Will be watching for the success of Rivian and Cybertruck to see if the rural market can accept electric.. but can't think of any good reason why not, other than pride and prejudice. (FD, I grew up in the country).
I have a feeling Rivian and the Cybertruck will not be able to penetrate the rural market, at least not any more significantly than the Raptor or FCA's souped up half-tons. They fill the same high $$$$$ light duty niche that wealthy ruralites like to buy as a daily driver.
Ford is introducing hybrid trucks which I predict will not only become the new default, but also beat the other manufactures to market. Rivian will not ship more than 1000 trucks in 2021, and the cybertruck, at this moment, is complete vaporware.
I do enjoy driving down country roads which won't have superchargers for some time, but these trips are usually <300-500miles and by it's nature the route is flexible enough to hit a supercharger near a highway if necessary.
Forgetting to plug in is like forgetting to bring your keys. It becomes second nature pretty fast. You always do it after you park, unless you do 20 errands a day or something. It takes five seconds.
> Unless you forget to plug in, then the fix is not as simple as hopping to the gas station.
Forgetting to plug in will rarely be a big issue unless you forget 3-4 days in a row. Flipwise, there have been many times where I've forgotten to fill up before coming home and had to make a side-trip to a gas station before heading out.
As for apartment dwellers. The economics of EVs for people without access to home charging are pretty different you miss out on one of the biggest benefits -> rarely having to fill up.
And the once in a blue moon they do have to drive more than 300 miles, they'll need to have a spare car to do it. They'll buy their new shiny very expensive Telsa and still have to keep a gasoline-powered car around.
> And the once in a blue moon they do have to drive more than 300 miles, they'll need to have a spare car to do it. They'll buy their new shiny very expensive Telsa and still have to keep a gasoline-powered car around.
I don't think this is the way EV owners deal with long trips.
Most Tesla owners seem to just use the Supercharger network and deal with waiting 20 minutes instead of 5 minutes. After 4 hours driving I usually take a lunch or dinner break regardless.
That's the way I, an an EV owner, deal with long trips. I would never try to plot a course from charger to charger. That sounds annoying and dangerous.
I also highly doubt that charger networks would scale. Right now there are already busy gas stations by every exit on the highway. Imagine how overloaded they would be if it took an hour to fill up the tank.
A plug-in hybrid still makes more sense. They're far cheaper than any electric car, have all the advantages of an electric car for short trips, and have all the advantages of a gasoline car for long trips.
Electric cars are usable. They are not yet practical.
(By the way, as you may see from my other comments, I consider Tesla a criminal enterprise. It is possible I am dismissing the Supercharger network a little too easily.)
This is why Tesla has such a big emphasis on range. If a car has a 300 mile range, I think dealing with charging stations is tolerable. Few people drive more than 500 miles a day so you just have 1 stop, not a bunch.
> Right now there are already busy gas stations by every exit on the highway. Imagine how overloaded they would be if it took an hour to fill up the tank.
How much of that traffic would be eliminated because EVs start the day full charged?
It only takes 20 minutes for the supercharger stations (And most newer entrants are pushing for faster charging with mixed results). It will certainly be interesting to see how well these networks hold up to increasing traffic over time. I've heard the super charger network can get pretty bogged up already on holiday weekends.
