The author doesn’t understand marginal utility. Not all time is equally valuable. When I am on a road trip, an extra 10-20% longer really sucks. The longer I can drive between charging, the shorter the trip, and the more time I can enjoy at my destination. Range consistently ranks as the highest concern for potential EV buyers for good reason. No matter how comprehensive the charging network, more frequent stops are annoying and time consuming.
I actually like the forced stops. I personally never want to drive for more than 3 hours without stretching my legs, so it’s pretty convenient for me that the my car’s range lines up with that.
Right, but you never want to be dependent on a stop.
We have an older 2017 leaf. You can highway about an hour and a half/two hours tops. If you get to that charge station and they only have 1chademo plug and it’s out of order you’re stuck using the slower “charge the car in 4-5 hours” plug.
For long trips we top up once we get to 40 percent or so, that way we can potentially skip a stop if need be.
I have a 2019 Tesla, which I bought specifically due to their charging network. That network is now open to other manufacturers, and most have signed deals with Tesla for integration. I’ve never had an issue with charging, and the longest I’ve ever had to wait for a charging spot was 10 minutes, and that was when half of the chargers at that stop were offline for some unknown reason.
While I don’t particularly want to support any of Elon’s companies at this time, Tesla did do pretty much everything right regarding charging infrastructure, and like you said, the alternatives are very iffy.
Which, sure, is great, but not what I or most want to do. My first car had a 50mpg rating, and a 14 gallon tank. You best believe I could get to my destinations with less than 2 fuel stops most of the time.
Your car had a stated range of 700 miles and you only stopped for fuel?! Take a proper break, dude, 10 hours is too long, you’re going to have an accident. Professional drivers have legal drive time limits for a reason.
The author doesn’t understand marginal utility. Not all time is equally valuable. When I am on a road trip, an extra 10-20% longer really sucks. The longer I can drive between charging, the shorter the trip, and the more time I can enjoy at my destination. Range consistently ranks as the highest concern for potential EV buyers for good reason. No matter how comprehensive the charging network, more frequent stops are annoying and time consuming.
Disclaimer: I own an EV.
I actually like the forced stops. I personally never want to drive for more than 3 hours without stretching my legs, so it’s pretty convenient for me that the my car’s range lines up with that.
Right, but you never want to be dependent on a stop.
We have an older 2017 leaf. You can highway about an hour and a half/two hours tops. If you get to that charge station and they only have 1chademo plug and it’s out of order you’re stuck using the slower “charge the car in 4-5 hours” plug.
For long trips we top up once we get to 40 percent or so, that way we can potentially skip a stop if need be.
I have a 2019 Tesla, which I bought specifically due to their charging network. That network is now open to other manufacturers, and most have signed deals with Tesla for integration. I’ve never had an issue with charging, and the longest I’ve ever had to wait for a charging spot was 10 minutes, and that was when half of the chargers at that stop were offline for some unknown reason.
While I don’t particularly want to support any of Elon’s companies at this time, Tesla did do pretty much everything right regarding charging infrastructure, and like you said, the alternatives are very iffy.
That’s understandable, and it sounds like an EV suits how you like to road trip very well.
Which, sure, is great, but not what I or most want to do. My first car had a 50mpg rating, and a 14 gallon tank. You best believe I could get to my destinations with less than 2 fuel stops most of the time.
Your car had a stated range of 700 miles and you only stopped for fuel?! Take a proper break, dude, 10 hours is too long, you’re going to have an accident. Professional drivers have legal drive time limits for a reason.