Spectacular Colorado mountain road © Jay Krishnan / Shutterstock Driving an electric car (EV) in the US and managing range anxietyįor EV users who stay close to home or live in parts of the country with sufficient charging stations, range anxiety poses little threat. This reality leads to range anxiety: the fear that an EV will run out of power before reaching its destination or a place to recharge. Although fuel prices are cheaper (roughly 60% less than gas-powered cars, according to a 2020 Consumer Reports study), refueling is more complicated. The same rules don't apply while traveling in electric cars. But as gas prices increase, so does the price tag on this kind of freedom. Unless you're traveling the lonely 167-mile stretch from Ely to Tonopah, Nevada, the ubiquity of gas stations is par for the course in the United States. Travelers can hop into internal combustion vehicles without worrying where or when they'll refuel next. This ongoing desire to navigate America's highways – sometimes despite the dangers of driving as a minority – expresses a universal craving for liberation through travel.įor the past century, gas-powered cars have been the means for finding open-road liberation. Victor Hugo Green's Negro Motorist Greenbook attempted to help Black travelers navigate racist roadways in Jim Crow-era America, while early iterations of Bob Damron's travel guides gave gay men a map to hidden communities in unlikely places. The tales may range from Jack Kerouac's poetic musings to Thelma and Louise's feminist quest, but they're connected by an ingredient more American than Huckleberry Finn – the search for freedom.įinding freedom on the open road hasn't always been easy. Road trips are a cornerstone of US culture, immortalized in so many novels, films and songs they've inspired a genre all their own. Plan a drive on America's most iconic road tripsīixby Creek Bridge on Highway #1 © Michael Urmann / Shutterstock The all-American road trip Forty-five states and the District of Columbia currently provide incentives like tax cuts and rebates for EVs or plug-in hybrid vehicles, further fueling the race toward an electric future.īut if the future is electric, what does that mean for one of the country's time-honored traditions – the gas-powered road trip? In March, Google searches for electric vehicles reached their highest point in history, and this year, research company S&P Global expects EV sales to reach nearly 900,000.īy 2030, Americans will purchase an estimated 4.7 million EVs – a trend supported by local governments. In 2021, EV sales in the US more than doubled the previous year, with 608,000 new cars hitting the highway. The timing couldn't be better – as gas prices soar and concerns over climate change reach a fiery crescendo, interest in EVs is hitting all-time highs. Automotive heavyweights from Ford to Volkswagen announced similar plans, promising to invest billions in developing EVs and their related infrastructure. In the past year, President Joe Biden pledged to replace the federal government's fleet of roughly 650,000 cars with electric vehicles (EVs) and introduce 500,000 new charging stations within a decade. Gas guzzlers beware: electric cars are catching on quicker than the Electric Slide at a sweet sixteen, and it's only a matter of time before an American shift toward sustainability convinces drivers to fall in line.
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