That’s nice. It’s also proof of nothing. It’s like saying “I like wine, but don’t like Jim Beam. Therefore Jim Beam will be out of business next year.”
Lots of people travel more than 300 miles, often multiple times a year. So again your personal situation is incredibly irrelevant.
I’ll take that bet.And I’ll give odds, in fact.
Ah but Toyota is saying most people want to stick with a flip phone.
What people say and what people do have always been two different things.
Right now sales are slow. It is a mistake to think people wont switch to EV.
DB2
Tesla’s Supercharges mostly work, not quite so Electrify America’s (VW).
But EVs are taking over and it can only get better.
The Captain
A good point. Last night’s “news” is now on their web site. The route he took from LA to SD appears to be along I-5, very densely populated, except for a short stretch between San Onofre and Camp Pendleton, some 20 miles.
The route in Texas was Houston to Austin, appears to be I-10 from Houston to Columbus, then 71 to Austin. Looking on Google satellite view, that stretch in Texas looks very much like what I drive through in outstate Michigan and Indiana. That is the point I have been bringing up when these EV conversations get going. When I am driving to South Bend, in particular, there is a stretch, between Three Rivers and Niles, where I am rolling along two lane rural highway, through the small towns of Cassopolis and Vandailia, and I wouldn’t bet the farm I could find a charger along there.
Here is what the report showed.
This is the map of his route from LA to SD. Do I have enough caracters yet? tralalala…more characters.
Austin to Houston has no fantastic route. 71 does not surprise me as a route, nor as a route with few chargers. I-10 should be different, but is half the journey at best. The other route, 290, is probably as bad as 71 for chargers, with the down-side that it never hits a more major highway at all.
Found a map of EV chargers in Michigan. There are a couple chargers in Kalamazoo, but none even planned between Kalamazoo and Niles, a distance of 60 miles.
This isn’t really true. Statistics show that most people (the vast majority) commute/run errands for about 30-40 miles per day. And that some percentage, a relatively small percentage, drive a long distance once or twice a year at most.
As far as what Toyota is doing … they are doing what a prudent and profitable business always does. Make judicious decisions for the long-term in a careful manner. Nobody thinks that if ICE disappears, and hydrogen doesn’t take off, that Toyota won’t be a major producer of EV vehicles. But prudence requires that they do it when it is profitable, not when it simply reduces profit or causes extra hassle for little profit.
Not likely to happen. 23 models are long out. This is only 7 model years away.
Don’t shoot the messenger!
The declining optimism in EV adoption comes amid stricter requirements for federal incentives for the vehicles; rising concerns about raw materials for batteries; and record vehicle prices. Such concerns are in addition to other supply chain issues and recessionary fears.
“You can be long-term optimistic, but near term, you’ve got to be very realistic,” Silberg said. “It’s not rainbows and butterflies and euphoria anymore, it’s game on.”
I expect pressure from US automakers to slow the ban on IC vehicle.
I also understand that the EV subsidy law has been held up in Congress due to EU protest over that bill
Perhaps all automakers except those are exclusively EV manufacturers will adopt a cautious approach?
The “average” commute is irrelevant in the discussion, my claim was that lots of people make long trips, often more than once a year. Trips to Disneyland, weekend getaway trips, taking the kids to college (or for college interviews), and then there’s the whole “rural” contingent. Those in rural places drive hundreds of miles to get to the nearest city, and some city folk (traveling nurses, mechanics, veterinarians, etc.) travel hundreds of miles to get to clients.
I don’t want to buy a fancy new car which requires me to spend another $1000 a year to rent another car any more than I want to buy I house I can’t live in on Tuesdays.
Even if less than 1% of daily trips are more than 100 miles, that’s still millions of trips every month.
Fourth is the simple fact that American households often also take mid-range trips, especially on weekends that go well beyond the range of the daily commute and errand trips, but don’t qualify as a long road trip. These are often those weekend trips, perhaps to the mountains, to a ski resort, to the beach, to the wine country, or for those with kids travel to a regional soccer, volleyball or lacrosse tournament that might be 50 to 100 miles away from home.
With many Americans taking these mid-range 100 to 200 mile trips several times a year, they don’t want to have to worry about having to charge at their destination or on the way back. They want confidence that they can drive to and from that mid-range trip either with no charging needed or perhaps a simple top-up while parked at their destination.
There are lots of people for whom this isn’t an issue, and good for them. My point is just that there are lots of people for whom it IS.
Only for now. The batteries will getting a longer and longer range.
If so, I hope manufacturers also give the option to have a smaller battery. I’d rather not pay for and be toting around a battery far larger than I need for 99% of my usage.
We’ve had an EV with a 210 mile range for 30k miles now. We almost never go below 50 miles remaining.
Perhaps they envision a docking station where the car drives to periodically and backs into a charger there, just like a Roomba.
IP
Better yet a simple coil on the floor of the garage, driveway, parking spot or even imbedded on new construction with relatively simple controls between the vehicle and charging system to keep it topped up. Rather like the Apple Watch and my iPhone works… Nothing to wear out, break…
You can charge your car and get a full body MRI at the same time.
Who says it wont cost less, weight less and take up less room? Not sure where your logic is coming from.
I’m not an engineer but my understanding is electronic has inherently much faster response times than mechanical. For example, an electric motor can instantly change torque, a gas engine not so much. That lag time is significant. In addition, coordinating processes (steering, braking, power, etc) that are all electronic is simpler than having to incorporate a mechanical gas powertrain. All this makes computer controlled EVs much more efficient and safer (faster responding) than self-driving ICEs.
In addition, current self-driving tech requires a lot of electricity, which means a big battery. EVs already have a big battery. ICEs would have to add a big battery. That’s one reason why self-driving gas cars being tested have been mostly (if not entirely) hybrids, like the Waymo Chrysler Pacificas. How Waymo Made Chandler, Arizona the Self-Driving Capital of the World | WIRED
But as batteries have gotten better, these hybrids are being replaced by EVs. Waymo's Self-Driving Jaguars Arrive With New, Homegrown Tech | WIRED
