Electric vehicles and longer trips

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your Tesla has a range of what, about 350 miles? I think the ID4 we're looking at is at more like 250-300.

I posted about a 4 hour trip. Our Tesla has less than 250.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure why people assume that the charger will be open and available to charge the minute you pull up to it. Often times, somebody else is already charging and you have to wait till they're finished before you begin charging your own car. Also, when traveling to other parts of the country, expect to see non-EVs parked in the spaces with chargers. It's infuriating, but very common. Happened to us all the time in Texas.

This is why the Volt should still be made. It had a gas engine that would power the vehicle, so you never had to worry about running out of an electric charge as long as there was a gas station around.

[Anonymous]

We just took our ID4 for a long weekend in Shenandoah for our first trip. The charging situation was totally fine. We left with a full charge, topped up at the Walmart in Haymarket and then explored stanardsville and the Charlottesville area. There were fast chargers in Charlottesville and slower ones in the area. On the way home, we had plenty of charge left to make it to DC without stopping. Yes it required a bit of planning but the apps will tell you if the station is in use or if it’s offline. I was not totally sold on getting an EV (my husband pushed for it), but this trip was a piece of cake.

[Anonymous]

"We just took our ID4 for a long weekend in Shenandoah for our first trip. The charging situation was totally fine. We left with a full charge, topped up at the Walmart in Haymarket and then explored stanardsville and the Charlottesville area. There were fast chargers in Charlottesville and slower ones in the area. On the way home, we had plenty of charge left to make it to DC without stopping. Yes it required a bit of planning but the apps will tell you if the station is in use or if it’s offline. I was not totally sold on getting an EV (my husband pushed for it), but this trip was a piece of cake."

That sounds like a dawdling weekend, not a road trip where you're trying to cover ground to get to your destination. When I'm driving to Michigan, I'm not stopping in Haymarket unless I stupidly forgot to fuel up before leaving the my house in DC.

[Anonymous]

Tow a flatbed trailer with a diesel generator on it.


No, I’m not kidding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"We just took our ID4 for a long weekend in Shenandoah for our first trip. The charging situation was totally fine. We left with a full charge, topped up at the Walmart in Haymarket and then explored stanardsville and the Charlottesville area. There were fast chargers in Charlottesville and slower ones in the area. On the way home, we had plenty of charge left to make it to DC without stopping. Yes it required a bit of planning but the apps will tell you if the station is in use or if it’s offline. I was not totally sold on getting an EV (my husband pushed for it), but this trip was a piece of cake."

That sounds like a dawdling weekend, not a road trip where you're trying to cover ground to get to your destination. When I'm driving to Michigan, I'm not stopping in Haymarket unless I stupidly forgot to fuel up before leaving the my house in DC.

If your question is which is faster refilling a gas car or recharging an EV the answer is the gas car.

If the question is are there enough charging stations so you don’t need to stress about finding someplace and is it a major inconvenience or a minor one the answer there are probably enough and it’s probably a minor inconvenience but it really depends in where you are going and how much you care about getting on the road in 10 minutes vs 20 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Something you may not realize: you can hang out in your car with the climate control on while it's charging. It's not like you're plugging it in and standing there staring at it along the side of a highway for 30 minutes. You can be sitting in it checking your email, reading a book, whatever. A lot of chargers are also located in outlet malls or shopping centers so you can grab a bite, too, but in my practical experience, being able to sit in the car while it charges with the ac or the heat going is a very handy thing.

This basic concept: that you're driving a self-contained pod with no emissions and wifi is something more electric car manufacturers should play up, especially in the age of covid. In line for 30 mins at school pick up? Your electric car's got you. Need to run in to the store and leave the dog? Tesla even has a "dog" mode. Leaving your car on will never give anyone carbon monoxide poisoning. You can even camp in it.

I've never found the five minutes spent pumping gas to be that much more enjoyable than taking a break after a few hours driving and having a place to hang out as needed. Especially in the age of covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Telsa tells us how far we are from each charger that exists along the route, what our battery will be when we are near to it, what the level will be when we reach our destination, and gives a warning when we are running out of options and absolutely must stop; but we've never pushed it that far. If we stop for a pit stop or to get a cup of coffee, we park and plug in while we're in the store, and by the time we leave its charged enough. No need ever to wait for a full charge, just enough plus a cushion to get where we're going.

Those are for 4+ hour trips. One hour each way wouldn't require a charge (though if we needed to stop anyway, we'd likely plug in, cause why not?).

+1. It’s pretty much idiot proof. We are on our second cross country trip from DC to San Diego and back on our Tesla Model S. We did the same trip via another route last summer. We drive and stop to charge every 2.5-3 hrs. Basically bathroom and food breaks. It’s not a big deal and I enjoy the drive especially with full self driving which isn’t really self driving but good enough to make the drive pretty relaxed and easy.

We drive regularly up to MA from DC and driving an EV has never been an issue. Plenty of superchargers and rarely a wait for a charger. Your car will tell you where to stop and charge, how many stalls are available at every supercharging stop, how long you have to charge, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think you have to ask an EV owner for this information. You can search for charging stations along your route on google maps and do a little simulation in your head of whether it's worth sitting around for 30 minutes or more on your specific trip. For me the answer is a clear no. For non-tesla electric vehicles (I refuse to buy a tesla) there are very few charging stations even between somewhere like DC and virginia beach. If I want to drive an EV spiritedly and/or get stuck in a bunch of traffic, I would have to constantly bite my nails about running out of charge on the way. And yeah, sitting around for 30 minutes anywhere SUCKS. A restaurant? Who wants to stop and eat fast food when they're trying to make time on a trip. It's bad enough pulling off and spending 7 minutes getting gas. Turning a 3 hour trip into a 3 hour 40 minute trip is just not acceptable for me

The "I refuse to buy a Tesla" crowd really confuse/amuse me - you are only hurting yourself! Not being able to afford it is one thing (own that) but i don't understand people still buying $50k+ ICE cars - are these the people who renovated their stables once the model T Ford came out? Also, buy American. Tesla is the most all-American car brand available.

[Anonymous]

Will charging stations continue to be free as more and more people switch to electric?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think you have to ask an EV owner for this information. You can search for charging stations along your route on google maps and do a little simulation in your head of whether it's worth sitting around for 30 minutes or more on your specific trip. For me the answer is a clear no. For non-tesla electric vehicles (I refuse to buy a tesla) there are very few charging stations even between somewhere like DC and virginia beach. If I want to drive an EV spiritedly and/or get stuck in a bunch of traffic, I would have to constantly bite my nails about running out of charge on the way. And yeah, sitting around for 30 minutes anywhere SUCKS. A restaurant? Who wants to stop and eat fast food when they're trying to make time on a trip. It's bad enough pulling off and spending 7 minutes getting gas. Turning a 3 hour trip into a 3 hour 40 minute trip is just not acceptable for me

The "I refuse to buy a Tesla" crowd really confuse/amuse me - you are only hurting yourself! Not being able to afford it is one thing (own that) but i don't understand people still buying $50k+ ICE cars - are these the people who renovated their stables once the model T Ford came out? Also, buy American. Tesla is the most all-American car brand available.

Sorry, Tesla's just not my thing. I just ordered a 90k ICE car. Is it faster in a straight line than a model 3 performance? No. Will it hold up better under constant spirited driving and get me from DC to Virginia Beach without any stops to fill up? Yes. Does it look cooler? Hell yeah.

I'm still waiting for a GOOD car company to come out with an electric car with the same range as a Tesla. I predict the Audi E-Tron GT will get there in a few years. Comparing an E-tron GT to a Tesla Plaid is like comparing a victoria's secret model to a local hooters girl

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will charging stations continue to be free as more and more people switch to electric?

They aren't all free now, but the cost is negligible. I paid $0.10 to charge my car the other day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why people assume that the charger will be open and available to charge the minute you pull up to it. Often times, somebody else is already charging and you have to wait till they're finished before you begin charging your own car. Also, when traveling to other parts of the country, expect to see non-EVs parked in the spaces with chargers. It's infuriating, but very common. Happened to us all the time in Texas.

This is why the Volt should still be made. It had a gas engine that would power the vehicle, so you never had to worry about running out of an electric charge as long as there was a gas station around.

ITA with your comment about charger availability.

The Volt is not made, but the RAV4 Prime is a similar idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think you have to ask an EV owner for this information. You can search for charging stations along your route on google maps and do a little simulation in your head of whether it's worth sitting around for 30 minutes or more on your specific trip. For me the answer is a clear no. For non-tesla electric vehicles (I refuse to buy a tesla) there are very few charging stations even between somewhere like DC and virginia beach. If I want to drive an EV spiritedly and/or get stuck in a bunch of traffic, I would have to constantly bite my nails about running out of charge on the way. And yeah, sitting around for 30 minutes anywhere SUCKS. A restaurant? Who wants to stop and eat fast food when they're trying to make time on a trip. It's bad enough pulling off and spending 7 minutes getting gas. Turning a 3 hour trip into a 3 hour 40 minute trip is just not acceptable for me

The "I refuse to buy a Tesla" crowd really confuse/amuse me - you are only hurting yourself! Not being able to afford it is one thing (own that) but i don't understand people still buying $50k+ ICE cars - are these the people who renovated their stables once the model T Ford came out? Also, buy American. Tesla is the most all-American car brand available.

But Musk is a prick, socially and politically. I'll never support him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think you have to ask an EV owner for this information. You can search for charging stations along your route on google maps and do a little simulation in your head of whether it's worth sitting around for 30 minutes or more on your specific trip. For me the answer is a clear no. For non-tesla electric vehicles (I refuse to buy a tesla) there are very few charging stations even between somewhere like DC and virginia beach. If I want to drive an EV spiritedly and/or get stuck in a bunch of traffic, I would have to constantly bite my nails about running out of charge on the way. And yeah, sitting around for 30 minutes anywhere SUCKS. A restaurant? Who wants to stop and eat fast food when they're trying to make time on a trip. It's bad enough pulling off and spending 7 minutes getting gas. Turning a 3 hour trip into a 3 hour 40 minute trip is just not acceptable for me

The "I refuse to buy a Tesla" crowd really confuse/amuse me - you are only hurting yourself! Not being able to afford it is one thing (own that) but i don't understand people still buying $50k+ ICE cars - are these the people who renovated their stables once the model T Ford came out? Also, buy American. Tesla is the most all-American car brand available.

Sorry, Tesla's just not my thing. I just ordered a 90k ICE car. Is it faster in a straight line than a model 3 performance? No. Will it hold up better under constant spirited driving and get me from DC to Virginia Beach without any stops to fill up? Yes. Does it look cooler? Hell yeah.

I'm still waiting for a GOOD car company to come out with an electric car with the same range as a Tesla. I predict the Audi E-Tron GT will get there in a few years. Comparing an E-tron GT to a Tesla Plaid is like comparing a victoria's secret model to a local hooters girl

Tesla plaid is the fastest production car in existence. Goes 0 to 60 in under 2 secs. Comparing an E-tron GT to the Plaid is like comparing a middle aged jogger to an Olympic track and field runner. The only cars that can beat the Plaid in acceleration are 2+ million hypercars. Victoria’s Secret angels have been canned.

I own a Tesla Model S, p100d, and my other car is a Ferrari 458 Spyder. The Tesla aka Mom car can easily beat the Ferrari (but the Ferrari is a collectible and awesome). Waiting for the Tesla Roadster and the after the plaid whatever with 500+ Range - Teslas are a great value for the price