever in 60 years of driving.
 
9,000 miles, August 2022, two months after delivery of my 2022 Rivian R1T Quad Launch Edition. The adventure was Round Trip from Colorado Springs, CO to Deadhorse, AK to the Arctic ocean 10 miles BEYOND the oil fields security gates. I slept in the second row of the truck of which I removed the seat, seat back, and chunnel material allowing me access from inside the cab. I slept inside the cab on my air mattress while charging or while power napping. My food supply was granola bars. The Alaskan Electric Vehicle association provide temporary charging stations on the Dalton Highway which was a two day 500 mile one way adventure for a total of four days 1000 miles. Other war stories during this adventure include.... TWICE showing ZERO miles at least 20 miles from the next charging stations, Charging at RV parks, Charging at 220 volt Electric Dryer outlet at a wonderful ladies house who posted on ABRP. Charging at 9 amps, Charging at a solar powered charger at a school bus maintenance shop. I carried with me all of the possible adapter plugs, 50 feet 6 gauge extension cord, one 60 amp wall charger with plug, 30 amp portable charger, an electric bike, one set of mounted off road 20" Firestone Destination MT2 tires for the Dalton Highway, one 9,000 watt generator (which I did not have to use). I encountered at least 6 charging stations that would not talk to the Rivian, so the planned charge had to be moved to the next possible location. I saw many bear, muskox, moose, elk, deer, the aurora borealis, etc. The AEVA made this adventure possible, they worked hard and long planning and executing the trek from Fairbanks to Deadhorse. I was alone and 77 years young. Now I have a travel companion, my labrador retriever who proudly sits in the passenger seat of my 2026 R1S Gen 2 Quad Launch Edition of which, on day one, I remove the two back rows of seats for my bed and travel items. Next adventure in the works, is to Ushuaia, Argentina. But, the latest gossip is that the ferry from Panama to Colombia will not transport EV's. Safe travels, Mike and Molly.
 
Rivian R1T Cruising Male said:
9,000 miles, August 2022, two months after delivery of my 2022 Rivian R1T Quad Launch Edition. The adventure was Round Trip from Colorado Springs, CO to Deadhorse, AK to the Arctic ocean 10 miles BEYOND the oil fields security gates. I slept in the second row of the truck of which I removed the seat, seat back, and chunnel material allowing me access from inside the cab. I slept inside the cab on my air mattress while charging or while power napping. My food supply was granola bars. The Alaskan Electric Vehicle association provide temporary charging stations on the Dalton Highway which was a two day 500 mile one way adventure for a total of four days 1000 miles. Other war stories during this adventure include.... TWICE showing ZERO miles at least 20 miles from the next charging stations, Charging at RV parks, Charging at 220 volt Electric Dryer outlet at a wonderful ladies house who posted on ABRP. Charging at 9 amps, Charging at a solar powered charger at a school bus maintenance shop. I carried with me all of the possible adapter plugs, 50 feet 6 gauge extension cord, one 60 amp wall charger with plug, 30 amp portable charger, an electric bike, one set of mounted off road 20" Firestone Destination MT2 tires for the Dalton Highway, one 9,000 watt generator (which I did not have to use). I encountered at least 6 charging stations that would not talk to the Rivian, so the planned charge had to be moved to the next possible location. I saw many bear, muskox, moose, elk, deer, the aurora borealis, etc. The AEVA made this adventure possible, they worked hard and long planning and executing the trek from Fairbanks to Deadhorse. I was alone and 77 years young. Now I have a travel companion, my labrador retriever who proudly sits in the passenger seat of my 2026 R1S Gen 2 Quad Launch Edition of which, on day one, I remove the two back rows of seats for my bed and travel items. Next adventure in the works, is to Ushuaia, Argentina. But, the latest gossip is that the ferry from Panama to Colombia will not transport EV's. Safe travels, Mike and Molly.
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Fabulous story! What courage and faith you showed to undertake this long, long trip! It reminds me of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman's electric motorcycle (prototype Harley LiveWires) trip captured in Apple TV+'s "Long Way Up" (see Wikipedia). In 2019, as they rode from the southern tip of South America back to the US, their support crew was driving a Rivian prototype. They found--as you did--charging in the boonies can often be quite a challenge. Also, their prototypes added even more challenges.
 
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Ohhh, that is disappointing news. I was looking forward to going back there in a year or two. May have to rethink that... Will likely not stop me, though. Still a lot of things to do and see there, that I didn't have time for on my first trip.
 
I drive a Hyundai Ionic 5. I completed two long trips in 2024. I drove to Los Angles, over to Grand Canyon, up to Zion, then Utah, SLC, over to Reno, up to K Falls, to Bend, Portland, up to home ~5,000 Km. We used Electrify America all the way. Never had to wait. Most times, by the time we went to the bathroom and bought a snack, the vehicle was ready to go. I learned to rely on the navigator because it knew where the highway was tied up and took me around clogged traffic, especially in Sacramento and Beverly Hills/LA. Do not rely on any Hotel reservation sites to give any reliable info on hotel EV charging. One hotel with EV charging didn't know it was Tesla only. Most hotels don't have any worthwhile or workable charging available. Then a few months later I drove from Langley BC down to USAF Academy at Colorado Springs and back. Again I used Electrify America. The EA chargers at Mountain Home, ID were placed by the Walmart's busiest entrance. People entering would not let you in to the chargers. Finally I just went which resulted in a road rage incident from someone who I blocked to get in. Avoid that site. Wyoming was the best as chargers were super fast and the least expensive. Again I never had to wait. Traffic from the Idaho border to east of Boise was solid. So sad. I remember when that area used to mostly be farmland, now it is another LA. Also from Fort Colins to Colorado Springs was solid traffic. Avoid Denver and take the toll road around Denver. This trip was about 5Km round trip. I used the navigation guide to find hotels without a web site. This was actually less expensive. On average, I charged every 200-250 Km. The battery holds 350+ at 80%, but after 200-250 km I was ready for a leg stretch or a bathroom break.
 
I've driven a VW ID.4 for over 3 years. My longest trips were just 350 miles each way from Olympia, WA to Harrison, ID, which we did a few times. My wife and I just completed a 3600 mile tent-camping trip through WA/OR/UT/CO/NM and back home -- in her Prius. There's no way I would have done this trip in the ID.4 given we that we had a choice of vehicles. EVs are certainly CAPABLE of long road trips; but they're simply an inferior choice if you have a choice. When Volkswagen offered free charging for 3 years, I always used the Electrify chargers whether I was on a road trip or just filling up locally. Free miles beats $.04/mile for home charging ($.16/kWh in Washington).

But Electrify wants $.56/kWh now that the free charging has expired, so that's $.14/mile around town, and more like $.18/mile if I'm driving 75 mph on a freeway. The Prius averaged 54 mpg over the 3600 mile trip, and most of that was driving over 80 mph, a speed which the VW's performance drops to around 3 miles/kWh. So this is the economic argument for the gas car.

The issue of fill-up convenience and charging times are even more compelling. Three years of experience with Electrify America taught me that it was unusual (and wonderful) if I got over 100kW at a charging station -- so no, I can't put 220 miles of charge in the car in under 30 minutes. Compared to 520 miles worth of gas in under 10 minutes.

I absolutely love my ID.4, and have loved it for over 3 years. But I won't even take it from Olympia to Portland, if it's two of us and the Prius is available. Let alone a 3600 mile road trip.
 
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My impression is that electricity has become more expensive in the US, and that is also reflected in rising prices at charging stations. That is unfortunate, and not sure how it can be reversed. Plus gas prices down there have fallen.

Here in BC, Canada, electricity is still cheap, and gas prices are still very high compared to the US. So travel by BEV here is still cheaper. Hope that remains.

And yeah, hard to beat a Prius for cheap travel.
 
R P said:
My impression is that electricity has become more expensive in the US, and that is also reflected in rising prices at charging stations. That is unfortunate, and not sure how it can be reversed. Plus gas prices down there have fallen.
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Bob Wilson
 
I drove a Prius for 500,000 miles, mostly highway commuting. I had the option of buying another Prius and chose not to. The reasons are many. I had to purchase a used gas engine after my original engine gave up the ghost ($5k). I also had to be a new inverter/transmission ($5K), a new computer for $1k USD, not to mention the usual maintenance of oil changes, spark plug changes, all the usual gasoline automobile costs/headaches. It turned out to be a money pit. The only thing that was still original were the brakes and the lithium batteries. I drive the Hyundai Ionic 5 now. I pay for no gas, oil, transmission fluid, spark plugs, all the usual automobile costs/headaches. I get free charging at home (yes, I don't pay for the electricity I use) and only have to pay for long trips. Yes, 500,000 miles was good. but the longer I owned the Prius, the more expensive it became. Plus, the Ionic 5 is roomy, comfortable, easy to drive. If I had to purchase a new hybrid, I would get a Toyota Hybrid Camry.
 
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