Tacoma Vs. Rivian

This is why the Japanese are building smaller EV's. Personally I don't need to go 0-60 in 3 seconds to get to work just 9 miles away. This is why I'd consider a simpler EV or Electric Motorcycle. I have my Land Cruiser for hobbies.

 

This is why Toyota want to go with less mineral based batteries with Solid State. They know Lithium could be an issue.

 

Aptera is for you then AND they already have the 1000 mile range and made the commitment to add the NAS (Tesla) charging connection.

https://aptera.us/vehicle/

 

During the work week I dry camp/boondock whatever you want to call it. The weekends I stay at a state park and charge of the 50amp RV connection. Works great and gives a 7.6kwh charge rate.

 

I saw that. I hope that does well. Weird looking but shows innovation.

 

And if you still live at home with mom.

 

Same, drive slow and don’t care about racing red light to red light. This is ‘Murica however, practicality doesn’t sell. Perhaps after the enthusiast generations die off it will. Younger generation seems disinterested in automobiles.

 

What people don’t often understand/consider, is those range numbers with today’s battery technology would add many 1000s of lbs of extra weight, making the vehicle less efficient and even more absurdly heavy, not better, meaning more strain on the grid if concerned about that angle. The Rivian 128.9kWh 328mile pack weighs 1755lbs. To double the battery you are adding that 1755lbs again in weight in an already heavy truck, except it won’t double the range because you are hauling all this extra weight, so it will be less than double the range. You get diminishing returns with all the added weight. Not only are you paying a range and performance tax for all the extra weight, the battery being 2x the size will take 2x as long to charge. You are also using 2 vehicles worth of battery resources for 1 vehicle if you’re concerned about the resource angle and it is going to add substantial cost to the vehicle. The average American commute is 41 miles round trip. 300+ miles is plenty for most, you’d only need to charge roughly once a week, without hauling around 1000s of pounds of extra unnecessary batteries for that rare time when you are driving 600+ miles in one go. 600+ miles is 10 hours of driving non-stop at 60mph on paper, actual is of course a bit less. Eventually you need to stop, eat, use the bathroom, take a break at which point you can charge.

As someone who owns an EV (and a Tacoma) and often drives both over the mountains across Washington state, max range isn’t nearly the issue everyone makes it out to be. I was concerned about getting the longest range model possible because all this talk about range and range anxiety. But I didn’t get the longest range one, I opted for the shorter range higher performance model and am glad I did. After owning an EV for going on 6 months, it became very clear that range isn’t the problem it is drummed up to be. You can leave home every day with a “full tank” and should you drive for 300+ miles that day, there are high speed charging stations available to recharge in 20 min. You don’t even need to know where they are, the vehicle will find them for you. And you don’t even need to worry if you have range to make it to a destination, the vehicle will calculate it for you and route you a charger if necessary.

 

There's the disconnect. Anti EV that never have driven, been in, or used one for period of time base their info on range misinformation based on other people who never have, driven, been in, or used an EV for a period of time. Funny how that happens.

 

Also, these people that have never driven an EV discount the driving experience.

 

This isn’t an EV specific problem, this is an American automotive culture problem in general. Most people don’t need to be commuting in full size gas guzzling Ford F150s or the like weighing nearly 3 tons to get a single individual 20 min away to work. Yet big SUVs and full sized trucks are what sell in America, so it is no surprise that the big domestic manufacturers turn to these when looking at EVs, even though something far more practical would be better.

 

I wouldn’t put any money there. They’ve been promoting that car for 10+ years and still haven’t built it. Looks strange because it’s based off aircraft design, back when electric cars had very limited range before lithium batteries and they were trying to hypermile every bit out of aero. Don’t know the full story of why it’s never made it to production, but I’d guess it’s market opportunity window has passed.

 

This is their Alpha car on Jay Leno about a year ago.

https://youtu.be/TsYyJJFYRvc

 

Yes, I realize that battery tech isn’t there yet. Thought that was implied, apparently not. But thank you for your insight.

 

Yep…the whole bigger is better mentally, which was implied in my post that wasn’t a lone EV problem, it is our culture issues. Haven’t some of you guys had your coffee yet? Lol! My Tacoma was a compromise vehicle, looked at cheap commuters to F350s, because I need both. While Tacoma wasn’t the best option, it checked off a lot boxes for a one do-it-all vehicle.

 

Interesting, I missed this. I’ll watch this later today when I have some time. Thanks for sharing the link.

 

From what I remember this was just finished in a hurry to show Jay.