"I would never want to be stuck waiting for an EV to charge"

[Time2Roll]

Currently, charging on long road trips is absolutely more of an inconvenience versus gas, no matter how you try to spin it. That’s just a fact.

With that said, I love my Rivian.

Yes and when not road tripping, stopping for gasoline is the larger inconvenience.
Pick your poison.

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[Eeyore]

Well... maybe not? /s https://a.co/d/05gQQbPf

That won't for my wife. I'm not saying it couldn't work, just that She'd refuse to use it.

 

[Blackwater]

True.

The real time cost for charging on a road trip should deduct the time you spend eating at least. You *might* get away with using the restroom while you're filling your ICE vehicle, but not likely. You are almost certainly not filling a gas tank and eating at the same time, unlike charging an EV.

The more annoying thing to me is the exorbitant cost of EV charging at a DCFC station. Of course, most of us do the vast majority of our charging at home, where cost is typically much less and convenience is the best.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

And I have NEVER waited for an EV charger, so your assumption that we're all waiting in line for chargers all the time is unreasonable

Where did I assume this? Lol. I was clearly discussing my experience.

I’d recommend a little yoga or something. Channel away all that anger! You’ll be healthier for it.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

Most cars?

A few year old Kia Sportage. EPA 26 MPG, 14 gallon tank = 364 miles.

Oh man. It’s been a while for me. Even out 2016 Pilot will go about 450 a tank.

I guess tank sizes maybe are shrinking as mpgs go up.

 

[Blackwater]

300 miles of range is just about right for me. I can easily drive from Salem to Shoreline (north of Seattle) without stopping to charge, and that's all I need. I installed a 50amp outlet at my son's house the first time I visited driving Arty just so I could charge overnight and drive home.

Ha
Make your Son pay for the trip
Good idea

 

[Eeyore]

Ha
Make your Son pay for the trip
Good idea

Seems only fair that he does since he always has projects to work on when I visit. If he had to pay for my labor on all the stuff I've done, he'd owe me $10k easily.

Sand and finish the hardwood floor on most of the 1st floor.
Helped install vinyl flooring in the kitchen
Install New 200 amp electrical service.
Rewire all of the basement
Add circuits to the 1st floor.
Add lights in the attic.
Help frame, wire, texture, and paint the new 16 x 30 shop he added.
Saw cut concrete floor for new plumbing drains in basement.
Misc yard work.
Clean gutter.

 

[riverie]

I am retried now, but when I was working I was a road warrior. Grand Cherokee with a 25 gallon tank that I would drive full to near empty without stopping, often well over 500 miles. Before that an A4 with a 6 speed that had almost the same range. So an EV would not have worked for me then. Admittedly an extreme use case.

But now I have an EV and I road trip like a normal person and stop every 3-4 hours.
And like many have said, by the time you make a potty stop and eat a couple of hot dogs the vehicle is ready to go again.
I am a convert.

 

[schlosrat]

My first (and so far only) long road trip with an EV was driving from the FL Space Coast area to Seattle. This was in my 2024 Gen 1 Dual Large, packed to the gills (I was moving). It was an adventure, for sure, but the charging was not a big deal at all, and needing to stop every few hours works great for me.

The longest leg I ever did was probably under 300 miles. I still managed to do the trip in under 5 days. I really should have taken longer, but I was in a hurry.

 

[Honey]

This is Sam's, my experience with Costco is that it's even worse.

Let's idle for 20-30 minutes to save 27 cents!

Also it's 103 degrees here today, cars and their occupants love the heat while sitting around idling near 47 other hot cars.

Yes idling and breathing in all those carcinogens

 

[electruck]

When you expect spaghetti squash to taste like spaghetti the pasta, you are going to be sorely disappointed. But when you accept spaghetti squash for what it truly is and quit trying to pretend it is something it is not, it is quite tasty in its own right.

Charging on a road trip is a different experience than fueling up with gas. But, speaking for my family alone, it is in no way an inconvenience. My last big road trip was back at Thanksgiving, about 2500 miles round trip from TX to VA and back. That trip was by far less stressful on me than any time I've driven it in an ICE vehicle.

 

[CharonPDX]

Oh man. It’s been a while for me. Even out 2016 Pilot will go about 450 a tank.

I guess tank sizes maybe are shrinking as mpgs go up.

There have always been "low range" vehicles. Just as there have been "high range" vehicles.

My NA Miata has a 12 gallon tank, with nominal EPA 28 MPG highway that was far too generous. Its realistic highway range was ~250 miles. Even my 2004 Prius, once its battery started to lose capacity and the annoying "fuel tank rubber bladder" started to harden was lucky to get 300 miles to a tank by the 200,000 mile mark. Meanwhile my 1996 Ford F-250 7.2L diesel with its dual 21 gallon tanks could get over 600 miles empty. (We never drove it long distances empty - if it was road tripping, it was hauling or towing something that dropped its range closer to 300 miles.)

 

[RivianRocks25]

My favorite "blow your mind" topic. I bet people I spend less time waiting to charge in a year then they do putting in gas. On average with 2 decent trips a gas vehicle likely spends about 600+ minutes a year at gas station. With no spent time at home charging that allows 20, 30 minute L3 charge sessions.

Totally! Here is my math. 15,000 miles a year. ICE SUV averaged 22 mpg year round replaced by EV. 15,000/22=681 gallons gas/year in ICE. 20 gallon tank, so use 17 gallon each fill. 681/17=40.1 gas fills/year. About once a week, seems right. Time when go off route to closest gas station: 1.5 minutes each way, time to get to pump. Pay at pump, pump gas, return to original route and is about 7 minutes/fill total. (not even counting if go to Costco and wait 5 more minutes just for a pump) So 40.1 X 7 = 281 minutes /year filling ICE car.

Since we don't "hop" very often from charger to charger, our DCFC is normally in winter to get enough charge to make it home or to our cabin where we will finish the charge. As such, even without 800 volts, our normal charge is well under 20 minutes. More like 12 minutes. But I will use 20 minutes for the math as that hurts this whole thing (and STILL EV will be better.)

281 minutes year / 20 minutes a charge =14 charges.

So if we DCFC less that 14 times we spend less time charging than gassing the gas car we replaced each year. Checked apps history: 5 Tesla charges all under 20 minutes, 2 EA at Walmart while shopping so shouldn't count but will, 1 Blink, 5 Kwick Charge.

So 13 times DCFC is less than 14 times gas fill equivalent so YES we spent less time charging last year than DCFC.


IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL TO CHARGE ON THE ROAD AND EV PROBABLY SAVES YOU TIME THROUGH OUT THE YEAR AS LONG AS CAN L2 CHARGE AT HOME ALSO!!! Saves us time and $$$ and NEVER going back to ICE.

And since have solar and charge for free at home, have saved over $25,000 in 7 years. So of course there is FUD out there from oil companies. That's a $25k subscription they aren't getting from me. But the math for the $25k is for a different post sometime.

 

[CrazyOne]

We have an ICE too. Never waited more than 2-3 mins at our local Costco.

 

[lefkonj]

It's about to get even worse as people will drive to the places with the cheapest gas. Thrilled to have jumped with both feet into EVs 3 years ago. The impact of this will be last for more than just a few months.

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