Hot tips for your ‘EV road trip’
MINDSET - Focus on the journey not the destination - enjoy the drive. An EV is awesome to drive its relaxing, quiet, responsive & peppy - enjoy this.
PLAN - do some research in advance and plan the route you need / want. Use plugshare or the Maps on the Tesla to find the super chargers on the way to where you want to go. Factor charging time into you plan. Have contingency options in place. Ask other EV owners on NZ EV owners facebook page for advice and experience - they love sharing this info and you will get lots of responses.
BUFFER - its always a good idea to leave a buffer - charge more often than you need. This is a cure for ‘range anxiety’ and will give you more flexibility. Just in case you’ve been enjoying the drive so much your speed has crept up and you have less range less that your thought or someones just plugged in at the charger and you don’t want to wait - you could get to the next one.
EXPERIENCE - consider what you want to do and see on the way. Plan your charging stops around this. e.g which stop is closest to the best cafe, kids activity, beach, friends place, shopping centre?
TAKE NOTE - for future reference you may want to note of the battery % use for each the stage of the journey. Record how many km’s of remaining range the car has before you charge up and after (the easiest way is to take a photo of the dash readings) Note the difference each way - gradient and speed effects. Keep these records handy - a great place is in your ‘notes’ on your phone or iPad. This is especially useful for great trips you will do often and for ones you less often saving you planning next time around.
SHARE & INSPIRE - your plans, trips, photos of cool places to stop and charge, & the 'stats' for your car via social media, with us - we would love to post these or blog on them.