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by mikeash 3089 days ago
That doesn’t really address what I’m saying. The ability to use a DC fast charger doesn’t help if there aren’t any to use. Last I looked, there were no cross-country routes available using non-Tesla fast chargers. You’d need to cross large gaps on 240V charging alone.

Edit: just to show what I'm talking about, here's what plugshare.com shows for CCS chargers in the middle of the US:

http://mikeash.com/tmp/screenshot_F67FD9DD-D048-43EC-8DDF-9E...

That gap in the Nebraska is 336 miles long. Utah to Colorado is likely to be quite challenging with the mountains. East of St. Louis is another tough area.

I think you could do the trip entirely on DC chargers if you took some of the legs really slow to extend range.
1 comments
BoorishBears 3089 days ago
The Bolt is EPA rated at 238 miles but on a long highway trip with not-terrible-weather it's trivial to drive and get 300 miles of range without resorting to hypermilling. A Level 2 charger would cover the 36 mile gap.

You'd expect to use a mix of DC chargers and Level 2 chargers. I think it's doable in both cars but I'd personally never take that trip in either of them. I don't know how often people are doing LA to NY trips that they'd ever decide between cars over their ability to do that vs just renting a car (or flying).

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mikeash 3089 days ago
I'm surprised you can get so much additional range. My Tesla typically gets the EPA rated range in good weather at 65-70MPH. A 25% increase in range would require driving significantly slower than the speed of traffic. Is the Bolt's range really so understated?

LA to NYC is a pretty unusual trip. The Bolt is still a difficult sell for more typical long car trips, though. I've done a dozen thousand-mile legs in my Model S without a problem, but they'd be really tough in a Bolt. The chargers do exist for the routes I've taken, but they're not very conveniently located and often are single units, leaving you vulnerable to being blocked, broken, or in use.

I think the Supercharger network is adequate for road trips, but it's the bare minimum to make it reasonable.

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