4 ms·

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

by Gibbon1 6y ago

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.
      - EricE 6y ago
        >So that's 0.3%. Your heart is a relatively small part of your overall biomass. So why don't you just do without it? >From an accounting point of view that's insane. You should buy the lower range cheaper car and fly. Even more presumptuous. What are you supposed to do on the other end of that plane flight to get around? Rent a car? Bum off of friends/family? I once thought it would be cost effective to buy an EV and just rent when I needed to take longer trips - until I did the math. Rental cars get very expensive very quickly!
  - EricE 6y ago
    Must be this new math. When I was growing up never = 0, not never > 0
  - EricE 6y ago
    Also for all those saying just fly and rent or rent a car - most of these trips are around the holidays. When everyone else is having the same thoughts. What happens if you don't get a rental car? No trip? Yeah, that's going to go over well...
jjav 6y ago
> In the US? The number of times people drive 500 miles straight is basically never despite what people here will claim. At least on the west coast (distances are longer) that's quite common. San Francisco to Los Angeles is ~400 miles. A day trip is ~800 miles, done it often. San Francisco to Portland is ~600 miles, done that very often as well.
- amanaplanacanal 6y ago
  What do you consider very often? I’ve done it several times, but that comes to about once every few years for me. Certainly not a weekly trip.
  - EricE 6y ago
    For three years when I lived in San Diego I drove to Vegas at least once a month (it's where I have family). Millions of cars on the road happen for a reason. Just because you rarely go on such trips doesn't mean for some they aren't more frequent for others. Heck just to go to my favorite German restaurant or go for my favorite crab cakes that could be a 300 mile round trip. I would do either without a second thought with my current cars and until EVs can get to the same level of comfort for people they will remain a niche vehicle. That's the practical reality. You can hop up and down with your arguments around moral superiority and god help any idiot who tries to force change via legislation. Want to see a real revolution real fast? Just poke that bear. Cars = freedom. Freedom of movement, freedom of expression, economic freedom (choice of jobs, supplies, living location, etc.). EV proponents can acknowledge this and work to rationally solve the issues (with transitional tech like range extenders), or continue to insist everyone else is doing it wrong and remain a niche. Until most of the fervor around EVs graduates from cult status to being at least a touch pragmatic there won't be significant change. Screaming louder about how the environment is being ravaged (right or wrong) isn't going to move the needle either. You convince people by solving their problems, meeting their needs and doing so in a rational manner. It really isn't that hard - until you roll up your sleeves and really start to work through things. Until we all are willing to do that it's just wish casting.

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.
    - EricE 6y ago
      >So that's 0.3%. Your heart is a relatively small part of your overall biomass. So why don't you just do without it? >From an accounting point of view that's insane. You should buy the lower range cheaper car and fly. Even more presumptuous. What are you supposed to do on the other end of that plane flight to get around? Rent a car? Bum off of friends/family? I once thought it would be cost effective to buy an EV and just rent when I needed to take longer trips - until I did the math. Rental cars get very expensive very quickly!
- EricE 6y ago
  Must be this new math. When I was growing up never = 0, not never > 0
- EricE 6y ago
  Also for all those saying just fly and rent or rent a car - most of these trips are around the holidays. When everyone else is having the same thoughts. What happens if you don't get a rental car? No trip? Yeah, that's going to go over well...

jjav 6y ago

> In the US? The number of times people drive 500 miles straight is basically never despite what people here will claim. At least on the west coast (distances are longer) that's quite common. San Francisco to Los Angeles is ~400 miles. A day trip is ~800 miles, done it often. San Francisco to Portland is ~600 miles, done that very often as well.

amanaplanacanal 6y ago
What do you consider very often? I’ve done it several times, but that comes to about once every few years for me. Certainly not a weekly trip.
- EricE 6y ago
  For three years when I lived in San Diego I drove to Vegas at least once a month (it's where I have family). Millions of cars on the road happen for a reason. Just because you rarely go on such trips doesn't mean for some they aren't more frequent for others. Heck just to go to my favorite German restaurant or go for my favorite crab cakes that could be a 300 mile round trip. I would do either without a second thought with my current cars and until EVs can get to the same level of comfort for people they will remain a niche vehicle. That's the practical reality. You can hop up and down with your arguments around moral superiority and god help any idiot who tries to force change via legislation. Want to see a real revolution real fast? Just poke that bear. Cars = freedom. Freedom of movement, freedom of expression, economic freedom (choice of jobs, supplies, living location, etc.). EV proponents can acknowledge this and work to rationally solve the issues (with transitional tech like range extenders), or continue to insist everyone else is doing it wrong and remain a niche. Until most of the fervor around EVs graduates from cult status to being at least a touch pragmatic there won't be significant change. Screaming louder about how the environment is being ravaged (right or wrong) isn't going to move the needle either. You convince people by solving their problems, meeting their needs and doing so in a rational manner. It really isn't that hard - until you roll up your sleeves and really start to work through things. Until we all are willing to do that it's just wish casting.