Yikes! Talk about Range Anxiety!
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Makes it pretty clear why the Volt and it's brilliant Voltec drive system is the right choice. When we had our EV-1 we always watched where we were and where the public charging stations were located. Back then there was no way of determining if a particular public charger was operational, no cell phone either, so caution ruled the day.
VIN # B0985
VIN # B0985
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As the article noted, how often do you see a gas pump out of service? Very rarely, because when one's out of service it's liable to lose the gas station money. This is the opposite problem: the chargers themselves aren't earners so Blink wants to do as little as possible.
This is why Tesla uses "free" chargers designed by their own engineers.
This is why Tesla uses "free" chargers designed by their own engineers.
Yep, I love it. A picture of a Leaf on a tow truck. It wasn't even in Arizona. Suckers are born every minute.
I have a Leaf and I've never had an issue with range, though I've had a bit of "range anxiety". If you have a BEV it just comes with the territory.
Note that this driver had many successful runs and used the QC without incident until this one time. The problem is that until you have batteries with far more range and there are many many more QCs available the whole QC thing isn't going to work. I had friends who have had natural gas cars and they ran into the same issues -- with one pump for a large area you could run into very long lines or, worst case, a station that was out of order. And natural gas pumps are not new technology by any stretch of the imagination. This is why the Tesla charging network is such an unworkable pipe dream. The stations are too far apart and not sufficiently redundant, and there aren't enough vehicles on the road that can use them, thereby insuring that the stations won't be operational 100% of the time.
Note that this driver had many successful runs and used the QC without incident until this one time. The problem is that until you have batteries with far more range and there are many many more QCs available the whole QC thing isn't going to work. I had friends who have had natural gas cars and they ran into the same issues -- with one pump for a large area you could run into very long lines or, worst case, a station that was out of order. And natural gas pumps are not new technology by any stretch of the imagination. This is why the Tesla charging network is such an unworkable pipe dream. The stations are too far apart and not sufficiently redundant, and there aren't enough vehicles on the road that can use them, thereby insuring that the stations won't be operational 100% of the time.
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So the author relies on a 'DC fast charger' to make it home in his Leaf on a 45 x 2 mile commute. Imagine the normal routine that he has:
So the pleasure of owning an EV adds 50 minutes to a 1-hour drive. That is crazy!
On top of that, its likely more expensive than a gas at $1.50/hour (I could not find what fast DC charging costs).
The Leaf has a narrow (30-mile?) range sweet spot. It seems not a good idea to venture outside of that envelope, unless you have a masochistic tendencies towards range anxiety and enjoy sitting in cars while they charge.
Tesla solved the problem by having enough range for a real day of driving. Its not a road trip car, and that is OK because people who can afford $100K cars have a backup SUV for those occasions.
- Several phone calls to Blink ensuring that the charger is on-line: 10 minutes
- Detour to find the charger on some company's parking lot: 10 minutes
- Sit in car on a dark, remote and deserted parking lot while car recharges: 30 minutes
So the pleasure of owning an EV adds 50 minutes to a 1-hour drive. That is crazy!
On top of that, its likely more expensive than a gas at $1.50/hour (I could not find what fast DC charging costs).
The Leaf has a narrow (30-mile?) range sweet spot. It seems not a good idea to venture outside of that envelope, unless you have a masochistic tendencies towards range anxiety and enjoy sitting in cars while they charge.
Tesla solved the problem by having enough range for a real day of driving. Its not a road trip car, and that is OK because people who can afford $100K cars have a backup SUV for those occasions.
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Wow, that sounds horrible even if the chargers were working! What a freaking hassle! Good for him for being willing to do that and risk it (even if they were more reliable, what if power was out in that area? What if all the chargers were full? etc, etc) to not use gasoline, but forget about mass adoption!
Most people who buy a BEV are family folks who already own another gas car for long distance. So the issue of having to rent a gas car for long distance is mostly a moot issue. Also, people in this situation wouldn't risk relying on a charging station to complete their BEV trip. They only commute within an acceptable round trip distance that their range will allow.
A BEV has the advantage of allowing a longer commute than a Volt without resorting to gasoline. For example, if someone has a 60 round trip commute, a BEV will enable this without using any gas, while the Volt will need to use gas for 20+ of those 60 miles.
So the use of BEV is not completely without merit as long as common sense is applied and the personal situation warrants (family with an ICE already available). The BEV also has the advantage of lower maintenance thanks to the lack of an ICE in the car.
Public charging stations should be viewed as a bonus to increase the convenient use of BEV, but it shouldn't be relied on completely in order to be able to complete a trip.
I agree, and I did consider the Leaf for that reason. However, life has a way of throwing curve balls. It you need to pick up the kids at school early, or stop by a store on the way home unexpectedly, or whatever. That you might need to go 80 or even 100 miles that day, and you are hosed.
Also, if you are lucky you might be able to plug in to an outlet at work and get that 20 extra miles range, if not, no worries.
This is precisely why I went with the LEAF over the Volt. If I lived within 18 miles or so of work, I would have a Volt in the driveway right now and not a LEAF. And if I had to commute over 80 miles, I would have a Volt then as well. But the LEAF fits my 52 mile commute perfectly in a way that the Volt wouldn't (I would be burning gas every day) and at a cost that is much easier to afford (I don't make a lot of money, so the Volt was out of my budget).
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