One of many. Easier to let them 'age out' as their kids and grandkids will easily adjust to the difference of EV life.
Bob Wilson
What annoying problems does an EV owner face?
- Thread starter Kenny Wallace
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Bob Wilson
Keith Smith
Active Member
Going across Texas in 1965, don't bypass a gas station, and have cash for fuel. Very similar in an EV today over the same stretches of roads, except cash doesn't work, make sure you have a phone, and all the apps. To be fair, it's not really that much of a problem, it just might require a modicum of planning and wee bit of patience.
Puppethead
Well-Known Member
People these days don't realize how easy it is to fuel up. Back before the mid- to late-1980s, you had to carefully plan your gasoline stops on long-distance trips. Either the gas stations were far and few between, or they would be closed outside of business hours and there was no way to pump gas on your own.
When I got my EV four years ago it felt very much like that, and charging has improved a lot since then but it's still something that has to be paid attention to.
Bruce M.
Well-Known Member
Having done most of my living and driving in urban areas and along busy interstates between major towns, I got surprised at times in the 2003-2018 period by the sparsity of gas stations in some rural stretches. Twice I got closer to running out of gas than was comfortable, though I'm sure the people who drive those roads regularly know the drill and where/when to stop. Bottom line is that people are mostly used to not thinking about when they need to fuel up, they want it to be easy and simple, and EV charging isn't there yet in many places. Here on the Big Island of Hawaii, it's really only a problem for people who can't charge at home (and fixing that should be an urgent priority) or those with EVs with really limited range like the first generation Leaf.
My 1972 cross country in a VW Microbus, I carried a 5 gallon, spare gas can for the 10 gallon tank. In areas of cheap cheap gas, fill up both. In areas of expensive gas, use the 5 gallon can to drive through that area.
Bob Wilson
Bob Wilson
I have both a Tesla and CCS-1 BMW i3 and charged both at Tesla V4 stations. The credit card has to be on your account.
When I charge the BMW, I follow the App instructions and the billing is handled via the previously registered account. Credit card credentials are not sent over the local WiFi. The V4 stations have a WiFi network.
The Tesla account credentials are handled over WiFi. I've not done a risk analysis but I suspect it is harder than ordinary Apps over regular WiFi networks.
Bob Wilson
Keith Smith
Active Member
After the little programming SNAFU at Tesla for the vehicles being programmed in the clear, I'd be willing to bet they went to the other extreme across the board. They caught a lot of sh*t (justified IMNSNO) for that one, but they fixed it rather quickly. Most CC transactions are tokenized, past the first window.
Just to Kenny and other new EV drivers out there, much of the discussion in this thread deals with frustrations with public charging, but if you can charge at home, those aren't much of a frustration. Been driving EVs for 7 years, and I rarely ever use public charging stations, I charge at home. We rarely go on long road trips, and when we do, we use the PHEV instead of one of the BEVs.
Bruce M.
Well-Known Member
Very much my situation. I almost never have to charge at public stations, though I will cheerfully pick up a free kilowatt or two at the ChargePoint station at my local Target store, which is free for the first hour. But if you can't charge at home, life in most places (including here on the Big Island of Hawaii) does get more complicated and inconvenient.