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Comment by theonlybutlet | Hacker News Reader

If you read their account, they actually believe they would've made it there without stopping to charge, also they used a fast charging station on the trip which would've charged to 80% in 30 minutes (a much more usual break on a long 3 hour trip). Many people stop for lunch on their way to Kruger, I suspect they did this here. Charging overnight on the slowest plug point in Kruger also delivered up to 210km range, double what they needed per day in Kruger.

It's not really an issue they were just extremely cautious, something you'd expect in South Africa if you know anything about their power grid. I believe the author was actually trying to show it is actually feasible and range is not a concern.

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> I believe the author was actually trying to show it is actually feasible and range is not a concern.

I don't think that even the most anti-EV person is going to think that range is a concern for doing 100km off a full charge.

In a discussion where almost all of us are open to being convinced, it's even more pointless to link to a practical range of 100km/day.

(Also South African, so ... Hi? :-))

> 30 minutes (a much more usual break on a long 3 hour trip).

I am fascinated by this comment, because I don't consider a 3 hour trip to be particularly long. Certainly not long enough to require a half hour break in the middle of it.

That said, "range anxiety" isn't the reason that I won't buy an EV at all. Most of my driving would be well covered by EV ranges, and I'd be fine renting a car or using other transportation methods for the occasional long trip.

I personally know my attention span will not be 100% driving for 3 hours straight, a short break is necessary and parking, ordering a coffee can take a bit longer than you'd think.

…now look at the battery degradatiom from all that fast charging…

This is an interesting point. I'd like to see some stats on the cost of battery usage.

I'd also like to know how fast charging a lot but only from 20% to 80% works out cost wise over time. i.e. more stops to fast charge on a long journey but spending less time at each stop.

I have a feeling that if the car companies could get battery leasing and fast charging costs under control then a good charging network would cure a lot of range anxiety.

I've done long journeys in someone else's EV in the UK. Fast charging at motorway stops we'd make anyway really wasn't a problem but I don't know how that affects the cost depreciation.

(I still have the same old diesel car I've had from new for the last 10 years. I'd buy an electric car but I don't really drive much and I don't really like the current offerings).

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