Great post. I wish that more people realized that you can't expect to put a square peg into a round hole.
Sent from my iPhone > On Jun 6, 2015, at 8:07 PM, Ben Goren via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > > I think a lot of "the gas folks" really do get that. The problem is that, > especially in the more sprawling metropolises, their lives are built such > that a car with only a two gallon "tank" just isn't any use to them. > > I have a good friend who lives in Surprise, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. She > works in downtown Phoenix, about 20 miles away. So far so good, right? That's > well within a Leaf's range. But she also not infrequently has to go to a > satellite office in Mesa, which is another 20 miles on the other side of > Phoenix. That works out to an 80 mile round trip, which is starting to get > iffy for the Leaf. And this is Phoenix, so that means air conditioning in the > summer isn't optional, especially when outside temperatures are well above > 110°F -- and that _definitely_ makes it iffy. > > But, of course, it doesn't just stop there...her in-laws live in Surprise, > which is about fifteen miles north of Goodyear and about 30 miles by freeway > from Phoenix. She not infrequently needs to get her kids to or from school in > Goodyear to their grandparents in Surprise -- and, of course, do this at the > end or start of the schoolday and without any time to "gas up." Even if she's > only working in Phoenix that day, that's pushing it for the Leaf -- and a > recipe for disaster if that happens to coincide with a trip to Mesa. > > And, of course, in nearly all situations, leaves her without any "Murphy > factor," without any room for contingencies, or options like going out of the > way to some interesting place for lunch, or a quick trip to the airport to > pick somebody up, and so on. > > Now, on the one hand, you could suggest that maybe she should live closer to > work and her in-laws should move closer to her. For all sorts of reasons not > worth discussing here, neither is an option, I can assure you. You could also > suggest that maybe she could get an electric vehicle and her husband can keep > a gasoline vehicle...but he actually works at the same office as she does, > and their child-taxi and similar duties are shared equally. Juggling who gets > the electric and who gets the gas would get awkward, especially if something > came up at the last minute...and does them little good if the one has to go > to Mesa the same day the other has to go to Surprise; whoever gets stuck with > the EV gets stuck, literally, by the side of the freeway in hundred-plus > weather waiting for a tow. > > And she's not at all an atypical case for somebody in the Valley of the Sun. > Pretty much the norm, in fact -- especially amongst those with the disposable > income that, until just very recently, has been required to even consider an > electric vehicle. > > So she and the millions like her who live here really aren't realistic > candidates for an electric vehicle, no matter how sweet the cars so often are > nor the convenience of starting each day with a full "tank" without having to > go to the gas station. > > Now, when realistic ranges, with the air conditioning running full blast in > the Phoenix summer and the rest, get solidly in the 200+ mile range, and > especially the 300+ mile range, and for "kid-friendly" minivans...well, at > that future date, you probably won't be able to stop her from buying one. > > Until then? > > Best to focus on those -- such as my parents -- for whom today's EVs are a > match made in heaven. They're still the minority, at least where I live...but > it's a rapidly growing minority with every new generation of vehicles. > > Cheers, > > b& > >> On Jun 6, 2015, at 6:52 PM, Robert Bruninga via EV <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> One way to describe the new Paradigm that EV’s bring to daily living to the >> typical gas driver is to say something like this: >> >> >> >> “Imagine if every day you came home and parked, you could stick a hose in >> your gas tank and get 2 gallons every night for only $1 a gallon.” >> >> >> >> Well, that’s exactly what you get with an EV when you come home and plug it >> into just your standard 120v outlet. Overnight, in 12 hours at 10 cents >> per kWh, you pick up 50 miles range for only about $2 of electricity. And >> the car is FULL the next day. >> >> >> >> Maybe then the gas folks will finally get it. >> >> >> >> Bob Bruninga, WB4APR >> -------------- next part -------------- >> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... >> URL: >> <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20150606/5f924f9c/attachment.htm> >> _______________________________________________ >> UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub >> http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org >> For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA >> (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > -------------- next part -------------- > A non-text attachment was scrubbed... > Name: signature.asc > Type: application/pgp-signature > Size: 801 bytes > Desc: Message signed with OpenPGP using GPGMail > URL: > <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20150606/55f5ab4f/attachment.pgp> > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA > (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
