An EV Roadtrip To Springfield—Which One? All Of Them! – CleanTechnica

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I recently came across a post by Terrible Maps on Facebook. In the post, it shows a map of the United States with a trip planned to visit Springfield. But, this isn’t just any trip to the closest Springfield—it’s a trip to ALL of them. It turns out that Springfield was an even more popular name for a town than I knew. It was already kind of a joke from the Simpsons, where you never know what state the show happens in, as the town’s geography can vary widely from episode to episode.

After thinking about it for a bit, I realized that maybe a trip to every Springfield would be a good benchmark for whether EVs are “ready for prime time”. After all, if they could get to every one of these same-named towns, it shows that the vehicles and the charging networks are up to a task so ridiculous that almost nobody would ever really do it.

But, after spending a half hour inputting all of the Springfields, plus a few others I came across, I found that I had choked A Better Route Planner!

Looking around the map, there were plenty of charging stations between these stops, so it seems unlikely that this was a problem of not being able to make a connection. It was probably just too much of a task for the software. Again, this is an extreme edge case that nobody should be ashamed of not being able to do, even ABRP.

So, I experimented with using different vehicle profiles to see if fewer charging stops would make it fly, at least software wise. Even with a hypothetical 1000-mile EPA Aptera (around 600-700 highway), the software just couldn’t cope. So, I had to start cutting out some of the Springfields that were close to other Springfields to cut down on numbers (sorry, Springfield, Virginia!).

This is ultimately the map ABRP came up with for this trip that nobody is likely to ever take in a car that doesn’t exist (hopefully, yet):

It’s a little Christmas-esque, isn’t it? But, whichever holiday you celebrate, it would be an epic journey that you’d likely need to cut down into bite-sized chunks for the purpose of trip planning. Plus, there are a number of missing Springfields on this map. Be sure to tell us what I missed in the comments.

What This Trip Would Be Like

In my quest to find the Simpsons’ hometown, I started the journey in Springfield, Texas. There are actually two Springfields in Texas, and they aren’t that far from each other, so I didn’t lose much by deleting that one. If you’re from that second one, I’m sure it’s a nice town!

Next stops would be just outside of Beaumont, Texas, followed by just outside of Lafayette, Louisiana. The super aero car would arrive in Springfield, Louisiana with 20%, just enough to get to Hammond for the next charge. Then, on to Gulfport and Pensacola for more charging, and then to Springfield, Florida. Again, I’m sure it’s a nice town, but I know just about nothing about it. Let us know in the comments if you have ever been there.

To get to Springfield, Georgia, the software recommends going to Tallahassee, Valdosta, and Kaycross for electrons. After a stop in the outskirts of Savanna, Springfield, Georgia is a short drive away. Because an Aptera is supposed to have so much range, it would be possible to just go right up to Columbia, South Carolina, which isn’t far from a Springfield I had to delete. Sorry!

Getting to Springfield means taking I-77 up to Charlotte, avoiding the downtown, and then going up to Statesville (a place I’ve actually charged at). Springfield, North Carolina is way out the middle of nowhere, but its in the Blue Ridge Mountains, so it’s nice!

Getting to the next two Springfields requires going on over the mountains into the valley, and then following it up across the state. Near Washington, DC, there are two Springfields and then another up near Philadelphia. You’d then continue on basically a straight line through New Jersey (another deleted Springfield), and then go on to Massachussetts.

The next one is quite a trip along the coast up into Maine, but avoiding Boston. Way up almost to Canada, there’s a Springfield, Maine that I know almost nothing about other than that it’s likely cold there compared to the desert I live in. Brrrr. You’d then want to backtrack to New Hampshire and Vermont, because both of those states have their very own Springfields.

After a charging stop in Albany, New York, you’d then head to Springfield again. Then, you’d follow I-88 and I-81 down into Pennsylvania to get to West Virginia’s Springfield. There’s really not a good way to hit the next several Springfields, so you’d have to make a loop through the Midwest and South, going to Springfields in Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin!

If you’re not all Springfielded out by then, you’d proceed to more Springfields in Minnesota, Nebraska, and Colorado. The Springfields start to be a LOT further apart as you head out west, because the next stop would be near Pocatello, Idaho. You’d then cut across Nevada, head over to Springfield, California, and then take I-5 up to Springfield, Oregon.

The whole trip would take 208 hours and 52 minutes and span almost 10,000 miles. If you were to break that down into 12-hour days, the trip would take you 18 days. But, if you wanted to take a more relaxed pace, you’d probably want to spend at least a month of your life taking this mostly pointless trip. And, this is in a very efficient EV that goes 3x further on each kWh of energy, so you’d probably spend an extra 2 weeks taking the average EV or spending around 2.5 months pulling a trailer with an electric pickup.

But, looking all along the route, it seems pretty clear that most any EV could make the trip. An Aptera was easier for the software to chew on, but our virtual aero car did pass a bunch of other stations along the way. Heck, with some more careful planning, I could probably do the trip in 3 months with my Bolt EUV pulling a small trailer.

Not that I would!

Featured image: a screenshot from A Better Route Planner (fair use).