I wish people would stop obsessing so much over range. Once we have decent charging infrastructure in place and people overcome all the FUD, this will simply cease to be relevant.
I drive 82 miles a day on average according to my tracking, but that frequently involves days of 400+ miles. And since I drive in hill country and require air conditioning most of the years I know the range estimates are wildly optimistic versus real-world performance.
And charging a car isn’t like filling up with gas. It’s not a 3-minute stop. If a car can get me as far as I’m willing to drive in a day, then an overnight charge seems like an option.
But even then, since I’m a renter and always will be because of the shit going on with housing I can’t get a fast charger.
All of this is to say that it’s not 1 issue. It’s all of them. Range, charging speeds, and availability of chargers ALL have to be addressed and essentially 100% reliable before I can risk owning an all-electric vehicle.
I always find it amusing how people go through such mental contortions to justify not buying an EV. If you don’t want an EV, just don’t buy one. Nobody cares.
That’s the thing. I DO want one.
But there’s still significant drawbacks, and some of them are being completely ignored. The renter issue is HUGE.
Some people don’t want to feel like they have to stop every hour for 15-20 minutes. If I’m going on a long road trip I’m fine driving 300-400 miles without stopping. I’m probably a minority but I’m sure I’m not the only one.
You’re certainly not the only one but you’re also being grossly irresponsible. Sufficient breaks are essential for staying attentive. Not stopping for five or six hours is just asking for disaster. Just think about what you’re going to feel like if you killed someone because you fell asleep at the wheel.
Edit: and as per usual, lots of downvotes but no counterargument
You just need a charging station every hundred kilometres or so, that’s perfectly doable even in sparsely populated areas. In fact, this kind of infrastructure is far easier to roll out than gas stations.
Wait you think digging a hole and putting in a few tanks to store gas is harder than having substations near by to power super charge stations?
The answer is no, no it is not easier or cheaper.
I’d rather not refuel in -20F weather on a single trip. Add in a trailer and a road trip becomes a charging trip with intermittent driving.
I live in an apartment complex with no chargers. It doesn’t matter how much the infrastructure is, if I have to sit once a week to charge my car at a Denny’s, then I’m not interested.
Now, if you say I only need to do that once a month… Hmmm… I’m listening…
That’s not how this stuff works. I never sit in my car waiting for it to charge. Sometimes I’ll charge while shopping. Plug in the car, do your weekly grocery shopping come back, drive off. When you use a level 2 (shower) charger, you leave the car and come back after a couple of hours. It obviously depends on the available infrastructure in the places you normally go to. Takes a bit of planning and a bit of forethought. But it’s really not rocket science.
