Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days • Hacker News Board

Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days

#121

Post by adtac » Sat, Aug 07, 2021, 3:08 AM UTC

carcostthrow wrote: post #85

>And everyone should stop driving fossil vehicles starting now. [...] There’s no excuse not to. Isn't there? Right now for me to own a Ford Mach E, a Tesla Model 3 or a RAV4 Prime is $3400 to $3700 per year for comprehensive insurance, $1400 a year for liability only. My SUV right now costs $1100 a year to insure comprehensive, but even a 2021 Acura NSX or Jaguar F-Pace is only $1400 for the same level of insurance t…

I don't have an opinion on this, but how much of that is due to subsidies for the traditional energy industry? Make no mistake, electric vehicles get a lot of subsidies but I imagine governments around the world want energy independence, so they're probably throwing lots of money to help the industry.

Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days

#122

Post by ansible » Sat, Aug 07, 2021, 3:13 AM UTC

drewg123 wrote: post #100

jmpman wrote: post #98

I just did a 2 day 2000 mile trip in my long range model 3. Total charging costs were around $100, which didn’t include two stops where the superchargers were free (network connectivity problems?). Required a total of 13 supercharging stops. Each stop was between 20min to 45min. I started off completely full, and charged overnight at a Tesla destination charger, (so, 14 stops?). Roughly half the cost of the article’s…

I've done multiple ~1000mi road trips in my Model X, and I've peed in a lot of bushes too. A lot of the newer chargers (at least on the east coast) are located at WaWa's, and have 24hr restrooms. But the chargers at malls are a pain. Either the mall is closed, and you need to pee in the bushes, or the mall is open and the traffic is terrible and the chargers are ICE'ed in. There is one charger in Hardee SC thats in t…

I've taken multiple long trips in my Toyota Prius, and never once had to pee in the bushes. 600 mile range on a single fill-up, but after driving for a few hours I'm usually ready for a 5 minute break.

I totally get how cool EVs are, and how much fun they can be to drive. And if you're spending 90+% of your time just commuting to work, it can potentially save you money on gas.

But I would definitely not subject myself to long road trips with EVs at this point in history. One out-of-service charging station along the way can ruin your whole week.

Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days

#123

Post by clouddrover » Sat, Aug 07, 2021, 3:15 AM UTC

238475235243 wrote: post #87

Genuinely baffled why anyone buys anything but a Tesla. It's cheaper, autopilot is pretty great, has a vastly better charging network, charges vastly quicker... I guess it means you can write blog posts about bad experiences with an electric car...

> Genuinely baffled why anyone buys anything but a Tesla.

Price, practicality, exterior styling, interior styling. All the usual reasons.

> has a vastly better charging network, charges vastly quicker

As a driver you should be demanding an open charging standard so all cars can charge at all chargers. Why meekly settle for less?

Here are three EVs charging faster than a Tesla Model 3:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gxcukAhIAU

Amusingly, Teslas charge faster on CCS chargers than on Tesla's proprietary chargers:

https://insideevs.com/news/507489/tesla-model3-charging-fast...

But the good news is Tesla will supposedly open their chargers to all EVs soon, mostly to get the benefit of government subsidies. Governments aren't going to fund chargers that only charge one brand:

https://insideevs.com/news/521623/tesla-superchargers-open-o...

They'll probably start in Europe first because Teslas already use the CCS Type 2 Combo inlet in Europe.

Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days

#124

Post by ecpottinger » Sat, Aug 07, 2021, 3:16 AM UTC

throwawayboise wrote: post #117

jmpman wrote: post #98

I just did a 2 day 2000 mile trip in my long range model 3. Total charging costs were around $100, which didn’t include two stops where the superchargers were free (network connectivity problems?). Required a total of 13 supercharging stops. Each stop was between 20min to 45min. I started off completely full, and charged overnight at a Tesla destination charger, (so, 14 stops?). Roughly half the cost of the article’s…

Most recent long drive was 725 miles in a gasoline-fueled Volkswagen. Took about 12 hours with one 10 minute fuel stop.

So what you are saying, you could do the 2000 mile trip in 33 hours! Of-course, that assumes you do not sleep for the entire trip, don't take bathroom breaks or stops for food.

I think I rather do the 2000 miles in a BEV and take some breaks in the driving.

Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days

#125

Post by senkora » Sat, Aug 07, 2021, 3:30 AM UTC

chrischen wrote: post #118

senkora wrote: post #107

There’s this documentary I really enjoyed watching called “Long Way Up” where Ewan McGregor (plus another actor I was not familiar with) rode from Tierra del Fuego to Los Angeles on electric motorcycles. They talk a lot about the pros/cons of going electric, and there are issues with like cold temperatures affecting battery performance at the start. But I also found that I just really enjoyed the show even excluding…

They had those problems but also had basically a support convoy following them that ran on gas.

Yep, it definitely would not have been possible without that.

Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days

#126

Post by thescriptkiddie » Sat, Aug 07, 2021, 3:50 AM UTC

An interesting anecdote, but I've never understood why anyone would willingly drive a car (electric or otherwise) such a long distance. The longest I've ever driven in a single trip was a bit over 750 km, and I think I slept for 16 hours straight after I arrived. The next time I took that same trip, I rode the train instead.

Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days

#127

Post by mig39 » Sat, Aug 07, 2021, 3:53 AM UTC

thescriptkiddie wrote: post #126

An interesting anecdote, but I've never understood why anyone would willingly drive a car (electric or otherwise) such a long distance. The longest I've ever driven in a single trip was a bit over 750 km, and I think I slept for 16 hours straight after I arrived. The next time I took that same trip, I rode the train instead.

As someone who has driven across Canada on numerous occasions, it's a special kind of zen. I did BC to Newfoundland by myself, and 16-hour driving days were normal. I listen to podcasts, audiobooks, etc.

Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days

#128

Post by trothamel » Sat, Aug 07, 2021, 3:59 AM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #94

notJim wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This feels like a post-hoc rationalization to me. I drive a Tesla and I do often find the breaks annoying. I would prefer to drive straight through rather than stand in some random parking lot for 30 minutes. Even if I want a break, I’d prefer to find a park or something. You can take a break whenever you want with any car, the car doesn’t need to force you.

Are the breaks annoying enough you'd go back to a gas car if you had to pay the fully loaded carbon costs per gallon of fuel? At ~$100/metric ton of CO2, that's about 90 cents of carbon tax alone per gallon of fuel.

How do you get $100 per ton? The UN is selling carbon offsets for a couple dollars a ton.

https://offset.climateneutralnow.org/AllProjects

Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days

#129

Post by linsomniac » Sat, Aug 07, 2021, 4:03 AM UTC

thescriptkiddie wrote: post #126

An interesting anecdote, but I've never understood why anyone would willingly drive a car (electric or otherwise) such a long distance. The longest I've ever driven in a single trip was a bit over 750 km, and I think I slept for 16 hours straight after I arrived. The next time I took that same trip, I rode the train instead.

Different people react differently to long car trips. I can drive the 1,800 miles to my wife's family in one shot, especially given time to nap while charging and the driver automation taking up the slack for being tired. I can then have a normal nights sleep and be fine.

My wife, on the other hand, being a passenger for such a trip, she arrives and then is wasted for 2 days.

But if you really want to be miserable on a trip... Take a train. My wife and son did that same trip by train a few years ago and: was delayed a solid day by flooding, lost power, had to suffer with malfunctioning toilets for part of the trip, and it cost more than flying or driving (counting hotels).

Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days

#130

Post by linsomniac » Sat, Aug 07, 2021, 4:03 AM UTC

mig39 wrote: post #127

thescriptkiddie wrote: post #126

An interesting anecdote, but I've never understood why anyone would willingly drive a car (electric or otherwise) such a long distance. The longest I've ever driven in a single trip was a bit over 750 km, and I think I slept for 16 hours straight after I arrived. The next time I took that same trip, I rode the train instead.

As someone who has driven across Canada on numerous occasions, it's a special kind of zen. I did BC to Newfoundland by myself, and 16-hour driving days were normal. I listen to podcasts, audiobooks, etc.

Miles and miles of miles and miles.