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Comment by qqqwerty | Hacker News Reader

I don't think you are being totally fair here (and most people aren't when making the long distance EV vs ICE comparison). If you have a car full of kids and pets, are you really only stopping for 5 minutes in your ICE during a 5+ hour trip?

And in your hypothetical EV scenario, when you make the first restroom stop, there is no reason you can't do that at a charging station and top up, cutting some time off of your second refuel stop.

Another thing to consider, most people who get an EV can charge at home or at work, so they likely eliminate all gas stops during their day-to-day commutes. And that can add up to a lot of time savings (the optimistic refueling time is 5 mins, but I have had plenty take closer to 20 due to lines, traffic, out of the way, etc...). So yeah, maybe long trips require a little more planning, and a marginal amount of extra time, but it feels like nitpicking.

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When they were little? You’re right. Once they were in their pre-teens? We tried to stop as infrequently, and quickly, as possible. So, 2x 15-20 minute charges wouldn’t be much change, if any.

Still doesn’t help when I get there and the nearest charger is 10 miles from the house (though I suspect home-owners will start installing chargers before too long).

Anyway, I was mostly interested in how non-Tesla EV owners plan their trips, as most of the other respnses were along the lines of “use the Tesla’s belt-in planner”.

If I can figure out how to charge at home, I’ll likely own an EV for our next secondary car. Used Leafs are pretty tempting for cheap around-town cars.

Use plugshare.com to search for chargers, or abetterrouteplanner.com to plan trips.

Thanks for sharing abetterrouteplanner.com. Planning a couple long distance trips that I commonly take seems much less odious than I would have expected. Although the last time I seriously considered buying a Tesla their network was much less well developed. I'm two years away from making that decision again and it seems much more likely that I'll consider a Model S or X then. Although there are still many aesthetic intangibles that make Teslas less appealing to me. But at least range anxiety seems more manageable.

I was assuming one could trickle charge at their destination. If there is a 220V outlet than that should be sufficient, but if you are doing it on 110v, then yeah, you would have to probably swing by a charging station.

I agree regarding the used Leaf, I have been keeping my eye on those. And I think for now, the optimal situation for most folks is to have one ICE and one low capacity EV assuming you can charge at home or at work. And for apartment dwellers, I think e-bikes and scooters are a fun alternative (I am an e-bike owner).

The destination above is a beach vacation destination. Hotels/motels/condos would all be hit or miss for any outlet. Rental homes might have a 110V outlet on the exterior (for lawn maintenance, etc). Chances of a 220V would be near zero, unless the homeowner added one for their own EV (or is trying to attract EV owners). That'll change over time, but slowly.

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