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I am an Indian. I am curious, as to the amount of times one has the requirement to fill a tank of gas and drive 500 miles further. EVs should target the regula

I am an Indian. I am curious, as to the amount of times one has the requirement to fill a tank of gas and drive 500 miles further. EVs should target the regular commuter market. I was really surprised that Tesla invested in the supercharger network. I get the idea, but in the US, do people really go on such long drives regularly?

atweiden 6y ago
The 500 mile figure is roughly the range of a modern Toyota Camry. It’s just a useful baseline. But as it happens, we’d drive 500 miles from Atlanta to St Louis every winter to visit our grandparents when we were growing up. I’m sure lots of people have relatives or friends they could visit who live about that far away. Alternatively, Birmingham to Orange Beach is a bit shy of 300 miles one way. Atlanta to various popular beach vacation spots in Florida and South Carolina is roughly comparable. Beach vacation territory, IOW, is commonly several hundred miles one way.
zucker42 6y ago
Yes, people go on 300+ mile drives often enough that the ability to take long drives is important. While long trips are surely not very common as a percentage of trips, taking a "road trip" (a vacation by long car drive) might be done once or more per year in some families. For example, one might drive from San Francisco to LA, or Atlanta to Daytona Beach. It's not entirely uncommon to drive all the way cross-country either. I believe, though, it's only a matter of time before charging stations reach parity with gas stations. It's already possible to take a road trip by major highways with a Tesla.
- throwawayboise 6y ago
  Lots of people drive from Canada to Florida in the spring. Go to Clearwater Beach in March and count the number of Ontario license plates you see.
- kd5bjo 6y ago
  > I believe, though, it's only a matter of time before charging stations reach parity with gas stations. It's already possible to take a road trip by major highways with a Tesla. For a full transition to EVs, the charger network is going to need enough capacity to handle large emergencies like hurricane evacuations. A typical gas station with 4-8 pumps can keep a lot of cars moving in that sort of situation, and it doesn’t feel like electric charging stations will be able to handle that load anytime soon.
Gibbon1 6y ago
In the US? The number of times people drive 500 miles straight is basically never despite what people here will claim.
- throwawayboise 6y ago
  If by "straight" you mean only fuel stops I do ~750 miles or more at least twice a year.
  - Gibbon1 6y ago
    > twice a year Meaning basically never.
    - zaphar 6y ago
      The importance of those twice a year trips is high though. Visiting family, resting up on vacation, exploring new places. Choosing a vehicle that doesn't support those twice a year trips is a hard sell for many people.
    - the_lonely_road 6y ago
      We are talking about buying cars with ~8 year lifetimes. So his "basically never" twice a year is 16 expected trips with the vehicle. That's significant enough to be a serious consideration when comparing ICE to EV purchases.
      - Gibbon1 6y ago
        8 years at an average of 12500 miles a year is 100,000 miles or about 5000-10000 trips. 16 long distance trips is 0.3% of all trip. So that's 0.3%. Now ask what the marginal cost of a electric car that can drive 500 miles without stopping vs one that goes have the distance. What's that $20,000? For 16 trips? That's $1250 a trip. From an accounting point of view that's insane. You should buy the lower range cheaper car and fly.
        6y ago
dougmwne 6y ago
We have a bit of a cultural attachment to the road trip. In comparison to other countries, our roads are wonderful and some people can comfortably drive for a thousand miles a day. And our trains and busses are either non-existent or something only a student would do. For most people it's not a regular thing, but for the few times a year they do make the long drive, it's can be a badge of honor and show of independence. And there's usually some competition to see who can drive the most miles in the fewest hours with the least stops. Even when flying would be faster and cheaper, many people prefer to drive for the convenience of having their own car once they get to their destination. I definitely haven't seen this road trip phenomenon in Europe even though you could do similar drives. There just isn't the same need to have your car at your destination and people seem more comfortable taking planes, trains and buses generally.
shiftpgdn 6y ago
Maybe once or twice a year, if that. Most people I know who are going more than a few hundred miles just fly and rent a car on the other end.
- EricE 6y ago
  Not many families can afford that luxury - so they drive. And that's the real resistance here - freedom. EV enthusiasts do themselves zero favors when they try to pretend that it's not a real issue.

atweiden 6y ago

The 500 mile figure is roughly the range of a modern Toyota Camry. It’s just a useful baseline. But as it happens, we’d drive 500 miles from Atlanta to St Louis every winter to visit our grandparents when we were growing up. I’m sure lots of people have relatives or friends they could visit who live about that far away. Alternatively, Birmingham to Orange Beach is a bit shy of 300 miles one way. Atlanta to various popular beach vacation spots in Florida and South Carolina is roughly comparable. Beach vacation territory, IOW, is commonly several hundred miles one way.

zucker42 6y ago

Yes, people go on 300+ mile drives often enough that the ability to take long drives is important. While long trips are surely not very common as a percentage of trips, taking a "road trip" (a vacation by long car drive) might be done once or more per year in some families. For example, one might drive from San Francisco to LA, or Atlanta to Daytona Beach. It's not entirely uncommon to drive all the way cross-country either. I believe, though, it's only a matter of time before charging stations reach parity with gas stations. It's already possible to take a road trip by major highways with a Tesla.

throwawayboise 6y ago
Lots of people drive from Canada to Florida in the spring. Go to Clearwater Beach in March and count the number of Ontario license plates you see.
kd5bjo 6y ago
> I believe, though, it's only a matter of time before charging stations reach parity with gas stations. It's already possible to take a road trip by major highways with a Tesla. For a full transition to EVs, the charger network is going to need enough capacity to handle large emergencies like hurricane evacuations. A typical gas station with 4-8 pumps can keep a lot of cars moving in that sort of situation, and it doesn’t feel like electric charging stations will be able to handle that load anytime soon.

Gibbon1 6y ago

In the US? The number of times people drive 500 miles straight is basically never despite what people here will claim.

throwawayboise 6y ago
If by "straight" you mean only fuel stops I do ~750 miles or more at least twice a year.
- Gibbon1 6y ago
  > twice a year Meaning basically never.
  - zaphar 6y ago
    The importance of those twice a year trips is high though. Visiting family, resting up on vacation, exploring new places. Choosing a vehicle that doesn't support those twice a year trips is a hard sell for many people.
  - the_lonely_road 6y ago
    We are talking about buying cars with ~8 year lifetimes. So his "basically never" twice a year is 16 expected trips with the vehicle. That's significant enough to be a serious consideration when comparing ICE to EV purchases.
    - Gibbon1 6y ago
      8 years at an average of 12500 miles a year is 100,000 miles or about 5000-10000 trips. 16 long distance trips is 0.3% of all trip. So that's 0.3%. Now ask what the marginal cost of a electric car that can drive 500 miles without stopping vs one that goes have the distance. What's that $20,000? For 16 trips? That's $1250 a trip. From an accounting point of view that's insane. You should buy the lower range cheaper car and fly.
      - 6y ago

dougmwne 6y ago

We have a bit of a cultural attachment to the road trip. In comparison to other countries, our roads are wonderful and some people can comfortably drive for a thousand miles a day. And our trains and busses are either non-existent or something only a student would do. For most people it's not a regular thing, but for the few times a year they do make the long drive, it's can be a badge of honor and show of independence. And there's usually some competition to see who can drive the most miles in the fewest hours with the least stops. Even when flying would be faster and cheaper, many people prefer to drive for the convenience of having their own car once they get to their destination. I definitely haven't seen this road trip phenomenon in Europe even though you could do similar drives. There just isn't the same need to have your car at your destination and people seem more comfortable taking planes, trains and buses generally.

shiftpgdn 6y ago

Maybe once or twice a year, if that. Most people I know who are going more than a few hundred miles just fly and rent a car on the other end.

EricE 6y ago
Not many families can afford that luxury - so they drive. And that's the real resistance here - freedom. EV enthusiasts do themselves zero favors when they try to pretend that it's not a real issue.