the only one i know of that dumped their ev to go back to gas is an idiot to begin with; but at any rate, he bought a used 1st gen 500e for his rural commute.
and yup. he couldn’t even get to work and back on a single charge. epa range of 87 miles–when new. 90-95 mile round-trip commute.
That’s roughly my current commute. New mid budget ($40kish) EVs seem to generally have a range of like 300 miles, and that’s only a little less than my car’s range yet still plenty for my needs if I can charge at home every night or maybe every other night.
That 500e sounds like it was designed to be more for people with a <15 minute commute. It’d be great for people who live and work within one city and have everything they need within 20 miles or so of home.
I mean, in Europe you probably wouldn’t find too many people that have a close to 100mi commute. That range is fine if you have a shorter commute or if you commute using public transport and you only need your car for shopping/school runs etc.
I still have an ICE, but I only need to get petrol once a month, and the longest drive I do is typically something like 50km both ways.
The original 500e was a “compliance car”. It got horrible range and had slow charging. It’s main purpose was to meet California average emissions standards. Which is a shame because the rest of the car (other than range) really was great.
