Fast Facts | Operation Frodo EV
🐶 Dogs Transported: 16 rescue beagles headed toward foster families and permanent homes
🚙 Electric Fleet: Hyundai Ioniq 9, Kia EV9, Cadillac Escalade IQ, and Lucid Gravity
🛣️ Mission Distance: More than 1,700 miles from Omaha to the Portland area
📍 Route: NE, WY, UT, ID, and OR
📅 Mission Dates: June 7 through June 10, 2026
⚡ Major First: The first Operation Frodo mission completed entirely with electric vehicles
👥 Volunteer Team: 12 drivers participated in different stages of the journey
🏠 Program Impact: More than 100 dogs transported toward new homes since Operation Frodo began in 2022
In a world where it often feels like there's nothing but bad news, it can seem like there's little we can do about it. But rather than getting depressed, if we all go out and do something positive, those positives start to add up.
That’s why I’m part of a dedicated group of people from the automotive industry who get together to help our canine friends by moving them to places where they can find forever homes. We’ve been transporting homeless beagles from the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest since 2022, but this year, we wanted to see if we could transport 16 dogs across five states, nearly 1,700 miles across the vast American West, exclusively with electric vehicles.
This is the story of Operation Frodo Electrified.
What Is Operation Frodo?
My friend Nik Miles, a journalist from Portland, Oregon, lost a beagle several years ago. When he reached out to Cascade Beagle Rescue to adopt another, he found there was a lot of demand in that part of the country but few beagles available. Digging further, he discovered there was a surplus in the Midwest and reached out to Basset and Beagle Rescue of the Heartland in Omaha, Nebraska. That's how Operation Frodo was born in late 2022, the start of an annual tradition that's grown with more auto journalists, vehicles, and dogs each year. With this year's electric journey complete, we've now transported 104 dogs to new forever homes.
Automakers loan us press vehicles, donations help cover costs, and we all use the air miles we accumulate from our jobs to get to Omaha. Last fall, I started talking with Nik about working an EV into the mix. Before I knew it, I was tasked with putting together an entirely electric journey.
The first question was whether we could even accomplish this trip. Was there enough convenient fast charging across rural Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and Oregon? A visit to the U.S. Department of Energy Alternative Fuel Data Center showed me where every public charging station in America was located. Turns out that, following the trail Tesla blazed with its Supercharger network, there's a surprising amount of charging available. Across networks including EVgo, Electrify America, Walmart, and others, chargers capable of dispensing at least 350 kilowatts were available, even in this part of the country, roughly every 40 to 50 miles.
Picking the Fleet
For a trip like this, we have a few key requirements. The vehicles needed enough space, since we transport the pups in kennels for safety. Over the past four years, we’ve found larger SUVs and minivans work best. We also wanted vehicles capable of going about 300 miles between charging stops, with fast-charging capability of at least 200 kW. Some of these criteria, particularly the vehicle form factor, wouldn’t necessarily apply to others going on a similar journey, but for us, three-row SUVs turned out to be the vehicle of choice.
While plenty of charging locations were available, most only had four chargers on site. To keep the group together and minimize wait times, I limited the fleet to four vehicles rather than the six we’ve used on past trips. After talking with several automakers that've supported Operation Frodo in the past, along with a few newcomers, four companies stepped up. Frodo veterans Hyundai and Kia provided an Ioniq 9 and EV9. First-timers Cadillac and Lucid loaned us an Escalade IQ and a Gravity. With the fleet set, 12 volunteers stepped up to drive, some for the whole trip, others for two days at a time, from Omaha to Salt Lake City or Salt Lake City to Portland.
My research showed that the most readily available charging at convenient stopping points would be at Pilot Flying J stations, where EVgo and GM Energy have installed chargers at more than 500 locations nationwide. EVgo donated some complimentary charging to offset costs. Flying J locations are great for charging stops as they all have convenience stores, often restaurants, and the facilities your bladder will inevitably require on a long road trip.
The Operation Begins
Step one was getting the cars to Omaha, which isn't exactly a location where automakers maintain active media fleets. I drove the Escalade IQ 720 miles to Nebraska from my Michigan home, while my friends drove the other vehicles in from Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin. Nine of us and four vehicles met up in Omaha, where we loaded up on pet supplies and kennels for 16 dogs at a local PetSmart.
Before loading, we charged up all the cars. Two were charged at an EVgo station, while the Hyundai and Kia were charged down the street from our hotel at a Walmart now home to one of the retailer's new charging stations. Walmart has charging stations at about 60 of its 5,000 locations so far, with many more to come. The new 400-kW chargers come with both CCS and NACS connectors, so any EV can charge there without an adapter.
Read more about the rest of the road trip, including charging along the way and how I accounted for wind, speed, and mountain driving here.
What Did We Learn?
This trip took a lot of planning, between the logistics of getting four vehicles to Omaha, wrangling 16 dogs, and coordinating charging, lunch breaks, and overnight hotels along the way. The varying capabilities of our vehicles, plus the charging credits EVgo donated, meant we prioritized their stations, though we also relied on Electrify America and Walmart. Even with those constraints, we never felt at risk of being stranded with a dead battery.
For the average driver or family taking a road trip across the vastness of North America, though, it actually becomes quite a bit easier. There are now nearly 18,000 DC fast-charging locations with 82,000 charging ports, stretching from the Atlantic coast up into the Yukon and Alaska. These days, there aren't many places you can go without finding charging.
Both Apple Maps and Google Maps keep getting better at finding charging, and third-party apps like A Better Route Planner and PlugShare can help as well. Automakers are also improving the EV-routing capabilities in their own navigation systems, with the ability to automatically suggest charging stops based on whether you want the fastest or most efficient route.
One thing's for certain: with the national average for gasoline still over $4 a gallon, and we saw plenty of places charging more than $5, even a comparatively thirsty EV like the Escalade IQ is also going to save you money, especially if you sign up for one of the discount pricing plans offered by Tesla, EA, EVgo, and others.
What About Our Four-Legged Companions?
For everyone who's taken part in Operation Frodo over the past four and a half years, from the rescue organizations, adoptive families, and the drivers, the event has a profound impact. We're responsible for caring for these dogs over several days and thousands of miles. Many have been abandoned or mistreated and arrive very timid. But it doesn't take long before they're curled up beside you at night or licking your face, and you realize you're doing something small in the grand scheme of things, but a huge positive for everyone involved.
The takeaway here is that you can make a difference to the environment by driving electric, and you can make a difference for yourself and for animals in need by volunteering. Reach out to your local shelter and ask how you can help, or look into fostering a dog, cat, or other animal until they find their forever home. You don't need to be one of our cross-country drives to be an honorary Knight of Frodo.
Meet More of the Operation Frodo Fleet
2025 Kia EV9 Road Test
The Kia EV9 combines three-row space, useful cargo capacity, fast charging, and family-friendly comfort in one of the most practical electric SUVs available.
Driving the 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ
Cadillac’s largest EV pairs enormous passenger and cargo space with long range, rapid charging, and the premium comfort needed for a demanding cross-country mission.
Lucid Gravity: An $80,000, 440-Mile Luxury SUV
Lucid’s first SUV brings three-row versatility, exceptional range, and high-speed charging to a package designed for long-distance electric travel.
