Posted on 06/08/2022 2:33:06 PM PDT by CedarDave
I thought it would be fun.
That's what I told my friend Mack when I asked her to drive with me from New Orleans to Chicago and back in an electric car.
I'd made long road trips before, surviving popped tires, blown headlights and shredded wheel-well liners in my 2008 Volkswagen Jetta. I figured driving the brand-new Kia EV6 I'd rented would be a piece of cake.
If, that is, the public-charging infrastructure cooperated. We wouldn't be the first to test it. Sales of pure and hybrid plug-ins doubled in the U.S. last year to 656,866 -- over 4% of the total market, according to database EV-volumes. More than half of car buyers say they want their next car to be an EV, according to recent Ernst & Young Global Ltd. data.
Oh -- and we aimed to make the 2,000-mile trip in just under four days so Mack could make her Thursday-afternoon shift as a restaurant server.
Over four days, we spent $175 on charging. We estimated the equivalent cost for gas in a Kia Forte would have been $275, based on the AAA average national gas price for May 19. That $100 savings cost us many hours in waiting time.
But that's not the whole story.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...
Bottom line: EV's aren't ready for prime time.
Just wait for winter weather blizzards, like the one last Jan or Feb in NC and VA, where a thousand or so cars were stuck for about 24 hours in freezing temps.
The EVs had to bail out and take refuge inside of big gas guzzlers. EVs on using the heater take down the battery fast.
What happens in winter if instead of 5% EVs, you have 50% or more EVs? People will freeze to death.
Sounds like Darwin in action.
"Disappointing" doesn't even *begin* to describe the experience.
Debbie Dipsh!t Stabenow didn’t say anything about charging, she just drove on past...
“I rented an electric car for a 4-day road trip. I spent more time charging it than I did sleeping”
She just HATES technology. If she had her way, she’d still be riding horse and buggy. The world is moving to electric cars and she needs to GROW UP. Look at Europe, they want electric cars so bad that they are OUTLAWING gasoline/diesel cars starting in 2035. People here may not want to save the world, but they will have to participate anyway. Or else we all BURN UP!
...and I’ll personally attack anyone who disagrees with me.
(now off to the gas station in my F150, as I’ll never buy electric crap unless I have something else that’s decent to drive)
Next time go to Harbor Freight first and pick up a 3500 watt super quiet generator/inverter for $900 and Put it in the Trunk
If eCars came into use before ICE cars then ICE cars would be heralded as the replacement for the inconvenient eCar.
Plugged into a 110V outlet? Or 220?
This is dumb. I’ve been on road trips in a Tesla, in both winter and summer; the superchargers were fast, and there were plenty of them.
EVs are great. Just don’t take some glorified golf cart that’s only intended for light commuting on a long trip.
“Just wait for winter weather blizzards, like the one last Jan or Feb in NC and VA, where a thousand or so cars were stuck for about 24 hours in freezing temps.
The EVs had to bail out and take refuge inside of big gas guzzlers. EVs on using the heater take down the battery fast.”
Depending on the cars, the EV battery might last longer than an idling gas car.
It was a non Tesla
One thong that does not get told. Tesla has the largest charging network bar none. More chargers in the US than all the other combined and the car knows how many stalls, how many are working and how many are open & available.
Friends from my church have a Model 3 and a Model S. They have done numerous road trips and never had these kinds of issues.
Yes you have to plan ahead a bit. The newer Model S charges a ton faster.
But remember the majority of the use for most cars is commuting and shopping and the range after overnight at home charging covers that in one charge easily.
EVs still have a way to go. They are still not affordable to the average American family. The charging network still needs to grow. Soon restaurants near highway exits will install chargers and advertise the fact on billboards like they did a decade ago with WiFi.
IMHO the vehicle price & production capability is the only thing holding EVs back. If they can make one with good range & performance for under $30k and make them in significant numbers, that would be a winner.
I do not want EVs forced on the consumers, let the market decide. That being said I expect gas prices to continue to rise.
I see nothing in the next two years that will lower gas prices. I expect the GOP to win control of the House & Senate but I can’t fathom winning a veto proof in the Senate. So I do not see ANYTHING that will lower gas prices in the next two to three years.
The question will be, will we still have a country?
How do you respond to Democrat Senator Debbie Stabenow boasting about how she was able to breeze past gas stations en route to Washington, DC. with her EV?
She said:
“I drove it from Michigan to here this last weekend and went by every single gas station and it didn’t matter how high it was,” she said.
A regular wall plug.
New Orleans to Chicago by way of Nashville???
Toyota is coming out with a full line of hybrids and pure EVs. Hybrids are baby bear’s porridge. Pure EV for around town and gas for the long trips.
spent hundreds on a rental to save 100 bucks lol
Just arrived home in my 373,000 mile 2004 GMC.
Wonder if I can get that kind of life from an electric vehicle at little to no cost like I have from my GMC.
This story reminds me of something similar in real life.
A friend for decades and her husband are two of the smartest and real world people we have ever known.
She was an English teacher at an excellent private school. Her husband was a chief pilot for a major west coast airline. He reached colonel in the Air National guard and flies a rebuilt WWI airplane with his twin brother. They do all the upkeep and take turns flying it and chartering flights.
One of their daughters is a blend of her mother and father. She teaches English and foreign languages at a good private school. She has a good handle grip on reality 24/7.
Her older sister has been labeled by the family as An Idiot Savant in Life. She is married to a male counterpart. Their only steady income was playing instruments in a part time symphony and giving instrument lessons.
These idiot savants in real life bought a small electric car to drive to the balloon races in New Mexico. They got about 120 miles out of Gay Friso, where they live, and their magic car ran out of charge. Her dad had to charge a small fortune on his credit card to get the pos towed to a charging station.
Next, they were driving in hot desert areas and barely got 120 miles per charge with the AC going. The Dad got them airline tickets home from New Mexico and had this POS loaded on a semi and brought back from New Mexico.
These idiot savants in real life still drive it around in SF and no more long trips.
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