Posted on 09/18/2016 10:26:01 PM PDT by aquila48
When my son scored a coveted civil engineering summer internship in Silver Spring, Maryland, the chance for an electric-car road trip from our Boston-area home presented itself.
Sure, I could have done the sensible thing and taken my trusty 2006 Toyota Prius, but where would be the adventure in that?
Instead, I seized the chance to take my 84-mile 2015 Nissan Leaf, throwing myself at the mercy of the scant CHAdeMO fast-charging infrastructure between Boston and Silver Spring, a 1,000-mile round trip.
In the process, I learned a lot about the current challenges of long-distance travel with a battery-electric vehicle—and how those will change as more affordable 200-mile electric cars start to become available over the next couple of years..
The trip required a lot of planning, due to the paucity of DC fast chargers along the Northeast corridor from Boston to Washington, D.C.
I made the tactical decision to prioritize sites with two CHAdeMO chargers, so that if one was broken or occupied, at least one other would likely still be available. While this made the route longer, it boosted my chances of success.
(Excerpt) Read more at greencarreports.com ...
Chevy is coming out with the 238 miles range Bolt toward the end of this year, which is pretty good. However, even with that a long trip would be a pain because of the lack of fast charging stations.
Meet Bertha Benz, The Woman Who Took The First Real Drive
http://jalopnik.com/meet-bertha-benz-the-woman-who-took-the-first-real-dri-451617383
“The trip required a lot of planning...”
Yea, verily! There are places in the MD/DC area where you don’t want your battery to fail you.
What next?
The Dolt?
The one insurmountable challenge to an all-electric car thus far: A midwestern winter.
CC
Electric cars are not intended for long distance trips. They excel as around town transportation.
The Molt.
The Dolt?
Isn't he the guy that had the feral gooberment buy all those Volts back in 2009, or so?
the infowarrior
The 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid promised 32 MPG. It performed that well ONCE in 8 years. Winters in Pocatello yielded 21 MPG. Summer average was 26 MPG. Spring/Fall about 28 MPG.
The German version, Ya Vol.
And, after that, they can try a Rocky Mountain West (Montana, Wyoming, Idaho) winter...
the infowarrior
It had been my take that the short distance model was perfect for a commuter car around town.
It used to get my goat when folks would talk about these cars as if they could only the the single car for the family, and thus couldn’t work out. They weren’t intended for that.
I think the Volt went a log way toward eliminating that gap, even thought it had to use gas to do it. It was a move in the right direction. You could use it to commute and that long trip every so often.
As the ranges increase, 100 > 200 > 300+ miles per charge, these cars will begin to seriously compete. And if there is a quick charge network out there when they are ready, they’re going to be formidable. When the range hits 500 miles, look out. If they find a way to expand on that, wow.
I have a hybrid. It has been the most fun to drive vehicle I’ve ever owned. It’s the Mercury Mariner Hybrid, 2006.
I live on a hillside. I climb about 150 feet the last tenth of a mile to my home. Each trip is up and down elevations, so I don’t get the nice mileage in town. It is a little SUV, so 25.0 mpg isn’t bad. On the open road I have gotten as high as 34.34 mpg on a 600 mile trip.
What makes the car fun, is that you can seriously impact the mileage by paying attention to how you drive, and seeing how high you can keep the MPGs. It’s a blast to play this game.
I’ve talked to others to see if I was the only one playing it, and the other hybrid owners say the same thing. It’s a kick to try to extend the MPGs.
I’ve considered a volt. I still want to see them extend the miles a bit more before I guy in on a fully electric. I wouldn’t be surprised if I own one some day.
I’m not a particularly green guy, but I find myself inclined to go that way not because of the green aspects, but because of “the game” aspects, just trying to see how low I can cut energy costs for the fun of it. It’s like competing with myself, to do it.
Thanks for making the point about short battery life cars, and how they are good for around town commutes.
As a second car, I think they would be great.
AKA golf carts, or those things I see seniors creeping around suburbia in with caution flags flapping.
Beyond being interesting and expensive toys for rich people, electric cars for the masses are essentially a pipe dream and always will be.
“electric cars for the masses are essentially a pipe dream and always will be.”
I would not bet a lot of money on that.
You could have said the same thing of the early internal combustion cars (or any new technology for that matter).
The distance from my house here in Charlevoix in northern Michigan to Detroit is 275 miles. I make the trip about three times a year. My refueling stops-if I have to make them-is about five minutes. Try doing that in an electric car.
In one storm up here in northern Michigan the day after Christmas about ten years ago, we received 84 inches of snow. I have a plow, and it was very light, so I pushed it easily. An electric car is extremely impractical in these conditions. Plus, throw in 10-15 degree weather for a week at a time.
8 - 12 feet of snow here. Can’t wait to see the volt in February.
Why not just tow a small trailer with a generator?
or any new technology for that matterElectric cars are not new technology.
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