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This is a strange article that has an anti-EV tinge at the very least. As with other similar articles, it tosses a bunch of charging-related numbers around to c

This is a strange article that has an anti-EV tinge at the very least. As with other similar articles, it tosses a bunch of charging-related numbers around to confuse readers. It doesn’t acknowledge the fact that planning will be required for road trips to ensure optimal charging times. It also fails to acknowledge that some makes and models are simply better than others in terms of charger compatibility and battery range. A Better Route Planner estimates a Model 3 can complete the trip in 2 hours and 20 minutes with no charging, assuming you start at 100% charge. I hate to blame the consumer, but Alan bought the wrong car. Also, AAA definitely has charging trucks. That’s the only reason I’m a member.

patrick451 4y ago
> It doesn’t acknowledge the fact that planning will be required for road trips to ensure optimal charging times. Why should it? If I need to become an amateur logistician just drive my car across the state, that car is not fit for use outside the realm of dedicated hobbyists.
- fdewrewrewf 4y ago
  I subscribe to the EV conspiracy theory that a major part of the planned CO2 reductions will be because getting anywhere by car will be much harder.
- clintonb 4y ago
  You don’t need to become an amateur anything. You put your starting point and destination into one of numerous apps, and they tell you where to charge.
- Arrath 4y ago
  You could say the same about planning to drive an ICE vehicle from Seattle to Anchorage, or across Australia.
- mint2 4y ago
  There were a lot of areas in the 60s where a road trip would require substantial advance planning to go well. (I guess people should never have done them back then…even although that helped pave the way for making it easy today. But this isn’t my main point, it’s an aside) And this doesn’t even touch on the way just a few decades ago many ethnic groups had to plan extensively for road trips for their safety. Nowadays it seems like we’re on the path to WallE’s world where even a modest amount of planning is unthinkable for some. What has google maps done to our perspective? Although I have hope, it used to be single use plastic bottles were the complete standard because no one wanted to plan slightly ahead. Now substantial numbers of people fill up a reusable bottle in advance like good amateur logisticians.
  - TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
    In other words BEVs are crappier product for higher price. Thanks for nothing.
    - Kirby64 4y ago
      You could make the same argument that ICE vehicles are crappier products, because you have to stop at an external station every week or 2 to fill it with gas. Something you never need to a BEV outside of roadtrips if you have charging at home. It's just a different use-case. Whether folks are aware is largely an education issue, not an inherent issue with BEVs. It's like complaining a truck doesn't have 3 rows of seats and can't fit 7 people.
      - TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
        I live in apartment. I can't charge at home and together with me many other people.
        Kirby64 4y ago
        Different use-case. I wouldn't argue that anyone that lives in an apartment own an EV with the current state of domestic apartment-based EV charging, honestly, unless they are REALLY certain they're OK with the hassle of using a DCFC to charge their car. That said, this is not the fault of the car manufacturer. It's the fault of a national lack of urgency regarding charging infrastructure. I'd support some sort of mandate to require Level 2 charging be included in apartments (or some sort of heavy federal subsidy) to accelerate the transition. Cause obviously apartments are going to be a thing forever... so we need to change parking structures to accommodate EVs.
Kirby64 4y ago
Agreed on all points. The fact is, the Nissan Leaf (the car used in this article) is insufficient for any sort of road tripping. It's fine for intra-city travel but using it for roadtrips will cause pain like OP experienced. Most importantly, the Nissan Leaf still uses the antiquated CHAdeMO connector for fast charging... which is both becoming more difficult to find these days, but also cannot provide as high of power as the most traditional CCS1 (or, Tesla's Supercharger network), which results in extremely slow charge times compared to other standards. Obviously, the OP also didn't even use DC fast charging... but that appears to be because they chose go via a route that has no DCFC between the two cities. Both cities have DCFCs in each city, so if you could make the drive in one charge (which, almost every modern EV can... BESIDES the Nissan Leaf), then you'd be fine. Funny enough, if you look at the route in Plugshare... the only company that has any sort of DCFCs inbetween those two cities is Tesla. There's a Supercharger that is directly inbetween the two cities.

patrick451 4y ago

> It doesn’t acknowledge the fact that planning will be required for road trips to ensure optimal charging times. Why should it? If I need to become an amateur logistician just drive my car across the state, that car is not fit for use outside the realm of dedicated hobbyists.

fdewrewrewf 4y ago
I subscribe to the EV conspiracy theory that a major part of the planned CO2 reductions will be because getting anywhere by car will be much harder.
clintonb 4y ago
You don’t need to become an amateur anything. You put your starting point and destination into one of numerous apps, and they tell you where to charge.
Arrath 4y ago
You could say the same about planning to drive an ICE vehicle from Seattle to Anchorage, or across Australia.
mint2 4y ago
There were a lot of areas in the 60s where a road trip would require substantial advance planning to go well. (I guess people should never have done them back then…even although that helped pave the way for making it easy today. But this isn’t my main point, it’s an aside) And this doesn’t even touch on the way just a few decades ago many ethnic groups had to plan extensively for road trips for their safety. Nowadays it seems like we’re on the path to WallE’s world where even a modest amount of planning is unthinkable for some. What has google maps done to our perspective? Although I have hope, it used to be single use plastic bottles were the complete standard because no one wanted to plan slightly ahead. Now substantial numbers of people fill up a reusable bottle in advance like good amateur logisticians.
- TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
  In other words BEVs are crappier product for higher price. Thanks for nothing.
  - Kirby64 4y ago
    You could make the same argument that ICE vehicles are crappier products, because you have to stop at an external station every week or 2 to fill it with gas. Something you never need to a BEV outside of roadtrips if you have charging at home. It's just a different use-case. Whether folks are aware is largely an education issue, not an inherent issue with BEVs. It's like complaining a truck doesn't have 3 rows of seats and can't fit 7 people.
    - TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
      I live in apartment. I can't charge at home and together with me many other people.
      - Kirby64 4y ago
        Different use-case. I wouldn't argue that anyone that lives in an apartment own an EV with the current state of domestic apartment-based EV charging, honestly, unless they are REALLY certain they're OK with the hassle of using a DCFC to charge their car. That said, this is not the fault of the car manufacturer. It's the fault of a national lack of urgency regarding charging infrastructure. I'd support some sort of mandate to require Level 2 charging be included in apartments (or some sort of heavy federal subsidy) to accelerate the transition. Cause obviously apartments are going to be a thing forever... so we need to change parking structures to accommodate EVs.

Kirby64 4y ago

Agreed on all points. The fact is, the Nissan Leaf (the car used in this article) is insufficient for any sort of road tripping. It's fine for intra-city travel but using it for roadtrips will cause pain like OP experienced. Most importantly, the Nissan Leaf still uses the antiquated CHAdeMO connector for fast charging... which is both becoming more difficult to find these days, but also cannot provide as high of power as the most traditional CCS1 (or, Tesla's Supercharger network), which results in extremely slow charge times compared to other standards. Obviously, the OP also didn't even use DC fast charging... but that appears to be because they chose go via a route that has no DCFC between the two cities. Both cities have DCFCs in each city, so if you could make the drive in one charge (which, almost every modern EV can... BESIDES the Nissan Leaf), then you'd be fine. Funny enough, if you look at the route in Plugshare... the only company that has any sort of DCFCs inbetween those two cities is Tesla. There's a Supercharger that is directly inbetween the two cities.