A 525-mile EV road trip with the 2024 Genesis GV60

Electric vehicles are being pushed pretty hard these days. Be it the exciting new technology, the Tesla brand mythos and former market monopoly, the alleged environmental benefits or the supposed political agendas, nearly every manufacturer is (or at least was) scrambling to develop as many EVs as possible.

Well, after a week and an 11-hour road trip in one of the most celebrated EVs, the Genesis GV60, we have questions. A lot of questions. Like, how do EV owners have enough time off to road trip with their vehicle? Do they road trip at all? And if they do, do they enjoy all the extra time it takes? 

Timed travel

We found EVs to be an interesting option for a very small customer segment. But, they’re probably not the best option for anyone who likes to freely travel outside their immediate living area. 

All of this is to take nothing away from the greatness of the Genesis GV60. It’s a good car, EV or not. It’s stylish, full of high-end materials and definitely one of the more unique offerings among the EV lineup. We really enjoyed our time in it, as we did two years ago. 

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Photo courtesy of Genesis

Starting off

After an event in Colorado, my wife and I drove the GV60 from Denver, Colorado, to Bountiful, Utah. It was a 525 mile trip. While we could have gone the shorter route home, up and through Wyoming, we chose the path along I-70 with more fast chargers available.

We’ve taken the I-70 trip from Denver to Bountiful several times. It normally takes about eight hours. On our first leg of the journey, we drove for about 30 minutes at freeway speeds before we needed to make a potty break. By then we had dropped 40 miles. 

From there, it was on to Edwards, about 110 miles away. We left Denver with 234 miles of range, and we arrived in Edwards with 94 miles left in the battery. The rapid decrease left us a little anxious about the forthcoming longer stretches of highway, especially given the charger situation.

After locating the local charging station at a gas station, the first two chargers we tried wouldn’t read our credit card. Thankfully the third charger worked, but only after we uploaded our card to the Electrify America app. And then we waited. 

Photo courtesy of Genesis

Quick dip

We were only down to about 40% range, and it took 18 minutes to get to an 80% charge. So all in all we were stopped for just over 45 minutes at our first charging stop, 15 minutes of those being spent trying to get the chargers to work. We ended up charging to just over 90% and it cost us $25. 

For reference, it takes us about 10 minutes per stop in our Kia Telluride and costs about the same to fill half the tank with gas. In other words, we can fill our Telluride from nearly empty to full for about $60 and it gives us about 400 miles of range. This EV cost us $25, took 45 minutes and gave us 110 miles of range. 

For fun, we calculated what it would cost to drive that same distance in a 2024 Ram 1500 TRX, a 700-horsepower, full-time four-wheel drive, 6,000 pound supercharged V8 behemoth. It only would have been $14 more than the cost of driving this EV.

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Photo courtesy of Genesis

Range anxiety

Our next stop was Grand Junction, 135 miles from Edwards. We charged from 30% to 93% there. It took about 20 minutes and cost $30. The charging station was in a random parking lot, far from bathrooms or food. So all in, we were up to about $60 in charging costs, and we weren’t even halfway home yet. After about five hours on the road, we felt exhausted. With two more stops, it looked like a long night ahead.

If you’re the type of person who really, really likes to take their time on a road trip, you will love driving an EV out into the boonies. But if you have kids, or would rather not spend all day in the car, you might want to consider other transportation. 

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Mounting costs

After leaving Grand Junction, we started cruising at 80 mph and lost about 3 miles of range per minute. We left Grand Junction at 92% charged and just an hour later we were at 47% with 100 miles of range left. It’s a good thing we were stopping at Green River, because the next stretch to Provo would be the longest. 

At our stop in Green River, we arrived around 9 p.m. With nearly four hours to go, we were getting tired.

Photo courtesy of Genesis

Last stop

We arrived in Provo at 11:40 p.m.; we’d left Denver at 1:30 p.m. So by the time we got home, it was just over an 11-hour drive — three hours longer than when driving a regular internal combustion car. As far as cost, we spent about $140 to charge up. Driving the Ram 1500 TRX that gets about 10 mpg? All total, it would have been about $180.

Final thoughts

Consider road tripping in an EV a lifestyle choice. It added three hours to our drive and wasn’t exactly inexpensive. And mentally, you’ll need to be OK with taking your sweet time wherever you’re headed.

We’re sure the far more expansive Tesla charging network would make longer road trips more feasible, but still. We just want to get in, get out and keep moving with our snacks from Maverik — not be stuck in some random parking lot for a half hour. 

Photo courtesy of Genesis

Comfortably slow

That said, cars such as the Genesis GV60 are amazing for staying close to home. Though we were in it for more time than anticipated, the GV60 was an incredibly nice place to spend time.

It’s luxurious, comfortable and very quick. It’s also quite eye-catching and one of the more stylish and unique vehicles on the road. It charges just about as fast as anything else out there and would be an excellent daily driver if you have a charger at home.

It can feel heavy and a little unsettled over bumps, but that’s not unique to this EV. Overall we really enjoyed our second go around with the GV60 and heartily agree with all the accolades it’s received.

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*KSL Cars does not endorse any vehicles. The views or opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not reflect the views or opinions of KSL.com or its employees.