Why did you buy a plug in and not an electric car.

I didn’t say all MN drivers. But my weekly experience of 240 miles on I-94. In WI. The majority of vehicles Passing me in the left lane at pretty good clips have MN plates. I call them MN trains, because It’s not uncommon to see 3-4 vehicles running together.
Also understand that many of the vehicles originate from the Twin Cities metro area and as with a lot of metro areas there are those drivers that just can’t drive fast enough.



iPhone X ?

 

Again, you said: "MN drivers are used to driving 75-80 in there home state".

I was politely trying to point out that was incorrect. They do not drive like that in MN. The quote was misleading. Intent is understood.

 

Aussi @alanclarkeau points out the long distance requirement is not unique to USA drivers:

Those who live in the midwest are well aquatinted with journeys like these which are sometimes unplanned:

So for about $104 in gas, @john1701a carried himself and a mix of three seats and cargo space. The half the seats and space would be unaffordable from an airline. As for rentals, not only a higher gas cost because rentals are not as efficient, plus the daily rental rate. It is not impossible to drive 1,800 miles in a BEV but there are limited charger routes. Connecting to these routes adds 100s of miles, each way.

The other day, a Tesla passed before I turned onto the same road and I felt pity for the long distance limitations of their ride. Their recharging times and distances remain nearly an order of magnitude worse compared to refueling either of our plug-in hybrids. In effect, BEV limitations forces use of airlines, rentals, or that mostly parked, garaged ICE car.

Bob Wilson

 

Don't overlook that we had transportation available from hotel to holiday-gathering location (family home out in the middle of nowhere) that entire visit too.

There in Wyoming, the closest airport is 350 miles away. So, flying is totally out of the question anyway... not to mention having a bunch of Christmas gifts to transport.

 

From a time perspective, I think something like 250-300 miles would be a minimum for when it might be worth flying after you factor in all the time to drive to to the airport, check-in, board, taxi, fly, etc. at both ends and finally get to the destination.

From a cost perspective, that's much harder to figure out. Certainly, it's a better proposition if you can avoid having a car and use that savings to offset the cost of flying. If you're going to have a car either way, and it's just a matter of what type of car and miles driven, the equation gets harder to justify flying.

Certainly round-trip cross-country (5000 miles) for $400 is $0.08/mile...Definitely worth it.
If I travel from Boston to DC (which I do periodically), it's a 7 hour drive for me so flying is faster by a couple hours...I usually fly...
But it's still $250 to fly (that's $0.31/mile) plus parking, rental fees at the other end, etc. Call it close to $400 for a day or two trip.
If I drive, it's $33 in gas, a similar amount in tolls and factor in wear on the car ($30000 car that lives for 200K miles = $0.15/mile) then I'm probably approaching about $200 to drive...Getting close and maybe worth it to save the extra time/hassle of driving but that is close to my radius.

 

To me, the hassle of driving is smaller than the hassle of flying - by far.

So my break-even is more like 600 miles.

 

To answer the OP’s question.

Range limits and lack of charging infrastructure in the somewhat rural areas I tend to go. That said, when I decided to get our Volt almost 2 years ago, there were no 300 + mile range BEV’s on the market. Today We have a few options. All Tesla’s at the moment. The TM3 is rated at 330+ with aero-wheel option. 310 without. But more manufacture choices are coming. Then it becomes an infrastructure issue. Currently there are No destination charging solutions for my lifestyle of traveling.

Incidentally the full tank and pack range of our Volt is 327.

My next vehicle will likely be BEV, however, I will likely keep my Prius as long as the Pack holds up. I have always had multiple vehicles anyway.

Incidentally the past 3 holiday seasons we have Driven to AZ from WI for 2 weeks. Each trip was a slightly different route. I enjoy driving and seeing the out of the way sights at Ground level.

Years 1 and 2 were in the Prius. Last year I had a strange anomaly going on with the Prius. I did not Trust taking it on the Long trip. I could have taken our Volt but the trip would have run it out of the CPO b2b warranty 4 months early. Instead I chose to Rent a car for the trip from Enterprise. $330. It was a 2015 Chrysler 200. I was blown away by the ride, comfort and efficiency of it. The Trip Average was 36.1 mpg over 3800 miles. I would do it again at the drop of a hat.

This past August we took our Volt on its first major 2 week trip to the west coast and catch the Eclipse just south of Glenrock WY. The MPG average for the 5600 mile trek was 35.1 I was never able to plug in at any of the locations we stayed overnight. It was a lot of fun regening on the mountain slopes though.

During that trip, I did spot several Teslas. One in particular was in Wyoming headed east on I-90 back to New york (license plate) I assumed from what appeared to be a family vacation. Wife and kids plus pulling a trailer with outdoor adventure gear packed onto it.



iPhone X ?

 

I bet there was a generator in the trailer. The "supercharger" network has "holes," for many western routes.

SM-G950U using PriusChat mobile app

 

The original range extender.

 

100% agree.
With 300+ mile ranges, it is starting to become much more interesting to me. More infrastructure will help but there is still that nagging problem of the time it takes to charge. What is the time to fully charge one of these 300+ mile vehicles? If it's more than a short time, then I would really want the range to be what I drive in a day so overnight charging would then set me up for the following day.

 

Thats pretty funny and clever.

Actually the I-90 route is fully setup with Superchargers and they are shortening the distances between some of the longer gaps. I-94 across ND is not covered yet. But it is scheduled to be completed in 2018.


iPhone X ?

 

You can put in 300 miles in 45 minutes to 1 hour at a Supercharger.
300 miles might take 1.5-2 hours at a 50kW ICS or CHAdeMO charger.
300 miles will take approximately 12-15 hours at an L2 (destination) charger.

 

Simple, we live in a condo and have no charging station at home. We charge around town when we can, or when we visit my parent’s house (using the standard 120V). So far it’s been great! The gas mileage itself is amazing even when not using EV (came from a 2007 TSX which averaged around 16-18mpg on 92 octane, gas was $$$$$!! )

 

Best answer, read the comments: Electric car charging on the road has to be way, way better than it is today (Page 2)

Yes some have no problem but many others are forced into extra miles and the uncertainty of EVSE status. In contrast, plugin hybrids just crank up the ICE and complete their trip.

Bob Wilson

 

So I see people in this forum willing to carry a spare tire just in case they get a flat. I'll call that "flat" anxiety...
If you're worried about range in a BEV, this guy has found an interesting solution.
charging on generator - My Nissan Leaf Forum
I also saw a video of someone charging a Tesla this way.

You would be reduced to 4 MPH but you would not be stuck...

 

Actually I'm looking at technical solution that in effect makes any tire "run flat": Tyron: Runflat Tyre Protection.

Expensive, it makes more sense on our BMW i3-REx which doesn't come with a jack and has less volume to carry a spare. The main thing is to preserve the expensive, alloy wheels and avoid waiting for a tow. If the tire can be plug fixed in the field, great. If a sidewall problem, the tire is not repairable so keep it on the rim long enough to reach a service center or a nicer place to wait for a tow.

Bob Wilson

 

I'm one of those willing to take my chances on having non-run flat tires, and no spare. It's been 30 years since i've had a puncture that leaked fast enough to actually go "flat" while driving.

SM-G950U using PriusChat mobile app

 

Very interesting. Never seen them before. I didn't realize that the tire slipping on the rim was a significant contributor to shredding the tire and ruining the rims. At first, I thought the band was thicker to provide some support to the middle of the tire and keep the rims off the ground but that doesn't appear to be the case. Let us know how they work if you get them.

 

I also am willing to take a chance on no spare or run flat tires. Only 1 time in the last 30 years did I have a tire problem that was fast enough to be a problem. (an actual blow out) It was on my gen 3 prius last year and the tire was totally destroyed. I had a spare then, but I really can't change the tire very well myself, so I'm better served by an AAA account for towing.

Though if I could get decent LRR run flat tires. I'd certainly think about it!