It’s because there’s no fucking infrastructure outside of Tesla. It’s not a mystery. There’s nowhere to charge an electric vehicle outside of Tesla’s network. I was going to buy an VW ID4 until my Tesla-owning friend turned me into this fact. Once there’s a serious reliable, ubiquitous, and cheap charging network in the US the EV demand will follow. We’re putting the cart before this horse in this country and it drives me insane.
I charge my car at home the majority of the time and most do. The infrastructure is really only critical when you drive a lot or if you live in an apartment building etc.
But I think a lot people have a hard time internalizing things like this. “I can’t buy an EV because once a year we drive 800 miles to grandma’s for Thanksgiving, so our only option is a King Ranch F150”
I get that at home charging only works for a lot of people but for a sizable number it won’t. I just couldn’t stomach the idea that to drive long distances I would need an entire other ICE car. My single car needs to be able to do anything.
This is correct. 99% of the time you charge at home but that 1%? That’s enough to turn customers away.
I based my decision on that 1% and it’s been by far the best decision I could’ve made
Because if you’re left stranded 1% of the time you’ll never go long distance ever again.
I’ve been driving non Tesla for years and I basically never left my cars range area due to very real range anxiety. Now I feel my car is a car again and I can drive wherever I want. That 1% lifted a lot of weight of my shoulders
I’m unsure of what you mean. Do you mean you bought a Tesla and dont feel range anxiety anymore?
Given the range on Tesla’s is mediocre at best, I’m going to assume the super charger network that’s opening up for most if not all vehicles solved your anxiety?
It’s like with an ICE car you never really think about the range of your gas tank. There’s almost no “range anxiety” even on long trips because you just stop at the next gas station, fill up in 2-3 minutes, then just keep going. You don’t worry if any gas station pumps are broken because there are often 10-20 (at big travel centers), or if they are compatible with your car since they are standardized, or if they are the “fast” kind because they are all the fast kind.
But with an EV, you suddenly are acutely aware of how far you can go, and that you have to figure out where you can stop, and if it’s going to be compatible and fast (and not broken). And if you get it wrong, well now your options even narrower than an ICE car. People focus on those edge-cases far more than the day to day “drive to work, drive to the store, drive home” routine.
At least Tesla’s network is getting to the point where it almost feels the same way. So that removes some of the mental burden.
It’s because there’s no fucking infrastructure outside of Tesla. It’s not a mystery. There’s nowhere to charge an electric vehicle outside of Tesla’s network. I was going to buy an VW ID4 until my Tesla-owning friend turned me into this fact. Once there’s a serious reliable, ubiquitous, and cheap charging network in the US the EV demand will follow. We’re putting the cart before this horse in this country and it drives me insane.
I charge my car at home the majority of the time and most do. The infrastructure is really only critical when you drive a lot or if you live in an apartment building etc.
But I think a lot people have a hard time internalizing things like this. “I can’t buy an EV because once a year we drive 800 miles to grandma’s for Thanksgiving, so our only option is a King Ranch F150”
I get that at home charging only works for a lot of people but for a sizable number it won’t. I just couldn’t stomach the idea that to drive long distances I would need an entire other ICE car. My single car needs to be able to do anything.
lol, this is an issue like 5-10% of your ownership time IF that.
You just need to ensure you have a home charger.
This is correct. 99% of the time you charge at home but that 1%? That’s enough to turn customers away.
I based my decision on that 1% and it’s been by far the best decision I could’ve made
How’s that?
Because if you’re left stranded 1% of the time you’ll never go long distance ever again.
I’ve been driving non Tesla for years and I basically never left my cars range area due to very real range anxiety. Now I feel my car is a car again and I can drive wherever I want. That 1% lifted a lot of weight of my shoulders
I’m unsure of what you mean. Do you mean you bought a Tesla and dont feel range anxiety anymore?
Given the range on Tesla’s is mediocre at best, I’m going to assume the super charger network that’s opening up for most if not all vehicles solved your anxiety?
It’s like with an ICE car you never really think about the range of your gas tank. There’s almost no “range anxiety” even on long trips because you just stop at the next gas station, fill up in 2-3 minutes, then just keep going. You don’t worry if any gas station pumps are broken because there are often 10-20 (at big travel centers), or if they are compatible with your car since they are standardized, or if they are the “fast” kind because they are all the fast kind.
But with an EV, you suddenly are acutely aware of how far you can go, and that you have to figure out where you can stop, and if it’s going to be compatible and fast (and not broken). And if you get it wrong, well now your options even narrower than an ICE car. People focus on those edge-cases far more than the day to day “drive to work, drive to the store, drive home” routine.
At least Tesla’s network is getting to the point where it almost feels the same way. So that removes some of the mental burden.
I never worry about range in my Tesla. Driving to Florida and back was actually fun