Duo makes Fayette stop on EV road trip

Jun. 19—Daphne Dixon and Alyssa Murphy are going from one United States coast to another with a very specific purpose.

Dixon and Murphy, with Live Green Connecticut, recently embarked on a cross-country electric vehicle road trip. The venture brought them through the New River Gorge area on Thursday, June 9 and Friday, June 10.

The women are undertaking their 4,350-mile quest in a Ford Mustang Mach-E all-wheel drive EV, and they arrived at Hawks Nest State Park in Ansted Thursday evening ahead of a special demonstration Friday at the lodge parking lot.

"We want to demonstrate that it's safe for two women to drive from one coast to the other, cross country, in an electric vehicle, and do it safely," Dixon said after Friday's presentation. "We just want to show that there's a lot of charging infrastructure that's been developed, and it's coming every day; people don't really know about it."

The women staged their first demonstration event in Connecticut on June 5 before departing on their cross country jaunt on June 6 from Fairfield, Conn. Their aim, Dixon said, is to travel through 16 states and end in Sacramento, Calif., on June 27. Along the way, they plan 27 demonstration events where they will stop and interact with the public and share their story.

"More importantly than us sharing our story, we want to get feedback from people," said Dixon. "We want to hear their stories. We want to hear what their concerns are. We want to learn from them what's holding them back (from transitioning to an EV)."

Dixon said that, so far, there were original challenges in charging scenarios at the hotels in which they have stayed, but hotel representatives helped them work through those challenges.

Arriving at Hawks Nest Thursday was "no different than having an internal combustion engine," she said. "We got here, we parked and we checked in. It was like no extra time. There are places like Hawks Nest, where it's just like parking a regular car."

During the day Friday, Dixon also discussed the duration of charging a car, which varies depending on the battery level at the start. "It charges fastest when you don't get below 30 percent." At times, when stopping for a meal, often they've found that "the car's done (charged) before we are."

"I don't own an electric vehicle," Dixon said. "I've been behind the wheel of a lot, probably 10 or 12, EVs, so I've driven them. I've never done this kind of trip with an EV long distance." Getting used to the EV charging process wasn't difficult, she said. "I think it was harder for me when I first learned how to pump gas."

Among the other areas of discussion for Dixon Friday were the availability of free charging stations as well as the apps necessary to access some stations that might not be free. "For a first-timer, the charging has been really easy."

While consumers would have to expend more financially in the beginning to purchase an electric vehicle than a regular vehicle, driving an EV could have great benefits in a time of, say, higher gas prices at the pump that the country is now experiencing, Dixon said. More importantly, using an electric vehicle helps the environment tremendously, she stressed. "About 40 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions comes from tailpipe emissions, so we all know at some level — and research proves — that emissions contribute to cancer and a variety of childhood (asthma and other) diseases.

"The most impactful part about driving an electric vehicle is I know when I'm driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains and see all this beautiful country, that I'm not contributing to (diseases, or illness in children). I'm not causing any more damage to our beautiful earth."

Dixon says she is "actively seeking" the right EV to purchase for her own use. The vehicle she currently drives is a 2008 model that has 115,000 miles on it. "I typically own my vehicles for a very long time. ... Like anybody else, I have practical needs that I need my vehicle to meet. I need a dependable, reliable vehicle that has enough range and safety and space. There are more and more (electric) vehicle models coming out."

Dixon said she thinks that some people balk at a higher initial cost for an electric vehicle but don't factor in that they won't be paying high gas prices later down the line. Also, EVs don't use oil, and overall maintenance costs are less, she said.

"I just encourage people to be curious about electric vehicles," she said. "I know a lot of people are not at all ready to buy one, or they have a bias against them, or they're not at all interested. You don't have to go out and buy one tomorrow. You could go to a demonstration event and look at one. You can test drive one. You can learn a little bit about it."

To follow Dixon's and Murphy's journey, visit https://www.facebook.com/LifeontheEVHighway, or seek more information at evroadtrip.org.

Marty Weirick, vice president of the West Virginia Electric Auto Association, was among those on hand Friday. Weirick himself drives a 2018 Tesla Model 3 EV which has about 92,000 miles on it, and he has used it on several long trips. "I've never been close to running out of charge."

According to Weirick, Tesla charging availability is "really, really good." Tesla has 13 fast chargers in West Virginia, he noted. He also has a Tesla SUV electric vehicle on order.

"Your main charging station is in your garage," Weirick said. When on a trip, information detailing charging stations is available in your vehicle while you travel, as well as on several apps. "I might spend five minutes a day planning out where we're going to stop and charge." Taking breaks on the highway, he says, "Sometimes the car is ready to go before I'm ready to go."

He said he would like to see another EV charging station available somewhere along U.S. 19 in the Fayetteville area.

Weirick also said the WVEAA has a program in which they will provide non-profits and local governments with electric charging equipment if they agree to install it and make it available to the public. For more, visit http://www.wveaa.org/.

According to the West Virginia State Parks website, Destination (level 2) Universal and Tesla electric vehicle charging stations are available at Blackwater Falls, Cacapon, Canaan Valley, Chief Logan, Hawks Nest, Pipestem, Stonewall, Twin Falls and Tygart Lake. The stations are free to use for both overnight guests and daytime visitors. Joe Baughman, superintendent of Hawks Nest State Park, said the four charging stations (three Tesla and one Universal) at Hawks Nest have been available since 2015.

"When we first installed them, electric vehicles weren't really popular yet, and you would see more Tesla vehicles out here than anything else," he said. "As electric vehicles evolved, as Chevy and Ford and others have gotten additional cars out here, we're starting to see as many of them as Tesla, if not more. There's somebody out here charging almost every day."

While college students on the way to or from home were originally the primary users, more and more families now take advantage of the free stations, Baughman noted. "Normally we have a picnic table set up in the parking lot. Folks will stop in, they'll put their car on charge, and they may bring in a lunch or dinner" or venture into the park's restaurant for a bite and visit the park itself. "They come back out and their car is charged and they're ready to go."

Visitors to park lodges look first for a swimming pool and a restaurant when making their choice to visit or not, he said, and charging stations have become part of the equation more and more. "Now that electric cars are becoming more and more popular, now they're starting to look at that. Is there a charger? How close is it? And having it right here at the park, we're starting to see more and more folks with electric vehicles using this as a destination."

Among the other participants in Friday's event coordinated by the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce were Kelly Bragg, of the Clean Cities program with the West Virginia Office of Energy; and Andy Davis, of the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, who discussed local efforts to boost business growth through partnerships in the region. Ansted Mayor Steve Pridemore was among the others present.

"We are happy to host the EV tour in our little towns and are proud to boast the electric vehicle charging stations in Fayette County, WV," said Becky Sullivan, executive director of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce. "As one of the first locations with a charging station, Hawks Nest looks forward to welcoming more electric car owners as well as other guests at the newly-renovated Hawks Nest State Park lodge."

According to a release from the chamber of commerce, there is an electric vehicle charging station at Rifrafters campground in Fayetteville. Also, the Sheetz in the Bradley/Mount Hope area offers a charging location. For more information, visit https://fayettecounty.com/

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