Option C: I wasn't disputing your
math. I totally understand that you were focusing purely on mathematics and weren't trying to bash EV's, and that you were focusing on Supercharging. No worries - I don't view you negatively at all.
I dispute the
presupposition that the math is meaningful or useful as a comparative metric: that is the "dead wrong" bit. I reject the equivalency between fueling up time and charging up in any context - even on the road with a Supercharger, which I have done for years, it is fundamentally different. In fact, I should also add that we need to flip the argument that a 4-minute fuel-up is somehow superior on a road trip: it is in fact unhealthy (even without taking into consideration fumes and greasy/packaged gas station food).
I started with at-home charging to point out the principle. You may have missed my 3rd last paragraph (yeah, I talk too much) about Supercharging - I was ending up there. I'll expand:
On my most recent road trip with my son, we decided to see how fast we could go. We arrived at each Supercharger with 3-10% charge remaining, and then only charged up enough to arrive at the next one at that SoC. It worked like a charm. Twice we underestimated excess consumption, so we slowed down from going 10-15 km/h over the speed limit to speed limit, and it was just fine (and still never arrived with less than 3% remaining). This means we're driving for 1.25 - 2 hours between stops. Actually,
studies show that we should be taking breaks from sitting every 30 minutes - so any reduction is healthy for us. It also always keeps us charging near the maximum rate - we'd usually leave with less than 40% SoC. Almost all Superchargers were within 1-2 minutes of the Trans-Canada highway.
The problem was, the car tended to be ready sooner than we were - we enjoyed taking quick hikes around the block, or when we were in the mountains, finding a trail nearby. And, of course, when it was time to eat, a restaurant meant we charged up to 100% and we could skip the next Supercharger stop (if we wanted to - we usually ended up stopping for 5 minutes to stretch our legs and chat with other cool humans: another neat thing about SC's). It would take us 3 extra seconds to plug in (just like at home) since most Superchargers are very near restaurants or strip malls/stores (and we plan it out so we don't hit the crappy SCs in Saskatchewan during supper). So whenever we stopped to eat, even to buy a quick takeout lunch, we were saving time vs a gas car (plus getting more exercise - we didn't have to hang around the pump) because we could charge while consuming.
In the end, I spent less time actually driving (because we have early adopter free Supercharging, we didn't worry about wasting electrons going over the speed limit most of the time...), and the total trip was maybe a couple of hours longer - because we were forcing ourselves to take more breaks of 10+ minutes each, we felt more refreshed at the end of a long day of driving, got better rest, and could get earlier starts.
All this to say, I'm not against "facts," but I believe it's important to avoid falling into comparative traps that don't have pragmatic value, and talking about facts in isolation (ie. Supercharging is really a fraction of charging over a car's lifetime).
When people start pushing back about charging time (road trip or otherwise), and I tell them, "It takes me 3 seconds to charge" - they have never failed to stop, do a double-take, and when I explain, they reply, "Huh, I've never thought about it that way before" (because 3 seconds is just as factually correct as saying the hours/minutes for the battery to fill up on its own: it's a big boy, just needs permission). And if they push further, I then talk about how the only time I EVER charge from near-empty to full is on a road trip, and again, because I only do that while eating at a restaurant, the answer is the same: it only takes me 3 seconds, and then I live my life.
(sorry mods, I'll stop with this topic now. I think the principle of examining pre-suppositions applies to investing as well, but it's becoming a stretch...
)
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