1062
It’s time for Americans to embrace small cars
(arstechnica.com)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
1062 points (92.8% liked)
Technology
59598 readers
1733 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
To be fair, most people aren't driving across the US on an even yearly basis, if ever in their lives.
400 miles doesn't get you halfway across a single state in the western US.
I think you underestimate how many people never leave their home city
But it definitely gets you to the next fast charger to get an 80 percent charge in 10 minutes.
That's only relevant if you have a mythical car that can charge to 80 in 10 minutes. My car does it in about 90, the Solterra I almost bought has something like a 60 minute 10-80% charge time, and the fastest charging car on the market right now is the EV6 which is (IIRC) still 18 minutes to 80%.
Nevermind that the estimated 350 mile range in an ICE car is pretty spot on, where as a 250 mile range in an EV is best case scenario.
I own an EV, I think EVs are the future, but they're not there quite yet. Not completely, and not in a way that can compete with a RAV-4, CR-V, or Forester in terms of miles traveled and minutes spent filling up. And often, locations where you want to stop, aren't the same locations that have a fast charger.
You're right, the ten minute thing is a goal not a reality right now. But according to multiple sources 10-80 percent charging times range from 20-75 minutes. Unless you're on some kind of mad dash across the country that is short enough for road trips. For reference that's 225 miles before lunch; and 200 miles before and after dinner. At highway speeds of 70mph you're looking at 2 hours and 48 minutes between breaks. If you slow down to the old 55 mph recommendation for conserving energy then it's 3 hours and 40 minutes. Which neatly divides for two drivers avoiding highway hypnosis. (2 hour max shift)
Now I admit that this is theoretical, and more planning than most people do for road trips these days. But it is very doable to schedule meals during charging.
EV makers are doing what they did for mpg with gas cars: put out numbers for "ideal" charge times and range that are way off of reality.
To my knowledge the only one that's been caught straight up lying is Tesla.
Yup, I'm OK with a Ranchero EV with a 150 mile range.
Just city to city is typically at least 150mi one way. Maybe on the southern coasts, if I was really a homebody, could I get away with something under 150mi range.
There's no way anyone in Texas is going anywhere in a standard range EV for example.
I drove from Minnesota to Kansas in an EV. Wasn't too bad, just a few stops to charge. I needed to eat and go for a walk, anyways