And they’re off: Bridge begins five-day EV road trip around Lake Michigan

• Meet the Bridge journalists who are amid a five-day road trip in a rented Chevy Bolt
• They hope to make it 1,000 miles around Lake Michigan
• They have snacks. But ‘honestly the fact that it's even feasible is surprising to me,’ one says

The snacks are packed, cell phones charged, and the route is mapped out as well as it’ll ever be.

Bridge Michigan journalists Paula Gardner, Kelly House and Asha Lewis began their five-day, 1,000-mile road trip in a rented Chevy Bolt electric vehicle on Monday.

The hope is to make it from Ann Arbor to Lansing to Muskegon and up to the Mackinac Bridge before traversing the Upper Peninsula and trekking south into Wisconsin.  

Related: 

• EV road trip update: Meeting our new ride, first twinge of range anxiety
• Bridge is taking a Michigan road trip in an EV. Come along for the ride

The goal is to experience Michigan’s charging infrastructure first-hand as the state commits billions of taxpayer dollars into transitioning away from gas power. Look for their travelogues in newsletters, social media and Bridgemi.com. 

Before departing, the trio discussed the trip with Bridge executive editor Joel Kurth, when they still weren’t sure what kind of car they would get from the rental agency. Here are highlights:

This is going to be fun. Why are we doing this?

Kelly: We want to know first-hand what the EV experience will be like, as Michigan is amid this huge transition that affects pretty much every aspect of our state and we’ve done significant reporting on it this year. 

Paula: It’s been heavy, heavy reporting, and now it’s time to put it in action. The election is coming up. This is all going to get more and more politicized. The time to do this is now before any policies change.

Kelly: Also, it’s summer in Michigan!

This is something a bit different for Bridge. What do you think we can get from this trip? Why now?

Kelly: EVs have been around for a while now, but we are reaching the point in the growth curve. Everyone involved in this transition is expecting a ramp-up that leads to exponential growth in the coming years. So much of this hinges on user experience and whether it’s fun and easy to drive EVs. Many auto buyers right now are asking themselves this question so I think we can do a public service too.

Any fears?

Asha: We get stranded. That’s a big fear.

Paula: The UP is just a bit of an unknown, and some parts (are so remote) it feels dangerous. I remember being up there one time when we made it into a gas station right after they had closed and they reopened it for us at like, 6 o'clock in the evening. And I just remember like, that moment of like, “God, dang it. It's different up here, right?”

Any surprises so far?

Paula: Figuring out where to stay is a big surprise, especially booking a place where we can just spend one night where there is an accessible charger and three beds. The filters for vacation searches kept getting smaller and smaller.

Asha: Honestly the fact that it's even feasible is surprising to me.

Kelly:  I’m surprised how little you can plan in some regards when you don’t know what car you’re going to get. So much of the charging infrastructure now involves different kinds of plug points that (vary) depending on what kind of car you have and where you can stop to charge. So it’s hard to plan ahead and know where to stop. Talking to EV users, I've been really surprised at people figuring out how  guerrilla charge to use off-the-radar places

Alright, this is the moment of truth. Let’s lock it in: Total odometer mileage predictions for all five days.

Paula: 1,189

Asha: 1,100

Kelly: 1,250