A couple recently embarked on a 1500-mile road trip spanning from Detroit to Florida, attempting to prove that long-distance road trips in electric vehicles are “doable”. The duo completed the journey in a new Kia EV6 with an 800-volt charging system, which is supposedly one of the fastest on the market, and an “estimated” 274 mile battery range. The performance of the EV was documented in an Axios article.
There have been numerous accounts recently showing how inconvenient electric vehicles truly are when they are required to drive long distances in less than ideal conditions. It certainly feels as if the article was meant to convince people that EV’s are more capable than they really are, since they struggle to rival the performance of traditional gas-powered vehicles. Louder with Crowder commented:
I think this joint from Axios was supposed to be pro-EV, as it’s meant to illustrate how road trips with an electric vehicle are perfectly, quote, “doable.” Contrary to a number of reports that EV struggle to perform basic car and truck functions as opposed to their more reliable gas-powered counterparts.
The trip kicked off in cold Detroit, Michigan where temperatures were below freezing. These conditions are known to put a strain on EV batteries, causing their driving range to plummet. Bill, the driver of the EV, said, “When I left Detroit, the temperatures were in the low 30s and the vehicle said it had a range of 216 miles. A Kia engineer told us that the cold would put extra stress on the battery, draining it faster than normal. So I used only the heated steering wheel and heated seats while driving — no cabin heat.”
Turning off your cabin heat in the freezing cold just so you can reach the next charging station sounds like a horrible experience. A gas-powered vehicle certainly doesn’t face this issue. “But I did learn a lesson: Know where your next charging stop is before you leave, and make sure to have extra range upon arrival in case that charger is inoperable,” Bill said.
Furthermore, the whole trip ended up taking the couple four days to complete with 12 stops to charge the vehicle. The author said, “We stopped 12 times to recharge over the 1,500-mile journey. Charging times varied between 20 minutes and 55 minutes, depending on the state of the car’s battery and the speed of the chargers we used.” Filling your car up with gas might take 10 minutes even if you include time to use the restroom and get snacks.
This article attempts take a positive spin on new driving technology that clearly is inferior, at this point, to the gas-powered engines which have reliably transported us for well over a century. However, a realistic view of their road trip would conclude that this is incredibly inconvenient compared to the functionality of gasoline.
With states such as California and other blue states banning the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035, this could be a massive headache for drivers embarking on normal trips to visit family members during holidays, going on vacation, and more.
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