# Road trip EV vs Gas **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 6, 2022, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080 "2022-09-06T19:42:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/21 "2022-09-08T01:20:35Z")
I’ll take my 2021 EV when I’m by myself, and suffer the suckage that is charging. Not only will it be 45 minutes charging, but 10 minutes each way out of my way to get to the yucky Walmart that has fast charger. Call it an hour per charge. I’ll take my 2022 ICE when I’m with my family, and spend at most 4 minutes filling the tank, and it will be 15 seconds from the interchange. My EV is the best car I’ve ever owned. It’s a Mustang Mach E, and I love it. Thank the old gods most of its use is local instead of long distance, though, because long distance travel sucks. Only idiots sugarcoat the issues, and charging on the road is an issue. I love my Mach E for its use cases. I love my Expedition for its use cases. Yes, my ICE is newer than my EV, and I think that means something. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/22 "2022-09-08T02:16:08Z")
If I owned a restaurant near a freeway in rural America, I would have a Tesla and a generic charger in my parking lot. Come in and eat while you charge. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/23 "2022-09-08T02:19:47Z")
Long distance travel sucks, and charging on the road is an issue, _for non-Tesla EVs_. Ford and other manufacturers have had years to build a charging network and failed to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/24 "2022-09-08T02:25:13Z")
I know of restaurants and hotels with both types of chargers, just as you describe. We have patronized them for their free charge. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/25 "2022-09-08T09:25:15Z")
Or, you can do what Bill Maher does: 1. Get rich. 2. Buy a Tesla for driving around town and short commutes, and an Audi for road trips. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/26 "2022-09-08T09:48:09Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Road trip car v horse > > Cars > Terrible roads not meant for tyres mean you can not go very fast. > Gasoline needs to be purchased in cans at hardware stores - regular business hours only. > Regular repairs are costly and many blacksmith shops don’t know how to work on them. > > Horse > Can go on most any kind of pathway > Hay is available readily and is often free right on the side of the path! > Blacksmiths are plentiful and helpful for any horseshoe or tack repair needed. Very nicely done! 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/27 "2022-09-08T11:16:51Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Terrible roads not meant for tyres mean you can not go very fast. > Gasoline needs to be purchased in cans at hardware stores - regular business hours only. > Regular repairs are costly and many blacksmith shops don’t know how to work on them. earlier on, gasoline was sold mostly in pharmacies … and on a tangent a couple of years ago I visited a smallish island just 20 miles off the pacific coast … and the driver did a stop at a hardware store and came back with a 2 liter “Coca Cola” PET bottle full of gas to top up … so this is still a thing 😉 oh… and there were horses everywhere ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/28 "2022-09-08T11:25:00Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Just like the internal combustion infrastructure got better, so will the EV. Eventually. another analogy … some of you will recall the 90ies internet … when you had to watch how a .jpeg would load slowly on a webpage… td;dr: infrastructure grows seamlessly with demand (if demand is backed by $$$) hell, i thought - if it takes 10-20 sec. to transfer a 60kb jpeg how could they ever transfer those ridiculously huge 64kbp .mp3 files in real time … if people start doing that, they wil bog down the interwebs for all the others …let alone video which is another 100 or 1000 times more data to be shuffled around … yet here we are with millions of people streaming HD/60 and 4K content in real time all over the planet > [@aruvqan](#): > > I will not get an EV in the near future - the property we own in Nevada is 45 minutes from the nearest place of decent shopping [Dyer itself has a convenience store and gas station] and 250 miles from Las Vegas. So, while I might be able to get somewhere, until there is absolute dependable access to a charging station, screw it, I am all about the internal combustion. this (Nevada!) is the perfece usage case for having some 10 pv panels on your roof and be your own Exxon/Shel/Citgo … or what did I miss? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/29 "2022-09-08T11:30:15Z")
> Road Trip EV vs Gas I have no practical experience, but my feeling has always been EV vehicles are best for local driving because of all the reasons you’ve stated. There are too many variables, and one is too far from home to take risks. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/30 "2022-09-08T11:36:01Z")
factor in oil-changes, engine tune-up, brakes, timing belt changes,… and other ICE related cost - and the gap will be even wider … ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/31 "2022-09-08T12:00:34Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > hell, i thought - if it takes 10-20 sec. to transfer a 60kb jpeg how could they ever transfer those ridiculously huge 64kbp .mp3 files in real time … if people start doing that, they wil bog down the interwebs for all the others …let alone video which is another 100 or 1000 times more data to be shuffled around … My wife has a screenshot of me saying this in 1999 in another forum. She trots it out every time I am predicting some trend is unsustainable. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/32 "2022-09-08T12:03:45Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > There are too many variables, and one is too far from home to take risks. There are new variables, but they are on a similar class as the ones for ICE cars. The difference is that you’re not used to the new variables. Finding a charger can be an issue, but there are solutions and people seem to take long trips in EVs all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/33 "2022-09-08T12:05:38Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Finding a charger can be an issue, but there are solutions and people seem to take long trips in EVs all the time. You’re right, but I’m a “scaredy-cat”. LOL ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/34 "2022-09-08T12:07:06Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > > Road Trip EV vs Gas > > I have no practical experience, but my feeling has always been EV vehicles are best for local driving because of all the reasons you’ve stated. There are too many variables, and one is too far from home to take risks. A reasonable position as far as it goes. But I’d suggest that for everyone, including both you and me, it’s _essential_ to always tack the word “yet” onto the back of one’s thinking about EVs. If we leave that word out, we tend to ossify our thinking and will become one of those very late adopters whining all the way about what’s lost while giving no value to what’s gained. And the older we each get, the stronger that human tendency becomes. “Yet” is a very powerful word. Perhaps interestingly, I’m going through an EV feasibility transition myself just now. We live a mostly urban/suburban short-trip life. 0-20 miles is a typical day for us. When I do work, it’s 45 miles one-way to my job where I leave the car overnight before returning; I also retire in just a few months and that drive will be a thing of the past. 100 miles / day probably covers 360 days of our year, and 200 miles/day covers the other 5. Our region of the country has decent EV adoption, and the public charging infrastructure is OK-ish today and getting better daily. We are now about to move from an older condo with no realistic expectation of EV charger retrofit, to a new complex with EV charging available, albeit shared. The sudden existence of home charging where there was no hope before is a game-changer. We both have fairly new ICEs, but I expect our next car will be some flavor of EV. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/35 "2022-09-08T12:48:47Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Or, you can do what Bill Maher does: > > 1. Get rich. > 2. Buy a Tesla for driving around town and short commutes, and an Audi for road trips. You don’t need to be rich; many households, particularly those with more than one driver, have multiple vehicles. So you too can have both an ICE vehicle and an EV. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/36 "2022-09-08T12:59:51Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > You don’t need to be rich In fact, the really rich don’t seem to be the ones most heavily adopting EVs. In my observation, the upper middle class seems to be the ones who are doing EVs more than any other. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/37 "2022-09-08T15:04:16Z")
People keep talking about 45 minute stops to charge. That is the worst case scenario, and is not going to be typical. From my last EV road trip I’ve listed the actual lengths of time I was charging and the percentage of fill for each charge. This is in a Tesla, at Tesla superchargers, so the current best case scenario for road trip charging. TL;DR: If you’re going for maximum time efficiency, charging stops will be less than 15 minutes, and often 5-10 minutes. A few important things to keep in mind: - The \* represent destination charging. - Look at the “Start %” on the next line to see how much **extra** time was spent charging that was not necessary. Any time the next “Start %” is over 20, then extra time was spent charging where more efficient travelers would have been back on the road. For example, there is no car related reason #4 needed to be a 32 minute stop—it was _people_ that made it a long stop. - Unlike a gas car, there is no good reason to charge until full, unless **maximum** range is needed, such as charge #6. - Charge speed is not linear, so the lowest times are achieved by driving to as low of a percent as you’re comfortable, and then charging only as much as necessary to get to the next charger. Charges 7, 11, and 15 are good examples of this. Those are charges where the car went from a low charge, to just the amount needed to make the next stop, with a 20% cushion. | # | Minutes | Start % | End % | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | 23 | 56 | 92 | | 2 | 22 | 24 | 82 | | 3 | 27 | 41 | 92 | | 4 | 32 | 40 | 90 | | 5 | 25 | 50 | 88 | | 6 | 42 | 14 | 97 | | 7 | 13 | 17 | 72 | | 8 | \* | 25 | 100 | | 9 | 17 | 34 | 80 | | 10 | 41 | 39 | 98 | | 11 | 13 | 39 | 77 | | 12 | \* | 17 | 100 | | 13 | 18 | 27 | 81 | | 14 | 28 | 31 | 91 | | 15 | 6 | 23 | 51 | | 16 | \* | 28 | \* | ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/38 "2022-09-08T15:11:35Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > Long distance travel sucks, and charging on the road is an issue, _for non-Tesla EVs_. Ford and other manufacturers have had years to build a charging network and failed to do so. This is true. We have a Tesla and non-Tesla EV. While both work for road trips, the Tesla is far and away the better choice. It’s effortless. (and we bought just in time for the “free supercharging for life” promotion) We take very few trips over 200 miles, but we’ve taken a few that we wouldn’t have in an ICE vesicle, just because EV road trips are so enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/39 "2022-09-08T15:14:00Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > You’re right, but I’m a “scaredy-cat”. LOL And it’s possible (whether you’re aware of it or not) that you’ve been subtly influenced by the anti-EV propaganda than is incessantly being put about. If you do get more personal experience you’ll probably be less scared ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2022, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080/40 "2022-09-08T15:18:19Z")
I am not programmed … I am not programmed … 🤤 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/road-trip-ev-vs-gas/971080.md?page=3)