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Comment by VectorLock | Hacker News Reader

Theres a video on YouTube of some people who got to drive a bunch of Chinese EVs/hybrids in Alaska and aside from some quality and i18n issues, the US is absolutely cooked here.

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That's very interesting to me, as having lived in Alaska, I can't imagine EVs being your only option there. There are plenty of routes with >500 miles between gas stations. If you don't bring extra fuel cans, you are gambling big time. I would imagine there are even less charging stations. Hybrids obviously wouldn't have that problem, though I haven't heard much about Chinese hybrids.

Not all routes see equal traffic and any route with > 500 miles between gas stations is going to see insignificant traffic. Those who drive it already need specialized equipment. It will not have an effect on the market of cars in Alaska.

What specialized equipment do you think you need to drive 500 miles on a paved roadway? You do realize there's places that are pretty close to that driving across the US even if there are gas stations, there aren't EV stations.

Do they have electricity? They could become EV stations if they needed to. Much easier to sell electricity than different kinds of combustible.

Not in between, no power lines, no houses, businesses, no cell towers. 500 miles with nothing other than a barely passable road. Often the road is seasonal and not passible in the summer (mud).

Not if you want cars to be able to do more than a home charge in the US. Fast chargers require a LOT of power generation and delivery... more than a lot of homes. With combustibles, you drive a large tank to the site, park it, sell the fuel assuming there isn't a permanent tank in place. You can't just drive a large power plant into position, drop it off and all the power lines themselves magically appear along with it.

You named the specialized equipment yourself:

> If you don't bring extra fuel cans, you are gambling big time.

Fuel cans have not been standard traveling equipment for nearly a century, back when gas stations were even rarer than charging stations are now.

It a route has >500 miles between gas stations it's not seeing much traffic.

It should not be odd to see EVs when they meet the needs of >95% of the Alaskan population, and when most households have multiple vehicles anyway.

When the EV is significantly more expensive than a fossil fuel vehicle it makes perfect sense. Most people can't handle the cost of a battery replacement out of pocket for an EV when it will eventually need one.

Not to mention, there are plenty of routes in the US where an EV really isn't a good option... hell, going from Reno to Portland, I run low on fuel in a gas powered car during one particular stretch. I can make that drive within a day pretty comfortably... with an EV, that's a multi-day trip with additional expenses and stops on a much longer, less scenic route.

>If you don't bring extra fuel cans, you are gambling big time.

They brought a trailer with diesel generators with them.

My parents neighbors (in France) are buying BYD, the west is cooked

While a big deal is made about BYD in Europe, and they _are_ growing fast, VW Group still dominates the EV space fairly convincingly.

The media coverage tends to focus on BYD vs Tesla, presumably because they're interesting new companies vs boring old Volkswagen, but neither are the market leader.

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