Comment by harshaw | Hacker News Reader

Comment by harshaw | Hacker News Reader

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I have an Ioniq 5 and a PHEV pacifica. I love the ioniq5 and do new england road trips with it for skiing. I only have to hunt for fast charging on these longer trips so it's kind of a fun route planning game. I also love having the minivan to take 6 people anywhere and not worry about charging. I have the luxury of picking the right tool for the job. Not everyone else does.

After owning an EV I have come to appreciate that gasoline is frigging magical and convenient. You just fill up in a couple of minutes and go. I think people are *way* over estimating the middle majority's appetite for EVs. Once you burn through the early adopters (which we haven't done yet) I think it is going to be a long hard slog to convince most folks to move. I think this is going to be a super huge political issue. If the republicans take up the ICE vs EV battle they will move to quickly turn over this 2035 mandate because their constituents love driving these super convenient, cheap, and powerful ICE vehicles, especially trucks. I hope I am wrong.

Gasoline is a pain in the ass. You have to go out and fill your car up in dirty gas stations once or twice per week, and the time you’ll need gas is invariably the moment when you’re in the biggest hurry and can’t waste the time filling up. EVs, on the other hand, eliminate all of that. It is as though a magical fairy comes to my house every night (and again between every minor drive) and fills my “tank” to the top. Charging only becomes noticeable on long road trips, which is (for me) at most 2-3x per year, and then the superchargers make it into a slightly longer bathroom/meal break.

> the time you’ll need gas is invariably the moment when you’re in the biggest hurry and can’t waste the time filling up

If you're actually in a hurry, you can always fill up an ICE car in a couple minutes whereas the EV, not so much.

For example, we had to evacuate during the California wildfires a few years back. The EV wasn't full and didn't have enough range to get to a useful destination, so we left it behind. Luckily we're privileged to have many cars, so we took two of the ICE cars. One was near empty, so we filled it in under 5 minutes and were on our way.

But occasionally we think: imagine if we'd only had the EV and no way to get out ASAP?

(Fortunately nothing happened and the house and EV survived fine. But many others nearby weren't so lucky.)

And don't forget that you can alternatively rent an ICE car for long road trips.

> I only have to hunt for fast charging on these longer trips so it's kind of a fun route planning game.

Try the ABRP (a better route planner) app. It will route based on your vehicle and the charging networks you prefer. It’s free unless you want certain features like live headwinds.

Yeah, one person's fun is another person's yak shaving. I prefer my yaks to come bald already.

My expectation is that one combustion car owners have to pay more of the cost of that fuel choice they'll change over. Lots of people already drive 20 minutes to save $10 on a tank full, or queue at the gas station ditto.

What we're really waiting for is second hand EVs in real numbers, or the political decision that small, electric cars are the only ones allowed on most streets. That would dramatically cut the death rates from both pollution and vehicular homicide.

What I’m waiting for is the 3 row SUV that I already have to be available in an EV. I don’t want dorky “futuristic” styles and model names distinguishing it as an EV just basically what I have already. Then I could use the EV for my day to day and the ICE for emergencies or road-trips.

Have you seen the Volvo EX90? Other than the lidar sensor bump and no grille it mostly looks like any other Volvo SUV

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