Our Route 66 Recharged videos!

Chicago to St. Louis

Episode 1 is all about the energy of the start, the history of the Illinois stretches, and connecting with the incredible community of EV drivers along the way.

We visit the new start of Route 66 at Navy Pier, check out the old start, chat with an EV charging expert from Electrify America, say hi to the Gemini Giant and other Muffler Men, have a Ford EV Clubs meetup, decorate our Ford Mustang Mach-E, and see so many Route 66 sites on this first leg of the journey.

St. Louis to Springfield, MO

Day 2 of our centennial EV road trip takes us from St. Louis to the "birthplace of Route 66"—Springfield, MO. We soak up so much history - from a classic collection of Route 66 memorabilia at Campbell's Service Station to historic beginnings of Route 66 at Springfield's History on the Square Museum. And we also check out some famous quirky stops of Route 66 including the World's 2nd Largest Rocking Chair and the Uranus Fudge Factory. We end the day at the storied and a little quirky Best Western Rail Haven that has a connection to Elvis Presley!

Springfield, MO to Oklahoma City

Day 3 of Route 66 Recharged was absolutely packed with magic! We kicked things off in Springfield, Missouri, and raced against some incoming thunderstorms as we crossed through Kansas and into Oklahoma. Along the way, we had the incredible honor of meeting Renee at Cars on the Route, where we heard the real-life inspirations behind Mater from Pixar’s Cars! We also took a detour to see the Blue Whale of Catoosa and even bumped into some fellow South Africans in Sapulpa! 🇿🇦 To top it all off, we rolled into Oklahoma City for an amazing Ford EV Clubs meetup at the historic Fordson Hotel—a former Model T factory.

Oklahoma City to Tucumcari, NM

This episode is all about the people and the legends that keep the Mother Road alive. We had the incredible honor of meeting Harley at the Sand Hill Curiosity Shop—widely believed to be the real-life inspiration for Mater from "Cars." We also spent some time at the National Route 66 Museum, paid our respects at the powerful Vietnam Veterans Memorial replica, and even added The Electric Duo logo at Cadillac Ranch with some spray paint!

Tucumcari, NM to Gallup, NM

Join us as we drive across Route 66 through New Mexico. From the retro Motel Safari in Tucumcari to the historic movie-star haunts of Gallup, we explore the best of the Mother Road in an electric vehicle and show how easy it is to find charging along the way. We dive into the crystal-clear waters of The Blue Hole in Santa Rosa and get lost in automotive history at the Route 66 Auto Museum. We check out Hotel Zazz, the iconic 66 Diner, the Rio Puerco Bridge, among other iconic spots, then meet with Elena Phillips from PNM to dispel EV grid myths and end the day at a truly legendary hotel, the Historic El Rancho.

Gallup, NM to Kingman, AZ

On Day 6, we drive Artemis the Mustang Mach-E from Gallup, New Mexico to Seligman, Arizona. Along the way we meet a sparkly pink Mach-E, visit the painted desert, the Petrified Forest National Park, touch a 200 million year old tree fossil, see the original path of Route 66, recreate a memory from Patrick's childhood, stand on a corner, go to space, visit the home of the father of Route 66 - Angel Delgadillo, deal with a power outage, charge our EV with ease, and so much more!

Kingman, AZ to San Bernardino, CA

We kicked things off in Kingman, Arizona, before tackling the Sidewinder—the curviest, most narrow stretch of the Route 66—on our way to find the famous wild burros of Oatman. Once we crossed the Colorado River into California, we dove into the history of Needles, visited the famous Bagdad Cafe, and showed the surreal Bottle Tree Ranch. To wrap up our last night on the road, we checked into the legendary Wigwam Motel!

San Bernardino, CA to Santa Monica, CA

The journey of a lifetime has reached its final stop! Join us for the epic conclusion of Route 66 Recharged as we tackle the last few miles to reach the iconic "End of the Trail" sign at the Santa Monica Pier.

In this finale, we’re not just finishing the drive - we’re looking back at the 2,400-mile adventure across eight states to celebrate the upcoming 100th birthday of the Mother Road. From the neon lights of Missouri to the vast landscapes of the Texas Panhandle and the steep climbs of Arizona, we’ve seen it all in a Ford Mustang Mach-E.

Planning Apps

Planning an EV road trip can be simple, but when you add in multiple days and many, many tourist stops is gets a bit much to manage. In our preparations for this trip, we've used the following apps (more details soon!):

A Better Route Planner

This app makes planning long routes easy! After adding which car you have, you just plugin your destination, add in some waypoints, and tell it to plan it out for you! It adds in the necessary stops for you! If you want a 30 day free of ABRP Premium, use this LINK!

Chargeway

The Chargeway app has THE best map for finding compatible chargers in your area. Plus, with Chargeway Plus you can see how much a full charging session will cost you. That helps when trying to plan our trip costs but also is useful when there are two stations close to each other but with vastly different pricing. You have have to give it a try!

Roadtrippers

If you are looking for fun stops, photo ops, or good places to eat along your route, Roadtrippers is fantastic! That made it a great choice for our Route 66 planning with so many easy to miss but iconic locations along the way!  You can start with their free version and if you want the premium features, use this LINK to save $5 off! (Or use the affiliate code BTR5QTP)