The Grand Tour

Did the Porsche Taycan Survive the 11,000 Mile Road Trip?

When Don Louv’s mother asked him to visit her in Hawaii he decided to drive from his home in Portland, Maine. Not being a conventional man, Don decided to take his newly delivered $150,000 Porsche Taycan Turbo on this trip. Much like the running scene in Forrest Gump the trip evolved into a life of its own and became an 11,000-mile journey across Canada and the United States. The trip took 46 days, not including the 5-day break he took to hop on a sky-bus in California to visit his mom in Hawaii.

Photo provided by InsideEVs.com

Range limits and charging times have always been a topic of concern when it comes to road-tripping electric vehicles. Don’s road trip was a test of America’s non-Tesla charging network. In an interview with InsideEVs this is what he had to say about the experience:

“The charging network for “everyone else” (that is, non-Teslas) got a slow start, but it is catching up quickly. This trip proves a non-tesla EVs can drive almost anywhere in the US, and all the way from coast to coast in Canada. The network isn’t perfect. It isn’t always smooth. Often it takes two or three tries to get a charging session going. But in the end, it always works. On rare occasions, you might need to drop back to a Level 2 charger, and go read a book. But eventually, you’ll get there. And with more and more DC Fast chargers coming online all the time, it will just get easier and smoother.”

Moreover, this journey was a great test for the Taycan Turbo as Don suffered no major issues and rode in complete comfort the whole way. it averaged 215 miles per charge over the entire trip and noticed an increase in the range up to 226 while driving in temperatures over 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Long road trips in a Taycan are much easier than I expected. The car is supremely quiet and comfortable. I could easily drive 8 or 10 hours a day without problems. On the last day, I drove (and charged) for 17 hours, covering over a 1000 miles.”

Would You Travel Cross Country in an EV?

America’s charging network is being led by Electrify America. Stories like these surely give EV enthusiasts ammo to argue back against petrol heads who love to poke fun at their range anxiety and charging times.

But what say you?

Would you travel across the country in an electric vehicle?

Or are you waiting for charging times to be quicker than a microwavable dinner?

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