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My daily commute is under 10 miles round-trip. With errands, I occasionally do 20-30 miles. If I had an electric and needed to go on a longer trip, I could eith

My daily commute is under 10 miles round-trip. With errands, I occasionally do 20-30 miles. If I had an electric and needed to go on a longer trip, I could either borrow my wife's car or rent an ICE vehicle. I take road trips longer than 200 miles very rarely. Yes, I realize that some people do have longer commutes than me. But very few people commute more than 200 miles per day. Of course, this does limit all-electric vehicles to those that can afford a second vehicle or a rental when the need arises. But I don't think anyone is arguing that electric vehicles have reached the point of being affordable to anyone but the well-off.

threeseed 12y ago
Electric cars are definitely affordable. But your situation just exemplified the problem. A lot of people don't have a wife or they would be using their car and the hassle/cost of renting an ICE vehicle is pretty prohibitive. Why would I buy an electric car when I can just a "normal" one that has no downsides ? That's the question hybrids can have an answer to that pure electric can't.
gambiting 12y ago
The length of the commute is not a problem. While charging from a regular 230V outlet(standard here in EU) you only add 8 miles of range per every hour of charging. If I had it I would not be able to recharge during the night what I drove out during the day. Unless I installed a more powerful charger....which I can't fit where I live. That's my problem with that car.
- greglindahl 12y ago
  Let's say that you park at home 10 hours a day every day, and 10 extra hours over the weekend. That means you can drive 80 miles per day and 8*80=640 miles per week with no problems. The fraction of drivers who drive more than this is pretty small. I can easily imagine that a few drivers drive more than this. Why do you think that's important for the overall success of electric cars?
  - gambiting 12y ago
    Because if I can only recharge 80 miles of range every night then the effective range I can cover daily is 80 miles,not 250 miles you can do on a full battery. And please, even if my work commute is only 50 miles(25 each way) then it's very common that by driving to the shops or the gym in the afternoon I will make more than 80,even if my work commute is not that long. And yeah, vast majority of people will have a work commute shorter than 80 miles,but most people drive to other places than work too. It becomes pretty ridiculous if I had to say to my girlfriend "sorry honey, we won't be able to go and see your mother in the afternoon,because the car won't recharge enough overnight for me to go to work tomorrow". It's a major problem - they absolutely have to charge faster to be usable, I have no other complaints about electric cars other than this.
    - greglindahl 12y ago
      If you personally drive close to 80 miles/day on average, you're driving twice what the average driver drives. Work it out for someone who averages only 40 miles a day. It's not interesting that a small number of drivers drive a lot! BTW there are fast chargers, check out CHAdeMO and the Tesla Supercharger.
      - gambiting 12y ago
        >>BTW there are fast chargers, check out CHAdeMO and the Tesla Supercharger. I know, but like I've said: >>Unless I installed a more powerful charger....which I can't fit where I live.
        greglindahl 12y ago
        I've been attempting to talk about the general case, not your personal situation. It's not interesting or a surprise that electric cars are not for everyone.

threeseed 12y ago

Electric cars are definitely affordable. But your situation just exemplified the problem. A lot of people don't have a wife or they would be using their car and the hassle/cost of renting an ICE vehicle is pretty prohibitive. Why would I buy an electric car when I can just a "normal" one that has no downsides ? That's the question hybrids can have an answer to that pure electric can't.

gambiting 12y ago

The length of the commute is not a problem. While charging from a regular 230V outlet(standard here in EU) you only add 8 miles of range per every hour of charging. If I had it I would not be able to recharge during the night what I drove out during the day. Unless I installed a more powerful charger....which I can't fit where I live. That's my problem with that car.

greglindahl 12y ago
Let's say that you park at home 10 hours a day every day, and 10 extra hours over the weekend. That means you can drive 80 miles per day and 8*80=640 miles per week with no problems. The fraction of drivers who drive more than this is pretty small. I can easily imagine that a few drivers drive more than this. Why do you think that's important for the overall success of electric cars?
- gambiting 12y ago
  Because if I can only recharge 80 miles of range every night then the effective range I can cover daily is 80 miles,not 250 miles you can do on a full battery. And please, even if my work commute is only 50 miles(25 each way) then it's very common that by driving to the shops or the gym in the afternoon I will make more than 80,even if my work commute is not that long. And yeah, vast majority of people will have a work commute shorter than 80 miles,but most people drive to other places than work too. It becomes pretty ridiculous if I had to say to my girlfriend "sorry honey, we won't be able to go and see your mother in the afternoon,because the car won't recharge enough overnight for me to go to work tomorrow". It's a major problem - they absolutely have to charge faster to be usable, I have no other complaints about electric cars other than this.
  - greglindahl 12y ago
    If you personally drive close to 80 miles/day on average, you're driving twice what the average driver drives. Work it out for someone who averages only 40 miles a day. It's not interesting that a small number of drivers drive a lot! BTW there are fast chargers, check out CHAdeMO and the Tesla Supercharger.
    - gambiting 12y ago
      >>BTW there are fast chargers, check out CHAdeMO and the Tesla Supercharger. I know, but like I've said: >>Unless I installed a more powerful charger....which I can't fit where I live.
      - greglindahl 12y ago
        I've been attempting to talk about the general case, not your personal situation. It's not interesting or a surprise that electric cars are not for everyone.