Electric cars

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question about EVs: there were some news articles about during Ian, those with electric cars would struggle making it Miami or or other places to evacuate since there aren’t a ton of quick charging stations and traffic could extend trips by many hours. What happens in those situations? Or in CA for wildfire evacuations? I guess it’s not that often but should you keep another hybrid/ gas car around for emergencies?

In general, trips being extended by many hours due to traffic is usually not anywhere near as much of a problem for EVs as for gas cars, because they use hardly any electricity sitting in traffic and get far, far better range driving slower than they do at highway speeds. I haven't read the specific articles you're talking about, so I don't know the specifics of these situations. But if you've got an EV that you can charge at home and live somewhere where a sudden evacuation is something you generally need to plan for, you can probably keep the car ready to go just by charging it to 80 percent every night.

If the power goes out, gas stations don't work, either, so personally, if we ever need to flee the D.C. area (??), I'll be taking our larger, safer, newer EV rather than our second car, which is gas-powered.

We are looking into an EV but if there is a need to escape, we will be taking our much more simple and capable Jeep -- don't want to be limited to roads.

How many gallons of fuel will you be carrying to sustain your off-road escape?

[Anonymous]

I have a KIA ev, and love it for daily driving. However, I am jealous of Tesla software that automatically maps a route and plans recharging stops to minimize travel time.

Also, I have issues with non-functioning chargers. I find about a third of chargers on my maps are not functioning at any time. I have read that builders often receive incentives or are required to provide a charger, but there is no maintenance requirement. I am hoping that Tesla chargers become available to other cars in the future because they are better (centrally) maintained

Along 95, it is easy to find chargers (like EVgo chargers), but there are a lot of areas without high-speed chargers. even in crowded areas like along Rte 64 between Richmond and Virginia beach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question about EVs: there were some news articles about during Ian, those with electric cars would struggle making it Miami or or other places to evacuate since there aren’t a ton of quick charging stations and traffic could extend trips by many hours. What happens in those situations? Or in CA for wildfire evacuations? I guess it’s not that often but should you keep another hybrid/ gas car around for emergencies?

In general, trips being extended by many hours due to traffic is usually not anywhere near as much of a problem for EVs as for gas cars, because they use hardly any electricity sitting in traffic and get far, far better range driving slower than they do at highway speeds. I haven't read the specific articles you're talking about, so I don't know the specifics of these situations. But if you've got an EV that you can charge at home and live somewhere where a sudden evacuation is something you generally need to plan for, you can probably keep the car ready to go just by charging it to 80 percent every night.

If the power goes out, gas stations don't work, either, so personally, if we ever need to flee the D.C. area (??), I'll be taking our larger, safer, newer EV rather than our second car, which is gas-powered.

We are looking into an EV but if there is a need to escape, we will be taking our much more simple and capable Jeep -- don't want to be limited to roads.

How many gallons of fuel will you be carrying to sustain your off-road escape?

Don’t worry. There are plenty of off-road gas stations that run on generators.

[Anonymous]

We have an EV, but don't use it for road trips. It's a daily car though for almost everything else. I know people that use them for road trips and they swear it's easy, but I'm not brave enough or savvy enough at this point. I think it would be hard to get the timing for recharging right for road trips because the number of miles available is more of an estimation and things like hills will cause you to burn through miles more quickly. Saying that, I love that I rarely go to the gas station now and can just charge at home. Not sure that I would do it if our house didn't have solar panels, which is what makes it kind of a no-brainer for us. It's also great that I can sit in my car with the air on for an hour when my kid has practice during the summer and that only uses about 4 miles. Probably wouldn't choose an EV if I was my only car, at least not at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Pretty sure a Tesla is out of our budget!

Wait a few months for 2023 and enjoy the $7500 tax credit….

[Anonymous]

It's good to consider all potential uses and scenarios, but I'm always surprised how much decision making is driven by the 5 percent use or even highly unlikely scenarios like an evacuation. The very vast majority of most people's driving is within close range, and an EV will be perfect for that. No getting gas, no oil changes, etc.

[Anonymous]

A family member has a Tesla and uses it for long work trips regularly. He works out the route ahead of time and really thinks about it. He says that there are plenty of charging places if you plan. FWIW, he is a gadgety type of person. Early adopter of everything, so the work he puts into learning about his car and getting the best performance and planning for this and planning for that is fun for him. It would annoy me and stress me out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's good to consider all potential uses and scenarios, but I'm always surprised how much decision making is driven by the 5 percent use or even highly unlikely scenarios like an evacuation. The very vast majority of most people's driving is within close range, and an EV will be perfect for that. No getting gas, no oil changes, etc.

Were you here during the derecho? 9/11?

[Anonymous]

I have a Chevy Bolt. It has 230 miles of range fully charged so I only charge it once a week. I love it, easy to drive, great acceleration, super easy to park anywhere.

For people concerned about things like snow storms and derecho, I've never had to drive more than 230 miles in any of those situations and I got power back in a couple days. I suppose if I lost power for over a week I would drive to a charging station somewhere.

[Anonymous]

We have one and also a regular gas car. We use the gas car for road trips only because it's bigger and has more room for luggage.

But I wouldn't hesitate doing a road trip in our electric car if I was solo. There are plenty of charging stations along the way if you take major highways. Also remember those are _high-speed_ charging stations. In a pinch, you can just plug into any electrical outlet and charge, albeit a lot slower.

At home, we just plug into the regular outlet in our garage and charge.

Also the GPS in our car knows where charging stations are, and when you put in a destiation it shows how much battery you'll have upon arrival and chargers along the way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question about EVs: there were some news articles about during Ian, those with electric cars would struggle making it Miami or or other places to evacuate since there aren’t a ton of quick charging stations and traffic could extend trips by many hours. What happens in those situations? Or in CA for wildfire evacuations? I guess it’s not that often but should you keep another hybrid/ gas car around for emergencies?

In general, trips being extended by many hours due to traffic is usually not anywhere near as much of a problem for EVs as for gas cars, because they use hardly any electricity sitting in traffic and get far, far better range driving slower than they do at highway speeds. I haven't read the specific articles you're talking about, so I don't know the specifics of these situations. But if you've got an EV that you can charge at home and live somewhere where a sudden evacuation is something you generally need to plan for, you can probably keep the car ready to go just by charging it to 80 percent every night.

If the power goes out, gas stations don't work, either, so personally, if we ever need to flee the D.C. area (??), I'll be taking our larger, safer, newer EV rather than our second car, which is gas-powered.

We are looking into an EV but if there is a need to escape, we will be taking our much more simple and capable Jeep -- don't want to be limited to roads.

How many gallons of fuel will you be carrying to sustain your off-road escape?

Don’t worry. There are plenty of off-road gas stations that run on generators.

In this weird Zombie apocalypse scenario how will these obscure gas stations be getting their gas delivery?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's good to consider all potential uses and scenarios, but I'm always surprised how much decision making is driven by the 5 percent use or even highly unlikely scenarios like an evacuation. The very vast majority of most people's driving is within close range, and an EV will be perfect for that. No getting gas, no oil changes, etc.

Were you here during the derecho? 9/11?

You are citing two major events in 20 years as a reason to not get an EV? It's not sure how an EV would have hurt in either of those situations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's good to consider all potential uses and scenarios, but I'm always surprised how much decision making is driven by the 5 percent use or even highly unlikely scenarios like an evacuation. The very vast majority of most people's driving is within close range, and an EV will be perfect for that. No getting gas, no oil changes, etc.

Were you here during the derecho? 9/11?

You are citing two major events in 20 years as a reason to not get an EV? It's not sure how an EV would have hurt in either of those situations?

Yeah 9/11 we had no power issues. Derecho power was up by morning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's good to consider all potential uses and scenarios, but I'm always surprised how much decision making is driven by the 5 percent use or even highly unlikely scenarios like an evacuation. The very vast majority of most people's driving is within close range, and an EV will be perfect for that. No getting gas, no oil changes, etc.

Were you here during the derecho? 9/11?

DP yes. The way an EV works is you charge it up once or twice a week. You do not need to have it plugged in to drive, gas station without electricity can not pump gas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question about EVs: there were some news articles about during Ian, those with electric cars would struggle making it Miami or or other places to evacuate since there aren’t a ton of quick charging stations and traffic could extend trips by many hours. What happens in those situations? Or in CA for wildfire evacuations? I guess it’s not that often but should you keep another hybrid/ gas car around for emergencies?

In general, trips being extended by many hours due to traffic is usually not anywhere near as much of a problem for EVs as for gas cars, because they use hardly any electricity sitting in traffic and get far, far better range driving slower than they do at highway speeds. I haven't read the specific articles you're talking about, so I don't know the specifics of these situations. But if you've got an EV that you can charge at home and live somewhere where a sudden evacuation is something you generally need to plan for, you can probably keep the car ready to go just by charging it to 80 percent every night.

If the power goes out, gas stations don't work, either, so personally, if we ever need to flee the D.C. area (??), I'll be taking our larger, safer, newer EV rather than our second car, which is gas-powered.

We are looking into an EV but if there is a need to escape, we will be taking our much more simple and capable Jeep -- don't want to be limited to roads.

How many gallons of fuel will you be carrying to sustain your off-road escape?

Don’t worry. There are plenty of off-road gas stations that run on generators.

In this weird Zombie apocalypse scenario how will these obscure gas stations be getting their gas delivery?

The aliens will deliver obvs