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I’m ready to trade in my electric car

latimes.com

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Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#101

Post by stryker7001 »

avalys wrote: post #96

Yes, electric cars are not viable unless you can charge at home. Meaning, in your garage / driveway. This means they're not that useful for people who live in apartments, and most people who live in a city like SF and park on the street(*). They're also not viable for road trips. Teslas can make it work but you still have to be willing for your trip to take 20 - 30% longer than it would with a gas car. For people who…

we had a chevy bolt, lived in condo, parked in a parking garage in Cow Hollow in SF. Had no problems charging either at work, or at a charging station down by the marina. We drove it to Yosemite a couple times, drove to Paso, and Napa all for fun. Got rid of it because we didn't need a car while working from home.

Long story short, it was useful and viable even though we didn't have charging.

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#102

Post by benjamoon »

Within the next 10 years I think we’ll have 1,000 mile ranges and ~30 min charge times. CATL just announced a doubling of the current best energy density, that alone could get a Tesla Model 3 to over 600 miles on a charge. At that point I think this conversation will stop and people will all switch. I agree though, at the minute if you don’t have the ability to charge at home you’re missing out on one of the absolute best features (always leaving the house with a full tank).

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#103

Post by hn_user2 »

jackmott42 wrote: post #78
borski wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve had zero issues charging either my Lucid Air or my Ioniq 5.

if you aren't doing road trips much you won't. When you don't do road trips you don't need any infrastructure at all except your own house

With most rental cars giving you unlimited miles, I'm very much of the opinion that when you factor in mileage and wear and tear on the car plus vehicle depreciation due to the long miles on the road trip--that renting a car for long trips is the way to go.

Especially when compared to owning a second care with an ICE just for the occasional trip.

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#104

Post by alistairSH »

iknowstuff wrote: post #71
alistairSH wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A very specific example… I live outside DC. I like to visit Canaan Valley WV to go camping. There is no charge infrastructure anywhere nearby. So, it’s a 2 hour detour on the return leg to recharge on what is normally a 2.5-3 hour trip (each direction). But, from my house, that’s about the only trip I’ve found like this. Any of the beaches are reachable. Most cities within a day or two Drive are reachable.

The Model 3 can travel that distance without charging. There is also a supercharger right in the middle. https://abetterrouteplanner.com/?plan_uuid=9daba0ea-ad2e-449...

Sure and that’s the best case. Just about anything else needs a multi-hour detour.

Anyway, my only point was there are still some gaps, even in the relatively dense eastern seaboard. But not many.

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#105

Post by noogle »

stryker7001 wrote: post #101
avalys wrote: post #96

Yes, electric cars are not viable unless you can charge at home. Meaning, in your garage / driveway. This means they're not that useful for people who live in apartments, and most people who live in a city like SF and park on the street(*). They're also not viable for road trips. Teslas can make it work but you still have to be willing for your trip to take 20 - 30% longer than it would with a gas car. For people who…

we had a chevy bolt, lived in condo, parked in a parking garage in Cow Hollow in SF. Had no problems charging either at work, or at a charging station down by the marina. We drove it to Yosemite a couple times, drove to Paso, and Napa all for fun. Got rid of it because we didn't need a car while working from home. Long story short, it was useful and viable even though we didn't have charging.

The question is not whether you can make it work, but how much effort do you have to put into using an EV.

Vehicles are bought to make life more convenient. To introduce constraints and time waste you can just use public transportation.

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#107

Post by akmarinov »

avalys wrote: post #96

Yes, electric cars are not viable unless you can charge at home. Meaning, in your garage / driveway. This means they're not that useful for people who live in apartments, and most people who live in a city like SF and park on the street(*). They're also not viable for road trips. Teslas can make it work but you still have to be willing for your trip to take 20 - 30% longer than it would with a gas car. For people who…

I charge about once a couple of weeks when using it around town on a Tesla supercharger while shopping in a mall.

Having a garage is definitely the best way, but I wouldn’t say it’s necessary. Driving it like an ICE car where you go to the gas station to fill up every couple of weeks is perfectly acceptable.

And on longer journeys, yeah it’s annoying to have to stop every 2ish hours, but I find that by the time I get back from the bathroom, I usually have enough to continue.

Is it perfect? No. Is it an adequate substitution for ICE - definitely.

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#108

Post by mangosteenjuice »

cs702 wrote: post #19

At the moment, ONLY Tesla has decent supercharging (i.e., fast-charging) infrastructure in the US: https://www.tesla.com/findus I regularly go on ~300-mile drives that need only a single charging stop, lasting 15-20 minutes, on my Tesla EV. By the time I've gone to the bathroom and gotten a drink, the supercharger has added 100-150+ miles of range and the EV is ready to go. All the stalls always work. No other EV bra…

This was the only reason I got a Tesla instead of literally any other EV brand. I make frequent trips between the Bay Area and Los Angeles. Electrify America is now an alternative, but it's not as reliable when it comes to availability and uptime.

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#109

Post by vegetablepotpie »

> That means mapping out charging stations in a comprehensive, thoughtful way … not leaving it to the whims of the commercial sector, … It will require cities to develop plans for how and where to locate public chargers

I spoke at public hearing last year in favor of an EV ordinance that my city passed. I believe that if we are to involve government with EV adoption, which is necessary, we need to be prepared for backlash and controversy, and it will require non-insignificant effort to arrive at consensus required for government action. After the ordinance was passed I exited the council chambers and I was approached by a middle aged woman who identified her self as a property developer. She told me how unfair the code amendments were because of how much it was going to cost her business. I told her that solutions like this are necessary because people are concerned with range anxiety. She responded that she was concerned with “regulatory anxiety” and the encroachment of government, and briefly grabbed my shoulder during her tirade. After that I quietly and uneventfully left the area.

I realized that if people are edging into getting physical with a small city ordinance that requires developers to provide limited charging stations for EVs, our civilization is woefully unprepared to address climate change, which will require reforms to many institutions, and the retirement of others. We need to make big changes in a lot of areas, and I don’t see the leadership, technical expertise, and outreach required to do that.

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#110

Post by mangosteenjuice »

borski wrote: post #38
tgma wrote: post #8

Specifically the author is talking about a non-Tesla EV, one that had the known defect of lack of a proper charging infrastructure at point of purchase. Nothing to see here. [Talking about Teslas and “EVs” as if they are the same category is like talking about Computer Science and “STEM” in a single category. Often disingenuous and draws the wrong conclusion.]

Nonsense. Superchargers are packed; while they work, you’re waiting in line for a charge. Meanwhile, while some folks have had issues with EA, I haven’t, and even if I did, I’d just use a Chargepoint, EVGo, Shell Recharge, or any number of other chargers as needed. Not to mention that I can buy a Tesla charger adapter for like $60 that lets me use destination chargers at hotels, and that Tesla is opening up to CCS ch…

Maybe I'm exceedingly lucky, but I've only had to wait in line once. I make frequent trips between Oakland/SF and Los Angeles, and charge at stations nearly exclusively since I live in an apartment.
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