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Comment by monkeynotes | Hacker News Reader

Rubbish, fast charging is essential to long distance drives else now you are paying in time.

How many people need to make regular trips beyond EV range though?

In the US, many people drive 5+hr long-distance trips a few times a year at least (visit relatives, vacation, etc). So the idea of either getting fleeced or stranded a few times a year is unappealing.

So, probably less than <1% of your miles travelled then. And throughout the rest of your travels you're paying significantly less per mile than you would in an ICE car. Even if you use super chargers on your long distance trips then in the grand scheme of things it's still cheaper.

My closest big city is 4 hrs drive away. I know lots of people in the UK who drive to places in France for vacation. I bet mainland Europeans do the same.

And then there is just range anxiety which is always gonna be there. I've driven from Scotland to East Anglia and it took long enough with the awful traffic, put a slow charge into that mix and it would have been a multi-day trip.

I just don't get why people are so ready to blinker themselves to some of this stuff. EVs are still in early adopter stage, IMO, but we are fast tracking whole nations into forcing them to be the only option. And they are just not fit for some people's usecases.

> we are fast tracking whole nations into forcing them to be the only option

Where? Tell me one place that you know of in the foreseeable future that will prevent the use of ICE vehicles?

California is planning on preventing sale of new ICE vehicles in 12 years. So within 20 years, you’d expect it to be a prohibitively huge hassle to source a reasonably in-shape ICE vehicle.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/25/california-bans-the-sale-of-...

Sure, not going to disagree with that (I might suggest more than 8 years from the last sale, but no matter).

It's still not a ban on the continuing use of ICEs. If ICEs still represent a desirable choice for enough people/purposes, the support for them will be there.

> If ICEs still represent a desirable choice for enough people/purposes, the support for them will be there.

This means that of the people who want ICEs, a select few people with money will be able to afford it while those without money are told to make do.

Most people I know do this a few times a year at least. In the midwest we think nothing of a 20 hour drive to get to some vacation destination.

Sure for daily driving a EV has the range, but without good charging it doesn't work for vacations. That is a few weeks every year.

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