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thelastgallon

I don't know why the ICE folks keep repeating this narrative as if everyone is driving non-stop cross-country.

Only 0.8% of trips are over 100 miles. For 99.2% of trips, a round trip is possible with an EV range of 200 miles.

(1) 28% of trips are under a mile

(2) 52% under three miles

(3) 64% under five miles

(4) 79% under ten miles

(5) 93% under 25 miles

(6) 98% under 50 miles

For the trips >100 miles, most of these are in cities (regional) that are close by (Eg: {Dallas, Houston, Austin}, {LA,bay are}, {NYC,NJ,Philly,DE,CT}). The use-case of driving non-stop cross-country is non-existent. Nearly nobody does that, it costs 5 - 10X in gas + hotels. Even people who move, they ship their car.

https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/fotw-1230-marc...

https://evstatistics.com/2021/12/99-2-of-us-daily-trips-are-...

(edit: added sources)

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I think it’s less about driving non-stop cross country and more about how much of a long term decision and investment purchasing a car is. Even if only 1/100 trips I take is over 100 miles I still might want the car I purchase to be able to make that trip.

A drive of more than about 1000 miles might be nearly always unwise, but the average person drives 200+ miles in a day often enough that it is worth planning for. It's a valuable capability even if it's only needed twice a year.

Also note that, by your own numbers, a plug-in hybrid like the Prius Prime can do somewhere around 95% of trips without using any fuel. You can get nearly all the efficiency of an EV without paying the EV premium or sacrificing practicality.

I never understood the manufacturer/market(?) resistance to PHEVs.

Is it the from-wall-power inverter that was overly complicated/expensive?

It seemed like the best of all worlds with 00s/10s technology.

No range worries, majority of trips could be electric-only, no need to cram huge, expensive battery capacity in, and no user behavior training past "Also, plug your car in at night."

If the world in 2000 had mandated "And also, all vehicles must include some form of PHEV capability", we could have had a much easier transition to electrification via addition of charging at existing gas stations.

I do wildlife photography and generally do a few days camping out in the national parks. EVs do not work for me. Between getting to the park and driving around, I get a lot of range anxiety with a potential expensive tow if I run out. For urban usage, EVs are great.

Saying that most people don't drive country doesn't mean that no one drives cross country.

I regularly do 6+ hour trips.

Maybe you're different. Cool! World's big enough for different people.

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