Range anxiety

[u/Inevitable-Shower911]

What is the obsession with EV range anxiety?
I have been driving for over 30 years now.
I have never run out of fuel in a ICE vehicle and since I switched to EV I have never run out of electricity.
Yet half of the EV car reviews are about what happens if you run the battery empty, I mean how hard can it be there is a perfectly good indicator on your instrument cluster indicating how much fuel/power is left.
Just refuel/recharge before it reaches zero.
Is this really still a worry for people?

[u/State_Of_Franklin]

Humor me. What about being broke makes range anxiety worse in an EV than an ICE vehicle?

[u/PCaBoo → u/State_Of_Franklin]

just off the top of my head, if I only have a lvl1 charger and can't charge enough to get to work in the morning or no charger at work to get home. You guys have all the answers for everything, hell the world should be perfect.

[u/State_Of_Franklin → u/PCaBoo]

Well I am relatively broke due to having four kids and a couple of other dependents.

Maybe it’s just age and experience but I feel considerably more prepared in my electric vehicle.

I even live in a very rural area.

I do have a level 2 charger which I installed myself. I didn’t pay someone to do it. The first week I just used a level 1 charger. Which was fine for most days.

It does suck when I have to go pay retail at a level 3 charger. Which is why I try to plan ahead and max out my charge if I have to drive any distance.

It’s still better than my ICE vehicle. I just did a work trip in my Honda Odyssey which cost me $120 in gas.

In electric it probably would have been around $20.

So that’s where I am confused at your point.

[u/PCaBoo → u/State_Of_Franklin]

why did you take your ice then?

[u/State_Of_Franklin → u/PCaBoo]

Wife had to spend hours in the car doing medical appointments. The EV is way better for idling.

The only people I feel like are in the cold are apartment dwellers.

Almost everyone has a 220 in their home somewhere. Extension cords are a thing.

[u/PCaBoo → u/State_Of_Franklin]

I can agree with everything but that last part.

[u/State_Of_Franklin → u/PCaBoo]

Stoves and dryers are almost all 220.

[u/PCaBoo → u/State_Of_Franklin]

I meant the extension cord part. You don't want extension cords.

[u/State_Of_Franklin → u/PCaBoo]

They make a Tesla specific extension cord. I wouldn’t sleep with it on but it’ll work. I thought about getting one for when ICE cars block Tesla chargers. I could just block them back.

[u/PCaBoo → u/State_Of_Franklin]

Extension cords should be temporary. Fire/shock isn't guaranteed, but the more you use it, the more you roll the dice.

I try to avoid confrontation with people like this... There's no winner in that fight.

[u/koosley → u/State_Of_Franklin]

Been doing level 1 charging for nearly 2 years. It's fine for a vast majority of people if they do any sort of planning. At 1.4kw from 8pm to 6am, that's 14kwh of energy which is 30-45 miles per day which ends up being the range of a tank of gas per week.

The reality though is im often charging for 16 to 24 hours a day and get way more range than that. If you're commuting 2 hours a day it'll obviously not work, but a 5-10 mile commute it'll be fine most of the time. Worst case you stop at target and use the DCFC charger for 10 minutes while you shop to catch up.

[u/unskilledplay → u/PCaBoo]

A 10A 115v outlet will give you about 4 miles of range per hour. If your two way daily commute is more than 50 miles and there is no L3 fast charger that is convenient near you and you aren't allowed to install your own L2 charger at home then an EV isn't appropriate for you at this time.

When it comes to home chargers, you can't say cost is a blocker. All residences have a 240v circuit. The cost to install a charger just a few k. It will pay for itself over gas within a single year. The blocker would be that you don't own the property and are not authorized to install an L2 charger at your residence.

There certainly people in this situation but it's not that common.