I don’t drive an electric car, and have not owned one. But I have some experience with an electric bike, already having put approximately 1,500 miles on mine. Based on that, my suspicion is, that once people start driving Electric Vehicles, they realize the inescapable reality:
You must think about your battery level all the time.
If you don’t start thinking of it immediately, once you make a mistake and run your battery down, you sure think about it constantly after that. Every time you turn it on.
For commuters who drive 30-40 miles a day, and the EV is the second car in the family, I believe it is a do-able thing. But pretty much everyone else must work things out in advance.
You must think about your battery level all the time.
And it isn’t an easy calculation. You have to do worst-case calculation, and even then, you might not be able to make a reasonable estimate. Very few people can mentally calculate load, temperature, terrain or any host of other factors. Sure, the cars provide estimates of current range when you turn the vehicle on. But as soon as you put the car into drive and step on the accelerator, all those things change. Your 68 miles of projected remaining range when you turn it on goes down to something less like 50 miles immediately. Why? Could be any number of things.
You cannot forget about it.
You cannot ignore it.
You cannot procrastinate on it.
You cannot fail to plan for it.
If one does any of these things, you are going to end up stranded somewhere, likely with a tow charge involved.
And even if you do plan for it, it is full of uncertainty. And delay.
If you travel, you have to know where all the charging stations might be along any route you take. But you have little idea of the status of those stations. You might consult some website or map that says there is a charger at a given place.
You might show up, and the charge site is nonfunctional due to vandalism, poor maintenance, or some mishap.
Or, you get there, and there is a car parked there, charging. You have no idea where the driver might be, when they are coming back, or if they are coming back. They might be parked there overnight, for all you know.
And this discounts completely the time it takes to charge a car. Sure, the top level ones like Tesla, if you use their special setup, can charge your car in 15-30 min. Otherwise, if you run out and some kind soul lets you use an outlet on their house...it is going to take a while.
And the thing is-it is my opinion that many people are simply not suited to this type of management. Some are, but many are not. And it diminishes the enjoyment.
ICE vehicles are not absent of this, as anyone who has ever lived through a gas shortage knows. But in those situations, you can get a gas can and some gas, and drive another 30 miles, hoping to find another gasoline source.
Pretty much, that's all it's good for.
This is the best scenario for EV adopters. An ICE vehicle and an EV. You want to go long, use the ICE. For daily commuting near the home, use the EV. Works well for home owners, not so much for apartment or condo dwellers without a garage.
Once burnt...
Which tells you NOTHING about how many others are at that place; charging or waiting to.
Now when ALL electrics are required to broadcast their locations and battery status, perhaps some large program could shuffle all of these vehicles into a nicely organized que to maximize efficient charging.
“A” gas can?
I have 4 5 gallon ones and two 2 gallon ones and a 6.
My gas honda accord sport had a 1/3rd tank of gas. I drove up to the gas station 3/4 mile away and filled up. I was back with 10 minutes to my place.
You cannot do that in any electric vehicle plus I have piece of mind that the car will not ignite on it’s own when driving or parked.
With an electric bike, you can at least peddle your way home when the battery runs out.
Perhaps that's the solution! Add peddles to EVs!
“And it isn’t an easy calculation. “
Tesla does it for you.