this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2026
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I used to think this way until I actually drove an EV long distance. This tech is mature and useful for road trips. Most people aren’t willing to drive 12+ hour days anyway and that’s the only real way to get a time advantage out of a gas car.
I think the issue is like trucks in the USA. People buy what they think they need not what they actually they need and then underutilize it.
Speaking from embarassed experience, I live in the USA thought it would be OK for me to get a pickup truck because I literally do work in the trades. Even I underutilize it tbh, and I'm thinking about selling it. I mostly just drive it to and from work like any other car, and then move things around in the company vans, lol.
You don't need it 99% of the time, but in that 1% when you need it, you really need it. 99% simply isn’t enough because that 1% is really important.
Time on a road trip is way more important than time in regular drives. I don’t mind being 30min late getting back home from work, that happens all the time from traffic, but 30min late on a roadtrip means you’re missing daylight, or an appointment, or that restaurant you really wanted to try is closed. These are not imaginary hypotheticals, all of these situations have regularly happened to me even with gas cars.
This is fascinating to read because it's completely the opposite of how I think.
If I was regularly 30 min late coming home from work I would scream. Nobody has time for that!
30 min late on vacation? Who cares? You can't even plan any trip with that tight of tolerances, anyway. Too many factors beyond your control could delay you by more than 30 minutes, easily. As you say, this type of thing can happen even with gas cars, or trains, planes, boats, bicycles, etc.
Americans don't get much vacation time. Which makes what limited vacation time we do get much more precious. Losing 30min out of 365 days is a bummer, but losing 30min out of a 7 day vacation is worse. If you have the choice of spending an extra 30min at Walmart vs spending that 30min at the beach or sleeping in at the Hotel, which would you pick? That is exactly the trade off you make when choosing between a gas car and an EV on a road trip.
Yes, but it's worse with EVs. Why would I willingly make my experience worse on a vacation?
If that's really how you feel, I implore you to slow down and enjoy the trip as much as the destination. Who cares about an extra thirty minutes if you're basically enjoying all of them. And you're wasting much more of your vacation than thirty minutes if you hate the whole time you're travelling. Perhaps you have a perspective issue, more than a propellant issue.
And that 1% of the time is where renting is more effective perhaps even moreso with increasing gas costs
While that's a nice and logical thought, the fact is renting a car for a vacation adds price to the vacation and if youre already committed to a gigantic payment for a new car, renting a car for a trip is a non-starter for many people.
Not saying either is right or wrong. Everyone has to make their own value judgements for themselves.
I like my roadtrip vacations. OTOH you can also rent for your yearly holiday, but this can get pretty expensive quickly.
You and I have very different idea of what a road trip should be like
Yeah at tail end people are spending their free time in a widely different manners
Oh yeah, I regularly drive 14+ hour days myself. This is why I know that most people won't, because most people act like I'm fucking crazy. Which is why I think most of them would do fine with an EV
I own an EV
I have never once paid to charge it at a charging station
If I want to go on a long trip like you suggest for a few days, I can hire a vehicle (hybrid, obvs) and still be so far ahead financially that I wouldn't notice it
I used to believe the EV evangelists until I tried to drive EV on a road trip. I will never do it again. Why can't anybody just admit that there are real downsides which sometimes become a deal breaker?
I guess different people work differently. I'm speaking from my direct experience; I was cynical as hell until I actually tried it, and it really wasn't as bad as I expected.
Would I prefer an ICE car for a long distance road trip? Yes. Can I take an EV on a road trip and have a good time? Also yes. Was the EV cheaper than taking an ICE car an equivalent distance? Also yes.
I mean, I get it, it's not the end of the world. But given the choice, I still would never choose an EV over gas on long road trips. The difference is large enough that it matters. Trips are the time when I have the least tolerance for hassle, and even small inconveniences add up really fast.