This is probably going to be the most common combination. EVs really shouldn't be cars, they can have so many form factors to fit every lifestyle. For long travel or nature, EVs are overkill
The most important takeaway is not all the rambling on the EV, but the conclusion.
I live in one of those dense cities (Paris), with bike lanes and good public transportation, with several micromobile electric transportation offerings, and it's great! For most people living there, buying a car just wouldn't cross their mind. Parking is hard to find, stupidely expensive (as it should be), roads are congested, and shrinking (thanks to our mayor actions), and cars upkeep is prohibitive.
Most people do take public transportation to vacations as well. I'm in the minority, borrowing (I'd loan otherwise) an ICE vehicle for holidays, and I'm very happy with that.
While some people think EV are the second coming of cars, I'm starting to question their ecological benefits. Sure, they aren't burning fossil fuels to move every single day. But they still need batteries, in high quantities, for which the current method of production isn't exactly ecological. Plus they need lots of metal/plastics. Not ecological. Then you still need roads and those roads maintenance. Not ecological as well.
While I love EV for their low pollution and low noise, I still think we should probably focus on not using cars in the first place unless there really isn't any other choice.
Unrelated to the article....but I can't ree myself getting an EV currently.
1. They just don't sound like the muscle cars.
2. For me personally, battery density isn't good enough, and I don't like how you can't just buy replacement batteries for some cars....
3. With the lack of energy density comes the range issues in extream weather.
4. Software. Iv seen the software on some of these cars....I'd rather bike somewhere than drive in those.
5. Some vehicles with the one pedal driving have an issue where can can be slowing down, yet not hitting the brake pedal, yet no break lights are engaged.
6. Safety, gas isn't safe but I fear those EV battery's more than explosives or florine. EV battery's are big, bulky, and despite how big they are are not as energy dense as gasoline....yet they are a magnitude worse to put out. Also electricity isn't cheap where I live...and while charging to 100% is cheaper than gas....combined with the density and safety factors it's just not viable for me to be a consumer yet
A PHEV seems like the ideal vehicle to me. Most people's daily drives are probably around town, which will be all EV, but for longer trips you don't have to bother with slow, potentially crowded charging stations at limited locations. Initially I thought it's a bit of a waste to haul around an ICE that you won't use most of the time, but the alternative is a long-range EV hauling around a battery that you won't use most of the time. Seems like a wash.
People who are bullish for EVs I implore you to reconsider - current EVs containing a literal ton of batteries with limited lifespans belong in the green future, especially 80% of that doesn't get used for daily commute.
It's obvious to me that considering the full-lifecycle costs (both manufacturing, usage and ownership), some sort of hybrid solution is the greenest, for the current crop of personal cars.
But I believe once self-driving robotaxis arrive, they are going to reshape transportation - they're going to be used for short distance commute, and hauling people to train stations for long distance commute. At least in Europe.
Range anxiety won't be a thing, since these taxis won't ever cover large distances.
I live in Denmark where it's prohibitively expensive to own two cars. This is common for most of Europe. So our one car needs to handle not just daily commuting (where an EVs excel), but also the longer trips we regularly take to other countries. These are easily 1,000+km and an EV would add 2-3+ hours to the already long trip.
EVs make a lot more sense when a family can own 2-3 cars and they can rotate their commute car with their road trip car.
For commuters with reasonable commutes of less than an hour each way, EVs make perfect sense. People living in the boonies commuting 2 hours each way...no way. I only use my car occasionally (a tank of gas a month) walking to work instead, so I'm not the ideal target for an EV.
We need a Framework for EVs perhaps to get this going.
The EV I want is a simple super reliable easily repairable one.
I personally went for the Nissan Leaf in lieu of this because it’s basically a Nissan Versa with a motor and batteries where the engine and gas tank go. Not good for road trips but a nice city car and decently repairable. (I have an older ICE for road trips that I don’t drive much otherwise.)
The bigger problem here is, that EVs suck for long drives, especially in places with not enough infrastructure.
So, if you're rich, you buy a tesla (or whatever electric car) for daily commutes and short-distance driving, and then have another car to drive across europe for vacations, etc. Maybe even a third, a pickup truck or something, for when you need to transport something large.
If you're not rich, you buy a renault clio or something else cheap and gasoline powered, because it does most of what you need and it's a lot cheaper than the alternaties.
Exactly right. EVs are perfect for day-to-day commutes and what not where it's drive a distance, let it sit for several hours (while at work or at home at night), lather-rinse-repeat. Long distance continuous driving would be brutal with an hour pitstop every couple of hours.
To be honest, I think this is feasible, although not yet economically viable. Batteries have comparatively large ecological costs which we cannot nail down yet, but billions of batteries would need to be recycled if electric cars become widly spread. Possible, but I think EV adaption has been disappointingly slow, not even mentioning missing charging stations.
Using a EV in Europe for larger trips (moderate trips compared to US standards) is currently fully possible. Navigation systems on board are tuned to find the next charging station, quite convenient as long as most people don't have EV themselves because in that case you might need to wait in line.
I've lived with an EV for 3 years now, and take some legit road trips from SF: Utah, Vegas, LA, San Diego, Tahoe. I have also been all over the world and done many, many trips (far to many to count). I submit the optimum mix for most Americans right now is roughly 1 EV and 1 hybrid, solar roofing and a battery storage system. The average American has a spouse. Even if we ignore kids, we can roughly assume, unless those suburbs are way more empty than they appear, that both people have a car. Let one have an EV, and one take a hybrid. That way, they can cover the occasional very long drive in relatively remote areas.
Keep in mind, it may very well eventually switch, where gas stations are less common than high power EV chargers in the remote areas. Sort of a Dutch disease issue: once the EV chargers are the dominant market, the gas station market is likely to quickly fade until it's just diesel and finally all electric.
The Mad Max theorists worry that they won't have power for their electric vehicles in the event of an apocalypse. Friends, how long do you think refineries, pipelines, and oil freighters are going to stay going in the event of an apocalypse? Better to get good at rigging some salvaged solar panels, an inverter, and re-learn the old pass times, like dominos, dice, and cards.
IMO we're just in the early EV (battery to be precise) era. Staying away from EVs for now. It might make sense if a family has 2 cars, but having 1 and EV-only just does not make sense now as I often need the car (and have it for this reason) for extended trips
My problem is, if EV is not going to work for 100% of my use cases, I need a second car. But if I need a second car then it doesn't make sense to overthink the EV, any will do. What would be really awesome is if I could have one car and swap the power train easily, but that's just fantasy talk.
Doesn’t sound like an EV is going to fit in the exact experience you want. That’s ok.
I don’t have an EV, but do drive long distances a lot. I regularly drive for six hours without stopping. I have been scoping out the feasibility of getting an EV and it seems that the Long Range style vehicles would just almost fit into my traveling without any disruption.
EVs are perfect second cars or city cars. You don't need to charge them completely all the time. If you want to take a road trip then get a PHEV, or a Hybrid.
This corroborates the point. You almost never travel far, so EVs are great for your use case. For those of us who do travel more regularly, EVs are very inconvenient.
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