A 1,482-Mile Road Trip in a 2024 Kia EV9 Delivers 3.3 mi/kWh, $350 in Charging, The Owner Says “I Might as Well Have Been a Passenger in the Backseat 75% of the Trip”, Even Through 60-MPH Kansas Crosswinds

So 13 times he needed to charge. Say average of 18 minutes.. 234 minutes roughly 4 hours of charge time. 1481 miles traveled gives him a whopping 114 miles/charge lol.
To put that into perspective, a Toyota Corolla hybrid with its 11.3 gallon tank and 45 mpg can do the trip in roughly 3 stops. Say 20 minutes each. That’s one hour vs four for the EV. Plus you could probably drive 80mph thereby getting there faster.
Solid case for NOT getting the EV lol

Do the real math. 4 hours charge time. 113 miles per charge. Compare that to a hybrid anything and the winner is hands down the hybrid. Faster trip. Less time for fuel. EV gonna waste hours of your life lol.

Just my $0.02 : (not an SUV but..) a Bmw 528i/530i ( 2012-2020 - both gen) , 100% gas.... Between 70-75mph gets 40-44mpg. Thats like 500-600 miles per tank.... A 1500 mile trip would require 2 fill ups ( 3 tanks full) or less, each fill takes 10 min max.... Fuel Cost would be about $200 with current prices.... Time saves fill up vs charging would be about 4 hrs!
I am not seeing whats advantageous with this EV trip?

This costs twice what a trip in a gas-engine vehicle would.

That trip would've cost $220 in my Lincoln Navigator and I would've only had to stop for gas 3 times. Would've cost $150 in my Lincoln LS and I would have had to stop for gas 4 times. Stopping 13 times and costing more is ridiculous, electric vehicles have a long ways to go before they are viable options for road trips.

More than 3 hours of charging vs about 40 minutes of filling a gas vehicle. No thanks.

$350 for 1500 miles is the equivalent of about 13 miles per gallon for a gas engine. That's about equal to the efficiency of a large V8 truck engine but from a small electric crossover SUV. I realize that they were driving in mountains and strong winds so that decreases the efficiency of any vehicle. However a gas version of that same car would probably average 30mpg. Even in the wind and mountains it would probably still average 20-25 mpg which around $200 in gas for that same trip. So that's about double the efficiency of the car in this article. To be competitive the cost of charging needs to drop in half. Which could happen as the number of electric vehicles and chargers increases in the future.

Noting actual gasoline costs (of nearby stations) at time of recharging would go along way in the comparison of costs between driving a comparable ice vehicle (Telluride?) The same trip.
Google suggests the Telluride gets 26 mog highway. Current nationwide average fuel cost is $2.82 a gallon. Which gets us to $160.74 in fuel costs for the same trip.

An approximate $350 in charging costs is 2.17 X the projected fuel costs for the same trip. Saying the fuel costs for the same trip in an ICE vehicle can meet or exceed the $350 is a tad disingenuous.

What mountains exist in between OKC and Denver? And 1500 mi / 23 mpg x $2.75 gal = roughly $180. What am I missing here.

Saying he could've spent much of the trip in the back seat really sounds like he was ready to act should something go awry.😏

So the cost per kWh was 78 cents and if gas is $3/gallon that equals 12.4 mpg. Not so awesome. Glad the driver assist feature was enjoyed, and a good demonstration that you can do a long drive with an EV. But the economics don’t work now and will decay once states start charging for miles driven.

This is abysmal news for anyone wanting to travel long distances. $2.50 per gallon @140 gallons would equal $350 and it mentions the guy charged at home so $350 isn't his true fuel cost. 1500 miles divided by 140 gives you a whopping 10.7 mpg. This is worse than my 2001 F350 Diesel flatbed and way worse than my 2017 Durango. My son's 2024 Prius smokes the Kia with WAY better reliability. So much for saving the planet.

Ouch ! At the rate of average $ 0.75 per killowatt he paid, could have done it on gasoline for $100 dollars less 🤔

My Jeep Wrangler averages 24 mpg. 1482 miles @ 24 mpg fuel at $2.49 per gal. = $154 for same trip.

My Jeep Wrangler averages 24 mpg. 1482 miles @ 24 mpg fuel at $2.49 per gal. = $154 for same trip.

The math is quite off for the comparison to non-EV equivalent vehicles. In your article the owners paid a very large $0.75 per kilowatt, or $0.23/mile. A gasoline equivalent of the Kia probably gets at least 22mpg, which is an equivalent gasoline cost $5.06/gallon. We know gas is probably 33% less expensive here in the US, and as such so too the total gasoline costs for the non-EV.

I don’t know what kind of math you used. That’s double what gas would have cost in my car. That’s awfully expensive .

So, I could drive my "gas guzzler" ICE powered pickup and do it in 3 stops instead of 13 and save $100? Can't believe electric cars aren't taking over...

We have a ‘25 EV9 GT-Line, and make frequent road trips. Concur with Hart. With a $16,500 discount off MSRP, and good lease rate, it was a steal. It genuinely feels like driving a Range Rover comfort and solidity wise. Long road trips are a breeze. We recently drove in heavy snow, and other than stopping to clear the radar sensors once, so I could continue using the HDA2, it was a very relaxing drive. Best vehicle I’ve owned/leased in 30 years.

Only one thing missed here: the fact that a ICE, averaging a mere 25mpg would cost half that for the trip at an average of $3/gallon. Still cheaper at$4/gallon

My F150 with 5.0L V8 would do that trip for $188.00. No, it wont drive me, but I prefer it that way. I also wont need to sit at a charger for lengthy periods.

That math comes to roughly $0.78 per kW/hr purchased from charging stations (actually it's probably a higher fee because some of the charging was at home according to the story). Electricity in the region traveled costs $0.11-0.16 per kW/hr. This entire story should be about the 600% electricity markup. That would be like a gas station charging $12-18 per gallon of gas at current prices <$3 retail.

Something doesn't add up. 13 charges to travel 1500 miles rounds to 115 miles per.

ICE vehicle going 1500mi @ 20mpg uses 74 gallons × $3.19 = $235.

17-20 minutes x 13 charges adds about 4 hours to a 1500 mile trip... one way.

At $350 in fuel costs I can drive nearly 2,000 miles in my crew cab diesel truck getting fuel only 4 times.

That's not something be touting about. Right off the bat that clearly shows it cost SIGNIFICANTLY more than your average gasoline powered vehicle. That length of trip for me (and I drive something that's lower on the MPG spectrum) would've cost me around $200 or so. It's clearly showing electric prices (especially on the road at pit stops) are considerably more nowadays, not to mention the considerable waste of excessive time having to wait for charges even with "fast charging".

Basically, EV's are still not useful in the slightest for extended road trips. They're still only even slightly helpful for within driving distance of a home base, and that's provided you can get a CONSIDERABLY low electric rate.

I love EVs. Would always rent a Tesla on business trips when Hertz was renting them. Great for round the town and short trips.

However, here are my observations...

-The trip took about 4 hours of charging time compared to a gas car.
-The cost is actually about double the cost of the same cost for a gas car given current gas prices. Excluding other gas cost such as oil etc.. Battery replacement counters those cost if you drive the car long enough.

Now, the assisted driving is great and I always enjoyed using it on the Teslas. But for long trips, in the current conditions, has still just makes more sense.

So nearly twice the cost of using a gas powered vehicle that gets 22 mpg figuring a cost of $2.85 a gallon. It costs more to begin with and costs more to operate? Got it, carry on.

I think your math is wrong, 1482 miles at 30 miles per gallon is only 50 gallons in a typical suv, at even a high price of 3 per gallon is only 150 dollars, my electric car can go 1482 miles for less then 80 dollars worth of charging.

(1500 miles /18 mpg) * $3 (which is way more than gas right now)
Is $250… my Buick enclave gets 26 mpg so it would cost me $173… at $3 per gallon.
It’s not close gas wins.

If we travel 1482 miles in our gas powered Equinox. It would cost approximately $150 for gas. That is figuring 30 mpg at $3.00 a gallon. Do you see a big difference in cost?