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Comment by bryanlarsen | Hacker News Reader

If the car was plugged in before I left, then yes to all three.

The first is always true for at least a Tesla and you use the nav. A Tesla knows it's cold outside. If you punch a destination into your nav, it'll tell it what percentage will remain when you get there and it's always accurate.

The second is true if you charge the car while it's warm. We travelled from Ottawa to Quebec City in the cold, stopping to charge 3 times, and it always charged quickly. We knew enough to charge before parking the car rather than charging after the car has been parked.

The third is true if the car is plugged in and you tell it when you want to leave. It prewarms the cabin & battery.

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You had to stop 3 times for a 275 mile drive?!

Yes, my kids can't drive for more than 2 hours without a bathroom break, we never let the battery go below 40% in the winter in case of emergency, and the 3rd one was a charge at the end of the trip (see my answer to the second question).

ICE cars have to go to a gas station every ~500 miles. For some EV owners like me, the trade off in time saved refuelling an ICE car is spent on charging on rare long journeys. I actually save time overall. But each use-case is different.

I would filled up twice on a trip between Ottawa and Quebec City in a gasoline car in the winter. Never let your tank get below 50% in case of emergency, and there's no such thing as a "destination charger" for ICE's.

In the old days, they used to say that if you let your tank get too low in the winter, you could end up with moisture in the tank. It's probably been a while since that was actually true.

It seems that fewer and fewer people actually have any plan at all for emergencies.

> I would filled up twice on a trip between Ottawa and Quebec City in a gasoline car in the winter.

Why? A 275 mile drive should be easily done in any gas car without stopping.

Even my smallest tank car can do ~325 miles, my other cars can do ~425 and ~500 miles on one tank.

Mine can't even do 200.

I'm curious what car is it?

I started thinking maybe a sporty car (thus gas tank is not huge) with a huge engine (bad MPG) but couldn't find anything, even a Viper seems to get over 300 miles on the highway. Maybe some Ferrari with particularly bad MPG? Seems the worst is a 812GT, but that has a range of just under 300 miles. So I give up, what is it?

On long journeys I stop every 300-350 miles. Bladders can't make it longer than that, although the cars certainly can. I wouldn't stop at all on a 275 mile trip. I would fill up before I return, however.

Even in the winter? I've been stuck for hours in a vehicle in the winter; an empty fuel tank can't provide the heat that will keep you alive in that situation.

P.S. Most gasoline vehicles in my experience don't have 500 mile range, either. My Mazda 5 has a 375 mile range.

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