According to the International Council on Clean Transportation (icct), the market for Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the United States has grown exponentially. In 2010, there were only a few thousand vehicles, but this has increased to over 315,000 vehicles sold yearly between 2018 and 2020.
With the increasing numbers of EVs on the road, FindTheBestCarPrice.com explored several famous road trips around the United States. They calculated which was the best road trip route for EV drivers, looking at factors such as
- Total distance of the road trip
- Number of EV chargers across the stops
- Estimated duration of the road trip
- Total cost to charge an EV for the whole trip
Taking all these factors into account, they assigned each route a score out of 45 to evaluate how suitable they were for EV drivers.
The top 5 US road trips were:
1. Route 66
Route 66 came in first place and scored 28 out of 45 for how EV-friendly the road trip is. Highlights of the road trip include the Oklahoma State Capitol Building, the Cadillac Ranch, and Santa Fe.
The road trip is 2,192 miles in length, it also has a total of 12 stops and 1,822 EV chargers. The average cost to charge an EV for the road trip is $0.04 per mile which amounts to a total of $87.70.
2. San Francisco to Utah
Second, on the list was the San Francisco to Utah road trip which scored 26 out of 45 for EV suitability. Some of the best stops on the road trip include Sacramento, South Lake Tahoe, Healdsburg, Sonoma, and Yountville.
This route is estimated to take just over 36 hours and has a total distance of 2038 miles. EV drivers can expect to find 919 charging stations along the road trip and it is estimated they will require around 15 charging stops throughout their journey.
The total estimated cost to charge an EV for the San Francisco to Utah road trip is $0.04 per mile which equals $81.51.
3. Pacific Coast Highway
The Pacific Coast Highway, created in the 1930s ranked third and scored 25 out of a total of 45. The Pacific Coast Highway offers EV drivers stunning views of the California coast where you can discover hidden coves, forests, and sandy beaches.
The Pacific Coast Highway takes an estimated 8 hours to complete, the road trip also requires 9 charge stops and there are a total of 70 hotels with EV Chargers across the different locations.
4. Las Vegas Loop
In fourth place was the Las Vegas Loop, which scored 21 out of 45. The Las Vegas City Council meeting concluded that the road trip will use Tesla vehicles and have an additional 4.6-mile circuit.
The estimated cost to charge an EV vehicle for the Las Vegas Loop road trip is $0.04 per mile or $44.25 in total.
The road trip passes a total of three states and there are 458 EV Chargers across the different stops. It also takes an estimated 19 and a half hours, 8 charging stops are required and there are 1,106 stations available across three different states.
5. Chicago to New Orleans
In fifth place was Chicago to New Orleans, this road trip scored 20 out of 45 for EV suitableness.
The road trip goes through six states, down the Mississippi River, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Of Mexico in the south. Highlights of the road trip include the 1950s Park Forest House Museum and the Shawnee National Forest.
The road trip is a total of 1,051 miles and the cost to charge an EV vehicle is $0.04 per mile at just $42.03. The route will also take EV drivers through five different states and takes 16 hours and 42 minutes to complete.
Methodology
FindTheBestCarPrice.com investigated five popular road trips in the United States. They explored factors such as recommended stops along the way for each trip, the distance between them, how many EV charging stations each stop has, and how many hotels with EV chargers each stop has to conclude which road trips were the most EV-friendly.
Using the estimation that an EV has on average, a 200-mile radius, they used this to calculate any additional stops that would need to be made to charge between stops.
Finally, they took all of these points into account and assigned each road trip a score out of 45, and ranked each by how many points they received.
, the market for Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the United States has grown exponentially. In 2010, there were only a few thousand vehicles, but this has increased to over 315,000 vehicles sold yearly between 2018 and 2020. ){kind=link}