Fall Trip 2025 – Preview!

4 September 2025

A week from Saturday I’m heading out for a 15-day drive that will take me as far as Iowa and Minnesota before turning back. This will my longest trip yet in the EV, around 3,300 miles, and I’ve changed my charging plan this time but will still be driving on secondary roads most days and not traveling long distances — my longest driving day this time will only be 450 miles and many days will be in the low 200s. My goal is to maximize relaxation.

On previous trips, I’ve planned around interesting brewpubs to visit as well as staying in hotels that offered free charging. That hotel plan has mostly worked for me in the past but there have been exceptions, so for this trip I’ve decided to take advantage of hotel charging at two hotels (a total of 4 nights) where I know there are reliable chargers, but to otherwise assume there won’t be a charger available. My only criteria for a hotel is that there’s DC Fast Charging available reasonably near by, and otherwise I’ve verified that I’ll be fine the next day if I leave the hotel with only 75% charge instead of 100%.

One reason this change works for me is that my car now has access to most Tesla Supercharger locations. Electrify America will continue to be my preferred choice as I still have almost 4 more months of free charging there, but Tesla is a great alternative as it’s cheaper than other charging locations although slower because so few of them have been upgraded to 800V chargers.

My stops along the way will be Clarion PA, Columbus OH, Lafayette IN, Davenport IA, Rochester MN, Rockford IL (2 nights), Michigan City IN, Grand Rapids MI (2 nights), Saline MI, Columbus OH (3 nights), Painted Post NY, and back home. Follow along beginning Saturday evening, September 13th! And also see my other blog, Memoirs of a Peripatetic Microbrew Aficionado, for info on the pubs I visit each day.

Cheers! See you soon.