I'm not driving an electric car to California. Give me a plug-in hybrid

not in that scenario. i would do it alone though

 

I'm with the author of the blog. Back in the 1960s I learned the value of NOT counting on the next gas station to be available in the middle of the wilderness. Next gas 60 miles in the Arizona desert? Too bad it was closed. Thank god for a Patrolman with spare gas in his cruiser.

I realized that cutting it close was OK for me on a motorcycle with a 120 mile range but much different with two kids and a wife in the car.

In the 70s, I learned that during bad weather you can't count on much of anything. That included a 20 mile, 5 hour detour that took us around a flooded underpass on the Interstate. There were two offramps where there were gas stations in that 15 miles. They were packed. I can't imagine 20 miles of bumper to bumper BEVs competing for a place to charge. By my calculations, on a 3 lane highway that 20 miles was over 10,380 cars inching along with heaters blasting and headlights on.

One of the thing I really enjoy about my PHEV is the fact that I can use it for daily chores on battery, and make a thousand mile drive without any concerns about being stranded. I usually refill at the 1/2 tank mark so that I always have 300 miles available to refuel if need be.

 

I refill at the 1/2 mark also. My leaning experience was in Nebraska in the 1970's in a snow blizzard where highways became blocked with drifting snow. 50 years later I still will fill up at the 1/2 tank mark due to that experience.

 

After 16 years of Prius ownership I swapped my 2016 Prius for a Kona Electric. Both my wife and I love this car, the best car we ever owned - yes the battery issue but it was resolved at least for me.

Now for your situation. For the trip on hand I would take the plug-in hybrid. But how often are you taking that drive? For myself - already having an EV - if concerned I would rent a car for that trip. Better yet, break it up into a two day trip. Who on earth would want to have two kids on a 1000 mile trip in the car - in one day? That borders on child abuse.

Thinking back, I did the one shut 1000 mile trip once when I was 24 - with wife but without kids.

 

Next year? Sure, if thing get back to normal. But next week? Fat chance, rental cars are quite scarce and expensive now.

 

In my household's usage, retired with no more commute, the majority of driving days on a future PHEV would be all-electric, but the majority of miles would be on gasoline.

Back in the 1960s and even into the early 1980s, that was a much bigger issue than now. There were more actual stations back then, but most were open only during normal business hours, maybe Saturdays too. Availability was greatly reduced at night, and on weekends (especially Sunday), and on major holidays. And lacking credit card readers, pumps were locked when no clerk was on duty.

My most memorable trip without good fuel availability, and running into an extortionate clerk, was on New Year's Day 1984, a Sunday. I waved him off and sweated the next 130 miles, even with the fuel needle starting at 1/2 tank. That was a short range car that had previously run dry even with the fuel gauge needle above E. But now that I have a much longer fuel range, and can hypermile too, the availability of 24/7/365 fuel service has greatly expanded. Even when the store is closed with no one on duty, the pumps still work.

Out here, it is mostly mountain passes being closed for avalanches or other snow control. Sometimes drivers can divert to another pass, sometimes they all close. Less often, a major rural bridge closes for a fiery crash, or a road section closes for wildfire.

I fill up significantly earlier during winter than the rest of the year, and even earlier when storms are active or coming.

 

Kind of funny that with so many bad experiences running out of - or running low on gas, it didn't stop anybody from driving a gasser.

We might just thank our lucky stars that great great great great great grandma & grandpa hopped in that Conestoga wagon, or sailed across one of 2 massive oceans - taking weeks & weeks - if they made it all, ah la the Donner Party. They sacked up. Society nowadays? Not so much. Fear not, modern-day cowards. Onboard screens show the number of available empty charge stalls - roughly 70 miles apart (& getting smaller) long before you get there. Even so ..... don't even TRY to talk Yours Truly into sleeping bag camping, as a multi - pop-out RV, satellite heat & AC equipped is the only way to fly - unless it's at 40K feet.
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Everyone has their own comfort level.
For me, I’d do that trip without hesitation with that size family.
For others, they wouldn’t.

 

One time I drove to South Carolina from my beloved home state of Indiana to recover a 1970 Chevelle that had been parked in a parking lot for 4 years while I was knocking holes in the ocean during the late 80s.
I bought a battery, poured a few ounces of Bacardi 151 from a nearly empty bottle in the trunk into the carb to help it get started, we spent a little time at a nearby gas station topping off the tires and cleaning a dinner-plate sized hole in the windshield and rear glass - and then we roared off for Indiana.....literally....because the muffler was kinda sketch too.

GOD protects children and fools......BUT(!)
....it helps to have a backup plan.

If you're in a vehicle with all kinds of high tech swag, a single fuel source, and no proper spare tire you may not be much less vulnerable than I was in that creaky old Chevelle bombing through the Smokies at oh-dark-thirty with 80's rock blaring through open windows.

Since I know somebody will ask:
No.
It was not the LS-1 SS, but after I got married I gave it to my brother....who gave it to a friend....who gave it to somebody that turned it into a car-show winning LS-1 clone.

It DID have a proper spare.

 

OT but ....
Co-worker's labor of love was his new $4,000 LS-6 version. He left it in his garage for years, cleaned it up for his 18yr old kid for high school graduation. Kids .... in short order he'd ran into something at speed. Fortunately only the wallets were hurt. Now it's it's in the garage waiting for another rebuild. At 66 years of age, it'll probably be his estate that unloads it.
Rumor Has It GM still has a bunch of LS7 crate motors warehoused.
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So I gave my wife’s daughter’s husband a Tesla test drive. We left his house with 18 mi on the guess O’ Meter for a SuperCharger 12 mi away. I drove that segment while showing off the display. Plugged in, the car showed an initial charge rate over 600 mi/hr.

While switched to driver seat and stayed with sleeping son, I went for sodas and canned coffee. We made sure he was OK and did a little one pedal driving. The to the Interstate and his home. He got some quality Autopilot time and some ‘scoot’ too.

Bob Wilson

 

The author is touting the Toyota Prime RAV4 & sedan - stating your bladder will need to go relieve itself - long before your car goes over 600 miles - in reference to running out of both electricity & gasoline.
Many folks bladders will be ready to burst at around 3 hours... & at 70 mph, that will be within 210 miles .... nevermind just getting out to stretch & eat. EV's can now go over 300 & 400 miles ... so the author's point - at best - is as muddy as his shorts - should he fail to pull over before he runs 300 miles of EV range out ... all the while passing by 2 or 3 charge locations, each having 10 - 20 - 30 or more stalls. And if the paranoia of having to wait 5 or 10 minutes for a completely full location to clear, you can always drive during off hours when very few people, much less EV drivers are on the road.
Oh wait - that might be inconvenient for any but the foolhardy.

After driving from SoCal to ¾ of the way up Utah & back in an EV, we didn't find our stops any more lengthy or frequent then if we had been in a gasser ... but the author evidently doesn't grasp that - because he's never tried. And that's okay. Some will need to wait until the EV is as ubiquitous as saltwater in the Pacific. Many find it more inconvenient to just find a station that you can air up a slow leaking tire.
Yet somehow we still manage to overcome and brave such possibilities.
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EVangelists often cite biological necessities as a good-nuff reason to have a car with an itty-bitty tank range.
I'm waiting for them to point out that since it can be more difficult for some humans that identify or are biologically equipped as males to pump bilges in the winter that the reduced EV winter range is actually.......a 'benefit.'.

Me?
I'm planning my next sojourn to the home sod...and current EV technology, infrastructure, and cost all lean well away from my being able to use one for my quarterly-ish trips.

Most of my cars have about a 400 mile tank range - more or less, and while it's true that this pushes the bio-break envelope (and other things!!) it's also true that I can fill my tank, pump bilges, grab a snack and coffee, stretch and be back on the road in a fraction of the time that it would take to find a place with chargers....AND a restroom.....AND coffee and snacks....and charge a BEV.
It "can" be done, and eventually fast DC charging (or what lies beyond that) and charging station proliferation will make EV proliferation a thing - probably about the time we stop hearing them being passionately defended.
They will THEN taken for granted as 'ops normal.'

Sorta like hybrids....

 

No kidding! I'm in the last days of a 3-week work trip, needed a few rentals. In California the other week, they offered me a scratched up chevy with 60k miles on it. At the second stop they advised me to use taxis because they thought the rental company would be out by then.

Now I'm in Oregon and when I hit the counter all they had were Nissan pickup trucks. They did give me the option to wait for something to be cleaned- that netted me a 2021 Escape and it's hard to call that an upgrade.

 

Went down to Rancho Santa Margarita this last weekend - 10 miles away, to check out a RAV4 Prime with 6.6 KW charging. $50k before-tax and license. As feared, they were advertising features that the car didn't have. Sales Critter appreciated the explanation of the differences.
On a side note, upon approaching the marquis of the dealership, one couldn't help but notice the used-car - just to the left of the marquee, as their shining example of their used cars.



A Tesla, that was traded in for a Toyota. So it looks like at least one person agreed with the op.
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How much were they asking?

Bob Wilson

 

IIRC - $54,400 & change ...
duno if it was std or long range
maybe I should go back and check it out more closely, since they couldn't manage to offer us the Rav4 prime we were looking for.

 

It appears that a lot of people agree with the OP. Tesla is not the best choice for long distance travel. I made my monthly trip to Oregon and back.

On the way back (Wednesday) I noticed an odd thing during the 463 mile drive. I saw a lot of northbound Teslas. I started counting and came out to 109 altogether. But 89 of those were on car carriers that held 10 each. And only 3 of all 10 Teslas that were being driven were outside city limits.

It's not a lack of charging infrastructure. I checked, and there are many charging sites along the way. People just don't seem to want to use their long range BEVs for intercity travel, except when commuting.

 

When I was in Oregon a couple of weeks ago I stayed at a hotel that had a bunch of tesla chargers. It was funny to watch the ritual play out night after night:

1. Tesla arrives, tentatively creeping into the parking lot with 5 cars full of impatient hotel guests backed up behind it
2. Tesla gets to the charging stand, finds the sign that says no bathrooms available
3. Tesla leaves area (presumably to find an open bathroom)
4. Tesla returns to charger area, driver plugs in, sits & waits in car. (I would too, it was LOUD over there with all the cooling fans blasting away in the charging cars during heat wave)