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> The cold hard reality (to paraphrase the alarmist title) is that it isn't that big of a deal. For people who use their EV solely for commuting, it’s not a bi
by MontyCarloHall 5y ago
> The cold hard reality (to paraphrase the alarmist title) is that it isn't that big of a deal.
For people who use their EV solely for commuting, it’s not a big deal, since a commute distance is still well below the reduced range in cold temperatures.
It is a huge deal for people who take winter road trips. The range reductions cited in the article could easily spell the difference between getting to the destination in one shot, versus having to take a >30 minute stop to recharge midway. 30 minutes is an absolute minimum figure that assumes there’s an available fast charger conveniently close to the route. If not, detours+slow charging could easily add an hour or more to travel time.
- newsclues 5y ago
- MontyCarloHall 5y agoIt takes 5 minutes to refuel a gas car, and gas stations are ubiquitous. Most EVs take about 30 minutes to gain an appreciable amount of range at a level 3 charger, which are far from common, thus necessitating a long detour. They also often have long lines—you can easily spend at least as much time waiting for a charger to become available as you will actually charging the car.
- meragrin_ 5y agoLet me know when you charge an EV in under 5 minutes.
- thesuitonym 5y agoIf only there were a way to take a trip without driving. It would be so nice if there were some kind of large vehicle that multiple people could get in, that had a dedicate right-of-way for long-haul trips, so individuals didn't have to worry about fuel. These hypothetical vehicles could go to multiple high-traffic destinations, so a person could get close to where they wanted to be, and then drive a personal vehicle the rest of the distance, but sleep for most of the trip, or just relax. Unfortunately, no such method of travel ever has or ever will be invented, so I guess we'll just have to rely on internal combustion engines for the rest of eternity.
- MontyCarloHall 5y agoWhile I agree in principle, pragmatically (in the US at least) it would be orders of magnitude easier to build out our EV charging network and increase the all-season range of EVs than to build out a massive rail network on par with both our interstate road network and local highway networks.
- ghaff 5y agoBecause it is totally reasonable to expect there to be a bus or train from some arbitrary location (even a city) to a random mountain trailhead or ski area.
- hnaccount_rng 5y agoYou just described Switzerland xD
- ghaff 5y agoEven Switzerland doesn't have complete public transportation coverage but it probably comes closer than just about anyplace else.
- zdragnar 5y agoSuch vehicles certainly don't exist for 90% of the long haul trips I take (busses and trains). Planes could get me there, but they also would actually take longer than just driving because where I need to go isn't serviced by national lines, only regional planes.
- nradov 5y agoIf you want to get from the Bay Area to Lake Tahoe area ski resorts it's almost impossible to do that via mass transit. Best case scenario would be an all-day ordeal with at least 5 transfers, and no easy way to carry bulky, heavy ski equipment. No one is going to put up with that when they can just drive their personal vehicle in half the time with greater comfort. There used to be a private ski bus charter service on weekends but that shut down due to the pandemic.
- reaperducer 5y agoFor people who use their EV solely for commuting, it’s not a big deal It depends on how long your "commute" is. A dozen miles across San Francisco? Not a big deal. There are plenty of people who commute long distances every day. There are thousands of people who commute to New York City every day from Pennsylvania.
- lallysingh 5y agoThe cost savings on fuel vs recharging makes long distance commuters (like me, NJ to NYC) look more at EVs.