From The Arkansas eTraveler.
I Banned Tesla From My 800-Mile EV Road Trip… and Used a Supercharger 3 Times!
I drove 800 miles from Bentonville, Arkansas to McCaysville, Georgia in a Chevy Blazer EV with one rule: no Tesla Superchargers. Three of my eight charging stops ended up being Tesla anyway — zero detours required — and that tells you everything about where non-Tesla EV charging networks actually stand across the South in 2026.
In this video I test and grade 4 charging networks — Tesla Supercharger, Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging, Electric Era, and EVgo/Pilot Flying J — on a 5-point scale: payment, power (500 amps / 150+ kW), amenities, interstate access, and availability. Real prices, real charging curves, real 3 AM data from I-40, I-24, and I-75 through Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Georgia.
⚡ WHAT’S IN THIS VIDEO
– My 5-point grading system for DC fast charging stations
– Every stop, every price (35¢–54¢/kWh), every charging session graded
– Riding the bottom of the battery pack: the 15-minute max-amperage strategy
– Overnight EV road trip with a baby — how we spent ZERO minutes waiting on the car during the day
– Which network earned 5/5 — and which gaps could strand you
📍 THE ROUTE & STOPS
0:00 — Intro: The No-Tesla Rule
1:08 — The Benchmark: Springdale, AR Supercharger
4:00 — Stop 1: Ozark, AR (Tesla)
6:25 — Stop 2: North Little Rock Cracker Barrel (Tesla, 16 stalls)
10:41— Day 1 Stats
12:16 — Stop 3: Dickson, TN (Mercedes-Benz HPC)
16:39 — Stop 4: Murfreesboro, TN (Electric Era)
22:22 — Stop 5: Monteagle, TN (Pilot Flying J / EVgo)
27:44 — Stop 6: Dalton, GA (Pilot ONE9)
30:10 — Stop 7: Adairsville, GA (Mercedes-Benz at Buc-ee’s)
34:08 — Stop 8: East Ellijay, GA (New Tesla Supercharger)
36:36 — What I Learned Roadtripping 800 Miles Across the South in an EV
🔋 THE STATS: 800 miles • 8 stops • 4 networks • 3 unplanned Superchargers • 0 detours
Have you run this corridor — Memphis, Chattanooga, North Georgia? Drop your charging experience in the comments. This community’s boots-on-the-ground reliability data beats any app.
🔔 SUBSCRIBE for the return trip: 100% Tesla Superchargers, overnight time-of-use rates, and whether the nation’s biggest network has gaps in the South.
#EVRoadTrip #ElectricVehicle #BlazerEV #TeslaSupercharger #EVCharging #ElectricCar #RoadTrip #EVgo #Chevrolet #EV2026
