There is no single right way
Most articles about electric road trips read as though there were exactly one solution: optimise. Squeeze the range, minimise the stops, conquer the desert.
I know three people who drive the same road – Los Angeles to Las Vegas on the I-15 – and none of them does it like the others. All three arrive. That's the real point of this article: range anxiety is rarely a technical problem. It's a pace problem.
The technical side – charging curves, the 80% rule, weather, elevation – is covered in detail in our long-distance EV driving post. This one is about something else: which type you are.
Martin: the calculator
Martin is one of our test pilots – his trip was provided free of charge.
Martin regularly drives Las Vegas to Colorado with a rooftop tent, and he plans his routes before setting off. He wants the numbers to add up in advance.
The most useful tip I know on this subject comes from him: going uphill changes consumption drastically. Not slightly – drastically. Plan a route by distance while ignoring the elevation and you'll arrive at the top with far less reserve than you expected.
On the I-15 that isn't theory. The road climbs over Cajon Pass (around 3,780 ft) and later Mountain Pass (around 4,730 ft). Not alpine, but not flat either, and the battery notices.
Martin's approach is entirely legitimate. For people who like knowing where they stand before they leave, it's the right one. That way of thinking is exactly why we built Klausy – the concierge that runs the route including elevation in advance, so you're not guessing en route.
Remo: the one who just drives
Remo is also a test pilot – his trip was likewise provided free of charge.
Remo has camped for years and simply doesn't think about charging any more. He told me he did the route with a single charging stop. Stop once, charge, carry on.
That works – and it isn't bravado. The I-15 is one of the best-served charging corridors in the United States. Drive a long-range model, leave full, skip the detours, and few stops will do it.
As rough orientation, three points come up on this route:
- Yermo / Eddie World just before Barstow – many chargers, snacks, clean restrooms. Typical stop of roughly 20 to 30 minutes depending on state of charge.
- Baker – known for the giant thermometer, with a large charging site. Good for a quick top-up and stretching your legs.
- Primm right on the Nevada state line – the last place to fill up so you're not hunting for a free charger in Las Vegas itself.
These three are widely known I-15 waypoints, not a personal recommendation from my own logbook – I drive this road differently, which brings me to the next part.
Me: the one who takes her time
I drive this road deliberately differently. If you want to know how to get it over with quickly, Martin and Remo are the people to ask. It has never interested me – I have never been in a hurry on this road, and that is precisely the point.
For camping we go by the 3-3-3 rule, a well-established rule of thumb: no more than about 300 miles a day, at your site by around 3pm, at least three nights in the same place.
Travel that way and the charging question doesn't arise. You charge overnight where you sleep. You charge while you eat. The battery is never the issue because it never gets low.
That isn't modesty, it's the whole reason for this kind of travel. Less really is more when camping: more time for the landscape, less time for the equipment. If you want to tick off the Southwest in four days, fly and rent a combustion car. If you want to see it, you don't need the speed anyway.
What actually decides your travel time
And now the point I haven't found in a single German trip report, even though it's practically the most important one:
Charging doesn't decide how long you need. Traffic does.
Same road, same car, same driver:
- Friday afternoon or the weekend, especially at night: around 6 hours.
- Midweek: 4 to 5 hours.
Las Vegas is the weekend destination for half of Southern California. The I-15 is packed outbound on Friday and inbound on Sunday – genuinely packed.
Weigh that up: a charging stop costs you 20 to 30 minutes. The wrong day of the week costs you two hours. And yet everyone worries about charging and nobody about the calendar.
That's something you only notice once you live here. Arrive from Germany on a fixed itinerary and you drive on the day the plan says – then wonder about the journey time.
Two things that genuinely are harder
So this doesn't turn into an advert – two things really are more demanding electric on this road than in a combustion car:
Speed costs disproportionately. Traffic on the I-15 moves at 75 to 80 mph (roughly 120–130 km/h). Aerodynamic drag rises with the square of speed, and real-world range drops noticeably at those speeds – depending on conditions, by as much as 20 to 30 per cent against the rated figure. That's not a fault, it's physics, and it applies to every EV.
Heat costs on top. In the Mojave, over 40 °C is normal in summer. The air conditioning then runs constantly, and that shows up in consumption. The best counter is unglamorous: pre-cool the cabin while the car is still plugged in. Whatever gets cooled at the charger doesn't have to come out of the battery later.
Both are plannable. Neither is a reason not to go. But leaving them out would be dishonest.
So which type are you?
If you like doing the maths first: Martin's way. Factor in the elevation, have the route calculated in advance, and nothing surprises you en route.
If you're experienced and just want to drive: Remo's way. The I-15 supports it.
If you're coming to look at things: mine. Travel midweek, drive 300 miles, be there by three. Then the range question never comes up at all.
There's no right answer here. There's only the version that suits you – and it helps enormously to know which before you book rather than after.