Never driven to there. Dunno. Non applicable to me.
What is a long trip really like in an EV?
- Thread starter Joel_MD
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edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
I routinely make 450-mile round trips from Lizard Spit (Yuma) to Scottsdale. Sometimes I do this three times a month. Air fare would be way too expensive for frequent trips @ $500 round-trip. Then another $150 for local transportation/rental car.
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Cant disagree, but as Ev's get more popular we will get a more clear picture. The purchasers who buy right now we know dont care about charging or stopping and as even Jeff admits, likes to fly. This is your typical EV buyer right now, the enthusiast, the commuter.
Other EV buyers like mentioned in this very forum still maintain gasoline vehicles for the security of maybe preferring to take them on long trips or as their tow vehicle OR as a nice big family size SUV. But you leave out that part of the story.
If the EV was the ultimate driving machine everyone would dump gasoline tomorrow. Never going to happen.
Furthermore there is ZERO available 3 row size SUV in EV form at the current time anywhere near the price level of more affordable Gasoline SUVs that FAR greater range and towing capacity for the money. (You leave that out too)
On a cost basis an EV may make sense even if you're ok with a compact 4 door sedan like the Model 3 in some places and for some uses. Energy cost in CA is 300% higher over there (think about that! 300%!!! My god! *LOL* gasoline up to 100% more expensive there) than in many places of the East Coast and maybe why SUVs and Pick up trucks rule the roads here.
We can afford to live in comfort! We also like adventure and can go off driving anyplace without planing any stops at all, we can tow a boat with us, tow a camper, zero concerns and the price for the vehicle is less. For purposes like this, currently an EV makes no sense.
We can travel at 85 MPH care free all day, even while towing!
This isnt rocket science. I dont have to buy an EV to find this out, its indisputable but some EV proponents in here focus on one narrative and that is charging which is laughable until EVs populate 15% of the vehicles on the road. Also laughable is to narrow down the use of a vehicle to only one purpose while ignoring or discounting how other people use a vehicle.
I too MAY own a EV as a second car. My wife Mazda 3 now 13 years old sits in the driveway for days or weeks at a time and never moves, still only has 85,000 miles on it. I very well, if given the chance buy a BOLT (never seen one yet) since the taxpayers are paying a third the cost. This would only make sense for this use.
It would be an ideal purpose for a compact EV for us. Second car, rarely used and I would NEVER ever take it on a 4 hour trip to visit my son and family. That is my one concern.
The Chevy Traverse is the ultimate comport for that, as well as towing out boat, as well as buying stuff in Lowes and Home Depot.
What's more, who needs solar to charge what would be my EV at night!??! Our cost for night time off peak electricity is .0437 kWr FOUR CENTS! ... how much is it on the West Coast? Gosh, I mean, voters got to take some responsibility for your insane costs over there.
Ok, it's hot outside maybe I should take a 10 minute drive to the beach... or is it 8 minutes ? *LOL*
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I would think the main advantage to an electric car would be being able to charge it at home.. and lower maintenance costs. the main disadvantage would be the problem of long distance charging.. its worth saying that with the advent of internal combustion engines it wasn't like you could buy gasoline everywhere either.
It's not really about charging, it's about what you use a vehicle for and the cost of that vehicle in a gasoline equal. Which I posted right above your post in my long rant *LOL*
You know I was thinking about what it would be like to have only EVs. I really would do it, but I'm not buying another car this year. I was driving the Tesla and it's just more relaxing than my other car. Don't get me wrong, the other car is fun and having a turbo with paddle shifters begs me to put my right foot down. The Tesla is just beautiful silence, yet still really moves when you want it to.
As you mentioned cost would likely put someone in one of the smaller cars, but I prefer small cars anyway these days, but that wasn't always the case. My last couple vehicles were large, F150 and a Jaguar Vanden Plas(LWB XJ8). I think this is where EVs really shine if it's your type of vehicle. The weight just goes up so fast to get range on larger vehicles. It really seems to defeat the purpose of an EV and with my garage design which has metal supports and storage under it, I would not feel comfortable parking a 9,000lb vehicle in it.
Honestly though I really like the Model 3 and would buy a second one to replace the VW, but I can't justify spending the $56k with options for a Model 3 Performance when I have a GTI with 45k miles on it that gets 35 mpg. That's just wasteful. If it was at the end of it's life and I was ready to buy now I'd probably do that or buy another GTI. I had thought Golf R or RS3, but if I went that far cost wise the Model 3 Performance made more sense to me. That's another topic though, the GTI is a great fun tossable car. The Golf R is seriously fast, and the RS3 is an absolute weapon. Model 3 Performance leaves them all in the mirror in a drag race. They all have fun reasons to buy which is always the most important thing to me when getting a car. I'm just not an appliance car person.
@alarmguy how far is your son? 4 hours is about 300 miles, right? You could do that with one 15 to 20 minute stop in our Model 3.
Of course I do not know the Supercharger network on your route. They are pretty prevalent in my neck of the woods. Going to LA-San Diego, for example, is easy because the network has been set up with that route in mind.
Not saying this is the car for you, but this is just an example. I continue to learn how these cars operate; they are different and require a different mindset.
Of course I do not know the Supercharger network on your route. They are pretty prevalent in my neck of the woods. Going to LA-San Diego, for example, is easy because the network has been set up with that route in mind.
Not saying this is the car for you, but this is just an example. I continue to learn how these cars operate; they are different and require a different mindset.
There is no question the total time spent at a gas station over a year is substantial.
There is also no question long EV road trips involve more frequent and much longer stops. So much so, that even the best EV’s require a substantially longer vacation to make the trip possible at all.
My ID.4 will probably never leave the Southeast region while in my hands. I knew going into it that it was going to be a regional road tripper at most and even when I had my ICE cars there were exactly 2 round trips made (Georgia to Minnesota) in the 12 years I have lived in Atlanta that would be a real PITA with my ID.4. Anything beyond a 400-500 mile radius of me I am flying and that was still the case back when I owned ICE cars. In reality everyone needs to just look at their road trip patterns and go from there.
I took a very near trip to Chattanooga a couple weekends back (~341 miles total). Charged at work to ~95% before departure, first museum just past Chattanooga had a charger so I plugged in, hotel had a charger so I plugged in, sights the next day had chargers so I plugged in, ended up leaving Chattanooga with 100% battery and made it home Sunday with plenty of juice to get me through the rest of the 5 day work commute. Didn't waste a single minute waiting for charging as every stop was a planned sight seeing stop or when charging at the hotel it was just enough time to get checked in, relax in the room for about 10 minutes then venture on. Under same conditions the GLI could theoretically make the trip on one tank but would require a gas station visit to kick the trip off and it would probably be dipping into the fuel light on the return arrival so lets say 2 gas station visits to get through the next 5 days commuting after return. In this road trip scenario the ID.4 would technically be faster if you deduct gas station transit and visit time, for fairness I would add 5 minutes to the ID.4 in time spent activating the charging stations along the way.
I took a very near trip to Chattanooga a couple weekends back (~341 miles total). Charged at work to ~95% before departure, first museum just past Chattanooga had a charger so I plugged in, hotel had a charger so I plugged in, sights the next day had chargers so I plugged in, ended up leaving Chattanooga with 100% battery and made it home Sunday with plenty of juice to get me through the rest of the 5 day work commute. Didn't waste a single minute waiting for charging as every stop was a planned sight seeing stop or when charging at the hotel it was just enough time to get checked in, relax in the room for about 10 minutes then venture on. Under same conditions the GLI could theoretically make the trip on one tank but would require a gas station visit to kick the trip off and it would probably be dipping into the fuel light on the return arrival so lets say 2 gas station visits to get through the next 5 days commuting after return. In this road trip scenario the ID.4 would technically be faster if you deduct gas station transit and visit time, for fairness I would add 5 minutes to the ID.4 in time spent activating the charging stations along the way.
Why?
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
The more I've seen, the less I care to see. If I have a need to, I'd fly there, though.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
I've seen and know enough. There is so much more I'd like to avoid if possible, lol.
I got my bill from Southern California Edison yesterday. I used 424 kWh in March. My bill was $93.58.
The charge for the actual electricity was 360 kWh @ $0.1434 per plus 64 kWh @ $0.2321 per because I went slightly over my "baseline" consumption rate. The rest of the bill was various other charges and fees.
They show a sum amount which includes all the extra charges so the actual net amount for electricity is more like $0.30 per kWh at the baseline and $0.39 kWh when I exceed it. And the "high usage" charge (which I never hit) could be as high as $0.49 per kWh.
91 Octane gas which i use in both of my vehicles is approaching $6 a gallon in my small mountain town again. It would be interesting to do the calculations for the difference in cost to drive an EV about 500 miles per month, which is about all I average now that I am retired, and the cost for gas at an average of 24 MPG.
When gas spikes to $6.50 or more this summer my electricity bill won't go up a comparable amount.
honestly, wasn't responding to your post, just saying what I thought the main advantage or disadvantage would be.. I'm not giving up my diesel dually any time soon, but like you my wife's car could easily be replaced by an EV, for the amount she drives... that said it wouldn't make any financial sense to buy her an EV either, because her car is paid for and at the current rate of use it will outlive her and me.It's not really about charging, it's about what you use a vehicle for and the cost of that vehicle in a gasoline equal. Which I posted right above your post in my long rant *LOL*
All good, didnt mean anything negative.
It's actually makes sense for me to buy a small Bolt for my wife, just talking here, never even saw one.
I already posted how her cars goes no where, actually going to make it a point to start up today, I swear it must be two weeks now it hasn't been started.
Anyway, the reason, if we like the little compact Hatchback, right now, you, the taxpayers are paying 1/3rd the cost! *LOL*
I have a past passion for hatchbacks, but again, have no idea just how small this one is.
Im not kidding, if a nearby dealer had one in stock I honestly think I would like what I see and have her drive home in it. I think I mentioned, online there is only one within a two hour drive from me that was available (I'm sure sold by now) and I would have had to buy it while it was still in transit to the dealer.
Not sure if I posted in this thread but my night time electric rate here is less than four and a half cents per kWr.
my wife has 2012 Camaro. 95000 miles on it.. biggest expense for me is the insurance as I doubt she goes thru one tank of gas a month... and a set of fairly expensive tires that will dry rot before she wears them out? I'm guessing what I am saying is a car payment isn't going to be less expensive than what I or you are currently paying out for the amount of use it sounds like our significant others are getting out of their current mode of transportation.
But I have a different question along the same lines, I'm going to post a picture of my wife's car and mention it has been as reliable as an anvil, so if you were in my situation would you trade in or sell this car below for a new hatchback EV?