Why EV?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:90% it’s status and virtue signaling. And I’m an environmentalist. Most people who own EV fly enough that their commute is noise (esp in new WFH parad

No, it isn't. And this argument is dumb...amounts to if I can't do everything right, don't do anything right.
I have not found a viable alternative to flying, except for cutting down.
I HAVE found a viable alternative for driving...one that contributes less to noise and air pollution in my environment.
I also don't buy plastic or eat meat, even though I have a dog, a child, and a new house.
We do the best we can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do they do for long trips? How long do you have to stop to charge? Have you ever gotten stuck because others are charging at your planned stop?

Our EV has a range of 250 miles. We don't make long trips very often, or we use our other (non-EV) vehicle just because it's bigger and we're carrying luggage.

250 miles is about 4 hours of driving, and you can look for charging spots along the way -- they usually have them at convenience stores or the like off major highways. Our EV comes with free charging on the Electrity America network, and they tend to have their charging stations at Walmarts or shopping malls. Charging is about 20 minutes to charge the battery mostly full.

NP. Suppose I wanted to drive to NYC. That sounds like it would be cutting it close so I wouldn't want to go the whole drive without a charge. I'm assuming I could charge at a rest stop. But if all the chargers are in use, then I have to wait 20 or so to begin to start my charging? So my 15 min rest stop to pee and fill up would know potentially become a 40min stop?

When we drive from D.C. to New York in our EV, which also has a 250-mile range and free charging at Electrify America (so I assume we and the PP both have VW ID.4s maybe?), we charge to 100 percent at home the night before, so we leave here with a full battery. We drive to a Wawa in Wilmington, Del., and stop there for about 25 minutes to charge at the EA station there. It's got six or maybe eight charging stations; we've never seen more than two or three in use at the same time. If you're driving with someone else in the car, you can check how many chargers are in use at a given stop before you get there -- if the Wilmington one was full or out of service, we could easily make it to one of several Walmarts in South Jersey that also have EA stations instead.

I guess it's theoretically possible you could wind up having to wait to charge, but if you're on I-95 in the Northeast, odds are you won't come anywhere near close to running out of range before you just go to the next free charger -- and if you're willing to pay for a charge, there's even more options, because the rest stations on 95 in Maryland, Delaware, and most of New Jersey all have non-Tesla rapid charging as well as Tesla superchargers. I just stick to the EA ones because they're free for us for now.

We also usually charge for about 20 or 30 minutes in New York not too long after arriving, so we don't have to worry about calculating exactly when/where to charge on the return trip, and because the part of New York we go to most doesn't have as many publicly available chargers as we might prefer. But that's a pretty minor inconvenience for the other benefits of the EV -- and at any rate, unless you're taking road trips every weekend or whatever, I wouldn't worry about letting the most complicated, but least common, logistics be what holds you back from one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do they do for long trips? How long do you have to stop to charge? Have you ever gotten stuck because others are charging at your planned stop?

We have a hybrid. Love it.

[Anonymous]

I have never had an issue finding a charge. We have taken our EV to Rehoboth, WV, New Jersey, and Duck, NC. Always easy.
BUT...I would say, a small inconvenience of a longer wait time is worth it to me.

Tradeoffs. Not everything in my life has to be expedient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
When we drive from D.C. to New York in our EV, which also has a 250-mile range and free charging at Electrify America (so I assume we and the PP both have VW ID.4s maybe?), we charge to 100 percent at home the night before, so we leave here with a full battery. We drive to a Wawa in Wilmington, Del., and stop there for about 25 minutes to charge at the EA station there. It's got six or maybe eight charging stations; we've never seen more than two or three in use at the same time. If you're driving with someone else in the car, you can check how many chargers are in use at a given stop before you get there -- if the Wilmington one was full or out of service, we could easily make it to one of several Walmarts in South Jersey that also have EA stations instead.

You can also see on the app how full the stations are. I just checked and that station has 1/6 chargers in use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do they do for long trips? How long do you have to stop to charge? Have you ever gotten stuck because others are charging at your planned stop?

We have a hybrid. Love it.

after extensive research on evs, think this is the first logical step.....50-60 mpgs seems to be the sweet spot

[Anonymous]

The tax incentives on cheap EVs and we don’t drive far and work from home. Longest commute is 2 miles. The government paid for my level 2 charger I got reconditioned on Amazon. My next EV will be a Mini Cooper that all in will be about 23000. And it’s a riot to drive, even as a big sports car fanatic and somebody with an active SCCA racing licsense.

[Anonymous]

Because of the quick pickup on EVs if someone's being a jerk and refusing to let you in (I don't know why some beltway drivers do this, they park in the right hand lane and then will seemingly deliberately match the speed of people trying to merge in so they can't get over), you have the ability to accelerate around them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do they do for long trips? How long do you have to stop to charge? Have you ever gotten stuck because others are charging at your planned stop?

We have a hybrid. Love it.

after extensive research on evs, think this is the first logical step.....50-60 mpgs seems to be the sweet spot

Still have all the maintenance costs and headaches of a gas car, though. Over the period you own the car, those logistics may wind up being more annoying than the time you spend figuring out how and where to charge would be in a fully electric one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do they do for long trips? How long do you have to stop to charge? Have you ever gotten stuck because others are charging at your planned stop?

Our EV has a range of 250 miles. We don't make long trips very often, or we use our other (non-EV) vehicle just because it's bigger and we're carrying luggage.

250 miles is about 4 hours of driving, and you can look for charging spots along the way -- they usually have them at convenience stores or the like off major highways. Our EV comes with free charging on the Electrity America network, and they tend to have their charging stations at Walmarts or shopping malls. Charging is about 20 minutes to charge the battery mostly full.

NP. Suppose I wanted to drive to NYC. That sounds like it would be cutting it close so I wouldn't want to go the whole drive without a charge. I'm assuming I could charge at a rest stop. But if all the chargers are in use, then I have to wait 20 or so to begin to start my charging? So my 15 min rest stop to pee and fill up would know potentially become a 40min stop?

When we drive from D.C. to New York in our EV, which also has a 250-mile range and free charging at Electrify America (so I assume we and the PP both have VW ID.4s maybe?), we charge to 100 percent at home the night before, so we leave here with a full battery. We drive to a Wawa in Wilmington, Del., and stop there for about 25 minutes to charge at the EA station there. It's got six or maybe eight charging stations; we've never seen more than two or three in use at the same time. If you're driving with someone else in the car, you can check how many chargers are in use at a given stop before you get there -- if the Wilmington one was full or out of service, we could easily make it to one of several Walmarts in South Jersey that also have EA stations instead.

I guess it's theoretically possible you could wind up having to wait to charge, but if you're on I-95 in the Northeast, odds are you won't come anywhere near close to running out of range before you just go to the next free charger -- and if you're willing to pay for a charge, there's even more options, because the rest stations on 95 in Maryland, Delaware, and most of New Jersey all have non-Tesla rapid charging as well as Tesla superchargers. I just stick to the EA ones because they're free for us for now.

We also usually charge for about 20 or 30 minutes in New York not too long after arriving, so we don't have to worry about calculating exactly when/where to charge on the return trip, and because the part of New York we go to most doesn't have as many publicly available chargers as we might prefer. But that's a pretty minor inconvenience for the other benefits of the EV -- and at any rate, unless you're taking road trips every weekend or whatever, I wouldn't worry about letting the most complicated, but least common, logistics be what holds you back from one.

Thanks pp, this is really helpful. I’m planning to make the trip from DC to NYC soon and was wondering about all this.

- 3rd ID.4 owner

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do they do for long trips? How long do you have to stop to charge? Have you ever gotten stuck because others are charging at your planned stop?

Our EV has a range of 250 miles. We don't make long trips very often, or we use our other (non-EV) vehicle just because it's bigger and we're carrying luggage.

250 miles is about 4 hours of driving, and you can look for charging spots along the way -- they usually have them at convenience stores or the like off major highways. Our EV comes with free charging on the Electrity America network, and they tend to have their charging stations at Walmarts or shopping malls. Charging is about 20 minutes to charge the battery mostly full.

NP. Suppose I wanted to drive to NYC. That sounds like it would be cutting it close so I wouldn't want to go the whole drive without a charge. I'm assuming I could charge at a rest stop. But if all the chargers are in use, then I have to wait 20 or so to begin to start my charging? So my 15 min rest stop to pee and fill up would know potentially become a 40min stop?

When we drive from D.C. to New York in our EV, which also has a 250-mile range and free charging at Electrify America (so I assume we and the PP both have VW ID.4s maybe?), we charge to 100 percent at home the night before, so we leave here with a full battery. We drive to a Wawa in Wilmington, Del., and stop there for about 25 minutes to charge at the EA station there. It's got six or maybe eight charging stations; we've never seen more than two or three in use at the same time. If you're driving with someone else in the car, you can check how many chargers are in use at a given stop before you get there -- if the Wilmington one was full or out of service, we could easily make it to one of several Walmarts in South Jersey that also have EA stations instead.

I guess it's theoretically possible you could wind up having to wait to charge, but if you're on I-95 in the Northeast, odds are you won't come anywhere near close to running out of range before you just go to the next free charger -- and if you're willing to pay for a charge, there's even more options, because the rest stations on 95 in Maryland, Delaware, and most of New Jersey all have non-Tesla rapid charging as well as Tesla superchargers. I just stick to the EA ones because they're free for us for now.

We also usually charge for about 20 or 30 minutes in New York not too long after arriving, so we don't have to worry about calculating exactly when/where to charge on the return trip, and because the part of New York we go to most doesn't have as many publicly available chargers as we might prefer. But that's a pretty minor inconvenience for the other benefits of the EV -- and at any rate, unless you're taking road trips every weekend or whatever, I wouldn't worry about letting the most complicated, but least common, logistics be what holds you back from one.

Thanks pp, this is really helpful. I’m planning to make the trip from DC to NYC soon and was wondering about all this.

- 3rd ID.4 owner

In that case, I'll add that before I found a ChargePoint station I could use near my in-laws' place, we routinely hit the EA station at the Walmart in East Brunswick, N.J., on our way back from New York -- charging to about 70 percent there got us more than enough to make it back to the Wawa and then charge there for the way home. If you can charge while you're in New York, though, then you should only have to make the one stop on the way back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:90% it’s status and virtue signaling. And I’m an environmentalist. Most people who own EV fly enough that their commute is noise (esp in new WFH paradigm)

Let me guess, you also make that tired joke about getting a diet coke with your cheeseburger meal?

Flying + EV < Flying + ICE

The bottom line is it's a net benefit. Sorry the benefit isn't good enough for you, Mr. random internet stranger, but I really couldn't care less.

[Anonymous]

It’s fun to drive the fastest production car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:90% it’s status and virtue signaling. And I’m an environmentalist. Most people who own EV fly enough that their commute is noise (esp in new WFH paradigm)

Let me guess, you also make that tired joke about getting a diet coke with your cheeseburger meal?

Flying + EV < Flying + ICE

The bottom line is it's a net benefit. Sorry the benefit isn't good enough for you, Mr. random internet stranger, but I really couldn't care less.

Well us factually it’s not true. Last estimate I saw was it’s a couple of gallons of gas per person for a 3 hour flight. Those planes are pretty efficient, esp on a per person basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:90% it’s status and virtue signaling. And I’m an environmentalist. Most people who own EV fly enough that their commute is noise (esp in new WFH paradigm)

Let me guess, you also make that tired joke about getting a diet coke with your cheeseburger meal?

Flying + EV < Flying + ICE

The bottom line is it's a net benefit. Sorry the benefit isn't good enough for you, Mr. random internet stranger, but I really couldn't care less.

Well us factually it’s not true. Last estimate I saw was it’s a couple of gallons of gas per person for a 3 hour flight. Those planes are pretty efficient, esp on a per person basis.

The altitude makes it not quite twice as bad as far as climate change is concerned