Long-distance Oklahoma driving would challenge most EVs

 

So what is the actual distance most electric vehicles can travel before they run out of power?

We hear so much about distance capability of EVs, a serious question considering the distances one has to drive in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. Consider the drive from Alva for someone to visit a specialist in Oklahoma City.

Travelmath.com puts the official distance between the two cities at 151 miles. Based on testing by Edmunds, the American online resource for automotive information, the drive to OKC and back to Alva would be slightly more than 300 miles and just within the range of Tesla’s 2021 Long Range Model 3. The Model 3 has a range of 345 miles, according to Edmunds.

The Ford Mustang would barely make it with a range of 304 miles. It certainly wouldn’t allow a driver much range to drive around OKC to find a place for lunch. The Travelmath.com estimation of 151 miles between the two cities likely includes city limit to city limit, so 151 miles might not include making it to downtown Oklahoma City.

If you were driving a Chevy Bolt, an Audi or a Volkswagen, sorry but you wouldn’t make it without recharging someplace along the line. And if you were driving a 2020 MINI Cooper SEC, you would barely make it from one city to the other. It has a range of only 150 miles.

Charging time would also be a factor to be considered. How long would a driver have to wait for a Tesla Model 3 Long Range to recharge?  Tesla says to charge the EV from 10 to 80% can be accomplished in as little as 30 minutes from a 120kW Tesla Supercharger.

It depends on the charger. Some reporters show that the Tesla Model 3 can also take up to 10 hours to charge after a 30-mile commute—depending on the type of charger used.

 

 

Drivers who planned a trip from Oklahoma City to Denver, Colorado would certainly have to do some serious planning to locate charging stations along the nearly 700 mile drive and prepare for the charging wait-time.

 

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