Featured Forbes pits EV's against .... Everything?

Really, compared to just looking for a 25 foot tall sign by the side of the road every few miles and certainly at nearly every exit?

Every time I turn on my NAV I have a warning not to use it in most modes while I'm driving. So my navigator can't do her thing which she had done for years on a portable. But even in those cases where I have set up my destination while stopped, my NAV app has the exits displayed with gas station indicators about 4 exits in advance marked. Every turnpike exit has a sign telling me in advance where I can get more miles and even how many stations there are so I can judge probable competitiveness of prices. . And even then people swerve from the left lane desperately trying to get to the exit. And some of the tall station signs or even billboards have gas prices listed.

How does the law differentiate between a driver who causes an accident while texting and a driver who was just looking for a charging station?

Every study I have read about cites the distraction of using any multi-button/press/command app and its danger. I find even using a voice command sequence to call home distracting for a time.

How many steps does it take for a Tesla driver to ask the magic on the dash to find a gas station within 70% of the remaining range and direct the driver to that charging station?

Does the app tell you the kwh price?

How do you make the mental trade off between range, price, distance from your route, etc?

 

You seem to be doing everything you can to make this a difficult task.
On most days, I don't bother looking for a charger, as I don't need a charger unless I am on a trip.
When I am on a trip, by destination is already entered before I start driving and it automatically routes me through superchargers.

In the event that I do need to find the nearest supercharger, I simply press a button on the steering wheel and say "navigate to the nearest Tesla supercharger".
The price is always the same within a state, and if I really need to know, I can click on the icon on the map to get full details.

 

A lot of churches raise cash with cellular antenna sites in the steeples- car charging could be another useful revenue stream.

 

When I go on a trip, I plan ahead by looking at maps before I go.

 

i get to church and back with 5 miles to spare.

 

I guess something to work out with church chargers is that they'd have to depower them or at least restrict them to members only during service hours, since many need all the parking resources they can get.

 

There are others in the $35K range, though, or even lower.

I don’t fundamentally disagree, though: EVs are still in the “getting there” category. That is changing though; EVs are getting a lot closer to mainstream, and charging infrastructure for them is becoming more plentiful, and simultaneously less necessary as range increases.

 

I definitely agree that EVs are getting there a be will get there. I can't wait, honestly.

 

And the Mercedes EV SUV is due to be announced tomorrow. Priced at the Model 3's current selling range.

 

In the past, we'd call it a compliance car. But I think they've realized Tesla has been taking away their expected, high-end, customers. Tesla is an existential threat to all high-end, luxury makers. As for price, all things are negotiable.

Let's wait to Tuesday to get their press release claims and then check the EPA for the actual performance.

Bob Wilson

 

No way to get where? It's an SUV. It's going to spend every single night within ten feet of the same outlet. That's (part of) what people do with luxury SUVs these days.

 

EV parasite?

Actually there is an opportunity to enjoy hitting the reviews with a 'clue by for' showing the existing CCS/CHAdeMO network. Challenge the reviewers to do a 'day drive'.

Bob Wilson

 

Prius sales are tanking in USA mainly due to USA/California policy to highly subsidize and incentiveize Plug-In vehilces over hybrids.

The reason for USA preference for plug-ins has to do with nobody can compete with Toyota on Hybrids so we'd rather subsidize an area that USA autos can take more leadership. Also has to do with lobbies, like ethnaol lobby, we have EV lobby pushing for mandating EV option, which in turn has to do with creating jobs by splitting up the "motor fuel" market to make more jobs for farmers of corn and soybeans, rapeseed, palm oil and electron farmers too, better known as utilities and auto vendors etc.

see my new signature...

 

Prius sales were dropping before plug ins even arrived for the 2011 model year. The big drops happened from 2007 to 2009, with around 20k losses to the annual sales. There were two years were it went up 1000 and 9000 since that time, but it as been dropping most years.
Hybrid electric vehicles in the United States - Wikipedia
Toyota Prius Sales Figures -

Toyota has dominated hybrids, but technology advancements may make the parallel hybrid the economic and performance winner over a power split system for straight hybrids in the coming years. With the growth of Li-ion production, Toyota no longer has a cost and supply edge like they do with NiMH.

 

This post says it all. THE Secret Sauce.

 

Hypothetical druthers? I'd rather take a gas car on those occasional trips. Why put up with the hassle of waiting for charging at all? Not hard to rent. Shoot, I already use rentals for that kind of trip anyway. Big Lincolns and minivans are usually more comfortable than commuter cars for long cross-country trips anyway.

I think the average buyer is going to be fairly motivated to avoid public charging altogether.

This is a "right tool for the job" argument. I don't think a network of charging stations is the right tool for the job. A commercial system allowing occasional access to gas cars works better and already exists.

 

Yup, let's burn fossil fuels forever and speed up the Earth's demise.