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I like the idea of an EV, always have, even thought by age now they would be the dominant vehicle. Charging hundreds of millions of cars in the US alone overnig

I like the idea of an EV, always have, even thought by age now they would be the dominant vehicle. Charging hundreds of millions of cars in the US alone overnight and short ranges compared to a gas vehicle didn't factor into my thinking until recent years. Jay Leno has mentioned several times the numerous advantages steam and electric cars had over gas over 100 years ago but they were not enough to beat the sheer convenience of gas. I once scoffed at the idea of a hybrid (thinking of them as a stepping stone) but today I realize they make much more sense than I realized before. Think of crossing the Mojave Desert in an EV.

thehappypm 4y ago
The Mojave Desert is not really the kind of driving the average American remotely needs a vehicle equipped for.
- s0rce 4y ago
  If you drive from LA to Las Vegas, which many people do in their EVs, you have crossed the Mojave desert (nearly all of it).
  - froh 4y ago
    on a tourist corridor which already has lovely ev infrastructure, yes.
hedora 4y ago
I don't buy this argument. Most people can charge during the day. Employers often provide free EV charging, but even if they don't, power will be mostly free during daylight hours moving forward (due to solar). Also, employers that require people to commute almost universally provide parking lots that could be retrofitted with chargers. In the worst case (only charge at night, run battery to 0% every day at sunset, leave at sunrise, power company bans charging at night), someone could install a stationary battery with about 120% the EV's charge. That's overly pessimistic and still only a factor of 2.2 on the price of the battery. Over a 5-10 year period, EVs currently pay for themselves in saved money on gasoline. Crossing the Mojave seems easy enough to me. There would need to be charging stations evey ~100 miles. Finding space for the necessary solar capacity would not be an issue. The stations could charge 2-4x "city' rates and would be very profitable. You can already cross the Mojave in even a low range tesla, for what it is worth. (Victorville -> Las Vegas; they say you need to charge for 20 minutes in Baker, CA)
- NegativeK 4y ago
  > Over a 5-10 year period, EVs currently pay for themselves in saved money on gasoline. I don't know how else to put this, but that's flat out false. Looking at my miles driven over the past month, 10 years of savings won't even get me half of the value of a Chevy Bolt. > Crossing the Mojave seems easy enough to me. LA to Vegas is trivial, since it's a major corridor for tourism. Driving around Nevada is not. Vegas to Great Basin National Park (4.5 hours one way) and back only recently became possible* since Tesla released their CCS1 adapter. Unfortunately, the EV chargers that the state of Nevada has subsidized are only 50kW, which means 4.5 hours of driving requires 1h50m of charging. * You could do it before if you drove below the speed limit to reduce aerodynamic drag, but you had to drive way out of the way through Utah, desperately hope that you don't consume more power than predicted, and probably get shot by angry drivers.
  - s0rce 4y ago
    How often are you driving across Nevada, if you don't do it often you can simply rent an ICE car or truck until the charging infrastructure improves. I often carry extra gas in NV/OR because gas stations can be pretty infrequent in parts.
- fomine3 4y ago
  > Most people can charge during the day. Employers often provide free EV charging, Rich Bubble.
- seer-zig 4y ago
  What about when people forget to charge their cars overnight, and there's an emergency? Perhaps needing to evacuate due to a storm? It takes a few minutes to refuel and it can get you a long way.
  - Ekaros 4y ago
    And take something like 4 charging stations, 100 people front of you all trying to top up before evacuating, each taking full hour to charge. Now you are waiting for a day. Then 12 hours in power goes out. Now you are stuck with half of them.
mertd 4y ago
I wish most car trips were majestic like crossing the Mojave. Alas, 99.5% of my drives are either commutes or errands. I charge the car at home or at work, once a week, if that. Jay Leno is a petrolhead. Biased opinion to say the least.
- RockingGoodNite 4y ago
  I've driven and flown across the United States multiple times. There are far more people in my camp than yours, about 75% of the nation.

thehappypm 4y ago

The Mojave Desert is not really the kind of driving the average American remotely needs a vehicle equipped for.

s0rce 4y ago
If you drive from LA to Las Vegas, which many people do in their EVs, you have crossed the Mojave desert (nearly all of it).
- froh 4y ago
  on a tourist corridor which already has lovely ev infrastructure, yes.

hedora 4y ago

I don't buy this argument. Most people can charge during the day. Employers often provide free EV charging, but even if they don't, power will be mostly free during daylight hours moving forward (due to solar). Also, employers that require people to commute almost universally provide parking lots that could be retrofitted with chargers. In the worst case (only charge at night, run battery to 0% every day at sunset, leave at sunrise, power company bans charging at night), someone could install a stationary battery with about 120% the EV's charge. That's overly pessimistic and still only a factor of 2.2 on the price of the battery. Over a 5-10 year period, EVs currently pay for themselves in saved money on gasoline. Crossing the Mojave seems easy enough to me. There would need to be charging stations evey ~100 miles. Finding space for the necessary solar capacity would not be an issue. The stations could charge 2-4x "city' rates and would be very profitable. You can already cross the Mojave in even a low range tesla, for what it is worth. (Victorville -> Las Vegas; they say you need to charge for 20 minutes in Baker, CA)

NegativeK 4y ago
> Over a 5-10 year period, EVs currently pay for themselves in saved money on gasoline. I don't know how else to put this, but that's flat out false. Looking at my miles driven over the past month, 10 years of savings won't even get me half of the value of a Chevy Bolt. > Crossing the Mojave seems easy enough to me. LA to Vegas is trivial, since it's a major corridor for tourism. Driving around Nevada is not. Vegas to Great Basin National Park (4.5 hours one way) and back only recently became possible* since Tesla released their CCS1 adapter. Unfortunately, the EV chargers that the state of Nevada has subsidized are only 50kW, which means 4.5 hours of driving requires 1h50m of charging. * You could do it before if you drove below the speed limit to reduce aerodynamic drag, but you had to drive way out of the way through Utah, desperately hope that you don't consume more power than predicted, and probably get shot by angry drivers.
- s0rce 4y ago
  How often are you driving across Nevada, if you don't do it often you can simply rent an ICE car or truck until the charging infrastructure improves. I often carry extra gas in NV/OR because gas stations can be pretty infrequent in parts.
fomine3 4y ago
> Most people can charge during the day. Employers often provide free EV charging, Rich Bubble.
seer-zig 4y ago
What about when people forget to charge their cars overnight, and there's an emergency? Perhaps needing to evacuate due to a storm? It takes a few minutes to refuel and it can get you a long way.
- Ekaros 4y ago
  And take something like 4 charging stations, 100 people front of you all trying to top up before evacuating, each taking full hour to charge. Now you are waiting for a day. Then 12 hours in power goes out. Now you are stuck with half of them.

mertd 4y ago

I wish most car trips were majestic like crossing the Mojave. Alas, 99.5% of my drives are either commutes or errands. I charge the car at home or at work, once a week, if that. Jay Leno is a petrolhead. Biased opinion to say the least.

RockingGoodNite 4y ago
I've driven and flown across the United States multiple times. There are far more people in my camp than yours, about 75% of the nation.