Let’s face it. Any road trip with kids can be …err.. challenging 🙂
EV trips are present their own challenges. Mainly due to charging breaks we need to take on longer trips.
Here are some tips:
Plan your EV trip well
For example, a drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles is about 6 to 8 hours by a gas car. But the distance of 400 miles requires a charging break for EVs. And even using a fast charger it might be easily an hour plus to top off charging.
Specially with kids, we need to find a good charging point that has shops and restaurants so kids can spend time outside the car and have some fun while the car is charging.
Use apps like A Better Route Planner to plan out route and charging stops.
Also read trips reports here, to gain some practical tip from other trippers.
Make charging break fun!
If there are restaurants or shops at the charging spot, spend some time getting a meal or doing some shopping.
But also prepare for a scenario, when there are no shops or restaurants nearby. Here are some ideas.
Pack a deck or cards, so you can play together during charging.
Pack a soccer ball or football or frisbee so you can have a little play time
Or just have a picnic or snack time
Don’t forget chargers
Sometimes the kids want to stay in the car and play games. So let’s make sure those tablets, phones and game consoles are powered 🙂
Do pack a blanket and toys
cuddle toys + blanket = nice nap time = well rested kids = less irritated parents 🙂
Pick hotels with EV charging
If you are staying at a place just overnight or using a hotel as a base to explore the area, having a charger at hotel will help you charge overnight.
It is highly recommended that you call the hotel to confirm the charging station status. Sometimes the chargers may be down or not working, despite what the online status says. So better call ahead and confirm.