During the Spring Festival, driving an electric car home, the road took more time than usual, and the owner said that he wanted to change the car!
Whether rich or poor, it is a tradition for Chinese to go home for the New Year. After the start of the Spring Festival, most non-Spring Festival travelers will go home for the New Year, and most families with cars will also drive home.
First of all, it is difficult to buy a return ticket, but it is also very convenient to go home on Chinese New Year's Eve, generally a large family, it is convenient to take luggage by car, and directly take the car to visit relatives and friends on the way back, but out of the city, the transportation is inconvenient, this demand is far behind.
At the beginning of last year, I switched to a pure electric car, which has a rated range of 600 km, which is very convenient to drive in the city, has a charging station in the underground car park, and is very beautiful.
In the past, when I drove back to my hometown, I would take the train home. The return journey is 800 km, mostly on the highway, charging at rest stops for more than an hour in between, basically 9-10 hours.
This time, I planned to go back to my parents' house on Chinese New Year's Eve, take my family with me, and even take the tram home, but this time I really didn't plan to get out.
In all the process of turning on the air conditioner, at first due to the cold weather, the cruising range was about 6 folds, after getting on the highway at 8 o'clock in the morning, the cruising range decreased, at first it could drive 523km in time, after driving about 100km, the remaining mileage dropped to 320km, and then 140km, and then it was prompted that the remaining mileage was 240km, I think it was only about 380km.
The original plan was to charge at a rest stop, but I could only drive forward, and after driving 200 kilometers, I was worried that there would be no power halfway, so I ended up driving for 3 hours, driving another 300 kilometers, and found a rest stop to charge, but there were more than 70 kilometers left.
At the beginning of the new year, many cars queue up at service stations to charge. I waited in line for two hours and charged for an hour.
Based on previous experience, I decided to drive 250 km to recharge the battery because I thought it would only be around 300 km this time. I expected the number of kilometers and the decision was the right one. However, to my surprise, the train was crowded with people like me going home for the New Year, and the rest stop was just as crowded.
The time spent waiting for charging is estimated to be more than 5 hours. No way, we had to look at the map, got off at an intersection about 5 kilometers from the highway, chose a hotel with a charging station, put the car in the garage to charge, and then stayed overnight.
At 9 a.m. the next morning, I was driving home on the highway in a fully charged car, three hours to go.
I'm used to going out at 8 a.m. and preparing dinner around 6 p.m.
Since I left home at 8am and returned around 12 noon the next day, it also took 28 hours, i.e. 24 hours + 4 hours.
Of course, they didn't make it through the 28-hour journey, but that's the actual travel time and the hotel cost during that time.
In my experience, if the pure electric vehicle at home has a mileage of more than 350km, it is really difficult to drive a pure electric car at home on Chinese New Year's Eve. If you're driving a hybrid, if you're driving a slightly better car, such as refueling, engine oil, etc., the average charging process can be really unpredictable, and queuing for charging may be the norm.
If I were given another chance, I bet I wouldn't be home on a beautiful tram on such an important holiday as Chinese New Year's Eve, because I usually have nothing to do with it.