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Comment by bjarneh | Hacker News Reader

> I drive 300 miles point to point several times a month

EV's won't be better for you any time soon; unless the solid state batteries with a higher energy density become the norm. For long road trips, ICE vehicles are more convenient. That being said; I've drive an electric car (Model S) twice from Norway to Spain (3700 km ~ 2300 miles), so it's definitely doable, but it does add time compared to a doing the same trip with a regular ICE car. At highway speeds you can probably add 1 hour per every 2-3 hours of driving.

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We had an i3, and when on a summer vacation we noted our "usual" trip took about an hour longer due to a couple of recharge stops. However my SO, which drove the whole way, said she actually preferred it as she felt less exhausted when we arrived thanks to the extra stops. As such she was able to do more the evening we arrived.

Obviously others prefer to get there ASAP, but yeah, isn't necessarily clear cut.

> Obviously others prefer to get there ASAP

My problem with long road trips in an EV are not just the time added. Especially if you drive across Europe and rely on the supercharger network, you will notice that they are very often located in the middle of nowhere; next to a gas station or McDonald's. Not cool places to hang out for 45 minutes. There was one supercharger on my way to Spain (I think it was outside Bremen?) that was located next to a shopping mall, or "factory outlets" for Puma/Adidas etc. At that location 45 minutes flies by like nothing, it's actually to little time. But at some random gas-station, hotel or McDonald's in the middle of nowhere, 45 minutes feels way to much…

There’s nothing except you preventing you from taking an optional longer stop in an ICE car (with more flexibility on where you take it instead of being limited to just “anywhere within walking distance of the fast charger”)

Of course. But she hadn't considered the effects of the stops before being "forced" by the EV.

> At highway speeds you can probably add 1 hour per every 2-3 hours of driving.

Similar experience for me. Our family wrote off getting an EV until they're significantly better.

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