> Niedermeyer said that while an electric car can meet most people's driving needs, it struggles with edge cases like road trips because of the need to recharge

> Niedermeyer said that while an electric car can meet most people's driving needs, it struggles with edge cases like road trips because of the need to recharge. Since Americans have been promised a one-to-one substitute for their gas cars, this seems like a failure; an EV should be able to do everything a gas car can. This idea persists even though in 2023 the average US driver traveled only about 40 miles a day, and in 2022 about 93% of US trips were less than 30 miles. Still, in a survey conducted by Ipsos last fall, 73% of respondents indicated they had concerns about EV range. It's entirely true that an EV will work perfectly fine for 90%+ of the drives a typical person in the US makes. Logically, the right solution is to buy an EV for commutes and errands, and rent a gas engine car for road trips. But the result of that logic is asking people to make one of the most expensive purchases of their life where: 1. They will only use it do things they don't enjoy: driving to work and running errands. 2. They won't get to use it for the things they do enjoy about that product category: road trips, camping, vacations, etc. Logical or not, it's a psychologically shitty deal. Especially when you compare it to gas vehicles where you can use the same vehicle for both the fun and unfun stuff (at some loss of efficiency and environmental value). So at least when you're stuck in traffic on your horrific work commute, you're in a vehicle that pleasantly reminds you of your awesome camping trip last week.