For a significant percentage of people, an EV makes sense. I drive a lot, but my last couple years of driving have seen a max roundtrip of 200 miles at most.

I understand what Aetocles is saying, filling up on gas takes SOME time, be it 5-10 mins extra on your activity.

Most people don’t have regular 300+ mile trips, and if they do, EVs aren’t for them. I like my car to be combustion, because it’s a sports car, but I definitely see the logic.

For the average Joe with a ~5-20 mile commute, it makes perfect sense. If you live in Oklahoma and like visiting your great aunt in California once a month, maybe not so much.

Right now, EVs are also quite expensive, and the population that can afford them, by and large, don’t do road trips. They fly...

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Right now, EVs are also quite expensive, and the population that can afford them, by and large, don’t do road trips. They fly...

That's why I'm making great time with the minvan; my wife and kids are flying.

Electric cars have their merits. The issue is being forced into them based on the false premise of "saving the planet," that there are no environmental costs. Nobody mentions obtaining (much of them from China), mining, smelting and refining the metals needed, or that most power plants still run on fossil fuels.

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Originally posted by pedropcola:
These threads generate some serious fucking rationalizations.

Second car. That’s the niche.

I agree with you. But the reality is that for the vast majority of people, the second niche vehicle is the ICE, not the EV. The vast majority of people drive less than 200 miles per day, and rarely take long road trips. So owning (or occasionally renting) an ICE vehicle for long road trips makes sense. So does owning an EV that you do 99% of your driving in, and never have to stop to refuel.

If you need to haul large quantities of people/stuff, or tow big loads, an EV is not for you. But neither is a sports car with an ICE.

Different vehicles for different purposes, but the EV currently makes more sense as a primary vehicle for the vast majority of people.

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Originally posted by egregore:
Electric cars have their merits. The issue is being forced into them based on the false premise of "saving the planet," that there are no environmental costs. Nobody mentions obtaining (much of them from China), mining, smelting and refining the metals needed, or that most power plants still run on fossil fuels.

DAMMIT MAN!!!! Do NOT cloud the issue with facts!! What the hell is wrong with you?!?!?

Except you are missing the biggest point that perhaps I am doing a bad job of explaining. If you end up with 2 cars to live your life, one for daily use and one for all the other stuff that the EV isn’t suited well for, how does this make sense?

You have just doubled the price of nearly everything to perform one task, transportation. Car insurance doubled, buying 2 cars doubles cost, installing the electric stuff in your garage, you certainly have increased your “footprint” if that shit interests you.

To perform one facet of life you have increase your cost, your cash outlay, and you have undeniably used more natural resources. There are all kinds of studies that generally show an EV car is worse on the planet until a certain break even point. I’ve seen 20,000 miles in one study. That is for one EV replacing one ICE. If you keep both then your break even point might never be attainable.

If battery tech never gets much better, which is very possible, we all will be stuck with a car that requires a half dozen or more long stops to get to those Florida beaches my wife loves so much. No thanks.

Every single magazine article I’ve read rationalizes about how these long fueling stops aren’t a hindrance but in fact a benefit. Umm, nope. There are serious flaws in EV in its quest to replace ICE. I don’t want to be forced into EV because the govt mandated it and that seems to be where we are headed. I don’t understand all the enthusiasm for that.

Recall the "cold fusion" debacle, technology at it's finest!

I think one of the things being missed is that many households already have two cars.