The US summer holiday season is kicking into full gear, and those embarking on the classic road trip in an electric vehicle are taking shorter journeys and require more planning.
The road trip is steeped into American lore, evoking images of wide-open roads spanning the vast country, beautiful landscapes and kitschy small-town diners serving bottomless coffee.
More than 196 million Americans are expected to drive to their destinations this summer, according to the The Vacationer, a US holiday-planning guide.
Expect more EVs on the road this year – a record 1.2 million drivers had electric cars in 2023.
Almost 90 per cent of EV owners took one road trip a year in their cars, and 32 per cent took three or more road trips a year in their electric vehicle, according to data company CDK Global.
Few, though, are embarking on long-haul trips.
Unlike those who drive petrol-powered cars or hybrids, EV drivers will have to plan their trip around charging stations, most of which are found around metropolitan centres.
And even with a growing network of EV chargers, there are 15 petrol stations for every one fast-charging station in the US, according to Bloomberg Green data.
This means EV drivers must map out more than just the fastest route as they constantly battle "range anxiety" and the uneasy feeling they could be marooned by a low battery.
Compounding the stress is the unfortunate reality that many charging stations have long queues, or technical problems forcing chargers offline.
Oliver Jung, a Tesla 3 owner from Stamford, Connecticut, believes range anxiety is related to the length of a trip.
"Stopping once for 20 or 30 minutes during a four-hour drive is fine for me because I probably wanted to stop at least once anyway," said Mr Jung.
He completed the 900km round-trip from Stamford to McLean, Virginia, last November.
"But stopping twice or more during a four-hour-plus trip can feel like you're wasting time and lengthening your travel time," Mr Jung said.
When it comes to distance, EVs underperform compared to petrol cars. The median range for EVs rose to 434km last year, according to the Department of Energy, well below that of 648km for a petrol-powered vehicle.
Stewart Stropp, executive director of EV intelligence at JD Power, said these long-distance trips can be a sticking point for consumers in the market for an EV.
“They're still very concerned about being able to power that vehicle for that exceptional use case,” Mr Stropp told The National.
The most audacious cross-country trek for EV drivers would be a coast-to-coast trip from Santa Monica, California, to New York City – a 4,415km journey.
But before drivers set off for sites such as the Las Vegas Strip or Rocky Mountains, they first need to plan where they can recharge their vehicle.
They will probably need to charge their vehicle even before crossing the California-Nevada border, 450km into their trip.
A cross-country trip such as this would take extensive planning, and probably an EV that has a greater driving range.
A Hyundai Ioniq 6 (580km) or Tesla Model 3 Long Range (548km) would require fewer stops than a Chevy Equinox EV 2LT (513km), for example.
Although there are 654 DC fast-charging stations along the route, many of these are near major city centres.
Drivers would have to then find a Level 2 charger, which would take one to two hours to power up a car.
While the fast chargers are more than plentiful when drivers begin their trek in Southern California, options dwindle when driving in the Midwest, particularly through Nebraska and Iowa.
Drivers going on long-distance journeys in other parts of the US would face similar challenges.
Faced with the limited options to “fill up”, many electric car drivers can be reluctant to undertake a long road trip.
Only 2 per cent of EV drivers plan a drive of more than 2,400km this year, according to CDK Global.
Instead, most drivers are keeping their road trips to between 400km and 482km, which will probably only require one stop to charge their vehicle.
Range-friendly road trips would give drivers more ease while still being able to see stretches of Route 66 or the 80km journey from San Francisco to Big Sur, California, along the nation's West Coast.
With EVs and charging stations still relatively new technology, planning a road trip will take extra work for travellers to ensure their cars can handle the distance.
To ease range anxiety, motor research company Kelley Blue Book suggests drivers can take advantage of charging their cars by planning them around scenic sites such as the Grand Canyon, and book accommodation that has charging ports.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
SPEC%20SHEET
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Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs: 2019 BMW X4
Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Indoor Cricket World Cup
Venue Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE squad Saqib Nazir (captain), Aaqib Malik, Fahad Al Hashmi, Isuru Umesh, Nadir Hussain, Sachin Talwar, Nashwan Nasir, Prashath Kumara, Ramveer Rai, Sameer Nayyak, Umar Shah, Vikrant Shetty
TALE OF THE TAPE
Manny Pacquiao
Record: 59-6-2 (38 KOs)
Age: 38
Weight: 146lbs
Height: 166cm
Reach: 170cm
Jeff Horn
Record: 16-0-1 (11 KOs)
Age: 29
Weight: 146.2lbs
Height: 175cm
Reach: 173cm
Australia World Cup squad
Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa
Superliminal%20
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GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
In%20the%20Land%20of%20Saints%20and%20Sinners
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Bridgerton%20season%20three%20-%20part%20one
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SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
The biog
Favourite hobby: I love to sing but I don’t get to sing as much nowadays sadly.
Favourite book: Anything by Sidney Sheldon.
Favourite movie: The Exorcist 2. It is a big thing in our family to sit around together and watch horror movies, I love watching them.
Favourite holiday destination: The favourite place I have been to is Florence, it is a beautiful city. My dream though has always been to visit Cyprus, I really want to go there.
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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WHY%20AAYAN%20IS%20'PERFECT%20EXAMPLE'
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The fake news generation
288,000 – the number of posts reported as hate speech that were deleted by Facebook globally each month in May and June this year
11% – the number of Americans who said they trusted the news they read on Snapchat as of June 2017, according to Statista. Over a quarter stated that they ‘rarely trusted’ the news they read on social media in general
31% - the number of young people in the US aged between 10 and 18 who said they had shared a news story online in the last six months that they later found out was wrong or inaccurate
63% - percentage of Arab nationals who said they get their news from social media every single day.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The years Ramadan fell in May
Company%C2%A0profile
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The%20specs
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Fixtures
Friday Leganes v Alaves, 10.15pm; Valencia v Las Palmas, 12.15am
Saturday Celta Vigo v Real Sociedad, 8.15pm; Girona v Atletico Madrid, 10.15pm; Sevilla v Espanyol, 12.15am
Sunday Athletic Bilbao v Getafe, 8.15am; Barcelona v Real Betis, 10.15pm; Deportivo v Real Madrid, 12.15am
Monday Levante v Villarreal, 10.15pm; Malaga v Eibar, midnight
