Range anxiety still?

[Frank Lee]

<5 miles = walk or bike FTW

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by MorphDaCivic

Seem like the Tesla super charger or 5 minute battery swap is a better option. Shame it only works with the Tesla, but next year an affordable Tesla model is scheduled for release.

I think they have been promising an "affordable" car every year for about the last 5 years.

[acparker]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

<5 miles = walk or bike FTW

Yeah, I'll just pass that suggestion on to the wife and girls and see how it goes. The boys have almost always walked or taken the bus. I like the idea, and did a lot of walking, biking and public transit when I was their age, but now my back vehemently disagrees.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

I think they have been promising an "affordable" car every year for about the last 5 years.

Wait, Elio?

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by MorphDaCivic

Seem like the Tesla super charger or 5 minute battery swap is a better option.

On the contrary, those are absolutely useless if they don't happen to be in appropriate places on your route, or at your destination.

Likewise, renting a different vehicle quickly becomes uneconomical when you e.g. drive it to a trailhead and leave it parked for a week or so.

[acparker]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Likewise, renting a different vehicle quickly becomes uneconomical when you e.g. drive it to a trailhead and leave it parked for a week or so.

Park a genset on a trailer (which might be rented) at a trailhead and see if it is still there after a week or so. Maybe, maybe not.

If the expense of renting is a problem, you can always borrow a car, as suggested by redpoint5, or bum a ride.

Ultimately, a plug-in hybrid, or an EV with an integrated range extending genset, if you prefer to describe it that way, may be the simplest cure for range anxiety in a one-car household.

[redpoint5]

I like the idea of renting the genset trailer. It should be economical since there isn't too much investment there. EVs would then need to be engineered to not allow driving when plugged into a fixed charger, but allow driving while being plugged into a mobile charger. There would have to be a signal telling the charge circuit which power source it's connected to.

Originally Posted by acparker

I tried to test drive a used Focus EV at a local dealer. I was about a quarter mile into the test drive, deciding which route to take, when my son, sitting in the back seat, pointed out that the battery meter was telling us we had only one mile left. I didn't quite make it back to the lot when the "stop and park NOW!!!!!" message popped up, so I did. The Focus was plan B. The Fusion Energi that I had wanted to drive would not even start. Not a particularly inspiring experience.

My feeling is that dealerships aren't motivated to sell EVs. There isn't enough maintenance to keep you coming back to the dealership for pricey service and another opportunity to talk to you about trading in for another new car. Also, EVs don't have the same amount of excitement surrounding it that salesmen can use to upsell everything else. Sell a Mustang and you might get an excited buyer to also purchase the sport suspension and the performance wheels. Sell an EV and the buyer might just get the factory floor mats.

As someone who owns cars for longer periods of time and performs my own maintenance/repairs, a big reason why I want to replace my excellent TSX with an EV is to reduce the amount of time I spend maintaining it (which so far has just been oil changes). I don't ever want to see another P0420 code again in my lifetime.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by acparker

Park a genset on a trailer (which might be rented) at a trailhead and see if it is still there after a week or so. Maybe, maybe not.

There are such things as locks, you know. Plus your average trailhead isn't likely to see much traffic: it's not like parking on an urban street, you know. Then there's practical experience of leaving vehicles with horse trailers at trailheads.

If the expense of renting is a problem, you can always borrow a car, as suggested by redpoint5, or bum a ride.

You must live in an alternate universe to me.

[EVmetro]

3.5 kw will add about ten miles to the range. You can buy 3.5 kWh of lithium to permanently add to your pack, and that will weigh about 80 pounds. This should be easier to back up and park.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by EVmetro

3.5 kw will add about ten miles to the range. You can buy 3.5 kWh of lithium to permanently add to your pack, and that will weigh about 80 pounds. This should be easier to back up and park.

kW and kWh are 2 different things.

3.5 kW will add an infinite range as long as it's supplying 3.5 kW.
3.5 kWh will add about 10 miles of range, as you mention.