Posted on 04/15/2023 9:07:38 AM PDT by devane617
Electric cars are quick, quiet, and kind to the planet, but limited range and lengthy charging times mean road trips aren't exactly their strong suit.
That's what I learned when I took Toyota's new bZ4X SUV from New York to Washington D.C. one weekend in early April. The 500-mile journey wasn't some epic coast-to-coast adventure, but rather the kind of long-haul drive someone might casually take a few times per year and not think twice about — if they're behind the wheel of a regular gas car.
Let's nerd out for just one moment to establish some basic concepts.
Every EV has a maximum charging rate, expressed in kilowatts (kW), that governs the amount of power it can accept from roadside fast chargers. For the bZ4X AWD I tested, that's an uncompetitive 100 kW. The higher an EV's rating, the faster you can hypothetically charge — so long as you find a charging plug whose rating is equal or greater.
But you don't always achieve that max charge rate due to the charger, the temperature of the battery, or, in my case, settings built into the vehicle itself. During my trip, the car never got close to 100 kW, leading to some excruciating charging times.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
The EV’s are probably fine for around town and very short trips. Also, they forgot to mention the cold weather aspect.
They're tied to that charging station for a long, predictable period of time - unlike a gas station, where you can be in and out in minutes.
Also, EV Chargers are easy to sabotage, and you know folks will do it, just for the heck of it.
“The EV’s are probably fine for around town and very short trips.”
Yeah, like a 19 hole circuit at the local Country Club.
I’ll bet that Trump owns no shortage of EVs.
I’m holding out for teleportation portals.
They’re electric and if they do destabilize the space-time continuum, then we won’t have to worry about cow farts causing green house effects.
Wrong car..
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Like there’s a right one.
Not meant for long trips or any other serious use.
Also, not better for the environment than ICE cars. In order to charge them, you need electricity obtained by coal, natural gas, or nuclear methods.
They are NOT KIND to the PLANET!!! It takes CHILD LABOR to DIG UP THE MINERALS that are needed to do the battery!!
They aren't actually "kind to the planet". They are polluting cars....The minerals and metals they mine..are straight on pollution. When they start on fire....they pollute the air and the ground.
I’m betting that TRUMP has NO EV’s!!
“...so just getting to 74% took a full 45 minutes of waiting around...”
That’s odd. I fill my battery...err gas tank...to 100% every single time.
Well, unless I’m short on cash and I’m treating the entire family to gas station sushi.
“Kind to the planet”…lie number one.
Articles like this make me SMILE every time I drive my gasoline car past a charging station and know that I don’t have to spend half of my living hours waiting for a few electrons to make it into the battery.
Also note that he was paying 40 cents per kwh to charge, roughly 4 TIMES what I pay for electricity at home.
I priced a Toyota Highlander LE Hybrid...over $55 grand.
Not only that, but where does the electricity come from to charge them — it sure isn’t wind farms or solar. Places like Calif can’t even keep from rolling brownouts and now want to stress their electrical grid even more by requiring electric cars. Dumb as dirt.
America - quit letting the stupid unconstitutional federal government tell you what and how to run your lives!!!!!!
The long road-trip is the Achilles heel of the EV. As I mentioned in another thread, I drove the long stretch of I-5 between Modesto, CA, and the Tehachapis a few days ago, and I counted no fewer than 3 Teslas in distress on the side of the road. Drivers miscalculate range. The vehicles themselves generate range estimates that prove overly optimistic, and drivers end up on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere with a dead battery. Who needs that kinda crap? If you’re using your EV for short commutes around local area and recharging every day, then okay this might work for you. But the venerable internal-combustion vehicle blows your EV away when it comes to road-trip convenience.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.