Last updated: Tuesday, July 23 at 12:49 p.m. Follow along as Bridge Michigan’s Paula Gardner, Kelly House and Asha Lewis take a 1,000-mile trek around Lake Michigan in a rented EV. Check here throughout the day for their latest adventures.

MUSKEGON — After pulling into Muskegon Monday evening with 65 miles left on our charge, we stopped at beautiful Pere Marquette Park to take advantage of free chargers, grab a beer at The Deck, get our first glimpse of Lake Michigan and seek advice from well-traveled EV drivers.

Casey and Cassie Loring are among the group of people we call “EV-angelists,” happy drivers who love to spread the word about electric vehicles. (Read more about them here)

First things first: They warned us that the Chevy Bolt our rental agency provided is about the worst possible EV for a road trip.

Related:

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The Bolt is a great daily driver, which might explain why it was so popular. But its inability to take full advantage of DC fast chargers makes it a pain on road trips. Unlike its peers that can refill in less than 30 minutes, the Bolt can take well more than an hour.

The Lorings drive Teslas, which means they’re on the opposite end of the “range anxiety” spectrum: Their cars’ long range and ample access to the fast-charging Supercharger network mean they rarely experience it.

The idea of stressing over an empty gas tank “feels like an old-fashioned memory,” Casey said.

Here’s a sampling of the advice Cassie and Casey shared with us about how to manage a five-day trip in a slower-charging car with a more limited range: 

• Do your homework: When public chargers aren’t available, you can use a wall outlet or an RV pedestal in a pinch. But you might need an adapter to plug in. 
• More homework: Research the apps for charging companies. and install them ahead of time. You don’t want to be standing outside in the rain, waiting for an app to download before you can plug in.
• Still more homework: Always try to find lodging that includes a Level 2 charger, capable of refilling an empty battery overnight. (We already broke this rule. Read below.)
• Fuel up: If you must recharge on the road, time your stops to correspond with meal breaks, sightseeing, or other natural stopping points. Many chargers are intentionally located near restaurants or attractions.

Readers have given us many great tips too. Thank you!

While in Muskegon, we had our first run-in with the mismatch between sparse public chargers and growing EV ownership. There were just two chargers at the beach — not enough to meet demand. 

If Casey hadn’t arrived early and saved us a spot, we would’ve been out of luck.

Area EV owners have been lobbying the city to install more public chargers at popular tourism spots like Pere Marquette. 

“This was fine in 2016,” when the two chargers were first installed, Loring said. But in 2024, at one of the most popular beaches on Lake Michigan?  

“Two at the beach is not enough.”

Before we parted ways, Loring took us for a short ride in his lime green Tesla. “Instant torque,” indeed. It accelerated so fast our backs slammed into the seats.

– Kelly House

Tuesday, July 23

Charging mystery solved  

It didn’t take long this morning to solve the mystery of why our car didn’t charge last night: We (or perhaps the previous renters) had unknowingly set the “target charge level” to 130 miles of range. 

It’s a feature designed to prevent drivers from waiting around at a charger to eke out a few extra miles, because EVs charge slower the fuller their battery gets.

(Think of filling up a cup of water. You have to slow down as the cup fills to avoid spilling.)

We discovered the issue when Kelly made a trip to the nearest public charger this morning, hoping to get some juice before we hit the road. 

Within a few minutes, the ChargePoint app alerted her that the car had stopped charging. 

But the car battery was only half full. Googling to investigate the issue, she discovered the “target charge level” feature. A few taps on the EV’s command screen solved the problem. 

It’s all part of the learning curve that can make EVs intimidating at first. That’s why experts say education will be key to getting more drivers into EVs.

Purchase price matters. So does charger access. But for many people, the biggest barrier to EV ownership is confidence navigating an unfamiliar technology.

EV owners have told us that within a few days, most drivers get familiar enough with their car to clear the confidence hurdle.

We’re getting there, bit by bit.

— Kelly House

Tuesday, July 23

Charging frustrations mount

As the sun rose over Muskegon, we awoke with a single thought: How did the car do with overnight charging?

Spoiler alert: Not well.

We parked in a residential garage for our first stay, after the short-term rental manager offered the power there for the EV. 

All looked good at first. We’d just come from dinner on the lovely and lively Lake Michigan shore, where the 2023 Chevy Bolt was the only EV in the pair of charging docks. 

We drove home, dug out the charging apparatus from the crowded back seat and set everything up — then corrected the plug after we got an initial reading of “not connected.” The light was on the charger and it looked like all systems were a go.

Eight hours later, nothing had changed.

Reading online forums over morning coffee is a good way to go crazy. Googling “when a Bolt says it’s full but really at 30%” is not inspiring confidence. 

Kelly is heading out to a “real” charger soon. We have our fingers crossed. 

— Paula Gardner

Monday, July 22

Learning the ropes

ZEELAND — One early question that environmental reporter Kelly House and I had as we planned this electric vehicle road trip was: What would it be like to drive an EV?

We’d heard various things, including that they’re more fun to drive — kind of like driving a golf cart, one person told me.

Neither of us can say after our first respective shifts on the road that the handling is more fun. In fact, we agree that our rented Chevy Bolt EV feels very much like driving our own cars (Kelly drives a small hybrid and I drive a gasoline-powered SUV).

But there were some differences:

It’s quiet. Very quiet. We knew that from, say, crossing a road near an EV that is moving. But on a highway, where road noise can be nightmarish, the quiet from the EV was a welcome and noticeable difference from so many other vehicles.

The performance metrics are obvious and interesting to watch. There’s a “thermometer” showing how well we meet optimum battery performance. Anything over about 60 mph shot us into the yellow zone (and the car started beeping at 80 mph). Coasting down a hill took us into peak green.

Beyond that, there’s the estimated remaining mileage, which represents the charge. We actually got it to climb while we were east of Grand Rapids. That felt like an accomplishment. 

Another gauge shows when regenerative braking kicks in. What an amazing moment when you realize you’re using the brakes to recharge the battery — and watch the gauge climb.

While we’re driving a small car, we also got to test its torque. The instant acceleration was as responsive as any internal-combustion engine (or ICE, as they’re known). We put that to a test while merging onto I-196 to head toward Lake Michigan when another car suddenly appeared from the left just as the lane ended.

Neither digital marketing associate Asha Lewis, Kelly, nor I have been cured of our range anxiety. But, about six hours into this trip, we do recognize how some planning and watching the gauges makes us feel more control over the EV unknowns.

— Paula Gardner

Monday, July 22

Meeting our new ride, first twinge of range anxiety

We're off! But it wasn't exactly smooth.

We confirmed our electric vehicle months ago, but last week's Microsoft software crisis — and subsequent  national airline meltdown — created a crush of folks needing rental cars at Detroit Metro Airport on Monday.

Despite some troubles, I, with my colleague Asha Lewis, got a rental car — a 2023 Chevy Bolt — but it was less than half-charged, prompting our first bout of range anxiety. I needed enough juice to drive 109 miles to pick up the third person on our road trip, Bridge environment reporter Kelly House, in Lansing.

So an unplanned pit stop took place this morning before we hit the road. We stopped at an Electrify America charging station I’d written about once, before Congress approved a wave of EV subsidies for manufacturers and buyers.

The good news is, the Bolt is a Michigan-assembled car, with a range of up to 259 miles on a full charge. The bad news is, it’s notoriously slow to charge.

When in production (which ended in December), the Bolt’s  $27,495 price tag made it among the most affordable EVs on the market; and, notably, it also qualified for the $7,500 federal tax credit for buyers.

But Bolts charge at a lower wattage than their more expensive counterparts, making them unable to make the best use of public fast-chargers that are designed to get roadtrippers back on the road quickly.

Unlike competitors that charge the battery from 20% to 80% in less than 30 minutes at a fast charger, the Bolt can take well more than an hour. Our charging speed varied from 27 to 38 kilowatts. 

After waiting 40 minutes to take the Bolt from 40% to 79% full, we finally set off for Lansing. 

— Paula Gardner