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- An Axios reporter took a Kia EV6 on a 1,500 mile road trip.
- She said it showed the US is not quite ready for an electric-car revolution.
- She and her husband stopped to charge the car 12 times over the course of the trip from Michigan to Florida.
Taking an electric car on a road trip can be a stressful experience — at least according to a couple who took their Kia EV6 on a cross-country trip from Michigan to Florida.
Axios reporter Joann Muller said her husband took the electric car on a 1,500 mile road trip — she joined him part-way through — to see if the US is truly ready for mass EV adoption. While electric cars are becoming more prevalent, charging infrastructure isn't quite what it should be, Muller wrote.
"We were constantly thinking about where to charge next," Muller wrote of her experience during the trip. "It occupied our minds more than where to eat or spend the night."
They stopped 12 times to recharge the car, which has an estimated battery range of 274 miles, over the course of the 1,500 mile, four-day journey, and that charging times were between 20 to 55 minutes.
The reporter said that while they were never afraid of getting stranded, the trip took a lot more planning than it would have with a traditional combustion-engine vehicle. The couple had to juggle "route-planning apps and billing accounts with various charging companies, which can get confusing," as well as dealing with "glitchy" chargers.
Muller said her husband drove the car alone from Detroit to Washington DC, where they met up to head to Florida. During his solo portion of the trip, he said he was so "anxious" about the drain cold temperatures would have on the battery that he didn't use the cabin heat, choosing instead to rely on the heated steering wheel and seats.
While EV range continues to improve, charging infrastructure still poses a major hurdle for electric-vehicle adoption.
Muller is far from the first EV driver to experience charging hassles or "range anxiety" on long road trips. Last week, tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee, also known as MKBHD, said in a video that he believes the hassle of public charging is "ruining electric cars."
Earlier this year, the Biden Administration rolled out a $5 billion funding plan to improve EV charging infrastructure. And some companies have also stepped in to help fill the gap. Last week, Google announced it plans to launch an AI-powered version of Google Maps that would help electric-car owners find charging stations.
Read the full Axios story on its website.