Roadtrip to Austin from Houston

170 miles total distance from Montrose in Houston to South Austin.

I had done this trip on my own before with a Tesla Model 3 but wanted to do it again with a non-Tesla car to test out the experience outside the Tesla supercharging network. This time around I embarked on the trip with a Ford Mach-e.

Altogether, the trip was great fun and left me pleasantly surprised by the charging infrastructure currently available between Houston and Austin.

Start - early coffee and first leg of the trip

We started the trip with 69% charge on the Mach E which gave us about 170 miles of range. We got ourselves ready and put in the directions for our charging stop, which was in Columbus.

• In reality, we could have easily made the trip in one full charge if we had simply charged the car to 100% overnight.

Charge # 1 - coffee break and quick top-up at Electrify America in Columbus

Amount of charge - 26 kWh

Charging time - 35 mins

We arrived at the Electrify America charging station in Columbus after ~1hr on the road with 41% on the battery which is just under 100 miles of range. The station is located off route 10 adjacent to the Valero gas station which has a Snappy’s Market you can use while you are charging.

We left the charging station with 80% charge and went back on route 10 to tackle the next 90 miles to get to Austin. We really enjoyed the Mach-e’s sound system and quiet cabin which I would say was comparable to those of the Model 3 and Y, VW ID.4, and IONIQ 5.

Charge # 2 - Chargepoint Level 2 station at Barton Springs parking lot.

I wanted to make sure we arrived in Austin with at least 40% charge so we could make the most of the day without having to worry about finding a spot to charge as soon as we got there. Travelling with EVs does require the slightest bit of additional planning to make sure you always have enough charge not to worry about where you’ll get your next top up.

We cruised into Austin very comfortably after our charging stop at Columbus. Since it was still pretty early in the day we decided to have an early lunch and then go straight to Barton Springs. The great thing about EVs is that you can leave them charging as you go about enjoying your day anytime you get a chance to park somewhere with a charging station.

We parked the car at a Chargepoint station in Zilker Rd. We left it charging for about 3hrs which gave us an additional 60 miles, plenty for our driving around town, and cost us just $2.16!

Charge # 3 - Dinner and comedy show in Downtown Austin

After our time at Barton Springs we went back to the car and then went to check in at our AirBnB. We stayed south of downtown, just a few blocks away from South Congress street. We decided to take the car with us for the evening since paying for parking would end up being about the same as paying for a roundtrip with Uber. We were there during SXSW so Ubers were pretty pricey!

Also we saw it as a good opportunity to top up the battery and have it ready for our trip back the next day. We parked at the Google building which has a few charging stations available and left the car charging while we went for dinner and then a comedy show.

We came back after a couple of hours to a battery at 86% charge! Parking cost us $24 and charging was ~$6. Albeit a little expensive for parking but much cheaper than taking two Ubers at ~$25 per trip. Plus, the charging itself was not the expensive part.

Charge #4 - Electrify America in Columbus on our way back to Houston

We stopped at the same charging station in Columbus on our way back for a quick top up just to tide us over. This stop was much quicker than the one we did on our way to Austin since we knew we were going straight home.

We stopped for 15 minutes and charged up to 70%. We got back home with 40% left on the battery.

Final thoughts and tips from our trip

If you are taking your EV on the road for a 100+ mile trip, there really is no beating starting with a full battery. Although we did not have any issues starting at 70%, we could’ve comfortably made it to Austin without stopping if we had left Houston with a full battery. That said, most EVs in the market come with a range of 200+ miles, and more are coming with 300+, so not having a full battery is no longer a major concern.

Because we strategically took advantage of convenient charging where we parked for our activities in Austin, this took care of itself while we enjoyed our visit. The charging was low cost and we were all set for our return trip without taking us out of our way.

Additionally, applications like PlugShare and Electrify America, make it really easy for anyone to plan appropriate charging stops along your route and once you get to your destination.

A savvy EV driver will always know where their next charging top up will come from, and if you wouldn't call yourself one yet, with a DriveFree plan from Octopus EV you’ll have access to all the support and knowledge you need to make any road trip with your EV a resounding success.

I hope you have enjoyed reading our experience taking an EV in what is a fairly common trip people in Houston make. Enjoy the short video we put together for it as well! - linked here

P.S: Austin is awesome!