Road trips are a staple in the American experience. While most people don’t drive that far daily, or even on the weekends, being able to hop in a car and drive across the country is what many of us long to do.
The problem is, in an EV, is can it be done? Is the charging infrastructure good enough? How long will it take?
Volkswagen is looking to convince people that its new ID.4 electric crossover is capable of handling the road trip duties. There’s no need to have a gasoline car in your fleet.
How does the company plan to demonstrate it? It’s going to take the car on a road trip.
“We’re excited to get on the road and show the true capability of the ID.4,” said Dustin Krause, Director, e-Mobility, Volkswagen of America.
The ID.4 will depart New York City on Saturday, March 13. The team plans on arriving in Sacramento, California 18 days later. The route will have stops all over, though, including Cleveland and Chicago, Nashville and Orlando, the various cities across Texas, and others. It’s not the most direct route.
Krause is leading the team, “Range anxiety is a thing of the past and this drive is proving that not only is long-distance driving an easy task, but it’s also affordable.”
One perk that Volkswagen offers with a purchase of the ID.4 is 3 years of DC fast charging included at Electrify America stations. They have more than 550 stations now, and are growing quickly. The team will be favoring those stations along the way.
Up until recently, road trips in electric cars were only tolerable if you had a Tesla and access to its Supercharging network. Now that other companies are offering compelling EVs with the capability to be properly charged at high speed, there are now viable alternatives.
Most people won’t be doing a drive like this in their EV. But Americans want to know that they can if they want to, and that’s what VW is out to prove with its new ID.4.
