CNN piece on Range Anxiety

[detlefo]

Interesting discussion of Range Anxiety

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/18/ev.charging.stations/index.html?hpt=C2

 

[DeaneG]

Nice to see an article on "range anxiety" that discusses the practical details rather than just raising FUD.

 

[walterbays]

http://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...9 \u201cRange Anxiety\u201d and Electric Cars

“Like it or not, many of us buy vehicles not only to fulfill our actual driving needs, but all our imagined or possible needs, too. As someone once observed, Americans buy four-wheel-drive SUVs to tow the boat they don't own up the mountain they never climb,” noted Edmunds.com Senior Consumer Advice Editor Philip Reed. “It would be fitting if the availability of electric cars helps to shift that perspective to a greener one.”

 

[EVDRIVER]

http://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...9 \u201cRange Anxiety\u201d and Electric Cars

“Like it or not, many of us buy vehicles not only to fulfill our actual driving needs, but all our imagined or possible needs, too. As someone once observed, Americans buy four-wheel-drive SUVs to tow the boat they don't own up the mountain they never climb,” noted Edmunds.com Senior Consumer Advice Editor Philip Reed. “It would be fitting if the availability of electric cars helps to shift that perspective to a greener one.”

If you need to tow a boat you don't buy a Accord. I still find it amusing people need an 8K pound Mecedes military SUV to get groceries or as a single city driver.

 

[BrendanDolan]

If you need to tow a boat you don't buy a Accord. I still find it amusing people need an 8K pound Mecedes military SUV to get groceries or as a single city driver.

"But I like sitting up high!" I love that excuse on why some of my friends need huge trucks when their commutes are 50 miles each way.

 

[EVDRIVER]

If you need to tow a boat you don't buy a Accord. I still find it amusing people need an 8K pound Mecedes military SUV to get groceries or as a single city driver.

"But I like sitting up high!" I love that excuse on why some of my friends need huge trucks when their commutes are 50 miles each way.

They can get a pillow or seat spacers.

 

[walterbays]

"But I like sitting up high!" I love that excuse on why some of my friends need huge trucks when their commutes are 50 miles each way.

I've seen a couple of these driving around. It looks like people are buying them and using them as SUV's, I suppose so they can ride up onto the bumper of a Hummer and intimidate it.

 

[retrodog]

In that guy's case, he should be carrying a generator. A small Honda EU2000 will put out 1.6 KW constant and that would keep you from getting stranded.

Range anxiety is a very real problem. I've been dealing with it for over two years on my Vectrix scooter. I am constantly having to calculate whether I can make it to and back from any destination that I come up with. Obviously it gets easier as you get more used to what it will do, but you do frequently need to go outside of your regular safe range area and that results in mental calculations, sometimes followed by nagging doubt.

I'm hoping that the ring indicator on the Leaf's nav system will greatly help with this. It is supposed to be a constantly updated indication of range (round trip or one way), as well as show charging stations. I'm looking forward to seeing how much this really helps.

 

[charlie1300]

Think about this: You would spend $25k - 30K on a product you expect to use daily for 6-8 years without very carefully assessing your actual needs to verify your choice exactly meets those needs?

If you do the assessment and it meets the criteria, then there is no reason for any kind of anxiety.

If you don't, you just blew $30K.

The cure for range anxiety(emotional response) is to use your cognitive abilities.

 

[Jimmydreams]

The cure for range anxiety(emotional response) is to use your cognitive abilities.

Oh PUHleeeze!!

Do you honestly expect most Americans to do that????

[/sarcasm off]

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

Think about this: You would spend $25k - 30K on a product you expect to use daily for 6-8 years without very carefully assessing your actual needs to verify your choice exactly meets those needs?

Grab six people at random and ask them how they bought their last car. You will be forced to re-evaluate your idea of "common sense".

 

[charlie1300]

Think about this: You would spend $25k - 30K on a product you expect to use daily for 6-8 years without very carefully assessing your actual needs to verify your choice exactly meets those needs?

Grab six people at random and ask them how they bought their last car. You will be forced to re-evaluate your idea of "common sense".

I'm certainly not claiming that most people use common sense - Just pointing out how easy it would be, and how much less stressing the result would be. If you spend $30K without thinking it thru, then maybe you deserve some anxiety. Yes, you can point to many types of major purchases that were done with out much thought - Housing bubble a perfect example.

 

[BetaMark]

For the last 9 years (about twice as long as I've kept any other car) I've been driving a 2002 Toyota Prius. It has been thoroughly reliable, and I average upwards of about 400 miles per tank. I'd originally planned to keep this car indefinitely... and then the Leaf came on the scene.

I've taken 2 test drives in a Leaf. After the 1st, I was still somewhat on the fence. I thought that while it was a very cool car, it was difficult to rationalize trading my car for one that has about a quarter of the range. After the 2nd drive, I understood the Leaf a bit better, and when I saw how well-thought-out the real-time feedback was as far as available range, time-to-charge at the various levels, instantaneous energy usage, etc. I 'got it.'

The metaphor of the Leaf strikes me as: Don't live life so fast... slow down a bit. Take more time getting to where you need to be (hypermile when necessary, and throw in a few extra 1/2 hours to quick charge on a road trip). in short, learn to take only what you need from the planet. (Of course, if you're on a short trip and have juice to spare, go ahead and floor it - it's a blast to drive! :mrgreen: ) I also believe that the introduction of the Leaf as well as the DOE and ECOtality's efforts to create a viable charging infrastructure represent a tremendous step forward in the technology of green transportation, no matter what the limitations might be at the outset. And I greatly want to be a part of it.

To this end, I've started a 'range awareness project,' setting my trip odometer when going to all the places around town that I normally go to on a routine basis. As it happens, my daily commute to work is a slam-dunk for an EV - 20 miles round trip on surface streets, no hills and in a mild climate (Southern California). And just about every other place I go is easily a 50-mile round trip, meaning it probably wouldn't be necessary to charge when out and about. The one challenge may be that every couple of months, I accompany my wife to a quilt guild she belongs to that meets out at Seal Beach, with one or two related excursions on the way back. The last time I clocked this, it turned out to be about 117 miles round trip. But one or two strategically placed L2 stations - or perhaps an L3 - would probably get me through, as well as perhaps doing a bit of surface street hypermiling.

So I guess the point I'm making with my rant is: plan ahead carefully and this thing will work. Next for me is the challenge of how to charge at my apartment complex...

 

[TimeHorse]

Grab six people at random and ask them how they bought their last car. You will be forced to re-evaluate your idea of "common sense".

Oh, my answer would be: well, bought consumer reports and found the most fuel-efficient car in the target class; I wanted something on the upper-medium size and that year it was a Toyota Avalon. Look up the MSRP, do some research and then negotiate with the dealer. He threw in some extras, I negotiated some more, got poor financing and drove off in my current vehicle.

This time, it's blog-n-bitch, plan for months, hurry up and wait, rush to install EVSE, bitch some more about Tax policy, design a bad-weather backup plan, contact dealers with the best deal, order, more waiting, contact the credit union about financing, buy and install the Leviton 7.6kW unit and then appear at my dealership, money and financing in place and whir home in my brand-spanking-new hot-red Nissan LEAF.

(And then go to a body shop to get it painted forest green like the Avalon.

The long and short of it is: to solve range anxiety, have a backup plan: second vehicle, car rental, whatever.