On the evlist (ev@listproc.sjsu.edu) there has been a discussion entitled “The Range Issue” and Christopher Robison had quite a bit to say on the subject.
Be sure to hum “Home on the Range” as you read:
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 12:14:48 -0500 (CDT)
This is an subject that is important to me in spite of not yet having a completed EV. Every year for several years now I’ve been going with AustinEV to the Renewable Energy Roundup in Fredericksburg, TX for what is usually our biggest event of the year. We show off our members’ electric vehicles and talk to the public about EVs and conversions.
The way the numbers work out, the typical visitor, though interested in what we’re doing, is not terribly impressed with our range capabilities, which in many cases tends to end the conversation. Though people come to the Roundup from all over the state and the southern US, most of the people there are from rural central Texas and so not being able to do a couple hundred miles at a time means the rest of the benefits of EVs fall on deaf ears. For those from nearby cities (Austin, San Antonio, Houston, etc), the range issue is less of a problem. Unfortunately though, I am often in a position where I don’t have a real good argument to support why someone should spend a new car's worth of money on an old car that can't do everything they would ever want it to do.
My ICE car (an Integra) gets consistently right at 300 miles per tank on the open highway, at 70-75mph speeds. That's far less than 1000 miles, but the reality is that my car does NOT have a 300 mile “range”. Critically, for the reason that it takes about two minutes to replace the spent energy in my car, my car actually has an *unlimited* range — I can drive *5000* miles before having to stop for longer than a few minutes, to change the oil. No one would ever need or be able to drive this far in a single trip even in the US, so the effect is what I call “arbitrary range.” With *one car*, I can go to work, or I can visit my parents 650 miles away! A car
that can't do this is “half a car” to most people. It will take another car to give them full capability.
Because quick recharging (less than 5 minutes) is currently not possible in a battery-powered vehicle, that means that in order to compete in public mindspace, range between recharging must be much higher to compensate if the car is to be considered a “whole car”. If it takes three *hours* to recharge, then clearly the range has to make up for it, right? If I spent three hours waiting for gas to fill, even if I could do it in my own garage, I would want to be able to drive forever. Add to that the fact that I can *only* do it in my garage — in most of the US and the world there are no public recharge stations — and this kills the deal for John Q. Public.
The viability of the concept seems to require the assumption that an EV is useful only if you also have an ICE vehicle, and this is usually brought up when talking to the public about our 40-mile cars. This means at least three cars for a typical two-adult household; at least one of which therefore won't fit in a typical garage. And, if you take the EV to work, then you know you won’t be able to do that extra unplanned errand on the other side of town during lunch, or meet with friends at the bar after work — you have to drive home and grab the other car. This impacts personal freedom
… and you know how us proud Americans gotsta have our “freedom”.
Bear in mind that my heart’s into this as much as anyone’s on this list. I’ve helped with friends’ projects and am now working on my own. I enjoy driving EVs for their quiet power, their lack of emissions (I get my energy from our local wind power program), their mechanical simplicity and easy maintenance. I think they’re a good idea, but I can’t deny that my interest is in part supported by my idealism. Making the argument that they are practical is very difficult, especially amongst the crowds of “average” folks in the middle of rural central Texas.
–chris
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Mind you, Chris is making this statement on the evlist, where the big toy boys meet. I usually have nothing to say there because a NEV is a baby electric car unworthy of consideration. The contributors to the list have racers and / or highway capable EVs. Most are conversions, a few are built from scratch or the very rare manufactured electric car (e.g., Corbin Sparrow, although there is a separate list for Sparrow owners).
Still the range issue is one common to all EVs. Chris “hits the nail on the head” or “is spot on” in identifying the main reason why everyone is not driving a electric car.
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Mark Hastings chimes in:
Growing up my whole live in CT then moving down here to TX I can see now that an EV Conversion down here is a huge strain on being practical even for someone who has a loves EVs. In CT everyone I knew thought it was impractical for anything including a train car and up there 10 miles was a long drive. After I started riding my bike to the train I sold the EVs because everywhere I went I could get on my bicycle. Probably wasn’t the greatest pro-EV statement but it was cheaper and healthier for me.
Now In Texas I had to give up my bicycle because the roads are not meant for anything but 50mph plus auto traffic which eliminates riding a bicycle and strains an EVs on my 25 round trip commute with the stop and go to 50mph or get run down. I don’t think a single other person in my work group could use an EV if they wanted to. They drive 600+ miles a week when they don’t go to their parents house on the weekend which means an additional 400+ miles. This is in the non-rural Dallas/Fort Worth area. The rural area I was in last weekend
looking for an MC donor I went 20 miles on a 75mph two-lane road between town lines an EV might be good for a farm truck or something.
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