electric sightseeing traveling those country roads

​On social media, including LinkedIn, I routinely see comments that EVs are only useful in cities, can only be used for short commutes, etc. And, for some first generation EVs, like early Nissan LEAFs, that is true. Those early EVs did not have the range or fast charging capabilities to make them practical for most drivers to consider using for long distance travel, even if they were great for the commute and around town driving. However, now there are modern EVs that can make those longer distance trips in conjunction with more and better charging infrastructure.

To highlight this ability, I took a sightseeing day trip through the mountains of rural West Virginia back in October in a Tesla Model Y LR. To make the journey a little more interesting on the scenic first half of the trip, I decided to avoid interstates and travel the "country roads" where there are no fast chargers and very few Level 2 chargers. This portion of the trip was between my home in the eastern panhandle north of Martinsburg, WV and the geographic center of the state in Sutton, West Virginia (Flatwoods). This first half consisted of 221 miles and nearly five hours driving through the very rural, scenic areas of Moorefield, Seneca Rocks, Elkins, and French Creek using 70% of the battery at 234 wh/mi efficiency (144 MPGe). I had lunch at a Subway while the car charged at a 250kW Supercharger. The car was finished charging before I finished eating and using the restroom. Heading back, I took interstate 79 to Morgantown and then across I68 to get home. In Morgantown, I stopped for a 5-10 minute restroom break, to grab a coffee, and topped up a bit on charge while inside the store, but did not wait. Total waiting time for EV charging was zero on this trip. Total round trip mileage was 443 miles at 245 wh/mi (138 MPGe) leaving about 9:20 AM and returning home at 7:20 PM. Total fast charging cost was $21.66, all while using West Virginia electricity, some of it directly generated by my home solar array. There is no additional cost for home charging due to that array. It was great weather for sightseeing and EV efficiency even while climbing those colorful mountains!