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An idling gas engine may be annoyingly loud, but that’s the price you pay for having WAY less torque available at a standstill.

  • then_three_more@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Range anxiety is largely a perception thing. The vast majority of car journeys are well within the range of an EV, you just need to get in the habit of plugging in like you would your phone. For journey’s long enough for it to be more than a single charge you really should be stopping for more than a few seconds anyway as you need recharging.

    • DefederateLemmyMl@feddit.nl
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      5 months ago

      you just need to get in the habit of plugging in like you would your phone

      Yeah but not everyone lives in suburbia with ample plug-in options available to them. Where I live the street-side charging spots are usually occupied, and the parking spot that I rent has no charging.

      For journey’s long enough for it to be more than a single charge you really should be stopping for more than a few seconds anyway as you need recharging.

      True to some extent, I have to check my travel logs but I do feel like stopping for an hour every 300km or so is longer and much more often than I would normally stop on long road trips. My (diesel) car has a range of well over 1000km so often I stop for only 15 minutes for a coffee and to stretch my legs, or just for a restroom stop and a driver swap. We usually plan just one big stop (1h) for dinner. Most destinations I’ve been to I could reach without refueling at all.

      There’s also the issue of contention for charging spots. On gas stations near the big highways towards popular destinations you often already have to queue to get gas. This will become worse when EVs become common place and people occupy a charging spot for an hour instead of a fuel pump for 30 seconds to top up.

      Little anecdote: every year around the holiday season, there are several company wide e-mails from EV driving co-workers requesting to swap cars (with a co-worker who has a CE car) to go on holiday. So I think the practical experience may not be as rosy as you paint it.

    • Maalus@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Okay, but it is still jumping through hoops which doesn’t exist with gas cars. What if I have 3 people driving, like in a road trip? You can’t continuously drive after refueling anymore. It isn’t just a perception thing, it absolutely requires planning and stops you wouldn’t take otherwise.

      • frezik@midwest.social
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        5 months ago

        You jump through all sorts of hoops with gas cars. We’ve all made it part of the habits of our lives and don’t think about them, but they’re absolutely there.

        • Solemn@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          5 months ago

          I’d honestly love to just plug in every night instead of having to spend time getting gas every week. Sure it’s only a few minutes, but that’s probably a few hours of my life every year. Getting an electric vehicle and renting cars for road trips would honestly make much more sense for me.

          Unfortunately, it looks like it’d be financially irresponsible for me to buy an electric car right now while I still have a perfectly functional ICE car.

      • then_three_more@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        jumping through hoops which doesn’t exist with gas cars.

        You have to physically drive to a different location to get petrol. That’s a hoop. Just because you’re used to it doesn’t mean it’s not there.

        What if I have 3 people driving, like in a road trip? You can’t continuously drive after refueling anymore. It isn’t just a perception thing, it absolutely requires planning and stops you wouldn’t take otherwise.

        It is a perception. The vast majority of trips this won’t be an issue. In the once in a bluemoon that you’ll be driving more than the range of the car, yes, it could be. This is where it’s perception. People seem to think that they’ll run commuting to work or half the journeys they take will be affected. Whereas it’s really really rare.

        • Maalus@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          So what you are saying is “I don’t care about the points you raised” essentially. I said specifically “hoops that don’t exist with gas cars” not “gas cars don’t have hoops to jump through”. Electric cars have issues with trips longer than their range, which you then need to charge for a very long time compared to just refueling the gas car.

          • then_three_more@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Sorry about the hoops issues, I clearly slightly misread

            However, two can play at being pedantic. I addressed your point about range anxiety before you even made it. As I said originally it is largely perception. I even went as far as to agree with you that in the 0.000001% of journeys you identified it would be an issue.

    • Test_Tickles@lemmynsfw.com
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      5 months ago

      Range anxiety is not just about a single trip. You are assuming that not only will we all be able to just charge whenever and wherever we park our cars, but that we’ll never fail to do so. You also assume that only one person will be driving the car. If I forget to plug in my phone it’s not a big deal. I can just plug it in on the way to work or bring a battery pack. And it is not uncommon for my kid to bring our car home on empty. And then of course there are broken charges and unreliable utilities. I can’t even count on a reliable internet connection wherever I go and that can be supplied wirelessly. I have lived far enough out in the country before that I’ve had to deal with range anxiety in ICE vehicles. The threat of running out of gas before you can make it to a gas station is a very real and stressful issue. I can only imagine how much worse it is going to be when it takes more than just a gas can and a few minutes to get you going when you screw up.

    • aidan@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      the vast majority of the cost of an electric car is in the battery, every phone I’ve had really degrades in battery after a couple years, and my dad still drives an ICE car about the same age as me

    • bufalo1973@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      After all, it’s recommended to stop before reaching 400 km or 3 hours. And now EVs have that range or close to it.

    • Persen@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      If you live in the Balkans, you can hardly charge your electric car anywhere and if you go on holidays, It takes way longer, since you have to recharge multiple times and it takes a couple of hours.

      • then_three_more@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Ok, what’s your point? Did I say it’s always and in every single niche scenario people are going to come up with a perception issue? Or did I in fact say it’s largely (as in most of the time and in most cases) a perception issue?

        • Persen@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Sorry. I was just mentioning, why electric cars also aren’t perfect and I would still rather buy a diesel.

          • then_three_more@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Sorry for coming on a bit strong.

            It had just started to feel like people were trying to say that I thought range anxiety was absolutely never legitimate.

            In reality most people will do maybe one journey a year where it could possibly be. For them they’ll have saved so much from reduced maintenance and running costs of an EV that they could hire an ICE vehicle for that one trip and still have saved themselves money.

            Of course if you’re way off the top end of the bell curve with your usage an EV may not yet be the best option for you.

            • Persen@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              Yes, I was also a little extreme about range anxiety. There still are EVs, that have decently long range. The reliability is what we need with all technology. I’m actually interested what could actually break in them other than battery or storage chips.