I actually imagine that electric cars will be even more compelling for long-range — not because batteries will become that much better, but because of a quirk from electric car manufacturers: they care about aerodynamic performance, a lot more than their ICE predecessors. They have to, because of where batteries are.

Because of that, they are now getting close to having cars that can rely on solar panels for some of their energy. It’s not there yet, but there are working prototypes (Aptera is the most inspiring but not the only one). Telsa mentioned a solar roof extension on what sounded like a camper van. Large trucks have a lot of surfaces and would definitely benefit too…

If you look at how much energy has to go in and out, a very conservative drive on a highway has less acceleration per hour, and fewer buildings hiding the sun. You could imagine that a very aerodynamic vehicle driven slowly for long distances would be able to stay charged longer than a gas car.

You might hit limits of human attention (I think we did that a long time ago) so it might not be as beneficial as frequent high-speed chargers, but all that innovation tells me there’s more than a short commute and a disappointing aesthetic to switching to electric.