Taking an electric car on the road is still a gamble in America

For the past few months, our new electric car has worked like a charm. One of the first BMW iX SUVs to hit the US market, it draws compliments from garage attendants and car buffs, and the rapid charger we installed in our garage easily powers it up for the daily commute.

Then we tried to take it on the road. A charging station black hole across much of the Midwest made that route impossible. Then, along the allegedly well-served highways between Boston, New York and Washington, we repeatedly encountered unresponsive touch screens, non-linking connectors and very slow charging. At one spot with eight stations, the first three we tried didn’t work.