Article: Charging The Electric Rivian R1S Was More Expensive Than Filling Up Some Notorious Gas Guzzlers

[smunro622]

https://www.theautopian.com/chargin...ve-than-filling-up-any-of-these-gas-guzzlers/


LA to Vegas at 80 mph and complains battery don’t last for 400 miles. Don’t plan the trip and complains about charging prices sounds like a user error not a vehicle problem..

Thoughts

Sponsored

 

[Zoidz]

As soon as I read the following two lines, I could see where this was going. He states the obvious that public charging is expensive, duh, and then sets the stage by admitting he has range anxiety and drives a range extended I3. Can we do any worse comparing organic apples to fake plastic oranges?

"In fact, based on my experiences with fast charging prices, and infrastructure issues here in California, I wouldn’t recommend anyone buy an EV unless they can charge at home or at work (or unless they’re willing to deal with some inconvenience/understand the costs)."

"I’ve got to start this article by saying I love electric cars, which is why I daily-drive one (with a range-extender)."

"Sure, that’s at 80 MPH much of the time, but come on. You could get 19 MPG highway doing 80 MPH some of the way with lots of gas guzzlers out there."

And then he posts the EPA mileage ratings which show 18 mpg - DumbAss, EPA rating is not at 80 miles per hour. WTAF???

 

[kenyee]

FWIW, I think he's just showing what costs can be.
Not everyone has cheap home electricity either...e.g. Boston area is 40c/kWH.

Looked like a fair calculation on costsncompared to gas mileage... And did mention some chargers are more expensive.

 

[good2go]

I just drove 1200 miles in super 10 to 40 degree weather. Trip was super smooth and easy. Charging was fast and easy. Trip normal takes 2 days, I took 3 leisurely days. Could not have been easier.

Charge on the road .30 a kw. Charge at home .04 a kw. I was happy to pay on the road to charge at 500 mph.

planning trip was super easy. I have heard people complain about road trips. I found it extremely enjoyable.

 

[runwithscissors]

I just drove 1200 miles in super 10 to 40 degree weather. Trip was super smooth and easy. Charging was fast and easy. Trip normal takes 2 days, I took 3 leisurely days. Could not have been easier.

Charge on the road .30 a kw. Charge at home .4 a kw. I was happy to pay on the road to charge at 500 mph.

planning trip was super easy. I have heard people complain about road trips. I found it extremely enjoyable.

Those prices are insanely cheap but unfortunately most people will never get those prices when charging in public/at home. In NY, I'm almost double the public charging rate and 6x+ at home.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I tire of articles that set EVs up to fail with impossible scenarios designed to make them look like shortfalls. This sensationalist journalism is a substitute for telling an interesting story and has plagued the entire industry for years.

 

[Thedude]

It’s a valid complaint for the general public and not a bunch of nerds like a lot of us here. People don’t want to have to drive 10-15mph slower and carefully plan a trip somewhere. They want the convenience of driving 80-85mph on the highway and pulling over when the gas light comes on because they need to top off the tank/battery. We all know the exact reasons for why the EV never hits the rated range in these “tests” and that you should probably sit fora few minutes and plan your route and charge stops but that’s not something most care to know or do.

 

[Doug]

I think the article is partly true in that on a road trip you will pay close to what a gas car of similar size would use. Although the price varies dramatically between chargers so with just a couple minutes of planning you can use the more economical chargers or free chargers. We live in MN and we found a 180 KW charger that is free on our way to Minneapolis. Article like this do not help ignorant people understand EV's. All they hear is that it does not save money so they are out.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

He's not wrong. I just did a 2400 mile trip from San Antonio to Greenville,SC and public fast charging (mostly on Tesla and RAN) cost more than it would have to drive our Honda Odyssey that gets about 25 mpg. I made a spreadsheet to track costs and charging speed and it was a little shocking how expensive it is.

For reference, I paid an average of $.42/kwh. Electricity on average is $.12/kwh across the US, so charging providers are charging roughly 350% to charge your EV. Gas is usually sold at cost or sometimes even below cost. My takeaway is that scarcity is driving costs, and until there is more charging available the public charging providers will continue to scalp the early adopters.

 

[runwithscissors]

It’s a valid complaint for the general public and not a bunch of nerds like a lot of us here. People don’t want to have to drive 10-15mph slower and carefully plan a trip somewhere. They want the convenience of driving 80-85mph on the highway and pulling over when the gas light comes on because they need to top off the tank/battery. We all know the exact reasons for why the EV never hits the rated range in these “tests” and that you should probably sit fora few minutes and plan your route and charge stops but that’s not something most care to know or do.

Agreed, the average person does not want to deal with multiple apps and planning/hoping the charging will work on a trip. I just made a trip and was low on charge from a long day but man was it painful to use anything outside of Tesla. Saturday was busy and EA chargers were packed with waiting lines. EVConnect had broken dispensers and a line. Had to drive to a compatible Tesla which was farther away. Tesla had 8 stations next to the EVConnect at a Wawa but it wasn't accessible to anyone other than Tesla so I had to drive 5 miles in traffic to an adapter compatible one. Most people don't want to deal with that experience when you need to be somewhere. It's been a while since I've had to encounter all those issues with a low state of charge.

People new to EVs like a few friends of mine all went Tesla and I can't blame them. Public charging is a joke at this point with reliability other than Tesla.

 

[AARivian48]

Public charging is ridiculously more expensive than it should be and outside of Tesla network it is very unreliable... on the last road trip to Chicago and back, it was crazy stupid to see 12 cars lined up to charge at 2 working stations that were left at Walmart parking lot. I had to spend 1.5 hours to get enough charge like 20 more miles to reach to next Tesla charging station.
At this point I drive electric for the pure joy of it for myself but I understand most people will not relate to it.

 

[lefkonj]

Love reading an 'article' about a topic where the author is completely uninformed on the topic and has nothing to offer other than guesses and garbage. Tired of this lazy reporting.

 

[Deacon]

I think the article is partly true in that on a road trip you will pay close to what a gas car of similar size would use. Although the price varies dramatically between chargers so with just a couple minutes of planning you can use the more economical chargers or free chargers. We live in MN and we found a 180 KW charger that is free on our way to Minneapolis. Article like this do not help ignorant people understand EV's. All they hear is that it does not save money so they are out.

On road trips I always look for hotels that offer free charging. That helps lower overall costs. On my last trip (NC to Vermont and back) I was able to charge free at 2 hotels and for free at couple of restaurants. Got to be careful with hotels - some are free, some are low cost, and others will gouge you.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

Love reading an 'article' about a topic where the author is completely uninformed on the topic and has nothing to offer other than guesses and garbage. Tired of this lazy reporting.

I read the article and this description is accurate about neither the author nor the article itself.

 

[EVTrukHog]

My experience is that any road trip > 400 miles is going to take about 20% longer in my R1T than my F150 due to charging time. The cost is about equal...and the R1T is a LOT more enjoyable to drive, but it will certainly take longer.

Sponsored