Listen to more episodes from “Electric Generation”
Episode Transcript:
Rick Denzien:
My childhood was so bizarre. My parents were both race car drivers. So, I was born into this world just full of gasoline and fossil fuel, soot and smoke and afterburn and everything else.
Chuck Nice VO:
Say hello to Rick Denzien. Rick is a guitar-slingin’ music man, based out of my hometown, Philadelphia. But Rick was not one of those kids who wanted to follow in his parents’ footsteps.
Rick Denzien:
As kids, my parents would drag us around to all of the race tracks. It was just so loud and smelly. It was horrible.
Chuck Nice VO:
Growing up, Rick realized he wanted to do something about pollution. With music in his soul, he became — ready for this? — a zero-emission musician. Rick holds eco-sustainability workshops and runs a recording studio off wind and solar power. But there’s one thing that’s always bugged him about the life of a musician: the driving.
Rick Denzien:
Our tour schedules are insane. One of the biggest problems that bands have is called routing. When you’re going from New York to Los Angeles, it makes perfect sense to try to do a bunch of stops in between New York and Los Angeles, right? So catch everybody in between. Instead what happens is you put out a call for a tour, and you’ll get, like, Bismarck, North Dakota, then you’ll get, like, Marathon, Florida, then you’ll get New York, and then you’ll get, like, all the way to Los Angeles. It’s insane. It’s insane. Right? And all that really ends up meaning is that the amount of carbon footprint that you’re putting down is going to be huge.
Chuck Nice VO:
Rick’s always loved electric cars. Big surprise, right? But with longer-range batteries and more charging available, Rick saw an opportunity. He and his wife booked a tour spanning Philadelphia to Los Angeles, and they planned to do the entire thing in an EV. They would show the music industry that it was possible to responsibly play gigs across the country, even for zero-emission musicians. Maybe their biggest problem was they only had a mid-sized sedan.
Rick Denzien:
We put a, uh, bed on one side so it would fold all the way from the driver’s seat, all the way into the trunk, so we got nice blankets, and then we figured out a way to put the guitar and the keyboard and all of our luggage. And in the front of this thing, there’s, there’s no engine up there. Right? There’s no engine. So, so guess what? We could put, like, five backpacks, all flipped around this way and that way and our towels on top. And we could stick it in the front of the car and, uh, there’s a little sub-trunk. So all of our travel gear and stuff like that would go in there. So, we were packed in there pretty good. [Laughs] So, on Christmas day we left, and we went out to Los Angeles, and we used 100% electric cars, and we found plenty of charge stations all along the way.
Chuck Nice VO:
What surprised Rick was just how straightforward it was to hit the open road in an EV — even when plans changed.
Rick Denzien:
We even had to divert. There was a, you know, a big storm coming through. One of those polar vortexes. So, we just diverted south. And one of the concerns that I hear people say, well, you know, where are you going to find a place to charge your car, right? And it turns out they’re everywhere. One of the coolest things about having an electric car is that you can charge it anywhere. So, you could be charging your phone on one outlet, and then charge your electric car on the other. You know, your phone is pretty small, and your electric car is going to have a big battery by comparison, so it’s going to take a long-ass time to charge, right? But it’ll still charge on a 110 outlet and it’ll charge on 220. So when we went to Nashville, we charged at a guest house’s stove outlet. So, you know, in California, I plugged into a dryer outlet and charged my car every day that way. Right? They didn’t have a charge station but they had a 220 outlet.
Chuck Nice VO:
Rick made his tour happen without emissions, and the man is not done yet.
Rick Denzien:
We’re going to do Canada next. I’ll just start at one end and see if I can get all the way up to Alaska. That would be the trick. See how far I can really get, you know?
Chuck Nice VO:
Welcome to “Electric Generation,” presented by Ford. I’m Chuck Nice, and this is the podcast where we look into how electrification is changing our country. Today, we address the electric elephant in the room — range. You might have heard this term “range anxiety.” This is the fear that your electric vehicle’s battery may run out before you find a place to charge. Well, today, we’re hearing from people who put their EVs to the ultimate long-distance test: the road trip. I’m about to speak to travel writer Elaine Glusac, who spent four electric-powered days on the road in Colorado.
Chuck Nice:
Elaine, it’s so nice to have you with us.
Elaine Glusac:
Hey, Chuck, thanks for having me on.
Chuck Nice:
So, tell me: First of all, as a travel writer, what is it that you like most about travel? I travel all the time. I’m going to be very honest, full disclosure: hate it!
Elaine Glusac:
Oh, OK. OK. Maybe you’re doing business travel and —
Chuck Nice:
I am, indeed.
Elaine Glusac:
Yeah, I think that’s different. You know, the kind of travel I do is, you know, sort of, sort of more for enlightenment, uh, or maybe adventure. I’m very interested in green travel, conservation and sustainability, and certainly, electric vehicles are a big part of that.
Chuck Nice:
Absolutely. You took a trip across Colorado, And, um, you know, it’s a pretty long-range trip.
Elaine Glusac:
You know, that trip was about four days.
Chuck Nice:
OK, well, that’s a significant trip to be on the road for four days in a car. You’re not only getting to know the car, if you’re with somebody else, you doggone sure get to know them, too.
Elaine Glusac:
That’s right! Yeah. Yeah. I was on my own. It would’ve been nice to have someone else to share all my anxiety with, but I was def- I was on my own, but —
Chuck Nice:
First of all, how did this come about?
Elaine Glusac:
They have 26 scenic byways in Colorado. And seven of them were electrified, meaning, they placed charging stations no farther than, I think it was, 50 miles apart. They wanted to ensure that people could take a pleasure trip. We know that there’s a lot of electrification on the interstates, but what about those country roads, which is where people really want to drive when they want to do a road trip. They want to get off the interstate. So we decided to try it out. ‘Cause what does that really mean? If you’re not an electric vehicle owner, what does it mean to actually go somewhere and drive an EV and drive somewhere, if you’re used to, you know, having a gas station on every corner?
Chuck Nice:
So, it’s cool. Like, on the one hand, you’re, you’re wearing a travel writer’s hat, but on the other hand, you’re kind of conducting a stress test of the infrastructure all at the same time.
Elaine Glusac:
And of my own personal, like, comfort. Yes.
Chuck Nice:
[Laughs] Exactly. Um, so, let me get your first impressions.
Elaine Glusac:
I thought the car was fascinating. Loved not emitting, loved not having to go to a gas station. The car handled really well. Apparently, the weight of the battery makes it hug the road in such a way that I was on these winding roads and canyons, and I was just like, oh, I can accelerate right through the curve. I mean, it was fun. Like, it was fun driving.
Chuck Nice:
You know, I’d never thought of this before, what you just said, the way the battery is situated. So, it just occurred to me that the battery is in the bottom of the middle of the car, which means that you’ve lowered the center of gravity for the car, because an engine, the car, the engine is up front. So it’s very, uh, front-loaded and top-heavy. So you’re, yeah, the hugging-the-road thing I never even thought of.
Elaine Glusac:
Oh yeah. It was so funny. I was, I was going through this canyon. I think it was called Bear Canyon, near Golden, Colorado. And it’s a really popular road, because it’s super windy, and it follows this creek, and there’s canyon walls. It’s very dramatic, and it was all these, um, like, Harley Davidson drivers and me. I’m like, yeah, ’cause we can all, you know, like, pedal to the metal through the curves, you know. So it was fun to drive.
Chuck Nice:
I’m just loving the, uh, image of you in your little electric vehicle, surrounded by howlin’, growlin’ hogs, and they’re all like, baaaaaaaaah, and you are silent.
Elaine Glusac:
Silent. Exactly, hello!
Chuck Nice:
How did she sneak up on us?
Elaine Glusac:
[Laughs] Exactly.
Chuck Nice:
[Laughs] That’s super cool. That’s super cool. What were the challenges?
Elaine Glusac:
The challenge began with just finding a vehicle, a rental vehicle, that is. Rental car companies have made commitments to bringing electric vehicles into their fleets. But, when I looked around and tried to find one, they weren’t available, at least in Colorado, where I knew I could drive. So, I actually found an EV owner not far from the Denver airport, took an Uber over there, borrowed his car, and so that was hurdle number one. You know, secondly, I think just the comfort level with the battery. I wasn’t sure if, you know, I was going to get over Vail Pass for example, which is over 10,000 feet and, you know, you’re sort of watching the battery like, you know, grind down really, really fast, you know, as you’re going up and up and up the hill, and going, “I hope I make it to Vail”, um, which, you know, cut to the chase, I did, um, because I gained some battery charge going downhill. Um, so, there was a lot of, I felt like there was a lot of learning curves, and then there’s just like the, “Hey, how do you, I’ve never charged up an EV. Like, how do I hook it up?” Like, there’s just some little, I would say, hurdles like that, but I wouldn’t call them big hurdles. Probably the biggest was just getting used to the battery life, and —
Chuck Nice:
Trying to navigate exactly what is actually left based upon the driving conditions, because I do know that, uh, your driving conditions, just like in a gas-powered car, though, your driving conditions will determine, uh, the amount of mileage that you were able to get out of a trip.
Elaine Glusac:
That’s true. And you know, what I found very interesting is that wherever I went to plug in, um, I found really enthusiastic EV owners, like people that are, you know, obviously own them. Um, and so I would just go, “Hey, you know, like, how do I plug this in?” I found the EV community to be, like, super friendly and welcoming and, like, helpful along the way to a novice like me. So, I hope that encourages some people to give it a try, because you know, there’s a lot of stuff you’re not going to know, but you’re going to figure it out pretty quick. I did. And I’m not very tech-y.
Chuck Nice:
Yeah. Well, you know, that’s, it’s, it’s great to know that there’s a community involved. So, when you’re quick-charging, how long does it take, and how far can you go? In a real-world sense.
Elaine Glusac:
Yeah, so, I only used one fast charger. Now the fast charges you have to pay for, and I think I ended up paying, I think you could get away with like 20 bucks for a charge, which isn’t bad for your whole trip, if you think about it. That’s great. I use the slow chargers, and those were free. And I charged super-convenient times, like, overnight. Like, if I was at a hotel, I just put it in the parking garage, and they had chargers. And, by the way, you get rock-star parking if you have an EV, because all the chargers are, like, right in front. They’re the best.
Chuck Nice:
The first thing you notice now when you walk up to any hotel is that, out front, all the electric cars are being charged.
Elaine Glusac:
Totally. Yeah, so I would pull into a small town, like, at lunch, you know, I, I pulled into this really cool town called Buena Vista, um, up in the Colorado Rockies. And I’m, like, I’m going to go grab some lunch. Oh, I’m just going to plug it into this free charger. I plug it in over my lunch, I’d get maybe 20 miles, but I really was only going, maybe, another 30 miles. And I already had, you know, half, half a tank, so to speak, half a battery. So, yeah. It was just really hard for me to, like, learn the lingo, really. But, um, so I never was really in trouble, but I found the chargers to be so convenient. They provided peace of mind.
Chuck Nice:
So, what’s exciting about that, right there, is that when these cars are everywhere, which they will be, the experience that you’re talking about going to lunch will be, well, I’m going shopping, or I’m going to work, or I’m stopping off wherever. And, when you pay the parking meter, you’ll plug in at the same time, you know, because it sounds to me that, in order to assuage your, uh, range anxiety, it makes you feel comfortable to have, like, half a charge, you know what I mean? I’m good to go. I know that nothing’s going to happen to me, because I have half a charge, and I have friends like that who are, um, the same way with their gas tank.
Elaine Glusac:
Right. Exactly.
Chuck Nice:
The exact same way. And then I have friends that just like, listen, if it drops below the “E” —
Elaine Glusac:
[Laughs] How much time do I have?
Chuck Nice:
How far can I get? [Laughs] So it’s, it’s almost like they’re playing a game of chicken with the gas tank.
Elaine Glusac:
Oh, I’m married to one of those. I know. [Laughs]
Chuck Nice:
What would you say to anybody that might be on the fence about this, aside from the fact that, you know, if you wait long enough, you’re going to have to get one of these, no matter, no matter what.
Elaine Glusac:
Yeah, that’s right. It’s interesting. We talk about this in our household, too. Like, well, what about the places that we go where it’s not electrified? Like, what are we going to do? Are we going to have one of each, you know, like a traditional vehicle and EV? And, in talking to other people that I met on the road, I thought this was an interesting solution. One man told me he said, you know, I love my EV and we use it for everything. But there are times, like, we want to go into the mountains, like seriously, go backcountry skiing or whatever. This is a Coloradoan of course. And he said, we are saving so much money that we put that aside and we have, like, a little savings account for a rental car. So that, like, if we want to do something where we think the EV won’t work, we just rent a car, and I’m like, well, that’s it. That, that works for me.
Chuck Nice:
That’s brilliant.
Elaine Glusac:
I thought that was a great compromise, because there is going to be this transition. There’s going to be a transition period where, you know, like you said, we either want them or we’re going to have to have them. But we’re going to have to learn how to, how does that work with our lifestyle? Like, it’s not going to work for every trip.
Chuck Nice:
Right.
Chuck Nice:
The American culture is uniquely a car culture. What do you think is the lore of the great American road trip, and, and what is the great American road trip for you?
Elaine Glusac:
Oh gosh, there is just something uniquely, I, I dunno. Maybe it’s just our heritage in cars. There’s something so uniquely American about traveling by car. It’s that individual sense of freedom. You’re not on anyone’s time schedule. You’re the pilot. You’re calling all the shots. You’re calling the stops. And, I think everybody sort of embraces that sense of, like, freedom of the open road. I personally find it, you know, I travel a lot by plane and other forms of transportation, but when I’m in a car, I just, I sort of feel a little bit freer. So, yeah, I think it’s that sort of limitless horizon, sort of, get in your car, and it’s like, “Hey, what’s over that next hill?” You know, I think I’m going to go check that out.
Chuck Nice:
Oh wow, you are an adventurist. Look at that. It’s like, look, I’m just going to get in the car and drive.
Elaine Glusac:
No, man. I, I know I was like, it’s, I don’t know if it’s a recessive gene or just, like, a, an abnormal gene, but I definitely have it.
Chuck Nice:
Wow. That’s very cool. I mean, for me, personally, sometimes I do that, but it’s just to get away from my kids.
Elaine Glusac:
Well, yeah, there’s that too. [Laughs]
Chuck Nice:
So, let me ask you this. Let’s just say battery technology gets to a place where we are able to go — what’s, a car is normally about 300 miles a tank, uh, it depends. An SUV can be less, believe it or not. So, you know, batteries are actually getting up there. They’re actually gaining some parity. But, let’s just say battery technology gets to the place where, you know, you can get about 350 miles on a battery charge. What would be your road trip?
Elaine Glusac:
Oh, interesting. You know? OK. I was going to say California, but you can already like, California’s very well plugged in already, but I was thinking about a great drive, if you’ve never done it. Um, I, I hope everyone does this drive. The drive down to Key West from Miami. It’s amazing. It’s, it’s actually only 120 miles.
Chuck Nice:
You’re the third person. Now, I, this is so weird. You are the third person to tell me that the drive from Miami to Key West is a must-do.
Elaine Glusac:
It is, well, there’s a bridge that’s seven miles long. And you feel like, and you’ve got these pelicans, like, flying next to you, and you feel like a bird. It’s just so beautiful.
Chuck Nice:
OK. That is such a winner of an answer. You got me wanting to hop a flight to Miami right now, because — I can’t believe it. OK. So, that’s the trip. That’s fantastic. Elaine, thank you so much for being with us.
Elaine Glusac:
Hey, thank you for having me on.
Chuck Nice VO:
Well, there you have it. The great American road trip just got greater, because now, it’s better for our environment. Full disclosure, because I don’t think it would be right to keep this from you: I’m not a big fan of long road trips in the car. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a Ford F-150 Lightning or a Mustang MACH-E, both of which get about 300 miles on a charge. Maybe if I had that, I’d change my mind. Ford, are you listening?
“Electric Generation” is presented by Ford and produced by Yahoo Creative Studios, At Will Media and me, Chuck Nice. The At Will Media Producers are Mitch Bluestein, Josh Farnham, Drew Beebe and Tina Turner. Editing and sound design by Andrew Holtzberg. Thank you to the zero-emission musician Rick Denzien and, of course, Elaine Glusac for freeing me from my range anxiety. Check out Elaine’s road trip photos and more from “Electric Generation” on TechCrunch. And thanks to you, in advance, for giving us a great rating and subscribing to our podcast. The opinions given on this show are personal and do not represent those of Ford Motor Company, or anybody else with an ounce of sense. I’m Chuck Nice and make sure you plug in next time, to “Electric Generation.” Thanks for listening.
From Ford:
To find out more about how Ford is leading the way toward a more sustainable, electric future, visit ford.com/built-for-america.