Electric vehicles and charging adventures

By Don Smolenski, Contributing Editor | TLT Machinery December 2024

The learning experiences continue with my all-electric vehicle.
I learned the fundamentals of charging stations in my all-electric vehicle,1 and I want to share some of my adventures (and misadventures) on my first long trips. We planned to drive from St. Clair Shores, Mich., to Chicago for a family wedding. My 2024 Cadillac Lyriq’s infotainment screen has a lightning bolt icon that, when pressed, will tell you when and where the next charging stations will be. We stopped at one that was about halfway to our destination. The connector (as discussed in a previous TLT column1) was the correct one and it gave us a full charge in a little over 30 minutes. We had the foresight to sign up with some charging entities, such as EVgo and ChargePoint, and that also was useful. The charging system on the vehicle will tell you how much of a charge you need to make it all the way to a destination programmed into the navigation system. 

As we progressed toward Chicago, it became apparent that we would need a charge to reach our destination. So, we pressed the lightning bolt and were offered several “nearby” chargers. We took the first one and told the system to take us there. It appeared to be taking a roundabout route to the charging station. Well, when we were told that “we were there,” much to my chagrin, we were looking at an empty lot! (Note that this is not the car’s fault; it was the fault of whoever programs in the locations of charging stations.) Very unhappy, and now concerned, we instructed it to take us to the next charging station on the list. When we arrived, the charger plugged in okay and started charging the vehicle, and I began to relax. I became curious as to how long it would take. My sigh of relief was short lived, however. When I queried the charger as to how long it would take, it informed us that our vehicle would be fully charged by 4:44 p.m.—tomorrow! Somewhat distressed, and looking for the next charger, it appeared to be a fast charger at a competitive vehicle dealership (any port in a storm)! We charged up in about 40 minutes and continued on to our destination, quietly sneaking into the church where the wedding was (somewhat late). The next morning, we found a correct fast charger and started with a full charge, enough to get us to the place we had stopped successfully the day before. The rest of the trip was, thankfully, uneventful. 

Our next trip was from St. Clair Shores to Grand Haven, Mich. We started with much higher confidence, learning from our mistakes from the previous trip. We found a charging station about halfway that worked fine, and as a bonus, the attached “mini mart” had sandwiches, salads and breakfast food (that I might actually eat!). It also had very clean restrooms. This place is one that we will plan to use on most trips on that route!

I think it would be very useful to compare the cost of a trip in an electric vehicle (EV) with the cost of a vehicle with an internal combustion engine (ICE). Sounds like a good topic for a future column!

REFERENCE
1. Smokenski, D. (2024), “My experience with electric vehicles,” TLT, 80 (10), pp. 86-88. Available at www.stle.org/files/TLTArchives/2024/10_October/Machinery.aspx.

Don Smolenski is president of his own consultancy, Strategic Management of Oil, LLC, in St. Clair Shores, Mich. You can reach him at donald.smolenski@gmail.com.