Route 66 & Beyond: Getting Serious Again for 2026

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If you’ve been checking the timestamps on this site, you’ve probably noticed a bit of a gap. Aside from a recent news roundup, things have been quiet here since 2024. I haven’t been idle—I’ve been busy over at CleanTechnica, working on other projects, and handling some family caretaking duties—but the “boots on the ground” mission of Charge To The Parks definitely hit a lull during 2025

For a while, I was “between” EVs, doing some towing with a gas-guzzling Suburban and trying to figure out the next move when an EV conversion project didn’t work out like I had hoped.

But recently, I had an “aha” moment that changed everything. I looked around and realized that the momentum for EV adoption and the infrastructure to support it was doing better than ever, but politicians and the mainstream corporate media were saying that EVs had “stalled”. The “experts” were saying towing on electric power was too hard, the naysayers were getting louder about even small EVs being undesired by the public, and charging infrastructure projects under the NEVI program had been stalled out by the very same government that blamed others for the lack of progress.

I realized that we’re in an “all hands on deck” moment, and that projects to show people that EVs and clean technology are not only useful but superior were needed now more than ever. It was time to not only get serious, but take things to another level.

With help from friends and family who I had been helping, I had the opportunity to do exactly that.

The New Rig: Wheeling, Dealing, and 170 kWh

Getting back into a dedicated EV tow vehicle wasn’t as simple as walking onto a lot and putting a down payment on the table. It took some serious “wheeling and dealing” to make the numbers make sense, but I finally landed in a Chevrolet Silverado EV LT and even managed to drive off without a payment.

But, in true “don’t laugh, it’s paid for” style, this isn’t the $100,000+ RST trim you see in the glossy commercials. This is the LT with the 170 kWh battery pack that you can get for $20,000 cheaper. It’s got less range and less bells and whistles, but really, it’s the “sweet spot” for someone like me who actually uses a truck like a truck. It loses around 30 miles of range compared to the max range pack when towing, but the springs are unburdened enough that I can get away without using a weight distribution hitch that needs to be hooked and unhooked at many charging stops.

I’ve already been putting it through its paces, even testing the 112-mph top speed out in the Chihuahuan Desert (in Mexico, and for science, obviously). And, more importantly, I’ve figured out that it still gets usable range when towing!

Speaking of the trailer: forget the brand name. It was built when I was in high school, and I have a growing number of grey hairs on my head. What matters is what’s inside (and on top of) it. I’ve been busy with some DIY “Amateur Power Onboard” setups and efficiency mods. From custom battery storage and solar integration to aerodynamic tweaks that help fight the physics of towing, this trailer is becoming a rolling laboratory for how to do electric RVing on a reasonable budget.

There will be lots of upcoming updates on how I integrate my rolling power plant with the Silverado.

Route 66: The Second Century Begins

So, what’s the big plan for 2026 once everything is wired up? It starts in April with a journey I’m calling “Route 66: The Second Century Begins.”

We aren’t just doing a weekend trip. We’re driving the entire length of the Mother Road from Los Angeles to Chicago. But we aren’t stopping there. To make it a true “Charge To The Parks” epic, we’re continuing all the way to the Outer Banks to make it a coast to coast adventure!

Along the way, I’ll be hitting a long list of National Parks, National Monuments, and other NPS sites. I want to show that as Route 66 enters its second hundred years, the EV is the perfect tool to explore it. I’ve already shared a first look at the mission over on BlueSky, and the excitement there has been the fuel I needed to get this project back into high gear.

Why 2026 Matters

The goal for 2026 is simple: No more excuses. I’m going to show the real-world data—the charging speeds, the range hits, the “skinny pedal” moments, and the logistical hurdles. We’re going to find the charging deserts, and then we’re going to figure out how to cross them so that everyone else can do it, too.

Charge To The Parks was never just about seeing pretty places; it was about proving that the future of travel doesn’t have to be powered by a primitive pile of pistons under the hood. I’m back, the Silverado is ready, and the road is calling.

Let’s see what this second century looks like.

2/23/26 News Roundup: Towing Physics, Boiling Water on Batteries, and the Battle for Park Funding

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Today, I’m starting something new to go with my posts about my own electric RVing and travel experiences: a daily news roundup that focuses on things that affect sustainable outdoor recreation. Let me know what you think, and if this is something readers end up loving, I’ll keep doing it a few times a week!

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If there is one thing we learn over and over in the cleantech and outdoor space, it’s that physics and weather don’t care about marketing brochures. Today, we are looking at some brutal winter storms shutting down the East Coast, avalanche realities in the Rockies, and a massive legislative fight brewing over how we pay to keep our public lands open.

But we also have some genuinely cool hardware updates. Let’s look at what works, what doesn’t, and how we are getting out there this week.

The Top Story: The LASSO Act and the Fight for Public Land Revenue

There is a massive policy shift winding its way through the House right now that could change how our trailheads and remote roads are maintained. The Subcommittee on Federal Lands just reviewed H.R. 34, known as the LASSO Act. The bill proposes taking 10% of the revenue generated on federal public lands—from things like recreation, energy development, and grazing—and dropping it directly into the Social Security Trust Fund.

The idea is to give the American public a direct financial stake in the economic output of our public lands. But here is the wrench in the works: the Department of the Interior heavily relies on those exact revenues to fund the massive deferred maintenance backlog in our national parks, manage hazardous wildfire fuels, and fix washed-out roads.

If you strip 10% of the gross revenue out of the land management budget, those trailhead bathrooms aren’t going to fix themselves. This comes right as the National Park Service is heavily tweaking its pricing, raising annual passes to $250 for non-residents while keeping them at $80 for U.S. residents to try and cover these massive operational costs. There’s a lot more to this story (including accusations of isolationism, racism, etc), but the main point still stands:

If they’re looking to bring more money into the parks, removing 10% of it makes no sense. Public policy needs to make sense!

Charging Update: I-80 Gets Lit Up

If you drive an EV through Pennsylvania to hit the state forests or the PA Wilds, Interstate 80 is your main lifeline. Thankfully, PennDOT just opened three new federally-funded fast charging stations right on the I-80 corridor at Kylertown, Mill Hall, and Mifflinville. On top of that, the state is rolling out another $100 million for community-focused chargers this year.

Also, if you are eyeing the upcoming 2026 Jeep Recon or Dodge Charger Daytona, Stellantis just officially confirmed that their EVs are gaining access to Tesla’s massive 36,000-stall Supercharger network. The charging map is finally filling in where the pavement ends.

The Quick List (Other Notable Stories You Can Read Up On)

• The Physics of EV Towing: We have new field data on the 2026 GMC Sierra EV AT4 towing a 30-foot camper. Yes, it has 12,500 pounds of towing capacity and the instant torque is incredible for trailer sway and hill climbs. But pulling a giant box punches a massive hole in the air, meaning your range will take a brutal hit from the aerodynamic drag. Know your route, and know your charger pull-throughs.

• Boiling Water on a 10-pound Battery: The new Bluetti Elite 30 V2 portable power station is breaking the rules of small batteries. Despite only having a 288Wh capacity, it runs a 600W inverter that can actually boil a kettle of water or run a rice cooker without tripping the safety switches. It is perfect for a quick-deploy tailgate or running a Starlink Mini.

• Avalanche Realities in Idaho: A 21-year-old snowmobiler was tragically killed by an avalanche in Clark County, Idaho. Heavy new snow has completely overloaded weak layers from January, making it incredibly easy to trigger massive slides even from low-angle terrain. Check your local avalanche center forecasts before you hit the backcountry.

Electrify America Upgrades in CA & FL: EA is currently taking several stations offline (including key adventure routes in Bishop, Garberville, and Olancha, CA) to rip out old hardware and install their latest generation of liquid-cooled chargers. It’s a short-term pain for long-term reliability.

The Last Word

We can obsess over battery chemistry and torque curves all we want, but at the end of the day, Mother Nature is the chief engineer of every outdoor trip. Whether it’s a blizzard shutting down the entire highway grid in New York or weak snowpack causing an avalanche in Idaho, respect the weather, carry redundant gear, and know when it’s time to just stay home or find someplace else to go.

National Parks EV News Roundup: Thanksgiving Edition

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I know the Charge to the Parks website hasn’t been very busy lately, and that’s something that’s going to change soon. I’ve been working very hard behind the scenes to get ready for some really cool trips in the near future! Be sure to visit often or follow me on one of the social media sites (links at top of page) to see a really cool announcement in the near future.

In the meantime, I have been doing a lot of work sharing news about EVs in national parks at CleanTechnica. Here are a few of the best articles from the last few weeks!

Thanks for following and supporting Charge to the Parks!

 

Bluesky & Other Social Links Added To Site

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With all of the people leaving X/Twitter recently, I’ve decided to set up a presence on BlueSky and share links to other places. The BlueSky account now is just a simple bridge (using Bridgy Fed) to publish articles from here onto BlueSky, but hopefully more features are added soon, like following back and comment integration.

In the coming days, I’ll see what other things I can do to automate posting to other social media networks so that more people can follow and participate in this project without having to use X/Twitter.

The Next Stage Of The Charge to the Parks Journey

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Since taking a long trip in May and June, I’ve had to focus on some household things. This has been sad for me because I was haven’t been able to keep up the pace of travel I had hoped for, and I haven’t been able to keep working on the EV travel guides or much of anything else. So, I’ve been thinking about how to make this project a success while life keeps happening!

Giving up on this project is not an option. Not only is it something I want to do, but it’s also something that the world needs. Those of us with EVs know that they’re up to the task, but the rest of the industry and automotive buyers in North America seem to be dragging their feet. We need to be sharing stories of visiting places like national parks, state parks, and more as much as we can.

So, to make sure I’m contributing to a better world with this project, I’m going to make some changes.

First off, I’m going to be replacing travel guides with collections of stories of real people traveling to the parks. Some of these stories will be mine, but many will be from other people as I find them. This will be better because the information can’t go out of date. As for the navigational value of the guides, I’m going to be improving a general travel guide that helps people get the latest information before their own trips.

The other thing I’m going to do is spend less time worrying about taking trips and more time finding useful news and information about the parks. This will involve following the rollout of EV charging networks, gathering up other people’s stories, and reviewing products that we’d all find useful on our EV journeys.

Finally, I’m going to make my trips more meaningful. I plan to still do frequent regional trips, but I’ll probably only do 2-3 long trips every year. On each of these visits, I’m going to try to spend a lot more time at each park to get better information, better photos, and just better quality. Doing it this way will take years longer, but it will mean doing a better job.

The other thing about staying longer and doing more repeat visits will mean better opportunities for videos, scenic photography (prints will be available), and much more interesting content both here and on social media.

More posts will be coming soon!

What It’s Like Driving Over 4,000 Miles In A Budget EV…While Towing!

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I’m not afraid to admit that the Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV aren’t known for being great road trip cars. For me, it was what I could afford when I needed to switch vehicles, and it’s head-and-shoulders better than the overheating Nissan LEAF I had before. Sure, it only charges at 55 kW, but it does it consistently. It also has plenty of range to make it to the next charger in most cases.

But, what happens when you cut the range of the Bolt EUV by about 30%? That’s not as great, but I still managed to have a great trip!

My Camping/Cargo Trailer Setup

Before I tell everyone about the trip, I want to briefly go over the trailer I built for this purpose. You can get a lot more detail from my article over at CleanTechnica if you want to see how I built it, etc.

In short, it’s a wooden cargo box built on top of a Harbor Freight 4×8 trailer. On my first trip, things didn’t go very well, so I had to add safe places to keep things like my Jackery 3000 Pro, EcoFlow Glacier freezer/fridge, oven, and microwave. I built a custom slide-out kitchen to hold everything but the Jackery, which I placed in a sloping box on the tongue.

All of this is powered by a 2000w inverter that draws from the Bolt EUV’s 12v battery, which gets recharged by the vehicle’s 65 kWh main battery pack. This means that I have the power to make for a very comfortable glamping setup, including air conditioned Shiftpod shelters.

The First Part Of The Trip Was Challenging

The first several days of the trip was hard. I drove across Texas in two and a half days, and found out that I had no idea what the setup’s energy efficiency was really going to be. Based on previous data collected close to home, I thought it would get about 2.5 miles/kWh, but I ended up getting closer to 2. This meant that instead of a 15% drop from my car’s unloaded efficiency (3.01 miles/kWh, with truck tires), I ended up losing about 30% range.

This meant having to completely re-plan everything mid-trip. I was originally going to drive to both North Carolina and Michigan for two press events, but it wasn’t going to be possible to get to both in time with the extra charging stops and time.

I also found out that it wasn’t great at keeping water out, wasn’t good at staying closed while going down the road, and that the Harbor Freight tires would wear out in only 1600 miles when going 65 MPH. This made for some tough days, temporary fixes with paracord, and replacing the tires in a national park! I also nearly ran out of charge the first night and ran the vehicle dead about 3/4 of a mile shy of a charger in Sweetwater, Texas.

I did see some great things along the way, though. We visited Hot Springs National Park, and got to see an innovative small business in Arkansas that provides EV charging. We also went through the Great Smoky Mountains and saw many other great sights along the way.

Upgrades and The Trip Home

While staying with family in North Carolina, I managed to fix up several of the problems.

First off, I fixed up the water leak issue. Adding a bunch of screws to tighten the boards to the side of the trailer, caulking all joints, and upgrading the doors made the problem of flapping doors and rain getting on pillows go away.

Charging up in Boone, North Carolina before getting on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

On the way back, I took about half of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I started out in Boone, North Carolina and then spent the next three days taking it easy along the route. Along the way, we visited Grandfather Mountain, Asheville, and ended up at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This part of the trip went very well. The mountainous terrain of the Blue Ridge Parkway generally means less range, but the slow speeds and the regenerative braking both when approaching turns and going down slopes made for great range. I only had to charge in Asheville to get enough juice to make it all the way to the end of the road in Cherokee, NC (just outside Great Smoky Mountains).

The Last Couple Days Sucked, But The Trailer’s Stronger Than Ever

I had to head home via Oklahoma instead of Texas, largely because there’s just not enough EV charging between Dallas and El Paso yet. On flat ground, the Bolt would have been fine, but there’s a climb as you leave Hill Country and the Permian Basin and go to the high deserts near El Paso.

The trip through Arkansas and Oklahoma went pretty well, as there were reasonably good cheap hotels (it was too hot to set up camp) and lots of EV charging. Along this stretch, I saw what a benefit EV charging stations spaced close together can be, as even with the trailer, I was able to charge from 10-60% on many stretches and spent a lot less time at chargers.

But, once I got back into New Mexico at Clovis, all hell broke loose. I forgot to turn the inverter off when I went to bed, and the vehicle’s 12v battery got depleted. It was easily jumped, but the vehicle wouldn’t start even with enough juice. After struggling to arrange to take the Bolt to a dealer for an hour, I tried disconnecting the 12v battery to reset the computer, and things worked again.

Then, I saw that the trailer’s coupler was peeling off of the tongue. Two poorly-done Chinese welds were to blame. Had it come completely apart, both the coupler and the safety chains would have detached from the tongue, leaving the trailer free to do whatever the laws of physics dictated. So, we had to spend several hours finding a welding shop that could fix it up and reinforce it a bit to prevent it from happening again.

Finally, the tires were about bald by this time (again), and we had to replace them. Normal tire shops didn’t have that size or anything else to fit the trailer in stock, so we had to go to Harbor Freight again and buy the crappy tires a third time to get home.

While all this was going on, we didn’t know that an unusually hot and dry part of the forest between us and home had been set ablaze by some poor people who knew they’d get a job putting out the fire. Because it was drier and hotter than previous years (climate change), this created a wild blaze that burnt right into a town, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people. These people, in turn, took up all of the hotels in the region.

We were fortunate to find a hotel about an hour in the wrong direction, and even then it was a terrible place to sleep (it was a “vintage” motel in poor repair). But, as they say, “Any port in a storm.”

Final Thoughts

All in all, the Bolt EUV did a great job being pressed into service doing a job it wasn’t intended for. The vehicle had no problems at all towing an 1800 lb trailer (including cargo) for all of that distance. The only issue we encountered at all was that the Bolt cuts back on cooling when it gets below 25%. This never was an issue until we drove up some hills in 103F heat on the last day as we approached our next charging station. Even then, it only charged slowly for a couple minutes until the cooling kicked back in, and then charged normally. It never derated motor power at any point in the trip or failed us in any way.

The trailer, being a budget build, needed a good shakedown cruise to reveal all of its issues. And, with the exception of the tires, we’ve managed to roll with all of those punches and come away with a better trailer than we started with.

I’d really like to get a vehicle that’s better for towing, but that’s going to have to wait a 2-3 years. Until then, I think the Bolt EUV and the trailer we’re improving will continue to do a great job!

National Park EV News Roundup

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Over at CleanTechnica, I recently wrote several interesting articles about national parks and EVs.

First off, there’s a new EV charging station just outside of Arches National Park. Electrify America has partnered with Rocky Mountain Power to open an 8-stall station, including one dedicated pull-through stall. Plus, several others could work well for people pulling trailers with some creativity. This brings the full number of EV charging stalls in Moab, Utah to 16 for non-Tesla vehicles and 20 for Teslas.

Another interesting thing is just how many EVs I saw on the Blue Ridge Parkway and in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Compared to the other western parks I typically visit, there was just a crazy number of EVs. In the article, I explore why this might be.

While I was out that way, I got a chance to test out my Bolt-powered campsite. I use a power inverter to pull power from the Bolt’s battery, and use it to charge a Jackery 3000 Pro. This in turn powers a slide-out kitchen in my trailer, heat or AC for Shiftpod tents, and anything else I’d like. When there’s good sun, I also have 1200 watts of solar power available.

Sadly, I’ve had to make a number of repairs and upgrades to the trailer (you can learn more about that struggle here). I still need to make some serious improvements to get the trailer ready for its next journey out to explore the EV charging situation. If you’re interested in supporting Charge to the Parks on these journeys, please consider donating here or sharing the fundraiser with friends and family!

New and Updated Guides for Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains

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While the site didn’t change much in May and June, that’s only because we were busy traveling to several parks in an EV! While traveling to attend an important EV event in North Carolina, we stopped at Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Since visiting, I’ve updated the page for the Great Smoky Mountains, and I created a new page for the Blue Ridge Parkway. A new page for Hot Springs National Park is coming soon.

Along the way, we towed a custom camping cargo trailer about 4,000 miles, which really tested the limits of our Bolt EUV. This is obviously not an ideal travel setup, but it does show that EVs, even budget ones that charge slower than others, are up to the task and people can have a good time.

Our Chevy Bolt EUV and custom trailer charging at a Circle K in Boone, NC near the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Bottom Ten Parks Now Covered

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With the addition of the Great Basin National Park’s EV Travel Guide, we’ve now covered both the top ten most and least visited national parks! Sadly, a number of the parks in the bottom ten are in remote areas of Alaska and are simply not reachable by car, so they all got put together in one placeholder guide. But, there are guides for the rest.

The next step will be to make sure every state has at least one park in each state with a guide written. After that, parks will be added by reader demand and by our own interests. If there’s a park you’d like a guide written for sooner, be sure to reach out in the comments or on social media!

 

 

Updated Guides For New Mexico Available!

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After taking some time to visit two national parks and one recreation area in an EV over the last few days, I made some updates and improvements!

First off, I updated Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains national parks with new information and updated photos from my visit. There’s no much more information about attractions nearby, especially on the backroads behind both parks. I have more trips planned for that area in the fall and will be adding more and updating. An important thing I added to both pages was information about the Guadalupe Rim, a great but rugged path into the area.

An image from my recent drive into the area near both parks via Guadalupe Rim Road.

 

Another important thing I did was add a page for a very underrated recreation area near Socorro, New Mexico: San Lorenzo Canyon. There, you’ll find a very nice set of sandstone canyons that almost any EV can not only get to, but drive in the bottom of!

Charge To The Parks

You CAN get there in an EV!

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