EV living: having to drive an ICE for a day

[ajay]

[note - I'm not really sure where this goes - I suppose technically, it's not off topic.]

How easily we adjust our ideas of "normal"...


I had to replace a headlight in my smart ED, so yesterday I drove our old ICE pickup (still useful for hardware store runs, etc). On the way home, the 'low fuel' light came on. And I thought:


- It's dark.
- It's cold (below freezing) and windy.
- I can't believe I'm gonna have to go stand outside in the cold and wind with my hand on a gas nozzle for several minutes while the tank fills up. Plus then my gloves are gonna smell like gas (which I seem to be a lot more sensitive to these days).


How do people think this is somehow *more* convenient than just plugging in a car in the shelter of my garage when I get home?!

 

[ZachShahan]

It's apparently very hard for non-EV drivers to realize how annoying and inconvenient pumping gas actually is. Obviously, people will slowly come to realize as they experience EV living. However, I think it's valuable to keep highlighting this point, so I try to do so in many an EV article.

 

[mwulff]

I still suspect that my Model saves me time over the course of a year. If I have to stop regularly at a pump I will spend X*Y minutes a year to do so. (X=amount of pump stops, Y time it takes).

With the Model S the same formula becomes (A*365ish + (B*C)) where A is 10 seconds spent at home to plug in, B is times I have to stop at a supercharger and C is the time spent there.

I suspect that X*Y > (A*365ish + (B*C)) since my supercharger stops are very infrequent. Your mileage may vary by a lot but if you have a daily non-supercharged commute then I believe my assumption will hold.

Never going back to ICE and the sluggish horribly jagged acceleration is even worse.

 

[ecarfan]

It is very difficult for current ICE drivers to understand our near-euphoria over not having to go to gas stations. Pumping gas is something that all of us grew up doing, just like brushing our teeth and washing clothes.
But once you stop visiting the gas station you realize how wonderful it is to not have that chore as part of your life. Just over a year ago my wife and I went 100% EV and we still remark on how marvelous it is not to have anything to do with gasoline. She has regular conversations with her hairdresser about EVs, he is a die-hard Porsche ICE fan and thinks that plugging a car in once a day sounds like a problem.

 

[spottyq]

I still suspect that my Model saves me time over the course of a year. If I have to stop regularly at a pump I will spend X*Y minutes a year to do so. (X=amount of pump stops, Y time it takes).

With the Model S the same formula becomes (A*365ish + (B*C)) where A is 10 seconds spent at home to plug in, B is times I have to stop at a supercharger and C is the time spent there.

I suspect that X*Y > (A*365ish + (B*C)) since my supercharger stops are very infrequent. Your mileage may vary by a lot but if you have a daily non-supercharged commute then I believe my assumption will hold.

Never going back to ICE and the sluggish horribly jagged acceleration is even worse.

Don't forget that you can sometimes do something useful while supercharging (like eating) while you can never do something useful while refilling gas (because there isn't enough time and you have to hold the handle.)

 

[GoTslaGo]

[note - I'm not really sure where this goes - I suppose technically, it's not off topic.]

How easily we adjust our ideas of "normal"...


I had to replace a headlight in my smart ED, so yesterday I drove our old ICE pickup (still useful for hardware store runs, etc). On the way home, the 'low fuel' light came on. And I thought:


- It's dark.
- It's cold (below freezing) and windy.
- I can't believe I'm gonna have to go stand outside in the cold and wind with my hand on a gas nozzle for several minutes while the tank fills up. Plus then my gloves are gonna smell like gas (which I seem to be a lot more sensitive to these days).


How do people think this is somehow *more* convenient than just plugging in a car in the shelter of my garage when I get home?!

Yes, I still do this.

My wife just rolled her eyes when I pointed out this thread and what I have to go through every week or so.

Ok, it's not that cold (below freezing), but it can be very windy here...