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Comment by ajross | Hacker News Reader

I've been there (though not recently and not in an EV). And you'll find charging of some form everywhere you find gas, including the stretch of I70 in that article. (Actually in this case it's trivial for Teslas: there are superchargers in both Green River and Richfield, 123mi apart. I don't see any non-Tesla DC supercharging in Green River though.) Check https://plugshare.com if you just want to see charging facilities.

In general anywhere in the USA that is "on" an Interstate is solved problem for EVs. If you want to drive on I-whatever you're covered. The question above was about getting to remote areas far from infrastructure. And even there you need to work really hard to be far from a wall outlet.

Again, incremental costs to build out (non-supercharger) vehicle charging is much cheaper than installing a gas station, because it's ultimately just freeloading on the long-established electrical infrastructure.

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Ohh so I need a specific brand of car so I can use a specific charger, and If I leave the interstates I have to be very careful about where I can charge? Also I'm not counting anything that is not a fast charger, I don't want to have to wait somewhere for hours to charge my vehicle.

Edit:

Do the downvoters really think the above scenario is acceptable? Being limited on where you can go, what chargers you can use and the increased time to go places?

Presumably your going to sleep somewhere. Anywhere you sleep that has a 120V outlet is effectively a charging station. Which means staying in a rustic cabin in the middle of nowhere for a weekend is still going to fully charge you for the return trip.

Generally you end up spending less time filling up in an EV than gas powered cars due to this kind of convenience. Filling up once or twice a week gets replaced with 2 or 3 fast charger stops on long trips and simply plugging in at home.

What about a long day trip or a weekend camping trip not in a cabin, which I do all the time. For the day trips I will be sleeping at home, so I don't want to have to take an extra day to charge my vehicle overnight. And for weekend trips camping there is again no place to charge when your in the middle of the woods, mountains or deserts. And a 120V outlet is going to be slow. Seriously why would I spend 30,000 - $50,000 on an electric car when it's less capable than my current vehicle?

So you’re going to travel 400+ miles in one day for a day trip? That doesn’t leave much time to do anything while you’re there. Still a long range model 3 will do ~530 miles with a single 15 minute charge stop, actually spending 450+ minutes driving is a larger issue.

If that’s not enough for a day trip I have questions. IMO, even traveling that range for a weekend is questionable.

What EV gets 400 miles on a charge? And all I'm talking about is driving for a couple hours, rock climbing until its dark and driving back. For many of the places I like to go an EV is unpractical or not even an option.

Long range model S actually has a range of 412 miles and several other EV’s are similar.

However, the long range Model 3 only does 353 miles without charging. But you’re adding ~175 miles in 15 minuets, which is where I was getting the 530 mile figure. Basically 400+ miles is where charging wait times become noticeable.

Of course numbers depend on driving habits etc, but that’s the rough ballpark.

This is getting ridiculously contrived. You now demand to pick a vehicle capable of taking you to locations outside of round-trip range from a fast charger that lack any alternative charging facilities AND any place to stay, so you're going to drive straight there and back.

Are you writing a novel adaptation? This is how Heart of Darkness works. It... ends badly.

But sure: expeditions into the untamed metaphorical wilderness of the depths of the human condition probably do want to stick with ICE vehicles for now. But Tesla will probably get the savage wastes a supercharger soon enough.

If I can do it my gasoline powered car I expect to be able to do it in a EV. what's so hard to understand about that?

Because you can do things in an EV you can’t do in a gasoline powered car. EV’s can’t win the cannonball run, they can drive to and from every residential address in the US that a gas powered car can. Conversely, I can’t fill up a gasoline powered car at home or in a remote area with solar.

Can your gas powered car go months between fillups doing 20 mile commutes every day? Get 100+ mpg? Do 0-60 in less than 4 seconds?

Stuff is different. Different stuff works better in different situations. The point everyone is making is that long road trips and access to very remote locations are definitely not the sweet spot for an EV, but they're tasks it's capable of doing well enough.

Seriously if you desperately want to do your crazy day trip where you drive for 9 hours, and you own an EV... just rent a Jeep or an Outback.

This sounds like you're starting fights, honestly. Maybe you can propose an itinerary and someone can post a reasonable way to handle that in an EV?

If you're demanding to know that there is no where that your hypothetical gas vehicle is going to be an exclusive choice vs. an EV, then clearly the answer is no. Different vehicles have different capabilities.

And that includes your car! Do you normally get nagged by helicopter owners about all the places they need to be that your ridiculous wheeled thing can't reach? The whole thing seems a bit specious.

So pointing out that EVs can't go all the same places as ICE cars is picking a fight? Also EVs take longer to charge, cost a lot more, haver fewer places to charge, charging stations are incompatible between some brands, and EV cars don't last as long. If EVs are going to replace ICE cars they need to be equal or better, not worse. And finally the fact that you suggest to post an itinerary so I can figure out how to get somewhere by EV is a huge red flag. In an ICE vehicle I don't need to plan out my trip, I just drive and fill up when I need.

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