Iconic Road Trips Driven In EVs: Data Reveals Emissions Could Be Reduced By Half

May 12, 2022

With global interest for “best EV range 2022” up a whopping 2,450%* in the past year, it is clear that battery range and the number of chargers available continue to be a big concern among drivers.

But with new pledges expected to install 500,000 public chargers across the US by 2030, range anxiety might be a thing of the past. Curious to find out more, Uswitch.com/electric-car turned to famous on-screen road trips to determine how many EV chargers are offered along the route.

Second is the Georgia to Los Angeles road trip featured in Crossroads (2002) with 2,389 chargers along the route – approximately 0.65 chargers available per kilometer. In comparison, this route offers 196.4% more EV chargers than the road trip featured in Dirty Grandpa (2013), which starts in Georgia but ends in Florida. Uswitch.com/electric-car can reveal that the Borat (2006) inspired coast-to-coast road trip from New York City to Los Angeles is the best for EV charging. With 2,775 electric car chargers along the route and 0.6 EV chargers per kilometer, drivers will relax with little risk of low battery. Electric car owners are also expected to save $213 by recharging instead of refueling, costing only $183.68 for the entire journey.

The coast-to-coast road-trip crossing from New York City to San Francisco in Need for Speed (2014) ranks third. Driving this route in an electric car offers 2,087 chargers, averaging 0.44 chargers per kilometer of the journey. Not only that but making this journey in an EV also saves $183.68 compared to the trip in a petrol car.

Nocturnal Animal’s Road Trip Comes in 15th

The road trip across West Texas inspired by Nocturnal Animals (2015) offers only 27 chargers along the way. But as the shortest journey analyzed in the study, drivers will not have to suffer range anxiety on the 13-hour and 51-minute journey with only 0.03 chargers on average per kilometer.

Why switch to an electric vehicle for your next road trip?

Ben Gallizzi, energy expert at Uswitch, comments:

“It’s clear to see how switching to an electric vehicle could benefit the planet when it comes to these Hollywood road trips. If this has made you interested in moving beyond a petrol or diesel motor, here are some tips for switching to an EV:

Find the best one for you – To make sure you’re getting the right vehicle for your lifestyle, you can compare electric cars in terms of price, battery range, number of seats, and top speed.
Decide between EV charging cables – You’ll need to be able to connect your EV to a charger at home so you can top up the battery, so it’s essential to choose the right charging cable.
Find nearby charging points – Like the characters in these iconic road-trip films, you need to think about where you’ll charge your car when you’re out and about.”

Methodology

Uswitch.com/electric-car sought to determine how many EV chargers are available on iconic fictional road-trip journeys.
To do this, a seed list of movies and TV shows featuring iconic road trips was created using data obtained from multiple online articles including Buzzfeed and IMDb. The departure and arrival locations of the road trips were then collected via reliable online sources.
Next, possible road-trip routes for petrol cars were mapped using OpenRouteServices (ORS) API within Python to determine the following factors: journey distance, travel time, and refueling time (based on the average petrol vehicle range).
Following that, each trip’s CO2 emissions were calculated using EEA data figures (122.3g/km CO2 for a new passenger car). The trip’s fuel cost was also calculated from EIA and EPA data.
Possible road-trip routes for electric cars taking into account recharging stations were also generated using ORS API, and OpenChargeMap to reveal the journey time required including charging wait time.
Due to the varying range offered by electric vehicles, the bestselling EV of 2020, the Tesla Model 3 Long Range, was used as a benchmark. Its total effective range was obtained from Inside EVs (358 miles).
Total EV charging costs were estimated at $0.28 per kWh. This was determined by the following formula: (Tesla Model 3 battery * 80%) * the number of charges (assuming each charge replenishes the battery from 10% full to 90% full).
Synthesizing the metric above for petrol and electric vehicles, comparisons on cost, journey distance, time, and carbon emissions were made to reveal how many EV chargers are available along the route, and how much money can be saved if the road trips were made in using EVs.