Electric Vehicles? Towing? Hauling?
There seems to be quite a push lately for zero emission vehicles and electric only vehicles. How on Earth would these ever work for us? You can't go cross country in an electric vehicle in a pra...
Forum Discussion
Reisender wrote:
I think I get what you are saying but long range EV’s (not ours) are quite capable of 800 or 900 km daily road trips. It’s done everyday. A lunch break while charging is needed and if it’s a multi day trip then usually an overnight at a hotel with destination charging which is usually 48 amp. But I agree, for those who travel over a thousand kilometres per day or maybe drive in shifts, a gas or diesel vehicle would be a better solution. But I’m not sure if that is a large number of people. Other than my military career, a long day for us is about 800 kilometres Easily achieved with a long range EV and a charging lunch stop.
Honestly our road trips are all presently in our Diesel pusher but that will change in a couple years.
It's a bit of a chicken & egg problem.
Right now, you can only eat at restaurants that have chargers and stay at hotels that have chargers...Being an EV really drives your travel plans.
Also, I suspect you will find places with charging stations are higher end places...so if you are doing a road trip and would normally crash at a $75/night hotel before heading out in the morning, do you kill the fuel savings because now you need to upgrade to a $150/night hotel in addition to paying for electricity because that's the only place that has a charging station.
From a practical point of view, it's going to add time, cost and complication, so long range is really limited to those trying to prove it can be done...not the typical consumer who just wants to get from A to B without hassles.
This is why I believe EVs can make great commuter cars (give up on the long range and the extreme costs that come with that) for multi-car families. In multi-car families, they can replace one of their ICE cars with an EV and when a longer trip is needed, they use the remaining ICE car. This would allow market penetration on the 25-40% range based on market forces (giving the customer a better mouse trap) rather than using govt intervention to try to force the issue and only getting 1-2% of the market. Later when the market is more comfortable, moving EVs into the long range market becomes more viable after there is sufficient demand to support the infrastructure.
