4 ms·

A quarter tank of fuel leaves me with >80 miles of range remaining. That enables nearly any impromptu trip I am likely to engage, along with the ability to refi

A quarter tank of fuel leaves me with >80 miles of range remaining. That enables nearly any impromptu trip I am likely to engage, along with the ability to refill basically anywhere. Rolling the dice with ~13 miles available on a daily basis would make me uneasy. What if there is an accident that re-routes traffic? Some kind of hazard that has me stuck for hours? What if I want to go to the mall after work? I want EVs to work, and my next car is quite likely to be one, but limited locations for quick re-fueling are a real concern of mine.

underdeserver 4y ago
We're talking about: 1) A 10-year-old car 2) From a time when batteries were much worse than today 3) With low original range 4) Not including the extra 10-20 miles or so that most car makers add to the "0" point, similar to how a gas tank isn't quite empty when the display says it is. I'm guessing OP bought it for relatively cheap and is saving $20-$30 a day running it like that. That's worth the taxi / tow / calling your spouse, when you get stuck twice a year.
- stickfigure 4y ago
  Exactly. Also, while we've never needed to, you can stop at a charger and top-up. It's a small battery, it doesn't take long.
  - peoplefromibiza 4y ago
    > you can stop at a charger and top-up. It's a small battery, it doesn't take long the problem is scaling. gas takes on average less than a minute per car to top up the tank (gas pump emits ~0.5 liters per second, my car tank capacity is less than 30 liters), if a battery charge requires say 15 minutes (I actually don't know the real number, but I have a feeling that it's usually more than that) that's 15 times longer waiting times and 15 times less capacity per station. Or more stops.
    - stickfigure 4y ago
      We don't use the Fiat for road trips, but we often caravan with friends with Teslas. Every couple hours they stop at a supercharger station for 15 minutes. It's really not that bad; we stop as often just to keep our kiddo sane. The stations usually have interesting services next door. Supercharger stations usually have dozens of spots; gas stations typically have maybe ten? An EV station just needs one parking spot per car, so they are much more space efficient than gas stations. The only real constraint is electrical infrastructure. BTW it averages much more than 1m per car for fueling. Person gets out of the car, fishes around in their purse for the credit card, fiddles with the cryptic instructions on the pump, walks into store to piss and buy junk food... if you've had to wait at a busy station, you'd be acutely aware of just how long fueling actually takes. Humans are slow.
      - peoplefromibiza 4y ago
        > Every couple hours they stop at a supercharger station for 15 minutes. It's really not that bad; It actually is kinda bad, if you ask me. > An EV station just needs one parking spot per car Huge gas stations are not that common outside of the US The average gas stations in my city are like this https://c7.alamy.com/compit/2ak83cy/gli-operatori-e-auto-a-gas-street-station-stazione-di-benzina-roma-italia-2ak83cy.jpg https://c7.alamy.com/compit/2ak83cy/gli-operatori-e-auto-a-g... They don't actually take that much space and serve hundreds of cars per day. They don't need to stay stationary for a long time. > BTW it averages much more than 1m per car for fueling. Not really. On average people refuel, they do not fill up the tank. BTW it could well be that my POV from a different country is biased.
        kalleboo 4y ago
        Most people in cities will be charging at home though, the big supercharging stations will be along the highways where people are driving for hours. And with how simple car chargers are, they can just be a part of supermarket parking lots, etc.
        4y ago

underdeserver 4y ago

We're talking about: 1) A 10-year-old car 2) From a time when batteries were much worse than today 3) With low original range 4) Not including the extra 10-20 miles or so that most car makers add to the "0" point, similar to how a gas tank isn't quite empty when the display says it is. I'm guessing OP bought it for relatively cheap and is saving $20-$30 a day running it like that. That's worth the taxi / tow / calling your spouse, when you get stuck twice a year.

stickfigure 4y ago
Exactly. Also, while we've never needed to, you can stop at a charger and top-up. It's a small battery, it doesn't take long.
- peoplefromibiza 4y ago
  > you can stop at a charger and top-up. It's a small battery, it doesn't take long the problem is scaling. gas takes on average less than a minute per car to top up the tank (gas pump emits ~0.5 liters per second, my car tank capacity is less than 30 liters), if a battery charge requires say 15 minutes (I actually don't know the real number, but I have a feeling that it's usually more than that) that's 15 times longer waiting times and 15 times less capacity per station. Or more stops.
  - stickfigure 4y ago
    We don't use the Fiat for road trips, but we often caravan with friends with Teslas. Every couple hours they stop at a supercharger station for 15 minutes. It's really not that bad; we stop as often just to keep our kiddo sane. The stations usually have interesting services next door. Supercharger stations usually have dozens of spots; gas stations typically have maybe ten? An EV station just needs one parking spot per car, so they are much more space efficient than gas stations. The only real constraint is electrical infrastructure. BTW it averages much more than 1m per car for fueling. Person gets out of the car, fishes around in their purse for the credit card, fiddles with the cryptic instructions on the pump, walks into store to piss and buy junk food... if you've had to wait at a busy station, you'd be acutely aware of just how long fueling actually takes. Humans are slow.
    - peoplefromibiza 4y ago
      > Every couple hours they stop at a supercharger station for 15 minutes. It's really not that bad; It actually is kinda bad, if you ask me. > An EV station just needs one parking spot per car Huge gas stations are not that common outside of the US The average gas stations in my city are like this https://c7.alamy.com/compit/2ak83cy/gli-operatori-e-auto-a-gas-street-station-stazione-di-benzina-roma-italia-2ak83cy.jpg https://c7.alamy.com/compit/2ak83cy/gli-operatori-e-auto-a-g... They don't actually take that much space and serve hundreds of cars per day. They don't need to stay stationary for a long time. > BTW it averages much more than 1m per car for fueling. Not really. On average people refuel, they do not fill up the tank. BTW it could well be that my POV from a different country is biased.
      - kalleboo 4y ago
        Most people in cities will be charging at home though, the big supercharging stations will be along the highways where people are driving for hours. And with how simple car chargers are, they can just be a part of supermarket parking lots, etc.
        4y ago