I drove a Tesla

[Spider-Dan]

The Lightning has significantly more torque and power than the gas F150, though that's not really the issue; the issue is range, which is indeed a problem.  How far are you normally towing your trailer?

[CF DolFan]

The Lightning has significantly more torque and power than the gas F150, though that's not really the issue; the issue is range, which is indeed a problem.  How far are you normally towing your trailer?

About 700 miles to the mountains depending on where we are going. Taking my boat to the coast and back is about 180 miles ... again depending on where I'm going. I've had this truck 2 years this past February and have almost 40K miles on it. Crazy part is it only gets used on nights and weekends as I have a work truck.

[Dave Gray]

There may be specific cases to very specific lifestyles or hobbies where it presents an actual problem, but most of the charging anxiety seems to be unfounded paranoia.

[CF DolFan]

There may be specific cases to very specific lifestyles or hobbies where it presents an actual problem, but most of the charging anxiety seems to be unfounded paranoia.

Maybe. The only personal experiences I know about have both EV autos and gas powered autos as a choice. We'll see if that changes with experience. One thing for sure is car manufacturers have significantly reduced production due to low sales.  It seems like Hybrid is the new thing. Around 2015 a guy I worked with had a Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and had a ton of issues. I'm sure they have gotten better by now.

[Dave Gray]

My close friend has had a hybrid for a long, long, long time now -- probably 10 years+. Honda Civic, I believe and it's been a good car for her.

But I don't really think they make much sense anymore.  Unless you're in a situation where you're going to NEED gas, which I don't think is hardly any people, since chargers are prevalent, it seems like you might be getting the worst of both worlds.  It was a great bridge technology.  But there are enough full electrics on the road that I think that's the way to go, if you're going to do it at all.

[Spider-Dan]

You should specify which type of hybrid you're talking about.

First, you have the conventional gas hybrids (HEVs) like the original Toyota Prius: vehicles that cannot plug in, but store some braking energy in batteries and use that energy to improve fuel economy.  There is no meaningful downside to this technology; the early worries about "replacing batteries" has proven unfounded.  If you can drive a gas car, you can drive a hybrid version of the same car, and the upcharge for the hybrid version is usually pretty small.

Next, you have plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) like the Chevy Volt or the Toyota RAV4 Prime.  These cars can drive locally all-electric, rarely using gas at all (I went over 8500 miles in 9+ months on a single tank of gas in my old Volt).  On paper, these vehicles have two separate drivetrains which increases complexity and potential for failure, but in my experience it actually worked like a redundancy; when I had problems with the EV drivetrain, the car simply switched over to gas-only.  I had a Volt for almost 7 years, I know several other people who've had them, and I never saw anyone have a failure that made the car undriveable.

The primary downsides of PHEVs are 1) they are significantly more expensive (this can be offset with rebates if the car qualifies) and 2) you have to be able to charge your car overnight to see any savings in fuel costs.  #2 is the biggest obstacle towards EV adoption in America as a whole; too many people park on the street or in surface lots, and cannot reasonably charge their car every night.

[Phishfan]

Chargers are not prevalent for traveling Dave. 

[Spider-Dan]

Chargers are quite prevalent for travel if you have a Tesla, and most of the other EVs will have access to the Tesla Supercharger network by the end of next year.

[Dave Gray]

Chargers are not prevalent for traveling Dave. 

I don't think that's true.  I believe that they are.  This was a fair concern 10 years ago, but I really do think they're pretty widely available.

[Dave Gray]

It's become very popular on social media to dunk on the Tesla, specifically the Cybertruck.

And a lot of the things that are pointed out are exactly the kind of thing that annoy me about tech like this.  Apparently, things like the windshield wiper sensor are overly complicated.  There are auto closing trunk sensors and stuff like that.  I don't mind that cars have those things for people who want them ... I just don't.  I can turn my wipers on when it's raining, should I choose.  I can close my own trunk.  I just feel like this stuff invites breakage and complication.

[Spider-Dan]

The Cybertruck is a deeply stupid (and dangerous!) vehicle, designed by a self-absorbed moron.

[CF DolFan]

It's become very popular on social media to dunk on the Tesla, specifically the Cybertruck.

And a lot of the things that are pointed out are exactly the kind of thing that annoy me about tech like this.  Apparently, things like the windshield wiper sensor are overly complicated.  There are auto closing trunk sensors and stuff like that.  I don't mind that cars have those things for people who want them ... I just don't.  I can turn my wipers on when it's raining, should I choose.  I can close my own trunk.  I just feel like this stuff invites breakage and complication.

In an effort to make things safer for dumb people they are making Collision-avoidance system's mandatory in a few years. The one in my Dodge work truck sucks balls. If you get close to anything it slams on the brakes. No wonder my neck is hurting  all the time.

[Spider-Dan]

Such systems wouldn't be needed (or would be needed less) if we weren't designing every truck to have a hood height at 4 feet+.  Trucks are far more deadly to pedestrians now than 20 years ago because they can't roll up on the hood anymore when struck; instead, they are simply plowed under.

[Phishfan]

https://www.dailydot.com/news/mercedes-15-dollars-for-10-percent-charge/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=DailyDot%2Fmagazine%2FTrending+on+TikTok

I didn't go looking for this but I thought the timing of it coming across was interesting.

[Spider-Dan]

Using fast chargers puts you right back at gas fuel costs.  The fuel savings from an EV is from charging overnight at home, and if you can't do that (or, say, charge at work for a reduced rate) then EVs are not cheaper to operate than gas vehicles.  Or as I said earlier:

2) you have to be able to charge your car overnight to see any savings in fuel costs.

Fast chargers exist to make long car trips possible in an EV, not to make them cheap.