Is an EV Road Trip Easy? | My Honest Experience

Welcome to our electrifying adventure! Join us on an unforgettable journey as we attempt our first long-haul drive in an electric vehicle. In today’s video, Charlotte shares her experience in driving the EV9 from Brantford, ON to Lynchburg, VA. Along the way, we'll showcase the remarkable capabilities of the Kia EV9, demonstrating its long-range efficiency, rapid charging capabilities, and cutting-edge features.
Important Notes:
We did this road trip during the spring with optimal external temperatures, meaning the battery temperature was suitable for fast charging without pre-conditioning. Although the rated range of this vehicle is 435 km - we consistently got over this with the use of climate control as well.
What I’m Driving: 2024 Kia EV9 Land AWD W/ GT-Line Package
Battery: 99.8 kWh lithium ion polymer
Motor: Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor
Horsepower: 379
Torque: 516 lb-ft.
All wheel drive (AWD)
Rated Range: 435 km
Watch our Full EV9 Land AWD W/ GT-Line Review Here:
kzbin.infoFJNsYbMp...
Apps I Used:
A Better Route Planner
PlugShare
Tesla
Thank you for watching! We appreciate your support - Gabi and Charlotte
Looking to buy a vehicle in Ontario? Connect with Gabi here: httpswww.brantfordkia.com/youtube....
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[@charlottemitchell1464]

Did you see Jackson at the end?

[@timothyveenstra]

6 year EV veteran here. Research is key if you are a non-Tesla owner (I do not own a Tesla.) There are reviews on charging stations you can use. We have learned to depend on these to choose our route.

[@BrantfordKia]

Yes for sure! I used plug share to cross reference the routes chargers - a problem I ran into is the Bedford location didn’t have any check-ins.

[@simonainsworth]

I had a similar experience on my first EV road trip. I could happily do one with my wife, but young kids are a totally different challenge. My number one lesson was to always make sure you have level 2 charging wherever you spend the night. It makes such a difference to know you will wake up with full range.

[@oldebill1807]

Hi Gaby, I've road tripped my Kia Niro EV 2023 from Toronto to Cape Cod (1,000km one way) and Toronto to Houston, TX and back (6,000km). A Better Route Planner and PlugShare were incredibly important from a planning perspective and for confirming availability and quality of the charging stops. I'd also say that having the Electrify Canada/Electrify America, EVgo, FLO, ChargePoint, and Ivy apps on your phone are also essential. Hoping that a charger will accept payment cards or smartphones is still dodgy and apps normally work when the former don't. For my road trips, the only time I got close to desperate was on the way home at midnight, in the rain, in London when I couldn't get any of the Electrify Canada chargers to work. Thankfully, there was a FLO charger nearby and I got enough juice to make it the rest of the way home. While I have had success, I understand why you would want to defer another EV road trip with your daughter until she's older. At least until public fast charging infrastructure gets more robust and reliable. Thanks for sharing.

[@bencfpstudio]

Look at what all you have to plan for a road trip with an electric car. Omg 😂. That is one of thw reasons not to go electric

[@yhk1977]

@@bencfpstudiobut for people who drive daily for commuting or running errands, which is about 90% of driving (your case may vary) it is very convenient compared to gas powered cars especially when you have a home to charge. ⚡️

[@bencfpstudio]

@@yhk1977 they are talking about a road trip.

[@elyse6688]

Long haul road trips are much better at night with little ones (tougher on mum and dad though!) Evie’s little wave at the camera in the park was so sweet! 🥹

[@BrantfordKia]

I agree! That's why we tried to leave around her bedtime when we heading there. For the drive home, we started around 4 am and she slept pretty good in her carseat for 4 hours!

[@elvispanda]

You folks are heroes for doing this. Why doesn't some chain like McDonald's take the opportunity to install fast chargers at every single location and just make it common knowledge that you can stop at any McDonald's to charge? It seems like it'd be a huge selling point and most customers would buy snacks anyhow.

[@bulletinblair]

This is an amazing idea! I remember when McDonald's was the only fast food chain to offer free wifi...... same concept. They're definitely missing a huge opportunity - they already have the parking spaces and the expense of adding the chargers would pay for themselves in no time with the added customers.

[@BrantfordKia]

Now this is a million dollar idea

[@AJSparacio413]

@@bulletinblairand who is going to pay for that? McDonald’s is expensive enough now. 😂

[@JohnnyBitcoin]

Maintenance too expensive on those stations specially with boomers and people not understanding how to charge their cars end up breaking the stations.

[@user-jw4nz8km2x]

In Finland we have basicaly every McDonalds with a Recharge operator charger and they are basicaly always minimum of a 150kW but usually a 350kW power. McDonalds does not operate them, but they are always the same charging operator at every MC we have.

[@cybermonkey11]

Appreciate the real world insight and tips, excellent work. Thumbs up for that and doing all this while traveling that distance with a fussy baby. Respect.

[@Masreborn]

Well done! I appreciate the effort you put into this video.

[@BrantfordKia]

Thanks for watching!

[@samarth_jain]

This is so good char! Love it! ❤️😍

[@larman2020]

Excellent, important content. Thank you!

[@mahmoodsoleja9068]

Fantastic ! 👍

[@entertainment72]

I’ve been an EV owner since 2020, best advice I tell people before getting into an EV know this difference. There’s an EV road trip then there’s a Tesla road trip; there is a huge difference!

[@markshellard]

Such a really really good explanation of everything thing Charlotte!!! What a good trip and really wish the state of was better so you didn't have to experience that delay. Love the EV9!!

[@samwitwicky63]

Wonderful EV roadtrip experience video! Also you both are definitely THE COOLEST parents ever😎

[@shuttayerface503]

An honest real life review and thanks from the S Coast UK

[@derekplatt9205]

I just wanna thank y'all so much for making this video. My wife and I are a Hyundai family and I have the 2024 SF Hybrid while she has the 2023 Ioniq 5. The Ioniq 5 used to be my dream vehicle, but I figured it'd be better for her to drive the Ioniq 5 as a commuter vehicle (perfect because she never needs to get gas now)...and for me to get the SF for daily driving and for roadtrips (also because I'm 6'5 and the SF has tons of driver's seat room). Stops are nice to make when you wanna make them, but stressful when you don't have a choice. Especially with a young child (my wife and I have a ~10 month old, so I get it). I've considered using the Ioniq 5 for road trips just to see how it'd be, but this just convinced me to use my SF Hybrid lol. It can make that entire trip on one gas tank, which takes about $50-$60 to fill where I live.

[@03blaird]

This video is a Godsend! I wanted to see what a "real" EV road trip looked like for an actual family. Learned quite a bit!

[@BrantfordKia]

Wow! Thank you so much!

[@reiniernn9071]

But only about the situation in the USA. It is unthinkable in europa that nothing for payment is accepted, (But 'I'm not sure about amercan express as acceptable everywhere ..that one is not used a lot in europe.) (Even possible to login with the smartphone on the providers site and with an internet payment get it started.... after charging they restitute the amount reserved on your payment card which was above the chargeprice. I know only one provider, orlen in Poland, who only accept payment by an app, most others accept at least an international charging pass (as my shell recharge) and/or a visa credit card....make sure you can authorize the visa payment when asked with your app ...if you have double security against scamming. Still I regret tha cash payment is not possible.. The charger works...or does not work (technically). Payment has never been an issue, but took some time, 15 minutes , (downloading and installing the orlen app) the first time I came along that one. ps I'm drivin g many years EV...before governments started pushing that. In the first years there were some payment issues...needing a card from different providers.

[@braydonsnoddy9743]

EV owner for four years here. This is truly not the experience for most. Almost all cars have built in route planning, General Motors is great as well as tesla, rivian and ford. I have never come across a fast charging station that I was unexpectedly unable to charge. Plug share app is like yelp for chargers, will show planned maintenance and lets you make sure chargers are working before you get there.

[@gazzyT644]

It’s a nightmare if you are new to EVs and have kids onboard.

[@braydonsnoddy9743]

@@gazzyT644that’s because Kia has terrible route planning and dealers often provide no education. It’s a manufacturer specific issue, not representative of all EVs as a whole.

[@kenquinty1773]

Thanks for sharing. You guys are real troopers. However, the only way to take a road trip right now is in a Tesla. I have taken about 15 road trips over a six year period and I had fewer issues in total than you had in this one trip. This will improve but that's where we are right now.

[@jigs8437]

This is the biggest reason people buy Tesla when it comes to EV over other EV's. Not that other EV's are a bad choice but because of the advantage of their supercharger network which is just no comparison. Had you made the trip on Tesla it would have been a total different experience without a doubt

[@BrantfordKia]

Tesla has the best network - no disputes there. However, I'm curious to see how things will change once they open up to all makes at the end of the year!

[@Cyrribrae]

​@@BrantfordKiahas Kia signed a deal with Tesla? That'll be interesting to see, for sure! Definitely in the growing pains stage with charging infrastructure. But things are looking pretty positive overall.

[@markallenarcano9439]

Present from the Philippines 🙋

[@junic5034]

I use ABRP (A Better Route Planner) also. But usually charge to 80% or more depending on the next leg (if going into EV charging dessert) regardless of what the planner says. I’m there anyway, might as well have another donut.

[@BrantfordKia]

Thanks for sharing your insight! I agree that Tesla has the superior charger network and that it is a huge advantage. Despite the problems I had, I do think the non-tesla EV infrastructure was better than I anticipated! I think I'd like to try this trip again once the Tesla super chargers are available to all makes though!

[@Antiguan_Dart]

I absolutely agree if stopping to charge at a reliable ultra rapid charger in a super fast 800v charging EV like the Kia EV9 with a great charging curve one should take the opportunity to charge to 80% that’s 24 minutes or there abouts. When I’m on a road trip I always take the opportunity to charge to 80% in an ultra rapid charger. The E-GMP vehicle’s from Korean mean you can do that in 18 to 24 minutes depending on model. I’m in the UK, England - my next journey is Newcastle to Farnborough virtually all Motorway 307miles ( tiny compared to US/Australia road trips but the whole country England is only just over 800 miles from north to South by road). My GV60 at motorway speeds 70-77mph can do 256 miles so my planned refuel stop will be Ionity at Milton Keynes 236 miles will arrive with about 6% charge ( luckily GV60 doesn’t pull power until really deep into the battery). I will probably need a comfort break before then at Ionity, Leeds and may charge only for the duration of my comfort break be that using the loo and a quick breakfast. Whatever I get there which ks likely to be 80% because it charges so quickly is the safety margin to my SOC at Milton Keynes. There is a learning curve to EV motoring - learning the particulars of your vehicle, familiarisation of strategic charging stations. I’ve identified the four charging stations which I need to serve me the entire length of the country for any north to south journeys. Great of you to share your journey - warts and all. My first EV road trip Newcastle to Manchester in 2022 was horrific - 4 hours driving around Manchester trying to get a charger to work with my car to make my return journey. But all due to my poor planning and my poor knowledge. Now road trips are a breeze- I know my car even when the cautious nav computer says insufficient charge and that a journey can’t be made I know when it can and I know my preferred charging stations (ultra rapid and included in discount plan with the car) and and when they are likely to be busy. Happy future EV road tripping. It’s getting better all the time in the uk 8,353 petrol and 32,300 charging sites (11,600 rapid or ultra - rapid chargers).

[@JohnRoss1]

Thank you Charlotte and family for sharing your experiences. A well done video too! When I heard your introduction on the ambitious trip plan with a baby I thought oh no! 😂but you survived 😂. Good on you., ❤❤ sadly it still takes quite abit of trip planning before and during the drive when we drive long distances.

[@shirinmalik2235]

Love to see Charlotte in family mode. Great video, always wanted to know what an EV trip would entail

[@tolson57]

Evie is so cute. I loved how she waved to the camera and said hi!

[@BrantfordKia]

lol that's her favourite trick

[@rickvienneau2731]

Great video Charlotte!! Funny, Alex and I were just talking today about EV cars and their range.

[@BrantfordKia]

Thanks Rick!

[@tlangton]

I think this video proves that Tesla is the way to go if you’re buying an EV. I would try this trip again in a Tesla and you’ll get a better experience. It’s unfortunate because Kia makes some great vehicles including EV’s. The only thing stopping me from trading in my Tesla Model Y for a Kia EV9 is the charging infrastructure. Note: the Biden administration set aside 7 billion dollars for EV charging in the USA and has built around 8 charging stations. Yes 8. I think KIA will be one of the leading manufacturers of EV’s at some point. They seem very committed to electrification. They need to produce cars with NACS charge ports as soon as possible.

[@economiccrisis9267]

It's going to take years for to have the infrastructure for EV charging

[@AJSparacio413]

What this video proves is that gas powered cars still rule the planet.

[@tlangton]

@@AJSparacio413I don’t agree. My Tesla is much faster than any gas powered car and I’ve take many road trips without 1 issue. I will never buy a gas car again.

[@dangrass]

@@economiccrisis9267 not true. If you can use the Tesla network it's quite excellent right now.

[@dangrass]

@@AJSparacio413 not at all. What this proves is that EVs that can't use the Tesla network aren't easy to take on long road trips. For those that can there is zero penalty relative to IC cars and gas stations.

[@keithshayle7027]

Why doesn't your husband look so impressed with spending so much time together!!!! Those huge distances are inconceivable when living here in the UK!

[@norasharif9875]

From Philippines guys take care always.

[@LarryGifford-yc5oz]

The only Tesla Superchargers you can use right now with a Kia are ones equipped with a Magic Dock. The adapter that you show will only work with a level 2 Tesla EVSE, not a Supercharger. NACS to CCS adapters exist now but the Tesla network hasn't been enabled for Kia vehicles. We've travelled from London, ON to Nova Scotia and PEI twice in a Hyundai Kona Electric, 4,500 km each time with only one charger that was out of commission (Petro Canada, no surprise). The first leg of our first trip took us from London to Levi, QC-almost exactly 1,000 km albeit it was about a 15 hour trip, not breaking any speed records. At your Altoona stop, did you try using the network app instead of paying by credit/debit? Kudos for your trip, and sorry for your troubles, but having backup options for charging stops is strongly advised.

[@gary8698]

In UK about half the Tesla Chargers are open to all

[@luisbraz-ruivo]

This is why I bought a Tesla. For the people without EVs, do not think the experience is the same for all EVs. Tesla has by far the best and most reliable network. I have no worries to travel coast to coast on my Model Y. If you don’t have a Tesla then it is when things get complicated. I think this couple made some routing “mistakes”. I would have chosen a more easterly route thru Pennsylvania. One thing that is extremely frustrating in all of this is the payment. Why can’t EV charging stations work like gas stations? Can you imagine if you had to have an app or a card for every brand of gas out there? Please make this simple and easy. Money is money….just accept it. I can’t imagine how complicated this was for them. Just a trip with the 1.5 year old baby would be stressful, then add the charging stress…Oh boy!! I could see the husband was not a happy camper on the way back to Canada. I do not blame him either.

[@Paul_Rich]

So honest that you wore glasses and no makeup on the trip 🤓

[@BrantfordKia]

I told you this video was honest lol

[@samarth_jain]

Also, *fist bump* for the same phone as me! 👊🏻😂

[@volcalstone]

9:59 so cute! Congrats on your first EV trip. Mine was a few months ago for 5 1/2 hour trip non stop in an ICE car. I usually stop once or twice for 5-10 mins each time. So it's closer to 5 3/4 hours total. During my first trip it took a lot longer than I excepted cause everything was all new to me and there were things that were out of my control as well. I have an EV6 GT and it ended up taking me around 7 1/2 hours with 3 charging session. One really quick as there was no way for me to charge at my destination. This is with all EA charging by the way. Getting food at one of my stop took an extra 30 mins or so. I wouldn't really count that against the EV experience so I would say it's more fair to make it 7 hours total. If I didn't have to quick charge prior to destination then it would've been 6 3/4 hours. This is with all DCFC and no level 2 charging. Mind you that some 350kW chargers were not doing max speeds and I was forced to use a 150kW as the 350kW was down at another location. This was with battery preconditioning with mild temperatures. So at the end it took around 1 hour more than an ICE car. Now on the way back was a different story. I did 3 charging session with one of them being really quick. Looking back at it now I should've stayed there longer to avoid my next charger which ended up being the longest charge so far due to there was a line so I had to wait around 30 mins or so. This was a pain as some chargers were down at this popular location which only had around 10 stalls. Most EA locations only have 4 stalls. On my last charging stop I had to wait a little bit as some chargers were down and I only wanted to use the 350kW as it was a long day already. At the end it ended up being an 8 hour trip! So in total what should've been an 11-11 1/2 hour ICE road trip turned into a 15 hour EV semi nightmare. It wasn't perfect that's for sure and honestly I was sort of having some doubts on my EV purchase. I knew thing that range is very important and it will be on my next purchase. You want to avoid DCFC stations as much as possible and charge at home and your destination only if possible. I don't road trip this particular route a lot in a year so that's why I went with the GT trim as I'd rather get a nice and fast car to enjoy locally. I was sent on the Ioniq 5 Limited AWD but started to like the EV6 GT more. If I was taking a lot of road trips then I probably would've lean towards the Ioniq 5 instead. I still don't regret my purchase at this time though. I love everything about my GT. Now I just got back from making the same trip again recently. I was able to just charge only once! I got it down to 2% though 😊 I got to my destination in 6 hours! So the charging only added around 15 mins. This time I didn't spend any extra time getting food during my trip. Charging did take around 25-28 mins so longer than I expected but I needed to reach 80% to get to my destination which later on I found out that I had 10% left. This time around I got a portable charger so I was able to charge at my destination which was at a house. On the way back it was also 1 charging session. I wasn't getting full speeds at both 350kW chargers but they were both around the same amount of time. On the way back it took a little longer at 6 1/4 hours. So in total for the whole trip it was 12 1/4 hour of driving. Only 30-45 mins more due to charging vs an ICE car. This was a lot better than my first time around. I went from 6 charging sessions to just 2. I just had to make some adjustments like getting a portable charger and driving slower. I was going 70 mph vs 75-80 mph. Efficiency is the game when it comes to driving an EV on the freeway. I did go beyond this for passing cars of course but I just put on HDA2 and let it do it's thing vs trying to get down there as fast as possible using faster speed. I now know that I need to drive an EV differently which I don't mind. I'm not that much of a speedster anymore vs my younger days. Things will get better once more location and stalls are available. At this time it's just barely enough. I would travel on days and times when it won't be so popular. This will avoid a lot of headaches at this time. I'm making the same trip again later this month. I thought I wasn't going on these trips that often but I guess for this year I am. 😊

[@frds4630]

First HD video..Congs to you guys

[@BrantfordKia]

LOL I promise it’s not the first 😅 anything pre recorded is higher quality than our streams

[@junic5034]

Great video. Gives a great idea of a real life experience. I’ve road tripped with my EV and was lucky to not have the problems. Not sure why plugshare did not tell you about the Bedford station. Also having the Electrify America app may have helped you in both problems. You can load credit card into app and activate and pay through the app. Also it tells you status of station. It shows Bedford as Unavailable now. Hope you don’t have EV PTSD. Gr8 job

[@BrantfordKia]

I'm glad it showing Bedford as unavailable haha. The first charger I was at was an EA one - but I did EA's app downloaded and had no problems with paying.

[@junic5034]

What charging network was the charger on that did not accept your credit cards?

[@junic5034]

@@BrantfordKia Because I was curious, I found out that you can use the EV Connect app to connect and pay. Yet another app to install. Uggh…

[@nukeblue]

Well done Char' & fam. I think it took some courage to take this on and I'm glad it worked out. The infrastructure is getting there. Oh .. inquiring minds want to know the resolve to the initial payment issues.🎉

[@BrantfordKia]

The infrastructure is far from perfect, but it was actually better than I anticipated. But it still has a long way to go. I didn't get the payment issue resolved - I ended up going to another charger. I'm unsure if it was just that brand of charger that was incompatible with my cards - but I also didn't have any luck paying through their app.

[@ivalterbaptista2305]

I feel like long distance trips like this are much easier to do with a tesla vehicle or a vehicle that is able to use their network. Tesla supercharger network are far better than anything else available at the moment. You arrive, plug in your vehicle and that’s it. No messing around with payment options and they just work. I have done a trip from Toronto to Virginia beach in my model 3 and didn’t have charging issues or problems.

[@BrantfordKia]

Tesla has the best network, I won't dispute that. I'm excited to see what this trip would be like after they open their network up to all makes - especially since I do prefer Kia/Hyundai's EVs over Tesla. Thanks for sharing your experience as an EV owner!

[@brokeboy87]

Another pro for going EV is the free charging, unlike gas cars for right now. This video was very informative and useful for those considering doing an EV road trip.

[@BrantfordKia]

The free charging was really cool! I'm glad I got to experience it a couple times!

[@AJSparacio413]

Is anything really free? I think there are still more cons than pros for going EV. Maybe in 10-20 years things will change. For now I am very happy with my gas powered Hyundai Tucson!

[@josephfriedrich9792]

Oh Lynchburg, 3 of my siblings went to LU. Love the hills up there

[@BrantfordKia]

The hills and sunsets are UNMATCHED! At least going down the hills was good for regenerative braking, can’t say the same about going up them 😅 Also - my parents, sister, and I are all LU grads! They have a business program specifically for automotive dealership management 👌

[@josephfriedrich9792]

@@BrantfordKia hahaha Great point!

[@amigatommy7]

Good video; I'm sharing.

[@BrantfordKia]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!

[@samarth_jain]

This vlogging style is so funny and good. Do more of these pls, and bring gabi along 😁

[@BrantfordKia]

Where should Gabi and I go next?!

[@samarth_jain]

@@BrantfordKia let me absolutely get considered a CRACKHEAD and suggest Apple Park California! 🤣

[@RigiLiquid945]

@@BrantfordKia You 2 should try heading north in an EV!

[@samarth_jain]

@@BrantfordKiadk where my reply went, but I’ll be a Nutcase and say Apple Park California 🤣

[@RyanPetrynka]

​@@BrantfordKia"where should Gabi and I go next?" Montreal for whatever and stop at a certain Kia dealership on the way. 401 exit number 789 😉

[@MattFicarra]

Great video. For me, I would love to get an EV for my everyday errand/work car. As long as I can charge at home I would reap all the benefits and avoid much of the "hassle." With that EV I would also own a large vehicle, Pickup or Large SUV and that would be the road trip car.

[@Marteen_T]

With my experience with my EV - I realized having apps installed and payment setup on the respective apps to pay for charging your vehicle does help a lot. Majority of the Electrify America infrastructure, the tap to pay did not work, similarly to your experience. I don't have range anxiety, I just have charging anxiety as well.

[@BrantfordKia]

That’s what I did, and I didn’t have any problems with the Electrify America apps! Where I did have the problem was with another brand of charger and their app - but everything I used EA I had no problems

[@sow_scout4989]

I'm from Montreal, and I have to say that we are lucky with the infrastructure. It's not perfect, but it's quite easy to find a charger around here. This past weekend, I had to go to Ottawa to watch a tournament. My plan was to charge nearby the event during the event. But man, I had trouble finding a charger in the area. Instead, I decided that I will just find a fast charger before I leave, but even that was harder to do than anticipated. Finally, I decided to drive to Gatineau which is only a few minutes drive away, and instantly, it was soo much easier to find one there. This makes me wonder if its Quebec that simply has a better infrastructure than Ontario, or if it was just Ottawa. This made me wonder, what my trip could have looked like if I went further such as Toronto. Lets just hope that the infrastructure gets better all over Canada. I already had a bit of anxiety, so I could just imagine what you guys had to go through.

[@cristiantorres2891]

Hi Charlotte nice video

[@eprohoda]

Hello. so amazin gupload~

[@JorgeniLund]

I liked your video, thanks a lot for it. It seems that there is room for improvement when it comes to fast charging in America. I myself have driven through half of Europe with no problem fast charging my 2020 Hyundai Ioniq. My guess is that America will undergo a rapid improvement towards standardization of charging port standards and payment systems. Even in Europe there is the same jungle with different apps, RFID keys, etc. But now a common standard will be able to pay with payment cards. In Europe, all new fast chargers from 2024 must offer to pay by payment card. From 2027, you must be able to pay with a payment card on all old existing chargers as well. I guess America is getting exactly the same development, that's good.

[@BrantfordKia]

There is definitely room for improvement, but I was pleasantly surprised at the infrastructure already in place. Thanks for sharing your perspective on what it's like across the pond!

[@SteveStowell]

Yes

[@lplt]

driving a tesla since 2019 in vancouver and never had any of these issues, feel bad for non tesla ev drivers

[@kevincaldwell4707]

That long drive with a one year old? That’s amazing. Although this kind of charger issue is what keeps some people from purchasing an electric vehicle.

[@BrantfordKia]

She did pretty well all things considered! I definitely understand why people aren't ready to make the switch to EV's - especially if they are doing a lot of long haul drives. However, I'm curious to see what it will look like in the next year as the Tesla chargers open up and there's a greater infrastructure expansion.

[@RyanPetrynka]

Two big barriers before EVs become mass adopted - one, price. EVs are much more expensive than ICEs. Two - charging speeds have to rival ICEs. Waiting half an hour to multiple hours to charge an EV when an ICE can go from E to F in minutes is a huge inconvenience.

[@AJSparacio413]

Charging speeds may never rival the time it takes to fill up a gas powered car.

[@dangrass]

The average price of a car in the US is $45k. The average price of an EV is currently a tad under $45k. As for charging speeds, this is a non-issue. I regularly drive my Tesla 900 miles from Wyoming to the SF Bay area, and it takes exactly the same amount of time for this trip as it did in my Prius.

[@BrantfordKia]

I agree that advancements still need to be made, but the infrastructure was actually better than I anticipated. For charging times, again, I was pleasantly surprised and it (for the most part) worked well for me, especially travelling with a toddler, but that's specific to my situation and just my opinion. I will say, when I did this drive last year in the Telluride - I still stopped for close to 20-30 minutes to fill up. Again just to give y self time to fill up, grab a snack, and use the washroom.

[@heikovoss1104]

@@AJSparacio413 Honestly once you hit 15 minutes every 3-4 hours it is not a big deal. Most people need bathroom breaks, snacks or real meals. Sure if you want to do 800+km in a day it is not great yet but bigger batteries and faster charging are coming. It is already good enough for most people (i.e. how many days a year do you drive more than 400km in one day? If it is less than 5 or 6 times a year this is really a minor inconvenience particularly compared to all the trips to local gas stations you are saving by just plugging in at home) and in 3-4 years we should have 600-800 km range and 15 minute recharge times. It isn't for everyone yet but it is getting there.

[@ErrorVector]

Thank you for the video - I regularly do a VERY similar route with two young kids, NC to/from Ontario via either Pittsburgh or Harrisburg (two ~7-hour days), several times a year in a CRV, which is aging, and I'm not actively looking to replace it, but definitely keeping an eye out for options in case something happens. If I had to replace it today, and it ended up being an EV, compatibility with the Tesla network would be a non-negotiable must. The new Equinox is a very appealing option (with NACS adapter), though I'll say my wife would probably take some convincing - we have a Bolt too so it's not like we're afraid of EVs. The fallback option would be some flavor of hybrid - either a newer CRV, or possibly a sedan ('25 Camry seems nice) since we're past stroller age. The EV9 was never high up the list though - it's just waaaay too much car for our needs and budget. In a few years though, maybe the non-Tesla charging situation improves both as Tesla opens up access, manufacturers adopt NACS, and charging competitors maybe - hopefully - get their act together - they've had years now to figure this out! And maybe Tesla and you-know-who come to their senses, and hire back their Supercharger dev team.

[@BrantfordKia]

Really the issue is that Tesla states they have "all make" chargers, but there's very few that are unlocked. The NACS adapter worked well for the hotel chargers. If the bedford charger was completed, there would have been no issues. We were routed that way assuming they were working....lesson learned!

[@user-nv8ze2zs6c]

Hancock is only 38 miles from Cumberland so you were pretty close to my home town. We built a new home in LaVale which is another 5 miles west…

[@markwilson4573]

You’re a natural vlogger!! I’m guessing once Kia goes NACS that will reduce the stress a lot. As an aside… what ever happened to the joint charging venture between Hyundai/Kia, GM, etc ???

[@DanielBrownOre]

You mean once the SuperCharger network opens up to them, the NACS port is not much of an issue, Tesla's have to use adapters for regular chargers too.

[@Cyrribrae]

Ionity was it? They're still working on it. Slowly.

[@markwilson4573]

@@Cyrribrae YES! Great call. TY. I think though in North America they were calling it Ionna. DC Fast Charging with both CCS & NACS.

[@AmzTechwizard]

great video

[@BrantfordKia]

Thanks for watching!

[@davidclark1858]

Informative and enjoyable video! Thanks

[@mowcowbell]

.99 per kWh? Holy cow that's SUPER expensive. Most Tesla superchargers in my area are around .36 per kWh. The public charging infrastructure issue was one reason I chose to buy a Model Y Long Range. Superchargers don't require fiddling with a payment method, and in a pinch I can use CCS stations with a CCS to NACS adapter.

[@BrantfordKia]

Yeah when you look at the comparison the EA chargers are more expensive than the Tesla chargers - but let’s be real, Elon’s making so much money off of the superchargers he can afford the lower rate 😭😭 I will say - it’s remarkably more affordable when you’re comparing it to gas prices (which is what I’m used to right now lol)

[@AJSparacio413]

@@BrantfordKiawhat is the cost of the EV9 compared to a Telluride?

[@bfvader]

Unfortunately there's definitely still a learning curve to driving an EV, especially if you're crossing the border with it. You kind of have to be a nerd about it still. Things like knowing that Tesla superchargers will only charge your EV9 if they have a Magic Dock adapter built in. Your Tesla to J1772 adapter is only meant for level 2 AC charging at Tesla destination chargers, not DC supercharging. The NACS (J3400) to CCS adapters have the additional two large DC pins at the bottom, but they won't work yet on the EV9 because Tesla hasn't allowed KIA vehicles onto their network yet - also they're only 400V chargers so our 800V cars will only see ~40% of the rated speed from the Supercharger. Payment processing across the border can be iffy. My bank was blocking transactions when I road-tripped my EV6 from Vancouver Island to Oregon, but after that was sorted out things went smoothly. Pre-loading a balance on the apps helped. The built-in KIA navigation has options to filter by charging speed or network, so you can avoid being accidentally routed to slow chargers. That said, the charger list is usually a few months out of date and the navigation wants you to make some questionable maneuvers... Pre-planning with ABRP or Plugshare was easier; also being familiar with the networks in the area and which would be most likely to work was important. The range anxiety and stress will go away after a couple of months of daily driving an EV. We've done the 3000km (1900mi) Vancouver Island to Edmonton and Calgary loop a few times now with zero issues.

[@douglastaylor999]

We are old people out in Colorado who need to go long distances to see kids and grandkids. We don't need the hassle that you described, that's for sure. Sure, you paid less than gas for the trip but you would have paid a hell of a lot more for the vehicle to begin with! I was test driving a (gas) 2024 Hyundai Kona yesterday and the salesman asked me about electric vehicles - I will send him this video. I'm sure the infrastructure will improve in the future, but if there are a lot more electric cars using it in the future that is kind of a wash too, unfortunately. Can you have the jerks in their trucks blocking the chargers etc. Thanks for doing this.

[@BrantfordKia]

Kids and grandkids gotta come first!!! With EV’s you certainly have a higher acquisition cost, but a lower maintenance cost which is nice. I’m still not completely sure if it all equals out in the end haha. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the infrastructure and there were lots of areas that exceeded my exceptions, but also several areas where it fell short. I’m excited to see what the future looks like tho!

[@dangrass]

if you drive a Tesla right now none of the issues highlighted in this video exist. What this video shows is that EVs that can't use the Supercharger network are a huge problem on long trips, while for those that can there are simply no issues.

[@sammyk874]

@@dangrass Interestingly, NY state has a lot of Superchargers (since they are manufactured in Buffalo) fitted with Magic Docks but perhaps they were not on her route and at least one that was did not accept her payment.

[@camrodger8638]

Thanks for a great, honest video. Just wait for the legacy manufacturers to sign on to the Tesla Supercharger system and highway travel fueling will be great for everyone.

[@Reddylion]

Nice ev

[@raghuramanr8070]

I had been on such an anxious trip with my ev6 and carried my level2 charger with me. Found a 110v charging at hotel free and a free level 2 charging at a mall using plugshare app. There was also a free DC charging available but unfortunately the place was shutdown for holidays. Bedford still not up. Carlisle is a good place but super crowded with huge queue which sometime take an hour wait.

[@BrantfordKia]

If Bedford was up and running - there would have been no issues. This is one of the challenges with early adoption!

[@raghuramanr8070]

@@BrantfordKia Agreed and limitation on availability of fast chargers (150kw) impacts a lot. I knew Bedford was not working from the EA app so went to Carlisle and then had to stop again (30 mi deviating from planned route) to top up. Luckily no waiting time at the second spot. But Carlisle has 30 to 60 min wait time to get to charger since there is nothing else nearby with decent charging speed.

[@evansteinman]

I think it's hilarious driving with a little girl named Evie in an EV 😃

[@gary8698]

It’s interesting to watch this from another country’s perpective. I’m from UK and it sounds like our charger infrastructure is a little better although we do suffer from some chargers that will not work, but there are laws charger companies now have to obey which include min percentage uptime and all new chargers have to have contactless payment. We have about 60000 chargers across the Uk which is approx 1 for every 60 EV’s. (EV England Statistics). I try to use open Tesla chargers where possible as they are by far the cheapest. About half of Tesla chargers are open and more opening all the time. Personally, I would not go back to an ICE vehicle now. The more you use public chargers the more the range anxiety goes away. Now I rarely think about it.

[@KennedyMiller-re4ip]

Nicknaming your daughter Evie was a great marketing choice! Lol 😂

[@BrantfordKia]

LOL! Glad someone picked up on that. Also, I promise I didn't name her after electric vehicles lol her name is Geneva!

[@bobdadruma]

My Mobil gas App or my pump inserted credit card always works. I pay at the pump and I am back on the road in a few mins. No EV for me until the charging issues are fixed. Traveling is stressful enough without having fueling issues.

[@braydonsnoddy9743]

Unfortunately, using the charging network app is the most reliable way to start the chargers. Tesla Network doesn’t work with Kia yet.

[@jspira92]

Was plugshare accurate. The one that was gated was that noted?

[@BrantfordKia]

So PlugShare is pretty accurate - the one that was gated was shown on the app, but it only showed because I had the filter of “show available soon” turned on 🤦‍♀️ once I turned that off it, it no longer showed. Rookie mistake.

[@chrismast2790]

6:25 The car is showing miles. Did you flip it to miles manually or did it happen automatically when you entered the US? Also, does it mess with your head flipping between Kilometers per hour and miles per hour? I ask because when I went to Italy, it drove me nuts. Seeing the larger numbers on the screen made me feel like I was speeding everywhere.

[@BrantfordKia]

I flipped it in the settings, but the navigation will give you the speed limit conversion in KMs

[@DM-fv7hw]

Did you guys ever contact EA regarding the payment issues and fenced off chargers? I agree that fast charging spots need to be covered, add solar (why not) and better lighting.

[@BrantfordKia]

It wasn't an EA charger that wouldn't accept payment. But I did call the contact number and made a note on plugshare.

[@jbountalas]

Range anxiety. That's my issue. It sounds like the trip was a lot more work than it would have been with an ICE vehicle. I get the price difference in charging vs gas. Nonetheless, when it comes time for a new vehicle,, we'll likely go Hybrid, maybe even PHEV, and have options, especially on a road trip.

[@rylans.5365]

Ignoring Tesla completely. You would have no issue whatsoever

[@AJSparacio413]

Hybrid is definitely a better choice than full EV.

[@dangrass]

Having driven a Tesla 3 for 5 years/65k miles, and having driven many 900 mile legs in the western US, the whole range anxiety thing has turned out to be a non-issue. There are plenty of chargers to allow all manner of leg lengths. In my experience the car is always ready to continue the trip before I am. The problem that this video highlights is that the non-Tesla charging infrastructure is simply awful.

[@BrantfordKia]

@dangrass Personally, I don't think I'm going to buy an EV soon - but I did enjoy the learning experience. I would definitely try this experiment again in a year to see how things have changed and if less planning is required!

[@BrantfordKia]

Thanks for sharing your insight - I wouldn't say the infrastructure for non-Teslas is "simply awful," and it was better than I initially anticipated. With that being said, I do think Tesla has the best charger network which is a huge selling feature. I'm curious to see how things will change once they open up to all makes.

[@andrewbarnett5542]

I was very surprised at the beginning of this video when you mentioned travelling with under 5 child for very long road trips. Your optimism got the better of you. I am surprised you hadn’t received advice from your mother or other mothers about the frailties of travelling with young child. Murphy’s law kicks in when you do long road trips at some stage. you will encounter problems even when travelling in a petrol powered vehicle. The advantage of frequent stops is the fatigue issue is reduced. As the infrastructure improves there should be less problem solving to be done. Carrying wet weather gear seems to be mandatory for EV charging. Even in Australia we have this problem of being exposed to the elements.

[@BrantfordKia]

I've done multiple trips with my daughter and truthfully, she does very well for the most part! We did this same trip last year. She was only about 4 months old then, so she wasn't as mobile as she is now lol.

[@dangrass]

I enjoyed your video but feel compelled to chime in. A couple of weeks ago I drove from Victor, Idaho to Oakland, CA, about 900 miles, and had none of the charging issues you encountered. Ok, so I drive a Tesla Model 3 and do this drive 3 or 4 times a year with zero charging issues. I can do the whole trip in 15.5 hours, which is exactly the same time this trip took in my prior IC vehicles. I say this only to make the point that had you been driving a Tesla X or Y, you would have most likely experienced zero charging issues. So, the issue isn't whether one should attempt this trip in an EV, but whether one should attempt this trip in an EV that can't use the Supercharger network. Hopefully Hyundai/Kia will soon have access, and when they do you will find that this trip takes no longer in your EV9 than in an IC vehicle.

[@BrantfordKia]

Thanks for commenting! I've seen a couple other of your responses, so thanks for sharing your insight! I'd definitely try this trip again once the supercharger network is available to all make to see if it makes a difference. I must praise Tesla for their charge network, even though I prefer Kia/hyundai's TVs :)

[@johnm.davies1859]

what are the Kilometers you get on the $32 you paid for electricity

[@RigiLiquid945]

So what was the total time from when you left Linchburg to when you got home on Monday?

[@BrantfordKia]

18 hours 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

[@RigiLiquid945]

@@BrantfordKia oh dang!

[@gerardmarandino1018]

Why did you not use Kia route planning? It is not particularly sexy but it does route directly to the charger.

[@BrantfordKia]

I wanted to make this video more general on EV road trips - other than a Kia EV road trip! However, I did you Kia nav system for a portion of it!

[@waynemiller1609]

I just thought that was funny, glad you enjoyed your road trip, EV’s are the future…so we’re told!

[@ChadTV-vi7lk]

I wouldn't recommend road tripping in an EV even though I did cross country my Tesla and Took it to Montreal & Toronto. It was great 2-3 years ago. Now there are too many EV and not enough chargers (especially during holidays when most people road trip) add peak charging rated now which cost as much as gas its better to get a PHEV or Hybrid for near future. Wish Hyundai/Kia made this exact design in a PHEV version like the Mazda CX 90 but more roomy.

[@jbountalas]

Forgot to mention this. If you have a hybrid or even a PHEV, can you do another road trip( maybe shorter keeping your daughter in mind? I don’t know anyone who has a hybrid, so seeing the practical aspects of a hybrid on a road trip would be interesting.

[@BrantfordKia]

ooh that's an interesting concept!

[@jbountalas]

@@BrantfordKia Yep, just putting it out there. It'll be time soon for my wife to have a new vehicle, and she's not ready for a Full EV, so a hybrid of some type is an idea, it just has to make sense for her, especially in this part of Canada.

[@tomhanrahan3763]

Here’s the simple lesson: There are great EVs not made by Tesla, but none of those other manufacturers committed resources to build a reliable charging network, so non-Tesla cars are left with a mostly slow and often broken charging network. Maybe EA and EV Go will get their act together, but they haven’t figured it out yet.

[@ztekz]

If you factor in the range anxiety, your time spent charging, looking for working chargers or chargers that would work/accept pymt, the diff costs for every charger plus other unnecessary expenses like hotel, meals, etc which all have costs, you would’ve been better off doing a road trip either with an ICE vehicle or renting a vehicle with ICE vehicle! Glad I bought a hybrid as I won’t have the range anxiety issue plus too much time spent going around unnecessarily!

[@BrantfordKia]

So I'll be honest - I didn't really do that much planning for this road trip. A better route planner did most of the work for me - where I errored is when the selected routed charger isn't working. Then you have to use some problem solving skills. As for the hotels, I mentioned why I booked a hotel - it was just for my daughter, we were still able to do the drive in 1 day without a hotel! I'm glad you've got a hybrid! They're sweet - we want a Niro HEV for my husbands next car!

[@fleecystheking]

Interesting video. I’m not sure I get how you arrived at a charging site that was under construction if you cross-referenced it in PlugShare however? PlugShare would have shown that. Maybe you took that as a learning experience and cross-referenced charging sites in PlugShare after that nasty surprise. Your main conclusion (that road tripping with a 1 year old is not something you’d do again) is the right one. I don’t think that’s specific to an EV road trip. May I suggest driving to Quebec next time you’d like to experience an EV road trip? Having proper charging infrastructure is key, and Quebec is really well covered so you’ll be able to experience stress-free EV long distance travels. Just either get the Electric Circuit card (and app) or use the FLO app to get around.

[@BrantfordKia]

I cross referenced all the chargers on plugshare. However, plugshare has the filter that shows charging stations that will be available soon, which was enabled (I disabled it after). I've heard a lot of great things about the Quebec infrastructure so I'd give it a try...I'll just leave the toddler at home next time lol

[@Snerdles]

Now imagine doing this trip with something like a EV3 or even a Bolt EUV. The EV3 will take about doible thebtime charging. The Bolt about 4 times as long. Now you understand why people have range anxiety. The EV6 and 9 (and Hyundai Equivalents) are some of the fastest charging vehices out there and even that was a huge mess.

[@CoolTatts]

Wow, most travel stories are about sites, scenery and the learnings. This video is the equivalent of driving in a gas car and just talking about the gas stations along the way. This is why EV aren't ready for mainstream. Fear of range and delayed "refuelling" isn't what travel should be focused on.

[@BrantfordKia]

Hi - thanks for the comment. I agree that normal travel shouldn't be focused on refuelling and should be more focused on enjoying the journey and anticipating the destination. However, I don't agree with your comment saying, "This video is the equivalent of driving in a gas car and just talking about the gas stations along the way." I took this trip specifically to do an EV road trip - and the title of this video is pretty clear that I'm sharing my experience on if it easy or not. If you were expecting a video focusing on the scenery, the "Kia Hyundai Channel" isn't the best place to find that☺️ but there are lots of travel bloggers on KZbin. However, this video certainly does share my travel stories and learning. Cheers!

[@christiaanguijt522]

Can i take Gabi on a road trip?

[@PejicVladimir]

I honestly dont think that the world is ready for that 2030 EV switch. I think that in the next couple of years we'll see a lot more ER EV cars, that use a gas engine to top up the battery.

[@Antiguan_Dart]

2035 in the UK. Remember it’s just a ban on the sale of new ICE cars in this country. A new ICE car could be imported or a second ICE car could be bought. But the point is people are dying from poor city air quality we need to move as fast as we can. I’ve stopped arguing the climate issue some people don’t believe there’s a crisis and planet will be around long after should we kill ourselves off but I don’t think any will argue that our city air is not polluted with vehicle emissions and that tail pipe emissions from diesel, petrol or ICE hybrids are great to breathe in?!

[@rdsingh122]

I think maybe in 5 years we will be better prepared for long distance EV travel. Now is not the time unfortunately, even with Teslas, not worth it. I have a Santa Fe PHEV, and luckily it took us 6.5 hours to get from Burlington to Montreal in one day, with coffee and gas breaks. In an EV that would take probably 8 hours...

[@ak983625]

American pump gas works just great in normal Canadian cars !

[@BrantfordKia]

LOL

[@CyberSkunk90]

Those "electricity" prices have been on the rise. Remember when charging used to be free? Remember when you had to start paying for charging, but it was only like $8? Fast forward, now it's nearly $25... Soon enough charging will be no cheaper than filling up a tank of gas. It's all relative. Electric cars will never replace gas cars unless than make it to where you can charge your car in 5 minutes and there are charging stations as often as gas stations.

[@subozor]

wait ...why is Riley in the video with you🤔

[@twcz3]

abetterrouteplanner? why? You mean the 3 stop max from the nav wasn't good enough? 😀 When the kids weren't mobile, it was easier. Either way stops will always be long, food, bathroom etc. Even with gas, its just as long at every stop.

[@BrantfordKia]

I used “A Better Route Planner” to make this video more general to driving EV’s as a whole, instead of just the Kia Product! However, I did still use the in-house navigation!

[@jimross623]

You called your daughter “Electric Vehicle”, or “EV”, or “Evie”? That’s taking your job to quite a degree!

[@BrantfordKia]

LOL - her name is Geneva, but I call her Evie.

[@canadiansurvivorman]

I don't think I need the stress of driving an EV. Maybe once the charging infrastructure is better. Especially where I live, we don't have any fast chargers for hundreds of miles

[@mikeireland2428]

Long way to go for lemonade.

[@BrantfordKia]

it's really good lemonade

[@drmcallis]

One word: Plugshare. Always check the places you plan to stop at. ALWAYS.

[@sammyk874]

She said she used it...more reliable than the actual charging operator's app. Not sure when this trip was taken but it shows the EA chargers fenced off.

[@drmcallis]

@@sammyk874 So just bad timing to have no negative checkins...

[@IamTimClark]

Why would someone attached to a dealer be so ill prepared to travel with a car they sell? I have never had any issue with payments as long as we arrange everything before leaving on the trip. Your lack of knowledge is the issue. Not driving an ev. Perhaps you should let me take your 70,000+ dollar car on a road trip and show you how easy it can be. I am saddened by a dealership pushing this FUD. It reminds me of when a volkswagen dealer tried to talk me out of buying an ev when they watched me roll up in an EV to buy my second one. I bought Hyundai Ioniq 5 instead.

[@BrantfordKia]

Hi Tim! The first time you try something new, do you do it perfectly? I know I don't, but the more I do it, the better and more confident I become. I think you have some misconceptions about me - I don't own the vehicle in this video (it's a demo) and I don't daily drive an EV. Which is why I took this trip, to become more knowledge on public charging and current infrastructure. I wanted to see how easy it is to do an EV road trip. Can it be done as easy as straight gas? These were the questions I was asking and attempted to find out. You said, "[you] never has any issues with payments as long as [you] arranged everything before leaving on the trip." I did have everything planned before I went on this trip - which I shared in the video. However, what do you do when your plan A becomes plan B? The same as what you would do on a gas trip - you figure it out and adapt. As for your comment on payment - I had the app installed on my phone ready to go (which I also said in the video), I just drew the short straw and for some reason I wasn't working for that specific station. All of the Electrify America chargers didn't give me any problems. I'm not "pushing a fear, uncertainly, and doubt" narrative - and mentioned the many pros EV's offer. But at the end of the day, I wanted to share my honest and unbiased experience. Either way, thanks for supporting the brand and for commenting to boost the algorithm! Wishing you all the best on your EV's road trips!

[@patrickhart4157]

You didn't mention "your man in the chair" who booked your hotels!

[@illiamdeebe7579]

I N F R A S T R U C T U R E !

[@tiagomedeiros13]

Doing this within US is doable. Now, within Canada… that would be a challenge.

[@BrantfordKia]

The US pleasantly surprised me...but I'd be interested in trying to go north or across Canada, but I think I'd leave Evie at home for that one!

[@tiagomedeiros13]

@@BrantfordKia Yes! Thank you for the video. Great idea!

[@michaelcottenden3216]

​@@BrantfordKiaDon't bother trying to go north or west. After you leave Barrie the CCS charging infrastructure is very poor. PetroCanada's 200kw chargers are either not working or only delivering about 45kw. You can certainly travel but with charge times of 60+ minutes it isn't worth it. I don't travel with my Ioniq5 anymore. But our Model Y makes the trip easily. The Supercharger network is excellent. Too bad, as CCS travel was easier in 2022, but since then IVY and PetroCanada have become less reliable.

[@hynsum]

Imagine doing this trip in ICE vehicle...

[@BrantfordKia]

I’ve done it. Multiple times in different vehicles!

[@koolmaaan]

Ev’s and cold weather don’t make sense as the low temps make it hard for the batteries to keep a charge. Last time I checked Canada has some of the coldest temps in the world during the winter so put two and two together….

[@BrantfordKia]

So I guess I should do this trip in the winter next then 😉