I live in the Mid-west where gas is $2.19 a gallon. I also drive 10 times a year to my lake condo which is nowhere near an interstate. I drive through small towns, which all have gas stations. There is no supercharger anywhere, and the condo I own doesn't have any kind of charger in the parking lot either. I don't stop in the same place each trip. I have dozens of choices, and have enjoyed exploring various small towns when I feel like "stretching my legs" (found an amazing winery and a great place for pie for instance)FoolStreet wrote: ↑Sun Jan 05, 2020 9:02 pmI think I mentioned before, the in-car driving experience of driver assist technology more than makes up for any trade-offs.HomerJ wrote: ↑Sun Jan 05, 2020 8:40 pmHeh, I get 300 miles of travel in 2-3 minutes at a gas station.FoolStreet wrote: ↑Sun Jan 05, 2020 6:01 pmFor comparison, using the campground would be Level 2 at between 20-40 mph (miles per hour). L1 is 4 mph. A Tesla Supercharger is L3 at 300-600 mph. Even a Tesla Urban charger that you see being deployed at Targets are like L2+, maybe 200mph ish (not sure).btenny wrote: ↑Sun Jan 05, 2020 4:57 pm You guys are suggesting that Tesla owners can stop in at any RV camp and use the 50A camper pole to recharge their cars. Are you sure? Why are the camp ground people not advertising that feature? Is this some sort of new ability? Why are the Tesla maps and charger points not telling owners to go to the nearest camp ground to recharge? I see lines sometimes at the superchargers on I95 in Nevada and no mention of that ability at the camp ground next door.....
Huh??
That's 6000-9000 mph.
Commuting, charging at night, EVs rock... There are some serious trade-offs when traveling long distance though... You guys are okay with the trade-offs, and that's cool. Just don't pretend there's no trade-offs.
But, the reality is that a typical gas station stop will include the 2-3 minutes of gassing up, paying $4-5 per gallon ($40-80), then pulling out and parking so that you can run inside and use the restroom, then maybe buy a coffee or energy drink, then maybe grab some french fries at mcdonalds or wait in line at In n Out, or whatever food. You'll probably eat the food in the car. That stop was not really 2-3 minutes. It was probably closer to 15-20min. Not really a single stop, but a series of micro stops. God forbid if you want to take a few minutes to stretch your legs or let your pet do its business. And a Tesla won't need the first gas stop and the last gas stop (2-3 minutes times two, so 6 minutes) across any stops you make during the trip.
Yeah, if you need to do the Canonball Run, take your ICE. But if you want to drive safely at a very efficient pace, a Tesla does really really well.
HomerJ, not sure where you live, but it is entirely possible that we're talking past ourselves because of geographic differences. If you are driving across Canada, that line is still being built, and Texas supercharger spots I hear are not as pervasive. Whereas, I'm driving up/down Highway 5, so its pretty well built built out for us here on the coasts. It might not be as easy everywhere.
Tesla is rolling out v4 Superchargers as we speak, which will really speed things up.
And I have gotten back on the road in 5 minutes when I felt like "getting there quick".
For ME and MY situation, an EV car would not work. Not yet. Maybe someday. But not even close today.
It's fine that it works for you... I absolutely understand that the trade-offs work for you. But it bugs me to no end when people talk like there are no trade-offs at all. Yes, if you never explore the back roads, and stay on interstates, and don't mind waiting 30-40 minutes to "fuel up" (and eating pie from an Interstate chain), then it's all good.
EVs are amazing commuter cars, and decent for long travel. But they are not as good as gas cars for long travel in many situations. Just admit it and move on. EVs don't have to be perfect to be a good choice for many people.