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Originally Posted by Ximian
Having a 25 gallon fuel tank to make up for terrible fuel economy is one way to get to the 500 mile per tank benchmark.
But both examples are still affected by extra drag during extremely cold temperatures and extra power loss from running the AC in extremely hot temperatures.
The cost to get an ICE vehicle to 150k miles to maintain the same performance is going to cost quite a bit compared to an EV.
The increasing cost of new car purchases, the decreasing purchasing power of the average consumer as reflected by long financing terms, and the looming "maybe one day soon" gas price increase is going to have more people look at the long term cost benefits of ownership of EVs compared to ICE vehicles.
The "clearly cheaper to own" is the much better benchmark for EVs.
I'm sure those 7 people in the whole world where this actually applies on a regular basis won't be forced into resorting to an EV for a long time.
Every year I do a road trip that's between 600 to 800 miles in a day. In an EV, during the one or two extra stops I would make I would certainly be thinking "I would be hours ahead if I had a gas car." However, when I do stop for gas, I also stop to use a rest room, order food, buy snacks, and anything else I need to do. If I'm quick, it's 25 minutes but on average, it's closer to a 50 minute stop.
A 50 minute fast EV charge will get you quite a bit of range. There are plenty of people who make these stops in a much quicker time, but that's few people out of an already very small subset of drivers.
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Extra drag during cold temperatures? Power loss using the AC in warm/hot temperatures? How are these points relevant to the benchmarks that EVs need to attain?
Ripping through the Nevada desert at 80mph with 107 deg F ambient temps with the AC blasting, and slipping through the Texas Freeze of 2021 at 0 deg F for hours and hours, for nearly 1,000 miles per day, are how I use a vehicle. Multiple times per year, year after year.
Regarding cost of ownership, the jury hasn't boarded the bus yet to come to the hearing. In other words, the jury is out. 10 years of mass production is needed to establish credibility for EVs in my view.
Until then, EVs are not ready for prime time. They might get there, one day. When the benchmarks are met.