Thread

1. gambiting · 1790547426 · focus · HN ↗

   I mean, I feel like even if petrol wasn't as expensive as it is, the sales would be booming anyway, maybe a sliver slower - for the simple reason that affordable EVs are now here and they are pretty damn good now. After years and years of lamenting "where are the EVs for your average Joe Smith" - they are now here. Funnily enough, they aren't made by Volkswagen or Peugeot, but they are here anyway. And Europe's cheapest new car - Dacia Spring - is an EV.

   1. vjsrinivas · 1790547590 · focus · HN ↗

      Im on the verge of switching from PHEV to full EV. I just need a reasonably affordable EV with 450+ mile of range.

      1. blondie9x · 1790548911 · focus · HN ↗

         It's better for the body to keep driving sessions to 3-4 hours max before you get up walk around and charge a bit. 330 mile range is more than enough. If you only use 60% of the battery to maximize its lifespan you can drive for 3.5 hours roughly before you deplete a battery from 80% -> 20%.

         1. kube-system · 1790549638 · focus · HN ↗

            There are a number of plausible rural drives in north america which do not have fast chargers for over 400 miles. EV infrastructure in the US is primarily concentrated on high-volume highways.

            1. sanswork · 1790549832 · focus · HN ↗

               Can you actually name some? Last time I looked the highest I could find was like 100 miles.

               1. to11mtm · 1790558848 · focus · HN ↗

                  I'll give you a scenario.

                  It's not necessarily 'normal', but it did happen to me last year.

                  Vacation in St Ignace Michigan. Stayed at an AirBnB rental.

                  No proper EV charger on-site at the rental, admittedly maybe the owner had an extension cord or something. Still, Then we'd be charging at a fairly low rate of mileage gain.

                  One day trip was 100 miles each way for optimum route. (Only charging stations known are near the AirBnB)

                  Another day trip was 76 miles each way for optimum route. (Only charging stations known are near the AirBnB)

                  The shortest day trip was 50-ish miles each way, but a whole thing happened where my wife left her phone at the restaurant so it was a total of 200 miles driven that day. (There are charging stations at both points for this one, but none in between.)

                  BTW, when I say 'optimum route' for the first two, I mean that for at least one of those the trip wound up being longer because of road construction.

                  I know one could say 'Well plan out charging in the morning'. But at the end of the day that just messes with the rest of the itinerary for a vacation where one could instead be exploring what you actually went on a trip for.

                  1. sanswork · 1790560209 · focus · HN ↗

                     So in your worst case you were 100 miles from a charger? Not counting the fact you could have charged at the Airbnb if you'd made some prior arrangements? That doesn't sound bad and you were always well within range.

                     1. to11mtm · 1790640480 · focus · HN ↗

                        Correct me if I'm wrong, but my general understanding is that if they had a long enough 120V extension cord (and I will admit, they might have in this case) I would have only gotten 5 miles an hour or so of charging at best.

                        So, either:

                        A- I have to go find a charging station, and pray to god that during a peak tourist weekend there is an open spot, so plan the wait into every day and hope my plan in the day schedule and pray it doesn't get disrupted by the other tourist traffic.

                        or

                        B- I would get maybe 60-ish miles of range added each night leaving the thing plugged in when we are at the AirBnb.

                        I want to be clear about this, I'd be fine with an EV if the charging infrastructure made sense, as it stands today however the ideal state for me and my wife would require a plugin hybrid and an EV or a Plugin Hybrid and a Hybrid.

                        1. sanswork · 1790647897 · focus · HN ↗

                           Besides the insanity of picking a place to stay where you are several hours of driving from your planned destinations every day they could have topped up over night then spent a few minutes each day at chargers to fill up completely if they were worried.

                           At no point was there any risk of them being without charge even on their longest driving day.

                           1. kube-system · 1790694262 · focus · HN ↗

                              > the insanity of picking a place to stay where you are several hours of driving from your planned destinations every day

                              That is an entirely normal scenario for someone visiting many of the most popular outdoor destinations in the US, especially in the west.

                              1. sanswork · 1790720062 · focus · HN ↗

                                 That is not an entirely normal scenario. You would typically book accommodations near each location and move between them if you have a bunch of spots spread out over a huge distance.

                                 Planning a vacation where even after travelling to your accommodation you require at least 10 hours of driving over a 3 day period just to get to the places you actually want to visit is absurd and uncommon.

                                 1. to11mtm · 1790732214 · focus · HN ↗

                                    > 10 hours of driving over a 3 day period

                                    Since you're trying to be pedantic about trying to calculate the drive time for the distance, I'll note that (short of the unexpected WTF re-trip) it would have been less than 10 hours; I-75 speed limit is 75 in most of the UP, and the other main corridor roads have a speed limit of 65, because it is so sparsely populated.

                                    For better or worse, the Upper Peninsula is this thing that your typical car-owning family who lives in the state can actually do an inexpensive but beautiful trip around.

                                    It's a region that is only about 42,500 Square Kilometers but only has a population of about 300K. Thus the infrastructure gaps.

                                    On the plus side, that means it's still a pretty drive at least. :)

                                    1. sanswork · 1790733851 · focus · HN ↗

                                       I assumed you would have time between exits on slower roads unless you're driving an hour on the freeway to visit a roadside stand or something.

                                       I grew up in Ontario and I'm familiar with the area. It still seems like an absurd trip plan but you do you.

                                       Though we're back to the fact that even in your worst case the most that can be said is it would be slightly more inconvenient given current charger network. In reality you'd problem just do a better job picking a base location or not choosing one given the distances if you were really worried.

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