1y ago

It’s time for Americans to embrace small cars

arstechnica.com It’s time for Americans to embrace small cars

Small cars are good for us but bad for business.

TechNews @radiation.party

arstechnica.com /cars/2023/08/dont-supersize-me-the-case-for-small-electric-cars-instead-of-big-suvs/

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Give me a new El Camino EV with a 400 mile range and I'm in.
All my road trips are around 150 miles and there may or may not be a charger at the destination.
The article says range isn't important...if you've ever looked at a map of the US, you'll see why that's a misguided statement.
- To be fair, most people aren't driving across the US on an even yearly basis, if ever in their lives.
  
  400 miles doesn't get you halfway across a single state in the western US.
  
  But it definitely gets you to the next fast charger to get an 80 percent charge in 10 minutes.
  
  That's only relevant if you have a mythical car that can charge to 80 in 10 minutes. My car does it in about 90, the Solterra I almost bought has something like a 60 minute 10-80% charge time, and the fastest charging car on the market right now is the EV6 which is (IIRC) still 18 minutes to 80%.
  Nevermind that the estimated 350 mile range in an ICE car is pretty spot on, where as a 250 mile range in an EV is best case scenario.
  I own an EV, I think EVs are the future, but they're not there quite yet. Not completely, and not in a way that can compete with a RAV-4, CR-V, or Forester in terms of miles traveled and minutes spent filling up. And often, locations where you want to stop, aren't the same locations that have a fast charger.
  
  You're right, the ten minute thing is a goal not a reality right now. But according to multiple sources 10-80 percent charging times range from 20-75 minutes. Unless you're on some kind of mad dash across the country that is short enough for road trips. For reference that's 225 miles before lunch; and 200 miles before and after dinner. At highway speeds of 70mph you're looking at 2 hours and 48 minutes between breaks. If you slow down to the old 55 mph recommendation for conserving energy then it's 3 hours and 40 minutes. Which neatly divides for two drivers avoiding highway hypnosis. (2 hour max shift)
  Now I admit that this is theoretical, and more planning than most people do for road trips these days. But it is very doable to schedule meals during charging.
  
  EV makers are doing what they did for mpg with gas cars: put out numbers for "ideal" charge times and range that are way off of reality.
  
  To my knowledge the only one that's been caught straight up lying is Tesla.
  
  I think you underestimate how many people never leave their home city
  
  Yup, I'm OK with a Ranchero EV with a 150 mile range.
  
  Just city to city is typically at least 150mi one way. Maybe on the southern coasts, if I was really a homebody, could I get away with something under 150mi range.
  There's no way anyone in Texas is going anywhere in a standard range EV for example.
  
  I drove from Minnesota to Kansas in an EV. Wasn't too bad, just a few stops to charge. I needed to eat and go for a walk, anyways
- 95% of trips are 30 miles or less. Of course everyone is the exception, we’re all above average drivers here.
  
  A car is too big of an investment to fail to take you from point A to B 1 in every 20 trips.
  
  I guess I'm in the 5 percent? But still small cars can take long trips. That's a frustrating thing, people assuming you need a modern day Conestoga wagon to do a road trip.
  
  That's a terrible statistic...of course most of my travel happens around where I live.
  If anything...that actually reveals long trips are more common than you think...For every 19 times you go to work or the store the 20th trip is significant...
  In other words, if your number I right...Once to Twice a month the average person would likely require an extended range EV.
  
  The number of people breaking through 150 miles in a single trip is significantly lower than 95%. 150 mile range is plenty for them.
  I've driven more than 150 miles once in the last three years
- Something like the Maverick hybrid might be best for you.
  
  But then you have to deal with driving a ford.

443 comments