Road Trip EV Journalism

[Jason71]

I am sure we have all seen the regular stories in the tabloids where some journalist borrows an EV then decides to drive 500miles on a bank holiday with zero planning and it takes them 6 times as long as it should

So i thought the below was very refreshing. A road trip story from Somone who actually knows how to drive an EV. Sadly it's in Forbes so most of the misinformed and the haters will never see it. But i found it refreshing none the less and thought it deserved a share.

‘I Drove Long Distance In An EV And It Was Terrible’

The anti-EV articles are on the rise, so I drove a Tesla to Devon and back to see if they were true. Did I have a terrible journey and get stranded in the countryside?

www.forbes.com

 

[Dilly]

I am sure we have all seen the regular stories in the tabloids where some journalist borrows an EV then decides to drive 500miles on a bank holiday with zero planning and it takes them 6 times as long as it should

So i thought the below was very refreshing. A road trip story from Somone who actually knows how to drive an EV. Sadly it's in Forbes so most of the misinformed and the haters will never see it. But i found it refreshing none the less and thought it deserved a share.

‘I Drove Long Distance In An EV And It Was Terrible’

The anti-EV articles are on the rise, so I drove a Tesla to Devon and back to see if they were true. Did I have a terrible journey and get stranded in the countryside?

www.forbes.com

I read it too and it was refreshing

 

[kelvin 660]

But "average Joe" doesn't have to plan road trips using their ICE cars, so assume EVs should be the same... Unfortunately, without 100% destination charging staying away is always going to be a pain. As it is for many people without ho.e charging.

 

[NewbieT]

VAT on charging away from home has to get sorted. As does street light chargers. Destination chargers - you’re not likely to get my custom without it.

 

[Jason71]

But "average Joe" doesn't have to plan road trips using their ICE cars, so assume EVs should be the same... Unfortunately, without 100% destination charging staying away is always going to be a pain. As it is for many people without ho.e charging.

I don't think anyone is arguing those points but it does not have to as bad as the tabloids make out. My 85 year old parents, recent EV adopters and not techies at all, have made several road trips in their non Tesla EV. No destination charging and no problems. Even in the charging desert that is Devon. A little bit of advice from me at the start like use ABRP and Zapmap and some tips on the most reliable charge networks etc and they were set.

 

[spdpsba]

But "average Joe" doesn't have to plan road trips using their ICE cars, so assume EVs should be the same... Unfortunately, without 100% destination charging staying away is always going to be a pain. As it is for many people without ho.e charging.

As this is a Tesla forum I am countering your views regarding ‘average joe’ - even an ‘average joe’ who is doing a road trip will check how far his destination is and how much fuel he has got at the beginning of his trip. He may not do the more nuances bit of thing what an EV driver has to do in terms of filling in during the journey. But isn’t Tesla made to be driven like that? And I am sure we still can drive Tesla like how an ‘average joe’ drives an ICE car without any pre planning. Tesla’s SC network, their charger rerouting and their battery reconditioning (Let’s not bring in other variables like Tesla battery reconditioning forcing early charging stops etc.,) etc., is so good we can still get in and drive with as minimal planning as we do for ICE cars. I have done one of those trips with apparently no drama or publicity.

An ‘average joe’ with other EVs may have to plan etc., but most of us can manage Teslas just like an ICE. The planning ahead etc., helps more efficient EV way of travelling and to an extent the early adaptors in any field are more or less organised individuals who plans ahead.

 

[Jason71]

As this is a Tesla forum I am countering your views regarding ‘average joe’ - even an ‘average joe’ who is doing a road trip will check how far his destination is and how much fuel he has got at the beginning of his trip. He may not do the more nuances bit of thing what an EV driver has to do in terms of filling in during the journey. But isn’t Tesla made to be driven like that? And I am sure we still can drive Tesla like how an ‘average joe’ drives an ICE car without any pre planning. Tesla’s SC network, their charger rerouting and their battery reconditioning (Let’s not bring in other variables like Tesla battery reconditioning forcing early charging stops etc.,) etc., is so good we can still get in and drive with as minimal planning as we do for ICE cars. I have done one of those trips with apparently no drama or publicity.

An ‘average joe’ with other EVs may have to plan etc., but most of us can manage Teslas just like an ICE. The planning ahead etc., helps more efficient EV way of travelling and to an extent the early adaptors in any field are more or less organised individuals who plans ahead.

Funnily enough the 'journalists' writing EV roadtrip failure porn never seem to choose Teslas for their target jouneys

 

[Skie]

The average person has the forward thinking skills of a mayfly. It’s terrifying how little effort people will put into thinking ahead.

 

[pgkevet]

Re planning. With any Ice so long as the tank is above empty you can go anywhere and find fuel within 25 miles.. usually lots closer. For an ev you need home charging and keep it at 80% or more to be able to just leap in and go. Especially if you live more rurally and need to go cross country. You have to plan unless on motorway routes. Folks without home charging will have a hard time.

 

[Mrklaw]

As this is a Tesla forum I am countering your views regarding ‘average joe’ - even an ‘average joe’ who is doing a road trip will check how far his destination is and how much fuel he has got at the beginning of his trip. He may not do the more nuances bit of thing what an EV driver has to do in terms of filling in during the journey. But isn’t Tesla made to be driven like that? And I am sure we still can drive Tesla like how an ‘average joe’ drives an ICE car without any pre planning. Tesla’s SC network, their charger rerouting and their battery reconditioning (Let’s not bring in other variables like Tesla battery reconditioning forcing early charging stops etc.,) etc., is so good we can still get in and drive with as minimal planning as we do for ICE cars. I have done one of those trips with apparently no drama or publicity.

An ‘average joe’ with other EVs may have to plan etc., but most of us can manage Teslas just like an ICE. The planning ahead etc., helps more efficient EV way of travelling and to an extent the early adaptors in any field are more or less organised individuals who plans ahead.

I remember my dad planning trips down to Cornwall in the summer holidays in our Vauxhall Cavalier - loading up the trailer like it was a military exercise, packing the cooler box with sandwiches for packed lunch stops on the way, blankets in the back if the kids wanted to sleep, A-Z thumbed through and route (and backups) planned out as no satnav to carry you.

For long trips like when we went to switerland last year we planned but in ABRP and google maps to visualise where we’re going and roughly how to stop. I tried to get stops to coincide with lunch breaks or overnight stops. in the end it wasn’t needed as Aires have facilities readily available. But I didn’t know the area so you check. I’d have done the same with an ICE car other than perhaps the stops.

Once you’ve done a trip a few times you know the area you know the pinch points (traffic mainly but add in chargers for EV owners) but you can pretty much do it by ear because you arleady have that plan in your head.

But for new trips I assume most people plan ahead regardless of EV, ICE, or even train.

 

[NeilG40]

I remember my dad planning trips down to Cornwall in the summer holidays in our Vauxhall Cavalier - loading up the trailer like it was a military exercise, packing the cooler box with sandwiches for packed lunch stops on the way, blankets in the back if the kids wanted to sleep, A-Z thumbed through and route (and backups) planned out as no satnav to carry you.

Yeah, I remember my parents having the route down to the south coast written on a piece of paper even though we went every year.

 

[M3noob]

The average person has the forward thinking skills of a mayfly. It’s terrifying how little effort people will put into thinking ahead.

Human intelligence. Standard normal distribution of IQ scores. Half the population is below the mean. Look to your left. Look to your right. Don't drive next to one of them

 

[Mrklaw]

Yeah, I remember my parents having the route down to the south coast written on a piece of paper even though we went every year.

that was ages ago but my wife until pretty recently did the ‘A-Z’ thing but with google maps. She’d practically sit and memorise a new route as she didn’t trust satnav. Cue worried phone call from the side of the road somewhere near wokingham when she took the wrong junction and had no idea where to go.. And I’m supposed to navigate her back blind over the phone. Ah good times..

 

[Jason71]

Human intelligence. Standard normal distribution of IQ scores. Half the population is below the mean. Look to your left. Look to your right. Don't drive next to one of them

I am an optomist. I look forward to a time when everyone has above average IQ

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

that was ages ago but my wife until pretty recently did the ‘A-Z’ thing but with google maps. She’d practically sit and memorise a new route as she didn’t trust satnav. Cue worried phone call from the side of the road somewhere near Wokingham when she took the wrong junction and had no idea where to go.. And I’m supposed to navigate her back blind over the phone. Ah good times..

I had a holiday where we went from Maine to Prince Edward Island in Canada (in our Kona) (somewhere over 400 miles) and I wasn't absolutely, 100% sure we'd have mobile data to navigate easily to the chargers.
I noted all the addresses of the chargers on the route and distances between them so I could use offline alternatives.

It made me realise how much of a mobile data dependency there is with the limited charging stops.

Turned out to be fine for data, and driving back I just adjusted on the fly based on the (low) efficiency I was seeing (probably due to strong head or crosswinds).
It'd be even easier now with more charging locations on this side of the border.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I look forward to a time when everyone has above average IQ

I'd like a copy of your Man Maths pls

 

[Wybrook]

Yeah, I remember my parents having the route down to the south coast written on a piece of paper even though we went every year.

I can remember my Dad getting the AA to provide a printed set of route instructions when we drove from Perthshire to the South of England. They included distances between instructions and total trip distance. Worked well most of the time, but in a forewarning of the Tesla SatNav they got the exit number from roundabouts wrong too - but only occasionally, rather than Tesla’s c. 50% failure rate.

 

[RedMod3]

I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive when I went on my first 510-mile drive to Scotland (and my first use of superchargers) in my M3P. However, my concern was misplaced and I enjoyed two quiet return trips last year, with one on the hottest day at 41C with no worries as the Tesla and my bladder determined the stops and charging.

I'll be done the same in a month, this time no worries at all.

 

[spdpsba]

I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive when I went on my first 510-mile drive to Scotland (and my first use of superchargers) in my M3P. However, my concern was misplaced and I enjoyed two quiet return trips last year, with one on the hottest day at 41C with no worries as the Tesla and my bladder determined the stops and charging.

I'll be done the same in a month, this time no worries at all.

I do regular Cornwall trips with occasional one stop or regular two stops without any planning just like what I did in ICE cars. As someone mentioned it is true that we can go without much planning to regular places in a Tesla as long as you are familiar with how much you can push on. And I guess that leaves only 5-10% population who goes to new places in a car 4-5 times a year every other year. Roughly that works out to around 20,000 people in UK. Out of that 20,000 even if we assume around 10% as an ‘average joe’ it will be around 200 to 300* people who goes to a new place without any planning. The question is are these people the target population for EV car makers?. I don’t think so. But these stories of how impractical EVs are will keep coming.

*Btw, these are rough numbers based on the number of EVs in UK. They are not absolute numbers and may vary depending on other factors.

 

[Mrklaw]

I do regular Cornwall trips with occasional one stop or regular two stops without any planning just like what I did in ICE cars. As someone mentioned it is true that we can go without much planning to regular places in a Tesla as long as you are familiar with how much you can push on. And I guess that leaves only 5-10% population who goes to new places in a car 4-5 times a year every other year. Roughly that works out to around 20,000 people in UK. Out of that 20,000 even if we assume around 10% as an ‘average joe’ it will be around 200 to 300* people who goes to a new place without any planning. The question is are these people the target population for EV car makers?. I don’t think so. But these stories of how impractical EVs are will keep coming.

*Btw, these are rough numbers based on the number of EVs in UK. They are not absolute numbers and may vary depending on other factors.

Exeter looks to be turning into a pretty big hub now (they need queue management..) - aside from that Tesla has decent coverage up the M4 and M3/A303 (less so here). Not sure about up the M5. M40 Banbury is there for everyone too.

So realyl that leaves the leg of Cornwall. Tesla has Lifton and cambourne so you have a handy 'last mile' stop you can use for local travel if you're heading deep. So for non-tesla 'all' they really need is a couple of equivalents to those two deeper into cornwall.. hopefully soon?