3 ms·

Given that the entire length of Britain is 600 miles, going ICE-free seems almost... easy, compared to the US. You really don't have the concerns about long-ha

Given that the entire length of Britain is 600 miles, going ICE-free seems almost... easy, compared to the US. You really don't have the concerns about long-haul trips impacting range. Obviously there are point-charging concerns etc, but that's something you can throw small money at to fix. You don't really need to convince consumers they won't be stranded in the mountains and freeze to death.

ghaff 6y ago
There are areas of the US where electric will probably be a tough sell as someone's only vehicle for certain types of trips and driving. Is it a large percentage? Probably not. (And before someone says just rent a car for those times. For a lot of driving away from pavement, you can't rent vehicles even if you wanted to.)
mywittyname 6y ago
Long haul trips were never the biggest concern for EV adoption, that's something that can largely be worked around through planning. The biggest concern has always been charging infrastructure. EVs are great for people with garages, but not so much for the people in cities with no dedicated parking spot. Banning ICEs is probably the best mechanism to get society to solve this problem. Otherwise, most city-dwellers will just sit back and continue to drive ICE cars waiting for someone else to solve the charging issue.
- bpodgursky 6y ago
  I don't know why you assert this. It is the concern for literally every person I know who would otherwise have bought an EV, including myself. People like the freedom to take longer road trips without meticulous planning, and without sticking to certain interstate routes which skip the interesting parts of the country.
  - mywittyname 6y ago
    I never said it wasn't a concern, I said it wasn't the biggest concern. If all the gas stations around your house disappeared, would your first concern be how you are going to get to Indianapolis? No. It's going to be how are you going to get work/school/etc everyday (assuming you don't work in Indianapolis). EVs have an issue where most drivers have to own their own gas-station equivalent. And people without the space to put a personal "gas station" can't really own one. At that point, they don't give a damn whether they can drive to Indianapolis. Solving the day-to-day charging problem for people without the space for personal charges will, as a side-effect, also solve the issue for driving long distances. Because the issue with going long distances in an EV comes down to availability of charging.
    - ghaff 6y ago
      Both things are concerns, at least when you get to longer trips on secondary roads in rural areas.
      - mywittyname 6y ago
        But again, concerns over range are really just a type of concern over public charging capacity. If the people who drive those roads regularly can charge on public chargers, then people driving through on long trips also have the ability to charge there. Thus range isn't a concern.
        argiopetech 6y ago
        In the early days of ICE vehicles, range would have been a concern. After all, horses can eat almost anywhere and there was plenty of infrastructure (hay barns) available. The solution to range for an ICE is "carry more fuel". I can load my truck bed with 500 gallons of fuel and tow 1000 more without taking a significant mileage penalty and drive 2/3 of the way around the world. An exaggerated scenario, to be sure, but the concept holds on smaller scales and is a valuable ability for many. What does an electric vehicle offer for someone in the USA's mid-west, Canada's far north, or the Australian outback where a vehicle may need to travel for days off road without seeing civilization, possibly while maintaining heat for survival or running equipment via e.g. a PTO? Edit to add a reply to your earlier comment: The majority of consumer uses of ICEs at the moment is commuting, agreed. Governments aren't talking about banning the majority of ICE sales. What fills the hole?
  - bartvk 6y ago
    I get why you like the freedom to take longer road trips without meticulous planning, however when I look at how I use my EV (Renault Zoe), it's not that bad. Basically for normal daily usage, you don't really care because the range (180-240 km) is big enough to not worry. We take longer trips maybe 3-4 times per year. And then you do need to plan. In that case, not a big deal to me.
- 908B64B197 6y ago
  > EVs are great for people with garages, but not so much for the people in cities with no dedicated parking spot. That's one of the reasons I'm hopeful for self-driving taxis. Unless cities magically start allowing garages to be built.
  - albertgoeswoof 6y ago
    Self driving taxis are like flying cars- they’re technically possible and have been for some time, but you don’t see them on roads, because they’re just not quite right

ghaff 6y ago

There are areas of the US where electric will probably be a tough sell as someone's only vehicle for certain types of trips and driving. Is it a large percentage? Probably not. (And before someone says just rent a car for those times. For a lot of driving away from pavement, you can't rent vehicles even if you wanted to.)

mywittyname 6y ago

Long haul trips were never the biggest concern for EV adoption, that's something that can largely be worked around through planning. The biggest concern has always been charging infrastructure. EVs are great for people with garages, but not so much for the people in cities with no dedicated parking spot. Banning ICEs is probably the best mechanism to get society to solve this problem. Otherwise, most city-dwellers will just sit back and continue to drive ICE cars waiting for someone else to solve the charging issue.

bpodgursky 6y ago
I don't know why you assert this. It is the concern for literally every person I know who would otherwise have bought an EV, including myself. People like the freedom to take longer road trips without meticulous planning, and without sticking to certain interstate routes which skip the interesting parts of the country.
- mywittyname 6y ago
  I never said it wasn't a concern, I said it wasn't the biggest concern. If all the gas stations around your house disappeared, would your first concern be how you are going to get to Indianapolis? No. It's going to be how are you going to get work/school/etc everyday (assuming you don't work in Indianapolis). EVs have an issue where most drivers have to own their own gas-station equivalent. And people without the space to put a personal "gas station" can't really own one. At that point, they don't give a damn whether they can drive to Indianapolis. Solving the day-to-day charging problem for people without the space for personal charges will, as a side-effect, also solve the issue for driving long distances. Because the issue with going long distances in an EV comes down to availability of charging.
  - ghaff 6y ago
    Both things are concerns, at least when you get to longer trips on secondary roads in rural areas.
    - mywittyname 6y ago
      But again, concerns over range are really just a type of concern over public charging capacity. If the people who drive those roads regularly can charge on public chargers, then people driving through on long trips also have the ability to charge there. Thus range isn't a concern.
      - argiopetech 6y ago
        In the early days of ICE vehicles, range would have been a concern. After all, horses can eat almost anywhere and there was plenty of infrastructure (hay barns) available. The solution to range for an ICE is "carry more fuel". I can load my truck bed with 500 gallons of fuel and tow 1000 more without taking a significant mileage penalty and drive 2/3 of the way around the world. An exaggerated scenario, to be sure, but the concept holds on smaller scales and is a valuable ability for many. What does an electric vehicle offer for someone in the USA's mid-west, Canada's far north, or the Australian outback where a vehicle may need to travel for days off road without seeing civilization, possibly while maintaining heat for survival or running equipment via e.g. a PTO? Edit to add a reply to your earlier comment: The majority of consumer uses of ICEs at the moment is commuting, agreed. Governments aren't talking about banning the majority of ICE sales. What fills the hole?
- bartvk 6y ago
  I get why you like the freedom to take longer road trips without meticulous planning, however when I look at how I use my EV (Renault Zoe), it's not that bad. Basically for normal daily usage, you don't really care because the range (180-240 km) is big enough to not worry. We take longer trips maybe 3-4 times per year. And then you do need to plan. In that case, not a big deal to me.
908B64B197 6y ago
> EVs are great for people with garages, but not so much for the people in cities with no dedicated parking spot. That's one of the reasons I'm hopeful for self-driving taxis. Unless cities magically start allowing garages to be built.
- albertgoeswoof 6y ago
  Self driving taxis are like flying cars- they’re technically possible and have been for some time, but you don’t see them on roads, because they’re just not quite right