With the price of gasoline approaching a national average of $4 per gallon, it is not surprising that most people are not considering crossing the country via a car or truck. However, one group thinks differently.
An event that has been sponsored by the Men’s Health magazine, called the Electric Car Challenge of 2012 hopes to set a record by driving to Los Angeles from New York, roughly 3,000 miles, without making a stop at any gas stations.
The trip will be made in a Ford Focus Electric and will require between 40 and 55 stops for recharging plus crowd sourcing and the kindness of people to ensure one dead battery does not ruin the cross country effort.
The event organizers feel the team will arrive at the Santa Monica Pier in between 10 and 12 days. Along the way, the team will promote environmental challenges and fitness challenges in each of the numerous 2 to 4 hour stops for recharging.
They also we bring to light, for good or bad, the challenges that still exist for wide scale acceptance by U.S. consumers of electric vehicles. The largest among them is the range anxiety, as consumer’s fear they will run out of charge between the few and far between charging stations.
Due to the infrastructure being insufficient, the majority of electric vehicles are small consumer vehicles, but that could change if more charging stations were constructed.
