It’s lunchtime. Liu Zhen and her travel buddies pull over at a highway rest stop in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Using an induction cooker powered by a new energy vehicle, they heat up a pot and cook a simple yet nutritious meal — rice mixed with vegetables and salted meat — to ease the exhaustion from the long journey.

For this group of six, mostly in their 60s, this is just another day of their adventurous road trip across western China. A month ago, the three couples set off from their hometown in Southwest China’s Chongqing in three SUVs. Since then, they have driven over 7,000 kilometers to Xinjiang, passing through the provinces of Sichuan and Gansu.

“The most stunning scenery is always the kind you encounter unexpectedly,” Liu says. “The highlight of this trip for me is when we catch sight of some beautiful landscapes from the car window. We stop, hop out, and enjoy the view.”

Among all the scenic spots they encountered, one in particular left the deepest impression on Liu — the sight of horses galloping through a river in a wetland park in Zhaosu county, part of northern Xinjiang’s Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture.

“It was breathtaking, and we took lots of great photos,” Liu says. One of her greatest pleasures on the trip has been sharing those photos online.

Their entire journey revolves around their vehicles, which are equipped with portable water boilers. They refill at highway rest stops and prepare meals on the induction stove using ingredients bought along the way. When night falls, they transform their SUVs into cozy bedrooms by folding down the back seats and laying out a soft mattress.

“This way of traveling may be a bit tough, but it is economical and offers much flexibility and freedom. You travel as long as you want,” Liu says.

She adds that Xinjiang’s well-developed highway network and driver-friendly infrastructure have made the trip much easier. “The roads are wide and smooth and easy to navigate, and self-driving camps are easy to find. Plus, the well-equipped rest stops enable us to refresh and recharge,” she adds.

Silver-haired travelers are becoming a growing force in China’s tourism industry. According to data from the China National Committee on Aging, seniors now make up over 20 percent of the country’s total tourist population.

Many retirees are embracing self-driving tours as a rising trend. According to zuzuche.com, a Guangzhou-based self-driving tour platform, during this year’s five-day May Day holiday, the number of outbound self-driving tourists aged 60 and above increased by 6.5 percent year-on-year. The number of senior tourists choosing domestic road trips grew by 27 percent.

Liu and her companions are all members of a self-driving club in Chongqing, which organizes group trips. Among the over 400 club members, most are seniors.

For Liu’s friend Tu Jianping, road trips are nothing new. Over the years, her SUV has taken her to explore the plateaus of western Sichuan and traverse the border regions of Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Heilongjiang province. Next year, she and her husband plan to tackle the high altitudes of Xizang autonomous region.

“The children have to go to school. The young people have to work. For us retirees, we have savings and plenty of time on our hands; and this is our time to enjoy life,” she says.

By the end of 2024, China’s population aged 60 and above exceeded 310 million. As living standards and health improve, the country’s growing elderly population is driving a booming consumer market.

According to a plan on special initiatives to increase consumption, released earlier this year, China will develop industries such as antiaging and senior tourism to unleash the potential of the silver-haired consumer market.

Tu also keeps a habit of documenting her daily travel experiences and sharing them on WeChat Moments.

In one post, she describes driving along a section of National Highway 216, which runs through extreme terrain, including deserts and high plateaus: “Outside the car window, visibility is extremely low. The swirling sands seem alive, at times gathering into towering dunes, at others dissolving into a haze of dust and fog. My heart is clenched tight, my palms grow damp.

“The road ahead is but a slender thread, leading us into a 600-km stretch where the altitude soars beyond 5,000 meters. Our drivers’ eyes gleam with the thrill of adventure, but my heart remains as restless as the howling wind outside.”

For Tu, writing down her daily reflections isn’t just about sharing with family and friends — it’s a gift to her future self.

“I want to preserve these memories in words,” she says. “So that when I’m too old to move, I can still travel through them, reliving every moment as I read.”

“It’s not quite like the Super Bowl,” said one of the staff members of the 2025 Mille Miglia to my very American question of equivalences. “But it is one of the biggest events in Italy. You will see the crowds.”

I got invited to do what is essentially Italy’s automotive Super Bowl (besides the Italian Grand Prix)—but with a twist. No, I wouldn’t be behind the wheel of some pre-1957 car as rules and tradition stated. Instead, I’d be piloting something unfashionably modern for the EV-only attachment of the iconic Mille: A 2025 Polestar 3, one of just seven official entrants, including five university testbed cars.

If that sounds like cowardice, I tend to agree. We would be in an air-conditioned, power-steeringed comfort, with a nice stereo to boot. Meanwhile, the rest of the brave souls on the rally would struggle against a radiating Italian summer, willing their historic machines to the finish line of the famous Brescia-to-Rome run.

But what I saw was an opportunity to put the proverbial feet to the fire of EV road tripping. Two questions had to be answered: Could you feasibly road trip an EV for an excruciatingly long, 12-plus-hour per day, five-day rally without worrying about charging? More importantly, would it be enjoyable?

For those who aren’t familiar, the Mille Miglia is a historic rally that used to run as an endurance race until 1957, when deaths and safety concerns forced a temporary shutdown. It was reborn as a regulation rally in 1977, which is a race against the clock, but also against a predetermined amount of time. The rally would consist of long point-to-point checkpoint stages that aren’t timed, then various competition stages where hitting an average speed and time was critical.

For example, a stage of 600 meters has to be completed in 24 seconds. Any faster or slower than 24 seconds would result in penalty points—and organizers measure to the hundredth of a second. The biggest challenge of the Mille isn’t these competitive stages, as modern rally computers do most of the average speed work. It’s simply getting to the end in a vintage car. That would not be an issue with our Polestar 3.

Still, my co-driver, Michael Van Runkle, and I were determined to conquer the competitive stages to truly see if an EV was worth road tripping. It would be a test of Italy’s charging infrastructure, the Polestar 3’s range and efficiency, and whether the pleasure of the open road is diminished by the need to charge.
The Mille would start in the northern Italian city of Brescia, head down through Tuscany to Rome, then glide along the east coast of Italy back to Brescia—a route of 1,000 miles, covered over five days.

Each day had its own road book with checkpoints and specific turn-by-turn instructions. Each road book warned us to prepare for 14-hour days of driving, with average stage lengths of 320 kilometers, starting at 5:00 am and ending at 7:00 pm—a far cry from Stirling Moss’s 1955 record of 10 hours, 7 minutes, and 48 seconds for the entire race.

With our liveried Polestar 3, alongside teammates in a Polestar 2 and 4, we departed Brescia with 87 percent charge, facing a 240-kilometer stage. We charged the night before to 100 percent, and lost a fair amount of charge transitioning from the charger to our hotel—a theme that would continue throughout the rally.

Still, with over 340 kilometers of range indicated, range anxiety never quite set in. In fact, it was largely smooth sailing. There was a police escort for most situations, which circumvented practically all traffic laws, and the crowds were genuinely enormous. Alongside our Green rally, the classic rally was the main attraction, as was a Ferrari owner’s run, which was open to new and more recent Ferraris.

Such was the disappointment from the crowds that we were not a group of fire-spitting V-12s; we received a fair amount of disapproval from locals. At our very first checkpoint, a man in the crowd yelled “No sound, no feeling,” into our open window. Thumbs down were the most common gestures directed at our Polestar, right after general indifference. Rock stars, we were not.

The first debacle came after we completed our uneventful kilometers. Our battery was depleted to 38 percent, a great showing for the Polestar. Yet, for all the effort that went into organizing a dedicated EV rally in the greater puzzle of the Mille, nobody seemed to think about the most critical part of driving an EV: Charging.

It may have been in the spirit of the rally to be self-sufficient, yet the first stop in Bologna had just a few high-speed EV chargers. The closest stations only had two stalls at one, and four at another. Chaos ensued, so we drove 20 minutes outside of Bologna to the suburb of Panigale, where a 14-stall charging station sat outside of Ducati’s factory. Crisis averted, but only temporarily.

At our very first checkpoint, a man in the crowd yelled ‘No sound, no feeling,’ into our open window. Thumbs down were the most common gestures directed at our Polestar, right after general indifference. Rock stars, we were not.

For all of the serenity of our days driving across Italy, enjoying Tuscany, Rome, and the many delights Italy had to offer, charging was a constant pain. Every night was a challenge on top of an already long day, leaving little room for rest. By day three, Van Runkle and I were in a sleepless haze of jet lag, struggling with charging after the incredibly long 380-kilometer stage from Bologna to Rome.

Our intermediate stop in Siena halted us for two hours, as everyone crowded around the only available EV chargers in a 50-kilometer radius. We got to Rome late and had to charge the car two kilometers away from the hotel. Day three presented similar horrors, a 346-kilometer run from Rome to Cervia.

While the Polestar 3 was a more than capable road trip partner with plenty of comfort, space, and performance, it was being let down by Italy’s charging infrastructure. Our haze was punctuated by genuinely once-in-a-lifetime experiences—chasing down a Ferrari SP3 on a tight backroad, witnessing the grand vistas and feudal towns of Tuscany, bombarding a country lane with pre-war cars that largely ignored the law—yet we dreaded charging every night.

Finally, on night three in Cervia, we encountered a broken charger that diverted us yet again. Rubbing salt firmly into the wound, our Polestar 3 suffered a malfunction in town that briefly bricked it, and with it, the charging system. We then had to reset the stricken EV at the charger, wasting another five minutes, before it would accept a charge.

It was with relief that days four and five reduced the onslaught considerably, halving the stage lengths. We finally got rest, peaceful, functional charging, and some reflection in.

The Polestar 3 was genuinely lovely at times, and extremely annoying at others. For all of its quietness and comfort, with excellent, supportive seats, the tech was frustrating. Having one central screen running most functions made simple tasks difficult, something we’ve noticed with a very similar system in the Volvo EX30. Though there was certainly no doubt it could boogie, with shockingly good handling and power.

Yet the lack of romance driving an EV had never been more glaring than in the most romantic race in the world. Literally, it goes to Rome. I remember less about driving the Polestar 3 than I do about the places I visited and the things I saw—which is almost romantic in its own way.

But without a vibrating, plucky, determined internal combustion engine, I never developed a kinship with it. For all of its cool Crate & Barrel-esque design, its stats, and the places it took me, the bond didn’t come naturally. Getting to the finish line in Brescia was more of a breathless gasp than a triumphant homecoming. I walked away from the car and hardly remembered its part in our trip, and that is the entire point of road tripping a car; the vehicle is a character, too.

Yet the lesson couldn’t be clearer: Don’t road trip an EV if you’re in a rush.

Answering the questions above: Was this rally feasible in the Polestar 3? Yes, it was. We made it to the end, even with janky charging infrastructure. Range anxiety during the day was virtually nonexistent. The actual issue was that the Mille was designed for gas cars, not EVs. The shorter days proved easy and fun, while the long days were made longer by hours of charging in anticipation of tomorrow’s stage.

But was the Mille enjoyable in an EV? Well, I thought about that deeply as I stared at a two-person crew manhandling a 1930 Bentley Blower up a mountain pass, reaching out of the infernal thing to operate its various controls. If enjoyable is being in that pain for 12 hours a day rather than the air-conditioned serenity of the Polestar, then you’re a masochist.

I think I’d rather be a masochist.

March 22, 2026

All day

For the Diehards- Fly West for the Ultimate Away Game Experience with John LeClair!

We’re heading to the West Coast for the Ultimate Flyers Experience with two games against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center and then the Los Angles Kings at Crypto.com Arena!

Join PHLY & Philly Sports Trips and Flyers Legend, John LeClair, for the ultimate road trip as we take our Flyers diehards cross-country to sunny California!

This trip is a must for Flyers fans of all ages. The trip package includes optional round-trip direct flights from Philadelphia to California, a 5-night hotel stay at the beautiful Sandbourne Santa Monica, meet and greet with Flyers Legend, John LeClair, group tickets to two games, Flyers watch party, and much more. Plus, Philly Sports Trips dedicated team of trip coordinators will be on-site ensuring you get the most of your experience. This trip will be a California vacation with a Flyers win to top it all off. 

BOOK YOUR TRIP TODAY

Game Information

The Philadelphia Flyers will take on the Anaheim Ducks on March 18, 2026 at Honda Center at 7:00PM Pacific Time. The following day, the Flyers will take on the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena at 7:30PM Pacific Time.

Itinerary at a Glance

Tuesday, March 17 – Travel Day to California & Check-In to Hotel

Wednesday, March 18 – Meet and Greet with John LeClair & Game Day in Anaheim

Thursday, March 19 – Game Day in LA

Friday, March 20 – Free Day to Enjoy the Beach

Saturday, March 21 – Stay at the Beach & Flyers vs San Jose Watch Party

Sunday, March 22 – Fly home to Philadelphia