By Michael StaleyAlabama Clear Fuels Coalition
After weighing execs 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 a bit of ahead of anticipated. I bought my first EV, a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado RST EV First Version, earlier this yr.
Quick ahead to the autumn and we confronted our first all-electric journey — a household journey from Birmingham to Alabama’s seashores, our first while not having 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, 4-year-old son and unborn twins could be nice on an 800-mile street journey in Alabama. I knew there have been a number of chargers alongside the best way to maintain this trip on monitor.
ADVANTAGES OF HOME CHARGING
Like most EV homeowners, I cost at house more often than not, often to 80%, or 350 miles, however I charged all the best way to 100% on my house charger for this journey. Eleven hours of charging at house 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 As a comparability, this quantity of vary would have price me about $38 on the pump in my outdated fuel truck.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 house charger price $550 from an area massive field retailer, and set up on a 60-amp breaker price one other $450. Since I am an Alabama Energy buyer, I’m benefiting from their EV-related incentives, which embrace a $500 rebate for house charger set up and a couple of 10% in a single day low cost on all the facility I eat between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.
CHARGING A GIANT BATTERY IN PUBLIC
My truck has an even bigger battery than most EVs available on the market, so I’m on the lookout for the very quickest chargers as a matter of comfort.
Of 115 distinctive quick charging stations at the moment 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 largest battery available on the market, 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 might anticipate a 400kW charger so as to add 300-350 miles of vary in half-hour.
Backside line: I’ve bought a giant battery that I will cost at house more often than not.
OUR BEACH TRIP
Between Hoover and Bay Minette alongside Interstate 65, quick charging stations are conveniently situated 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 did not have time to eat my brisket sandwich earlier than the charging session was full and we have been on our method. Complete time charging time? 29 minutes.
We determined to take the Dauphin Island Ferry a method, which means we drove across the Cellular Bay to get again to Orange Seaside. We additionally visited the outlet mall in Foley on one other day, and we by no means anxious about our electricity-powered driving vary. Together with a cease at Hope Hull on the best way house, we charged for a complete of 75 minutes at a price of about $150 throughout this journey, which is a bit more than I’d have paid for fuel in my outdated truck.
As soon as I returned house, I posted about our journey on Fb and obtained various insightful questions, together with this one: “When you have been evacuating from someplace in full visitors, would you be snug about not dropping a cost and being stranded?”
Sure. I examined my truck one sizzling 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 offered, 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 usually run out of fuel earlier than the facility goes out. EV chargers, then again, will work till the facility goes out. With out backup energy, an electrical energy outage means nobody will get gasoline, EV driver or not.
LOOKING AHEAD
Vary nervousness — the worry of working out of cost — stays a serious impediment to EV adoption, despite the fact that roughly 90% of EV charging occurs at house. 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 — because of ADECA’s statewide EV infrastructure grant program — made it straightforward for me to go electrical on our trip with no issues. To be sincere, we had thought-about utilizing my spouse’s gas-powered SUV for the journey, however now we notice that is not crucial.
As main auto producers roll out extra EVs, it is more and more probably 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 really like my truck. It is one of the best automobile I’ve ever owned, and I will be utilizing it once more for future household journeys. You can too try a video on www.driveelectricalabama.com the place I’m going into extra element about our household seaside journey and tackle questions and considerations surrounding EVs.
This is the underside line: This journey did lots to ease my vary nervousness. We loaded up the truck, went to the seaside and did not need to cease for fuel over 800 miles with zero issues.
Michael Staley has served because the president of the Alabama Clear Fuels Coalition since 2020.
