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I drive the Outback like a granny (since its so damned slow anyway) and have never actually seen over 425 miles from a tank. That car has been cross country twice and all sorts of in between. I put 48,000 miles on it in the 2.5 years it was my primary. It’s seen 5,000 since.
Gassers really need to review their mpg more honestly before comparing to EV. It was this realization that made the difference for me. It sounds great when you’re “getting” 250+ more miles than the average EV, but when reality is only about 100, it’s not necessarily as “inconvenient”, even on road trips, and especially for daily driving.
I’m confused. You stayed at motels during your trip too. Are you saying that charger-equipped hotels/motels would cost more? Do you have some information showing this?
We just returned from a Florida trip. The motels we stayed at had charging stations, but, here's the big limitation, just two. Over a hundred cars in the parking lot at night, but just two charging stations. That's find because the vast majority of vehicles are still gas. But what's going to happen when even just half those hundred are electric?
Just for the heck of it, I plotted out the route we took and the location of charging stations. While they were available, most were not in what I'd call a convenient location. They require getting off the route and driving around town to find the station. Adding significant drive time. Plus the charge time. And some long stretches with no stations. Overall would have effectively added a day on each end of the trip just to find and use chargers.
That's why we still run gas. I don't have to plan a trip around where I can find a station; they're everywhere. I don't have any emotional reason for one over the other. Electric just isn't there yet.
“Electric just isn’t there” is the most tired common comment from gassers. Sorry but its true. Hands down for daily driving they win. Period. On road trips, unless in the middle of nowhere, it’s very little difference. My Florida trips - actual trips not guessing - took 2-3 hours longer than with my gas car. Unless you’re doing this regularly, you’re missing out on the daily drive convenience by focusing on outliers instead. And invariably these “it doesn’t work” comments come from people who’ve never done it. It’s not about arguing. It’s truth.
My next big trip is to Oklahoma. I say next “big” because I have a shorter trip coming up soon. I’m not even staying at a charger-equipped hotel because it’s unnecessary. Plenty of chargers along the route.
You are not going to run the car until the tank is empty........
Exactly. I've been on plenty of gas powered road trips where the next gas station may be 30-40 miles down the road, so you don't want the gas light coming on with no idea how far down the road that next stop may be. So you're not using the full potential range of the gas car, either. You're getting gas when you can and have the opportunity.
And really this comes down to the fact that for most people road trips over 200 miles are NOT a day to day thing. They just aren't. Not even a weekly or even monthly thing. The time spent at a charging station on the rare road trip is offset by NEVER having to GO somewhere to fill up on the daily grind. I'll add a half hour to my road trip gladly to never have to go somewhere to fill up every couple days.
As for planning the route, so what? Right now there are chargers no more than 50 miles away from just about any point in the country. So think a little on where you want to go and use a station close to that destination to top off and go wherever you want. Just like you might do with your gas powered car. And anyone complaining about that has never towed/driven an RV. Talk about trying to plan stops (not only where and when based on range, but where based on whether you can even FIT in the station!). When you get 8-10 mpg, even with a 30-35 gallon tank you need to plan carefully.
You are not going to run the car until the tank is empty........
It is not that you would but that you could.
"Range Anxiety" is the fear of being stranded in a car that runs completely out of juice. That is what we are discussing with EVs. The potential for an unforseeable event to prevent refilling at the current stop, and having sufficient additional range to make it to the next available location.
I most certainly have run my motorcycles to empty on the few occassions I could not make it to the next fuel stop, and tried to get as close as possible to a gas station, so I had the shortest walk to buy and fill a gas can.
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