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You should not be spending that much time at a charger. Tech Connextras (the sister channel to Technology Connections) just did a video about a real-life road

You should not be spending that much time at a charger. Tech Connextras (the sister channel to Technology Connections) just did a video about a real-life road trip in slightly below freezing temperatures. "What unplanned EV road trips in cold weather (5°F/-15°C) are actually like these days" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebGLFVzvdfM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebGLFVzvdfM

cogman10 7mo ago
Yup. It's standard to charge from 10->80% or even less like 20->60% when doing road trips. People that don't own EVs assume that it's always 0->100%. However, even in a gas vehicle you'd never start at 0% (I'd fill up at 25%->100%). The result is that you spend significantly less time charging than you expect. For me, it's usually 10 to 15 minutes per stop. Sometimes it's as long as 20. But that's generally after about 2 to 3 hours of driving. It's actually funny because I've owned my EV since 2018 and my parents STILL try to insist that I can't do road trips in it. Even though I visit them pretty frequently and do 6 hour trips pretty regularly. The other thing that is commonly missed is that you spend almost no time charging most of the time. It's only road trips where you spend any time waiting for a charge. That's because you are (likely) charging your car at home. The video referenced even shows that it's possible to do that with just a 120V outlet available.
- storus 7mo ago
  Now how much time do you waste on a 700 mile road trip the way you recharge? I suspect something around 1-2 hours extra time. Compare it with gas station's 20 minutes overall including a short toilet break. For rapid charging you also need an expensive EV, whereas any gasoline clunker would do "fast tank filling".
  - cogman10 7mo ago
    > Now how much time do you waste on a 700 mile road trip the way you recharge? About 2 hours. And as luck would have it, I also did that trip with an ICE. My non-driving time added about an hour. > Compare it with gas station's 20 minutes overall including a short toilet break. Which you still need to do at least a couple of times driving 700 miles. Also, that's 10 hours of driving, you need more than just a single 20 minute break for that much driving. > For rapid charging you also need an expensive EV, If you are making 700 mile trips, you'll need an EV with decent range anyways. All of those support fast charging. Actually, all EVs I'm aware of support fast charging. The slowest I know of is the leaf, but even that supports 50kW charging. Look, if you are in the business of doing a weekly 700 mile drive in the snow pulling a loaded trailer, don't get an EV. You have my blessing. Most people aren't doing anything like that. My 700 mile round trip happens twice a year, roughly, and the added 1 hour over an ICE is no big deal. Distances more than that, and I'm probably flying.
    - storus 7mo ago
      So you are essentially agreeing with me that the tech is not there yet - either it underperforms compared to ICE or it's much more expensive when it matches ICE. In other words, I should wait a few years until it catches up price-wise or convenience-wise. I don't really care about luxury or "driving inside a smartphone" experience, but just need something reliable that doesn't hinder me. Wasting 2 extra hours on a 10h hour trip is too much; I typically try to do it as quickly as possible to have more time for target activities.
      - cogman10 7mo ago
        > So you are essentially agreeing with me that the tech is not there yet That's a bad faith reading of my comment. Do better.

cogman10 7mo ago

Yup. It's standard to charge from 10->80% or even less like 20->60% when doing road trips. People that don't own EVs assume that it's always 0->100%. However, even in a gas vehicle you'd never start at 0% (I'd fill up at 25%->100%). The result is that you spend significantly less time charging than you expect. For me, it's usually 10 to 15 minutes per stop. Sometimes it's as long as 20. But that's generally after about 2 to 3 hours of driving. It's actually funny because I've owned my EV since 2018 and my parents STILL try to insist that I can't do road trips in it. Even though I visit them pretty frequently and do 6 hour trips pretty regularly. The other thing that is commonly missed is that you spend almost no time charging most of the time. It's only road trips where you spend any time waiting for a charge. That's because you are (likely) charging your car at home. The video referenced even shows that it's possible to do that with just a 120V outlet available.

storus 7mo ago
Now how much time do you waste on a 700 mile road trip the way you recharge? I suspect something around 1-2 hours extra time. Compare it with gas station's 20 minutes overall including a short toilet break. For rapid charging you also need an expensive EV, whereas any gasoline clunker would do "fast tank filling".
- cogman10 7mo ago
  > Now how much time do you waste on a 700 mile road trip the way you recharge? About 2 hours. And as luck would have it, I also did that trip with an ICE. My non-driving time added about an hour. > Compare it with gas station's 20 minutes overall including a short toilet break. Which you still need to do at least a couple of times driving 700 miles. Also, that's 10 hours of driving, you need more than just a single 20 minute break for that much driving. > For rapid charging you also need an expensive EV, If you are making 700 mile trips, you'll need an EV with decent range anyways. All of those support fast charging. Actually, all EVs I'm aware of support fast charging. The slowest I know of is the leaf, but even that supports 50kW charging. Look, if you are in the business of doing a weekly 700 mile drive in the snow pulling a loaded trailer, don't get an EV. You have my blessing. Most people aren't doing anything like that. My 700 mile round trip happens twice a year, roughly, and the added 1 hour over an ICE is no big deal. Distances more than that, and I'm probably flying.
  - storus 7mo ago
    So you are essentially agreeing with me that the tech is not there yet - either it underperforms compared to ICE or it's much more expensive when it matches ICE. In other words, I should wait a few years until it catches up price-wise or convenience-wise. I don't really care about luxury or "driving inside a smartphone" experience, but just need something reliable that doesn't hinder me. Wasting 2 extra hours on a 10h hour trip is too much; I typically try to do it as quickly as possible to have more time for target activities.
    - cogman10 7mo ago
      > So you are essentially agreeing with me that the tech is not there yet That's a bad faith reading of my comment. Do better.