Uh Oh. Here comes the EV Challenger

[Allentown]

You are rarity. He is right that most drivers don't drive over 200 miles a day. 99% of my driving is 50 miles round trip. If I could get an EV truck or SUV that wasn't super heavy and gave me 200mi of range, I could see having that as a daily driver. My pathfinder barely gets 250mi right now.
In the long run, I can see EV making up most of the market, and things like hydrogen fuel cell hybrids taking up the rest. I also believe ICE will be around for another 50-100 years, they just won't be building new versions. Enthusiasts will probably still be able to pay a premium for a tank of gas to run their classic V8 long after I am dead.

I may be rarity, but that is why i said i would be down for one EV and one high performance hybrid or high performance hydrodgen cell. I would use the EV for those trips to grocery store, movies, and pharmacy but I would need the long range.

I don't know that i am that much of a rarity. A track day is not something people even need to do, yet this forum is full of people who will drive 400 or 500 miles just to RACE. With an affordable EV, you can neither complete the trip nor race it.

If you had a high performance hybrid or fuel cell, you could continue to do this. Not that long ago when i did drive for my job...i was doing like 50,000 miles a year and so did about 200 other people working for my company.

What you consider "rare" isn't all that rare. If you are quoting only from largely urban areas where distances are short as the bulk of the averages you are missing a big swath of Americana which neither lives in those areas nor could keep their driving needs under the EV umbrella even if they wanted to.

Heck most of the people i know who work in atlanta cant afford to live in atlanta any more and have to commute in via urban sprawl, same is true for NYC and San Francisco. They may fall under the EV umbrella soon but they will also be the first to feel the sting of the reducing trip distance as the battery weakens (and the least likely to be able to afford to deal with the problem when it happens).

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[bootlegger]

I may be rarity, but that is why i said i would be down for one EV and one high performance hybrid or high performance hydrodgen cell. I would use the EV for those trips to grocery store, movies, and pharmacy but I would need the long range.

I don't know that i am that much of a rarity. A track day is not something people even need to do, yet this forum is full of people who will drive 400 or 500 miles just to RACE. With an affordable EV, you can neither complete the trip nor race it.

If you had a high performance hybrid or fuel cell, you could continue to do this. Not that long ago when i did drive for my job...i was doing like 50,000 miles a year and so did about 200 other people working for my company.

What you consider "rare" isn't all that rare. If you are quoting only from largely urban areas where distances are short as the bulk of the averages you are missing a big swath of Americana which neither lives in those areas nor could keep their driving needs under the EV umbrella even if they wanted to.

Heck most of the people i know who work in atlanta cant afford to live in atlanta any more and have to commute in via urban sprawl, same is true for NYC and San Francisco. They may fall under the EV umbrella soon but they will also be the first to feel the sting of the reducing trip distance as the battery weakens (and the least likely to be able to afford to deal with the problem when it happens).

The average daily commute time to work in the USA is 25.4 min, so EV would fit most drivers in the USA. This forum makes up a small percentage of drivers, and many of us have daily driver vehicles. Most hard core track guys trailer the vehicles, so having EV wouldn't be a limitation. I am not claiming EV works for everyone today, only that it would work for most commuters. By the time they are a major player in the market, fast charging will be a common thing. That's why most auto manufacturers are looking to bridge the gap with hybrids.
People moving outside of city centers has been a thing for decades. That's why most large cities offer options like light rail. Driving is quickly becoming too much of a hassle for those working in large populated areas. Public transportation is a whole different topic though. All I will say to that, is if you spend well over an hour in a car each way every day, you are missing out on a lot of your life. I had this issue living in Chicago, and it was a main factor in my relocation.

 

[Allentown]

The average daily commute time to work in the USA is 25.4 min, so EV would fit most drivers in the USA. This forum makes up a small percentage of drivers, and many of us have daily driver vehicles. Most hard core track guys trailer the vehicles, so having EV wouldn't be a limitation. I am not claiming EV works for everyone today, only that it would work for most commuters. By the time they are a major player in the market, fast charging will be a common thing. That's why most auto manufacturers are looking to bridge the gap with hybrids.
People moving outside of city centers has been a thing for decades. That's why most large cities offer options like light rail. Driving is quickly becoming too much of a hassle for those working in large populated areas. Public transportation is a whole different topic though. All I will say to that, is if you spend well over an hour in a car each way every day, you are missing out on a lot of your life. I had this issue living in Chicago, and it was a main factor in my relocation.

But...once everyone moves into work from home and telecommuting such as what i do 50% of the time, suddenly you end up like me. At home in your PJs not really needing a personal vehicle for daily use that much so much as you want one for grand touring and cross country trips and high performance driving, much of which an EV cant do and much of which would be your primary motivation in the car market.

Doesn't that just take us circular back to square 1?

 

[bootlegger]

But...once everyone moves into work from home and telecommuting such as what i do 50% of the time, suddenly you end up like me. At home in your PJs not really needing a personal vehicle for daily use that much so much as you want one for grand touring and cross country trips and high performance driving, much of which an EV cant do and much of which would be your primary motivation in the car market.

Doesn't that just take us circular back to square 1?

I think we will see EV as a majority (and fast charging) long before work culture adapts to work from home. I am constantly fighting just to be allowed to do 1 day a week (which our HR has in the policy). Too many damn companies miss the benefits, or they just don't trust their people. I am envious of your arrangement.

 

[Bullitt]

Like bootlegger said, an EV wouldn't fit you because your rare but long distance drives are the exact opposite of what millions of commuters do every day. I'm talking about them, not you. The statement you made that I responded to was the break-even point for saving money, which that video laid out clearly.

I'm in a similar situation, work from home and love road trips. I plan to keep my Bullitt till the day I die. But for the short commuting my wife does, an EV makes a lot of sense. Tesla's quality issues have scared us away for now, but once the European companies (she's a Mercedes lover) get their EVs out in the next few years, there's a good chance that will be her next lease. The argument could be made that even for road trips, most people take the main highways where there will be charging stations, and most people stop at least once every 250 miles to stretch, eat, coffee, bathroom, etc. The Teslas will do over 300 miles per charge. With Tesla Superchargers doing 85-100 miles of charge in 15 minutes, the time penalty would be minimal right now even, let alone in a few years once charging rates improve.

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