Atlanta to Boston: First 24 hours

I had some family business in Boston and I was determined to make the trip in my new 2015 Kia Soul EV. I've had my Soul EV since April and I love this car - I call her Evie. If I use my ECO gauges and manage my speed I can get a range of mid to high 90 miles. Thank goodness for PlugShare app that helps EV drivers locate charging options. I looked for the best route with the right number of CHAdeMO (QC) chargers at a distance of around 80 miles apart. I also look for nearby QCs to fall back on if there are problems (and there will be) with the initial QC. Generally, I'm looking for QC to get me to a little over 80% charge. I like to have Level 2s nearby to either take me to 100% or in case all of my QC options fail. As a final resort, I look for business/hotel locations where I can find an outside plug. One thing for sure, I don't want to be at 1% battery power with zero options to keep moving.

Athens, GA - GA Power center. First charge at QC at 6:09am. There's a convenience store right around the corner. Also two Level 2s. After bathroom break, we moved on to...

 



Commerce, GA (73,8 miles) - Tanger Outlet. Arrived at 7:24am. Suprised to see so many people here at this time. The stores aren't open, but people come here to walk/run in the morning. Only Level 2s here, but I needed to be at 100% to reach the next stop. Finished here and ate breakfast at McDonald's right before jumping on 85N.

Greenville, SC (151.9 miles) - Richardson Street Garage. Arrived at 11am. You have to pay for parking to reach chargers. Tesla owner was already on QC so I jumped on the L2 and waited. Once we got QC going, took a walk downtown and grabbed some snacks from Subway. Parking cost me $2.50.

Gastonia, NC (236.9 miles) - Caramont Medical Center. Go to the bottom level P2 with blue poles. The QC is near the elevators. Left here at 3:30pm.

Salisbury, NC (295.8 miles) - Ben Mynatt Nissan. Very friendly. QC had some overheating issue but someone came out and helped me reset the unit. Level 2s were right there conveniently. Left here at 5:43pm.

Greensboro, NC (355 miles) - Downtown parking lot right behind Hamms? Spot was ICE'd but we waited until someone moved from a close parking spot. Thankfully the hose was long enough. Didn't have to pay parking since it was after 6pm, but I had to fire up my Greenlots app to charge. $7 cost to charge. Finally able to chow down some fast food while we charged. Starving. Left here at 7:45pm.

Durham, NC - Duke U. - Smith Warehouse Bldg - This was a chance because you need a Duke ID to get in. This was the closest free option. We got lucky because the gate was open. Drove in and found an Eaton QC that did the trick.

So my goal initially was to reach Richmond, VA, find a hotel and start out the next morning. By the time I was done in Durham in was 9 or 10pm. The challenge is that there are really no QC options between Raleigh/Durham and Richmond.

So here was the game plan. PlugShare showed a Level 2 in Roanoke Rapids, NC. I figured I would L2 at Roanoke Rapids just enough to get to Emporia, VA. There I could L2 enough to make it to Petersburg, VA. Once I made it to Petersburg, there was a good trail of QCs to make it to Boston.

Well that plan didn't work out so well. The L2 at Roanoke Rapids was strong. In hindsight, I should have just stayed there and built enough miles to go directly to Petersburg. The L2 at Emporia (Boyd Chevrolet Buick GMC) was VERY slow. So we had to car camp there until 5AM just to build up enough juice to make it to Petersburg