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Comment by dromtrund | Hacker News Reader

A VW Golf starts at 35800€, and a VW ID.3 starts at 32800€, taxes included. Overall, electric cars are a bit cheaper than their counterparts, but not a lot. However, today, petrol is 2.15€/l and electricity is 0.013€/kWh. That's 11.20€/100km versus 0.185€/100km for the ID.3, literally two orders of magnitude cheaper. Everyone charges at home, and there's also a 40% discount in toll roads, which saves me about 8€ per day I'm commuting.

With the 3k€ lower price, a range of 430km, and fast charging stations every 30km along the major highways, there's just no reason to pick the Golf.

We still have a PHEV in addition to our electric car, but there's no reason to. If we're going on a 500km road trip, we'll take the electric BMW i4, no question.

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What if you were going on a 2000km road trip?

That distance is London to Stockholm by road, which is going to be unfathomably far for most Europeans. Maybe that could be a road trip across the full length of Norway or Sweden, but generally that’s a once-in-a-lifetime multi-country road trip that one will want to enjoy.

I’ve travelled London to Stockholm before, and the only reason to do it is to travel with a family pet. Otherwise flying or taking the train will be faster, and cheaper.

While for Americans, that is a comfortable middle distance for a family vacation. My family used to drive that far two or three times a year to visit family in Florida when I was a child.

This highlights why range anxiety is a much bigger issue for Americans than Europeans. That, combined with the considerably higher fuel prices, are why EVs do so much better in Europe than they do here in the USA.

I really liked the idea of a generator that could go in the truck bed for the F-150 Lightning. You could convert your car from EV to gas powered for those 2-3 times a year that you need to, while still charging at home and getting the benefits of an EV the rest of the time. You could even rent or borrow the device from dealerships. Alas it seems like this early concept will not be included in the final vehicle.

Yes, actually. I have to charge for 30-40 minutes every 5 hours or so. That fits well with my meal schedule, and most charging stations are at or close to restaurants or shops. Charging at these stations is almost as expensive as gasoline though.

I wouldn't normally drive more than 1000km in one trip though, and that's at most once per year.

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