Electric Tacoma coming

Almost every auto manufacturer and start up EV must be simplistic because they ARE on board to make EV's and not one has ever said they want to eliminate the oil industry. Plastics for their cars comes from the oil industry. They do want to eliminate, eventually, the use of gasoline to powered vehicles which is highly inefficient and harmful to the planet and its people. EV's are far from perfect. And you'll still be driving your cancer machine your entire lifetime.

 

How can electric be a "viable" alternative? Ya' can't really GO anywhere with an electric unless you are talking about driving around your local town. Other than that, you are pretty much screwed. I know of several people who bought electric vehicles, and several of them actually USED UP their AAA towing privileges for the year, because they were constantly running out of battery and having to be towed home! Just a couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine had his retirement party, and one of his guests arrived almost two hours late. He said he was stuck at home, waiting for his electric car batteries to charge! As I somewhat said earlier, until we can pull into some kind of charging station, and have our batteries completely recharged in under 10 minutes like filling up a vehicle with gas, then electric vehicles are not good for anything except local use.

 

I know more than half a dozen people who travel on road trips, around town, work and never had to be towed. Sounds like the several people still haven't figured how to properly charge their vehicles for their needs. If you have a Chevy Volt with low range I can see it but they sound like they made a bad judgement call in the EV they bought.

 

What? 200-350+ miles is now the norm for electric range. Yeah, currently a long roadtrip isn't feasible, but you certainly can go places.

 

My neighbor went to Pittsburgh in his Model S with 240 mile range and it took him longer yes because he had to stop and charge but there were many charging points and his 6 hour trip took 8 hours. He knew when he bought the car this would happen and he's an adult and knew what he was getting into and never has complained after the fact.

 

Yep. The notion that you can't go places is absurd. And it's only going to get easier.

 

Once Solid State batteries hit the market, as rumoured Toyota has with their upcoming EV's, charging will take 15-20 min. for 80% charge. This is a game changer.

 

This is Toyota's test mule EV used in a mine in Australia. It's rumoured to be also testing a solid state battery pack.

 

It looks pretty convincing when each charging station has a 50 mile radius.

I have 9 charging stations in my city of 80k (according to PlugShare). Of those, one is a supercharger at the regional airport, two are at one of the universities, two are at different hotels, one is at a public transportation hub, three are at car dealerships, and one is at some company I didn't know existed. It's not nothing, but none of those are especially easy to access so if you're visiting here (why would you? good question..), unless you choose one of the two hotels or want to park at the airport, charging is going to be kind of inconvenient. Currently. As you and others have mentioned several times, the landscape is changing. It just isn't as broad as these graphics make it appear at that scale.

Sure, it can be done, but as you said you're doing your planning around the charge stations which may not necessarily coincide with where you want to go and what you want to see. Range anxiety was a real thing when EVs started being available to the public, and it's still a very real thing in more rural areas.

You mentioned a road trip from Philly to Pitt. There is a lot of rural landscape that you're crossing there, but you can pretty easily navigate through Lancaster and York, or make a quick stop in Hershey (in fact you should) - so there are a spattering of urban locations you can easily navigate to to improve your range without getting too far off your path. But what happens when you move a little more Midwest where cities are more sparse? Say you want to trip from Louisville to St Louis, or Phoenix to Salt Lake, how viable is a trip like that with an EV? I'm sure it's possible, and will only get better with time, but it still requires significantly more planning and time.

As I've said, I'm looking forward to the time when EVs are a viable solution. But just because it's feasible in NY or CA right now does not mean it's feasible in the majority of the country.

 

Tesla maps out charging stations and which one to hit while on your designated path. Some other EV companies do the same. But he had no issue and was on the main highway with a few miles off the highway to charge. He didn't mind a bit. Seems some are under the impression you charge at home and need to drive 600 miles and can't do it in one charge so they take the gas car. Seems like laziness and the inability to do simple math.

 

I'm not surprised Teslas do that, the technology is outstanding and I'd be lying if I told you I didn't want a Model X. Unfortunately I need a few more promotions before that becomes a reality for me. Or maybe need to branch into consulting.

It definitely requires a different mentality - even just commuting. Right now I drive a week or two without seeing a gas station. If I had a Tesla or other EV, I would be plugging it in as soon as I got home and leaving it plugged in, so I'd always be ~80% full.

On a road trip, I'm going to fill up my truck at the gas station a mile down the road to top it off, and not stopping until I got to a quarter tank. In an EV, I would be telling it to charge up to 100% to maximize the range, then stopping more frequently - maybe when the charge drops to 60% or 50%, depending on availability of stations along the route. Which is more time consuming, but also better for you.

 

Personally by the time I can afford an EV the batteries will be Solid State. So it's a win win.

 

Where are the charging stations at Walmart?
Most of the new stations are strategically located at Walmart stores off major highways, with dozens more chargers planned for major metro areas. Walmart’s first Electrify America EV charging station was opened to the public on July 24, 2018 in Hope, AR.

 

If I were to buy a Tesla model S (I know $$$) tomorrow I could drive from my home in Portland, OR to my home town in Colorado to visit my folks with less than 4 hours of TOTAL charge time for the entire trip of 1,160 miles. In 5-10 years who knows how much further the infrastructure/technology will be, to say that the ICE is here to stay or won't be mostly phased out in our lifetimes is to not see how rapidly things are changing. I am no Tesla fanboy but these numbers are insane.. over 1100 hp, 0-60 in under 2 seconds, quarter-mile runs in the nines, over 520 miles of driving range.

 

So many of the same people who thought that horses wouldn't be replaced. Literally the same attitude.

 

Not for nothing. But you’re generalizing Tesla owners. Are you sure they know, or even care about what a “vette” is?

 

how many times can the car go 0-60 in 2 seconds before the battery is done?

 

Seatbelts!? I’m not wearing a seatbelt, government can’t tell me what to do! Masks?! Oh you get the point.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLvpLGFacjQ

 

Porsches are made for multiple drag runs without damage to the battery. The Tesla not so much. Maybe that’s changed with the Plaid Edition. Definitely with the new Roadster.