After weighing the professionals and cons of electrical automobile (EV) possession since turning into president of the Alabama Clear Fuels Coalition in 2020, I made a decision my subsequent pick-up truck could be electrical.
My gas-powered 2019 Silverado required a brand new transmission and costly engine repairs earlier than I made it to 70,000 miles, so I made a decision to make the change somewhat earlier than anticipated. I bought my first EV, a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado RST EV First Version, earlier this 12 months.
Quick ahead to the autumn and we confronted our first all-electric journey – a household journey from Birmingham to Alabama’s seashores, our first with no need to cease for fuel. May we make it work, conveniently?
The all-electric vary of 440 miles on a full cost gave me confidence that my spouse, four-year-old son, and unborn twins could be wonderful on an 800-mile highway journey in Alabama. I knew there have been a number of chargers alongside the best way to maintain this trip on monitor.
Benefits of Residence Charging
Like most EV house owners, I cost at dwelling more often than not, often to 80%, or 350 miles, however I charged all the best way to 100% on my dwelling charger for this journey. Eleven hours of charging at dwelling elevated my battery’s cost from 51% to 100% and added about $19.96 to my energy invoice. As a comparability, this quantity of vary would have price me about $38 on the pump in my outdated fuel truck.
My dwelling charger price $550 from a neighborhood huge field retailer and set up on a 60-amp breaker price one other $450. Since I’m an Alabama Energy buyer, I’m making the most of their EV-related incentives, which embrace a $500 rebate for dwelling charger set up and a few 10 % in a single day low cost on all the facility I devour between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Charging a Big Battery in Public
My truck has a much bigger battery than most EVs in the marketplace, so I’m on the lookout for the very quickest chargers as a matter of comfort.
Of 115 distinctive quick charging stations presently working in Alabama, 35 can ship over 200kW to a automobile and one other 17 of these can ship as much as 400kW.
The candy spot for a restroom, meal and fueling break is someplace round half-hour for my household. Even with the most important battery in the marketplace, I by no means think about my household spending greater than half-hour at any quick charger. EV charging speeds gradual considerably after the battery reaches 80%. I’d count on a 400kW charger so as to add 300-to-350 miles of vary in half-hour.
Backside line: I’ve obtained a giant battery that I’m going to cost at dwelling more often than not.
Our Seaside Journey
Between Hoover and Bay Minette alongside Interstate 65, quick charging stations are conveniently positioned in Alabaster, Prattville, Montgomery, Hope Hull, Greenville and Evergreen. We made it to the Baldwin Seaside Specific after 4 hours of driving, ending on the Mercedes-Benz Excessive Energy Charging station on the Buc-ees in Baldwin County with 31% battery state of cost (SOC).
We parked, plugged in and headed inside to make use of the restroom, get meals and stretch our legs. As soon as we returned, I didn’t have time to eat my brisket sandwich earlier than the charging session was full and we had been on our approach. Whole time charging time? 29 minutes.
We determined to take the Dauphin Island Ferry a method, which means we drove across the Cell Bay to get again to Orange Seaside. We additionally visited the outlet mall in Foley on one other day, and we by no means nervous about our electricity-powered driving vary. Together with a cease at Hope Hull on the best way dwelling, we charged for a complete of 75 minutes at a price of about $150 throughout this journey, which is a bit more than I might have paid for fuel in my outdated truck.
As soon as I returned dwelling, I posted about our journey on Fb and obtained various insightful questions, together with this one: “Should you had been evacuating from someplace in full site visitors, would you be snug about not shedding a cost and being stranded?”
Sure. I examined my truck one scorching August day by sitting in it for 4 hours with the air conditioner blasting and it solely used 1% of my battery. So long as energy is accessible, I really feel assured that my truck will at all times be in vary of a working quick charger – EVEN in Alabama! And if the facility is out? When there’s a mass evacuation, fuel stations sometimes run out of fuel earlier than the facility goes out. EV chargers, alternatively, will work till the facility goes out. With out backup energy, an electrical energy outage means nobody will get gasoline, EV driver or not.
Wanting forward
Vary nervousness, the worry of operating out of cost, stays a significant impediment to EV adoption, despite the fact that roughly 90 % of EV charging occurs at dwelling. However the vary nervousness I felt earlier than embarking on our seaside trip was actual. This journey dealt an enormous blow to any vary nervousness I’ll have sooner or later.
This journey confirmed one thing I already knew: A mixture of advances in EV battery vary and the addition of EV chargers alongside Alabama’s interstates – due to ADECA’s statewide EV infrastructure grant program – made it simple for me to go electrical on our trip with no issues. To be trustworthy, we had thought-about utilizing my spouse’s gas-powered SUV for the journey, however now we notice that’s not essential.
As main auto producers roll out extra EVs, it’s more and more possible one will match your loved ones’s way of life. You possibly can go to www.driveelectricalabama.com to be taught extra about EVs and their impression on our state.
I like my truck. It’s the very best automobile I’ve ever owned, and I’ll be utilizing it once more for future household journeys. You may as well take a look at a video on www.driveelectricalabama.com, the place I’m going into extra element about our household seaside journey and handle questions and issues surrounding EVs.
Right here’s the underside line: This journey did rather a lot to ease my vary nervousness. We loaded up the truck, went to the seaside and didn’t should cease for fuel over 800 miles with zero issues.
Michael Staley has served because the president of the Alabama Clear Fuels Coalition since 2020.
