How do you charge an electric car in rural area

[Chuckanut]

If you view Electric as something the government need to encourage, boy are you so wrong!

I don't take that view at this time. Maybe after we build more state-of-the-art fission reactors or better yet, harness fusion power, I might change my mind. I see no reason why with time and future advances EVs can't be the car of choice for most of us. Just not today.

 

[Andre1969]

Then again, many ICE engine cars aren't suited for long road trips. I don't want to spend more than 30 mins in the passenger seat of DH's subaru BRZ, it's not a road trip car even though it fills up on regular gas.

Personally, I think the vehicles best-suited to long highway trips are now pretty much extinct...the full-sized RWD sedans of the late 70's and 80's. My grandparents had an '85 Buick LeSabre that was a great cross-country car...plenty of stretch out room, huge trunk. When it was newer, it could actually get close to 30 mpg on the highway, in the right conditions, and with a 26-gallon tank, that would get you a cruising range of about 750 miles if you wanted to live dangerously.

Now admittedly, by the time that car got handed down to me, about the best I ever got out of it was around 21 mpg. However, I also found out that its Olds 307 V-8, often reviled for being a gutless wonder, performed much better when you shifted manually, and seemed to catch its second wind once you pegged the 85 mph speedometer

Most modern cars, though, just don't have the interior room for that kind of comfort. And while the seats might be bolstered better, for spirited driving, they're often smaller, and more thinly padded. The full-sized sedan has pretty much been replaced by minivans, larger SUVs, and crossovers. However, I have yet to see any of those rigs with a back seat as comfortable as a good, full-sized sedan. The problem, in my opinion, is that any seat that's designed to be folded down, or removed entirely, is going to sacrifice some comfort.

 

[NW-Bound]

If you view ICE vs Electric as a personal choice, you are correct!

If you view Electric as something the government need to encourage, boy are you so wrong!

I can understand why crowded cities may want to encourage EVs to reduce air pollution. But then, hybrid cars also have reduced emission and are suitable for freeway stop-and-go traffic. Encouragement of EVs and hybrids can be from the local and state government, instead of from the federal government.

To make use of the occasional excess solar power early in the day when ACs are not cranking, they should also encourage people to charge their EVs at the right time. With current technology, it's not hard to incentivize people to do that by displaying and charging them the spot price of electricity which varies throughout the day.

 

[MikeD]

She learned her lesson.

I bet not.

Mike D.

 

[harllee]

I bet not.

Mike D.

OP here, I think the Tesla lady did learn an expensive and very time consuming lesson. Her vacation with her mother and 2 daughters was ruined, she cancelled the rest of her trip and went back to NJ. She told me that if she ever came to the mountains again she would rent a gas powered car.

 

[MikeD]

IMHO, the 'deal' for EV owners is that they don't pay the gasoline tax that builds and maintaines the roads. This needs to change, IMHO, as a matter of simple fairness and justice. The tax deduction for EVs also needs to be ditched.

I think in Virginia it costs more to register an electric car than a conventially powered car to help cover this, but am not sure.

Mike D

 

[Oakster]

+1

I looked up "gat". It's a slang term for a firearm.

short for Gatlin Gun, the mobsters used them back in the day.

 

[Midpack]

I think in Virginia it costs more to register an electric car than a conventionally powered car to help cover this, but am not sure.

Mike D

Didn't know that...a start, but that doesn't begin to match what ICE owners pay in gas taxes for roads (e.g about 3% in my state).

 

[RobLJ]

Back in the '80s when I lived in SoCal, my parents moved to Western Colorado, and during school breaks, I would drive my Mazda Mizer cross-country, through Arizona or Utah. I often drove either all night or pulled off the road around 3 or 5 am. Several times I cut it very close in the mountains: after midnight I pulled into town to discover the only gas station closed. I saw two more towns on the map; the first had no gas station, luckily the second one had an all night station. I would be lucky if I had more than a cup of gas left that time; I halfway expected to run out of fuel. I slowed to 40 mph up mountain (no one was on the road anyway) and coasted the last 10 miles down the mountain.

It wasn't just electric cars, back in the day in rural areas. There was one stretch in Utah, where there was no services for 120 miles. I also almost got stuck in a blizzard but chickened out and stopped at the hotel in Cedar City when I realized I couldn't see because of the snow blown behind an 18 wheeler. That storm dropped about 2 feet of snow, so I'm glad I decided to obey my spider sense. Luckily I had driven that section before I70 before and knew there was nothing out there.

 

[TriumphTR3fan]

What is the cost to recharge at one of these supercharger stations when doing a cross country trip ?

Since I read these posts last year my spouse & I bought a Model 3. I’ll share some of our experiences by replying to some posts. BTW, we don’t plan to buy another ICE car again. We really enjoy our Triumphs but they aren’t practical for day to day use. They’re fun to drive short distances on a nice day in Oregon. However, EV’s are clearly changing transportation. My comments will thus be limited to our electric car use.

To answer the question, it’s more expensive than charging at home where our cost is about .12 per KWH. At a Tesla Supercharger it varies by region. Our cost has been about .28 per KWH. To put a distance on that cost my DW calculated it was $99.21 to drive from our home in Silverton, OR to Lincoln, NE. That’s 1600 miles. Round trip doubles the cost. Obviously it’s cheaper than an ICE vehicle. Other posters haven’t been joking about the simplicity of charging at Superchargers. Since we have a CC on file with Tesla, all we do is plug in the car. The car communicates with Tesla & everything is handled quickly. Our CC is billed for the charge. I’ll post more about our Supercharger experiences in another post. Since September I’ve done three trips to Lincoln where I’m posting this. That’s less than $600 for over 10K miles. One thing that is seldom talked about is how efficient EV’s are. EPA equivalents for a Model 3 are about 128 MPG. The cost of the car is more but the operating cost is really low.

 

[mpeirce]

To answer the question, it’s more expensive than charging at home where our cost is about .12 per KWH. At a Tesla Supercharger it varies by region. Our cost has been about .28 per KWH. To put a distance on that cost my DW calculated it was $99.21 to drive from our home in Silverton, OR to Lincoln, NE. That’s 1600 miles. Round trip doubles the cost. Obviously it’s cheaper than an ICE vehicle.

I drive an Mercedes E 250 diesel that gets between 40 and 45 mpg for highway driving depending on how fast I drive. So, being generous and assuming some mountain driving and going fast (love those speed limits out west!) I'll call it 40.

Diesel is going for roughly $2.29 per gallon these days (Costco is at $1.94, but again, this is average), this gives the following:

1600 miles / 40 miles per gallon = 40 gallons of diesel

40 gallons * $2.29 per gallon = $91.60

Not a huge difference, but clearly not "obviously it’s cheaper". Just saying...

 

[TriumphTR3fan]

I thought Teslas had a map that showed the various chargers within range so as to prevent this kind of thing. Of course, I know people with gasoline powered cars that love to get as near to the E on the gas gauge as possible. Sometimes, they don't guess right. I suppose that also happens with EV owners.

That said, one reason I don't have an EV and won't consider one to replace my current vehicle is just that - getting it charged in out of the way areas. I'm still a big fan of hybrids for people who don't live in Jackson, Mississippi where gas is under $2.20 a gallon.

Teslas do have a good GPS system. They usually are within 1-2 % of range estimates even in areas without satellite or GPS coverage. The system takes into account distance, temperature, speed limits & elevation. It warns the driver if it is too far to the next Supercharger. It usually gives a % estimate for a return to the starting point. It updates as you drive. The Supercharger system is constantly expanding. Their priority seems to be where demand is. That sucks for rural areas where there is less demand. Check the Target store nearest you. There’s a good chance that one has been installed there or is about to be. The Salem, OR Supercharger opened last month in the Target parking lot. Target requires ChargePoint when Tesla builds a Supercharger in their lot, so the infrastructure is building for other charging companies also.

I’ve driven hybrids & prefer BEV’s. Hybrids are more complex and therefore have more to maintain and more to break. Let’s leave the pollution discussion for another time.

In Oregon we pay our EV road taxes as part of the registration. Ours was over $300 for two years. Gas guzzling cars pay far less registration fee because they pay it at the pump. The EPA website (until it was restricted in June 2020) calculated our electric/gallon equivalent at about .97 per gallon.

 

[TriumphTR3fan]

I drive an Mercedes E 250 diesel that gets between 40 and 45 mpg for highway driving depending on how fast I drive. So, being generous and assuming some mountain driving and going fast (love those speed limits out west!) I'll call it 40.



Diesel is going for roughly $2.29 per gallon these days (Costco is at $1.94, but again, this is average), this gives the following:



1600 miles / 40 miles per gallon = 40 gallons of diesel



40 gallons * $2.29 per gallon = $91.60



Not a huge difference, but clearly not "obviously it’s cheaper". Just saying...

Glad you’re getting great mileage [emoji106]. Most don’t. You right about the obvious comment in your situation.

 

[Sunset]

Glad you’re getting great mileage [emoji106]. Most don’t. You right about the obvious comment in your situation.

DW's old Camry gets 30mpg on highway (how I drive). The 1,600 mile distance would be $122.67 which is more.

Right now gas is cheap, but we have nowhere to go

 

[MRG]

Funny how things change in 15 months since the thread was open. I live in a rural area and bought a Tesla Model Y in the summer. Nearest supercharger is 90 miles away, why do I care? I charge at home. A thousand miles is $14.50 at our off hour rates. When I charge away from home it's been free. In addition to Superchargers Chargepoint is building a network of fast DC chargers if you have the correct adapters. There's one in our little town, I've seen one person use it all year. Quite a few used the free level 2 charger.

Range anxiety really comes down to planning. I met a new Model Y owner this fall suffering from range anxiety, after a couple of us helped her get charging I asked "what went wrong" she didn't want to answer.

 

[TriumphTR3fan]

The Tesla owners I know that travel cross country map out their routes and know where every charging station is and plan accordingly to match their rest stops for food, etc. My friend covers 6 states as a technical salesman and he has never had an issue. He leaves on a full charge, tops up at lunch and drives home... its not that hard.

Taking it to a campground is just silly and not plugging it in is also just not something a Tesla owner should do, if they got the the campground and plugged in immediately, then they wouldn't be with just 8 miles left.

All Teslas come with a charging cable & a 120 volt adapter that plugs into it. Tesla sells other adapters for different voltage/amps. They cost $35 each. The entire set costs about $210 but some are for obscure uses. I bought the NEMA 14-50 & another that’s commonly used for dryers. It’s possible she didn’t have a compatible plug other than a 120 ac plug.

 

[aaronc879]

I drive an Mercedes E 250 diesel that gets between 40 and 45 mpg for highway driving depending on how fast I drive. So, being generous and assuming some mountain driving and going fast (love those speed limits out west!) I'll call it 40.

Diesel is going for roughly $2.29 per gallon these days (Costco is at $1.94, but again, this is average), this gives the following:

1600 miles / 40 miles per gallon = 40 gallons of diesel

40 gallons * $2.29 per gallon = $91.60

Not a huge difference, but clearly not "obviously it’s cheaper". Just saying...

My ICE costs less than a Tesla if I only used Supercharging at $.25+ per KWH. Throw in the cold weather up here in the upper Midwest and it's even worse for EVs. Cold affects ICE cars too but not nearly as much. A Tesla just doesn't make sense for me right now but I hope it will in the future.

 

[68bucks]

How does the maintenance on an EV compare to that of an ICE? MPG is only one aspect of cost per mile. I mean you have an oil/ filter change every 3-5000 miles. Belts, plugs, air filters, transmission service, coolant flushes, etc. Does an EV have equivalents? You would think tires, brakes, etc would be a wash.

 

[aaronc879]

How does the maintenance on an EV compare to that of an ICE? MPG is only one aspect of cost per mile. I mean you have an oil/ filter change every 3-5000 miles. Belts, plugs, air filters, transmission service, coolant flushes, etc. Does an EV have equivalents? You would think tires, brakes, etc would be a wash.

Tesla's don't have as many parts to go bad but cost a lot to replace when needed. Insurance is expensive compared to ICE cars. Because of the added weight you can expect to spend more on tires but less on brakes due to regenerative braking. You can't just atke a Tesla to the shop down the road. My nearest Tesla shop is around 100 miles away. I may have to pay for a tow for 100 miles which is not cheap.

 

[Markola]

what do people do with electric cars when they are traveling in a rural area like the blue ridge parkway and there are no car chargers?

 

[gerntz]

Range anxiety really comes down to planning.

Yes, planning by the EV promoters & sellers. If chargers were anywhere near as numerous as gas stations the issue would go away.

 

[gerntz]

My model 3 has a range of 310 miles. I would be ok if my range was a third of that, but that's just me.

In MN & CO mountains right now, that's probably a decent guess.

 

[gerntz]

It takes me 22 minutes to charge my Tesla from 50% to 80% at a Tesla supercharger. My electricity is free. It all depends on which Tesla you bought and when you bought it.

To gain that same 90 miles of range for my 22 mpg ICE vehicle, 4 gallons, it takes < 2 minutes.

 

[Ready]

If you live in a rural area and regularly take trips that are hundreds of miles long an EV may not be right for you.

The average person drives less than 40 miles per day. I’ve owned a Model 3 for almost 2 years now and I’ve only taken one trip that required a supercharger. Other than that I plug in at night and wake up to a full battery every morning. I’ve easily saved dozens of hours of time by not having to regularly visit a gas station, which more than makes up for the one time I had to wait 20 minutes at a supercharger.

And I have yet to need any maintenance on the vehicle. The first service is 24 months, where you change the cabin filter and check the brake fluid. And that’s it for the next 24 months.

 

[gerntz]

Ready, I was driving 9200 miles a year b4 covid in my leased ICE vehicle at $500+/mo. I'm down to around 2500-3000 m/yr rate. Some uses have been permanently eliminated (~2K ) & I doubt the others will ever get back to where they were.

Lease is up end of Feb. We're thinking we may go down to one vehicle but know that WILL create some level of conflict. Not sure what we'll do, but spending on another $45K+ car is not an option (Affordability ain't the issue.). Looking at $25-35K & want the latest safety features as I age & age. I also want to sit up a bit as low vehicles & my back as well as my long torso are not very compatible. Net of that, EV's of today do not look like an option.