This op-ed, written by Electric Transportation Director Stan Cross, was originally published by Drive Electric Florida on March 18, 2025.

This op-ed, written by Electric Transportation Director Stan Cross, was originally published by Drive Electric Florida on March 18, 2025.

These days, it is easy to forget that an EV is not political. It is just a cheaper, cleaner car that can get you wherever you need to go, including a 1,400-mile road trip to Florida!

I’ve been driving an electric vehicle (EV) for over a decade, and one of the most consistent questions I get asked by non-EV drivers is whether I can take my EV on a road trip. The answer is, heck yeah! Newer EVs offer more extended range and can charge quickly at an ever-expanding network of public fast-charging stations.

My wife and I recently took a 1,400-mile road trip in our 2022 Tesla Model Y from our home in Weaverville, North Carolina, to Dunnellon, Florida. We stayed on the Rainbow River and day-tripped to other kayaking adventures, including in the remote Juniper Prarie Wilderness and along the Silver River. After soaking up the beauty of some of Florida’s most spectacular spring-fed rivers, we headed to Orlando, where I helped my colleagues at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy facilitate a convening of local government participants in the Electrify the South Collaborative, assisting municipalities to overcome challenges and seize opportunities to electrify transportation.

On the Open Road

The driving experience was flawless. Our Tesla’s range is 330 miles, and it can charge at 250kW, which in lay terms means really freaking fast. On our round trip from the mountains of western North Carolina along interstates 26 and 95, Florida 301, 40, and the Turnpike, we stopped at public fast chargers seven times or about every 200 miles. We utilized the Tesla Supercharger network, which provides fast, convenient, and reliable charging. On average, it took ten minutes at each stop to charge up. The charging stops gave us time to use the bathroom, which, truth be told, our bladders would have required us to pull off the road even if we were in a gas car. So, the additional drive time in the EV instead of a gas car was negligible.

If you do not drive an EV, you may be surprised that our charging stops averaged only ten minutes. On a road trip, you stop to charge when the EV has about 20% battery capacity. You charge the battery to about 60% and quickly get on your way. You only charge to 60% because most EVs charge very fast to that point and then begin slowing the charge rate down to protect long-term battery performance. Hence, you will reach your destination faster by not filling up your battery. It’s counterintuitive, I know.

Newer EVs calculate charging stops when you map your trip through the car’s navigation system, so you do not have to worry about figuring that out! And there is good news regarding EV charging across the Southeast; in 2024, public EV charging grew 30% across the region, bringing the total number of road-trip-enabling fast chargers to 8,843. These chargers are located along major highways at locations such as gas stations, supermarkets, visitor centers, and truck stops.

Enjoying the Destination

Road-tripping is also about enjoying the destination. We arrived in Dunnellon with 25% battery capacity remaining, which was no problem because EVs come with a portable charger that you can plug into a standard 110-volt wall outlet. So, after eating yummy fish tacos in town, we returned to our vacation rental, plugged into an exterior outlet within reach of the driveway, and let the car slowly charge overnight while we slept. By morning, we had 75% capacity, which gave us plenty of range to drive 120 miles roundtrip to Juniper Creek in the Ocala National Forest. We plugged in at our rental again that night to enable our 75-mile round-trip adventure to Silver River the following day.

We would have used a convenient fast-charging site in Ocala without access to slow charging at our rental. However, public fast chargers cost money, typically equivalent to around $2.50/gallon gasoline. The electricity we used for slow charging at our rental was included in the rental price. Sometimes, EV fuel is free! For the rental owners, charging our EV the three nights we stayed consumed about as much electricity as if we had washed and dried three loads of laundry. Because slow charging at home is so inexpensive, providing charging access was a win-win for us and the vacation rental owner.

An EV for EVery Job

An EV can do anything a gas car can, and there is a best EV for every job. We use the Tesla Model Y when we drive long distances, go camping, and need all-wheel drive, such as in snowy winter conditions in the mountains where we live. But we also own a used 2018 Chevy Bolt that we love. The Bolt costs half as much as the Model Y, but its range is less, and its charging speed is five times slower. That said, it is the perfect car for 80% of our driving needs.

I am telling you this because the average two-car family can go all-electric without buying two more expensive, longer-range EVs; you can buy a cheaper one for all your around-town needs. Using a strategy like this will maximize your savings. In my wife’s and my case, we drive a combined average of 25,000 miles annually. We save about $3,000 per year driving on cheap electricity instead of expensive gas and avoiding oil changes; the only regular maintenance on our EVs over the past decade has been tires and wiper blades. Those savings pay for vacations like our one to Florida, or, to look at it another way, over six years, we save $18,000, which is what we paid for the Bolt, making it a free car. Plus, we have cut our transportation climate pollution by 75%, which is significant given that transportation is the leading sector of climate pollution in the US.

With all the current political noise about EVs, it is important to remember that the experience of owning one is fantastic. An EV is not political; it is just a car that is cheaper and cleaner to drive and can get you wherever you need to go. But don’t take my word for it; ask any of the 399,408 Floridians who have bought an EV, and they will likely agree that once you kick gas, there is no going back.