They are growing, I see more Tesla's on the road than ever before. All the major mfg now have either a pure EV or a Hybrid. Biggest concern, at least to me, is the charging. If your use is mainly around town or short out of town trips then the 300+ mile range is no problem. Charge at home over night. But if you are driving to Florida from Texas a different problem. Tesla has bult in a charging station locator on your route. But what about other cars, from what I've read a lot of the EV's now have adaptors to let them use the Tesla system. But this news will be a big help. Personally I would get one, except for the cost as I rarely drive more than 100 miles in a day. My longest trip is 150 miles when I go to Austin to visit relatives. I would love to have an EV but I need them to come down in cost a bit Oil and gas company BP has agreed to purchase $100 million worth of electric vehicle chargers from Tesla. This marks the first time Tesla has ever sold chargers to another company, according to an announcement from BP. BP will begin installing the chargers next year, but no specific number of chargers was mentioned in the announcement. The company is purchasing 250 kilowatt fast chargers, the sort usually called Superchargers by Tesla. These chargers won’t look like other Tesla chargers, though. They will be branded with a “BP Pulse” logo and will be used as part of BP’s own charging network. The chargers will be able to power vehicles with either Tesla’s NACS charging port, which many other automakers have announced they are switching to, or the CCS charging port currently common on most non-Tesla EVs. BP buys $100 million worth of Tesla chargers | CNN Business
So Teslas can "fast charge" and give you 200 miles in 15 minutes of charging. Of course that is in optimal conditions (temperature, etc)...and of course you're going to need to recharge before you get to 200 miles or else you have a dead car. So...figure 150 to 175 miles at a 15 minute charge. You could go for a "full charge" but I think the "topping off" of the charge goes slower after the first "burst". Now imagine all those gas stations with, say 12 gas pumps that are all along the interstate. I've had to wait for an open pump many times...and it only takes, I dunno, 5 minutes to fill the tank. Imagine pulling in to fill up your gas tank and every pump has a car sitting at it and the driver went inside to spend 15-20 minutes getting some food and using the restroom. Yeah, it's doable, I suppose...a lot more charging stations closer together on the highway...and a lot more charging stations at each rest stop...they may need a football field full of stations. Oh, and something for folks to do whilst they wait on their charge...they'll all have to be super rest stops with food, gift shops, places to sit, etc. I wonder if the feds are subsidizing any of this deal? As for me...still gonna pass on an EV. Would consider a hybrid, though.
I recently took a 2-hour round trip with a friend who owns a hybrid Toyota. The running mpg indicator consistently read around 64.5 mpg. He had driven it to Alaska and back earlier in the summer. He told me what he spent for gas vs. about what he would have spent if it wasn't a hybrid. That's when I decided that if I ever was going to go in that direction, I'd purchase a hybrid.
I'm right where Stu is....we really enjoy and take lengthy road trips regularly. Between the whole range anxiety thing and the thought of lengthy waits to top off the charge is till too much for me. Wife is making noises about wanting a new car for her soon, so maybe a hybrid.
Aside from the practical issues you fellas have mentioned, the big wigs who are pushing EV's still haven't addressed the real issue: Replacing even HALF of the current ICE vehicles on the road with EV's will completely detonate the electric grid. And that's not even considering if they add heavy trucking to the load as they also want. The basic infrastructure is not even close to in place for a switch like this, and forcing it WILL wreck everyone's standard of living. Rolling blackouts will be the NORM not the exception...
I have a niece who bought a hybrid and they love it, as most of their use is short trips so they rarely have to fill up the gas tank. I think the EV range is 30 miles then the gas engine kicks in. That would work for me as well. But so would a pure EV.
I could see myself in a hybrid but not in an EV as they are built now. I drive long range frequently. AN EV could add hours to the trip not to mention the stress factor. Too many variables. Another big factor is battery failure, replacement cost and disposal. I drive a full size Honda Accord that gets 37 mpg on the highway so I don't have the guilt factor either.
Mazda seems to be going down a road I've wondered about. If trains can use ICE engines (albeit diesel in trains) to generate power for the batties/electric motors, why not cars? This concept is also gorgeous. Mazda Says Rotary-Powered Iconic SP Concept Could Be Shrunk Down To MX-5 Size | Carscoops