“CHARGER HOGS”
Electric vehicles have gotten a bad rap…for good reason. They aren’t very good. We’ve had battery technology for over 100 years and yet we are precisely here. Even with recent advances they don’t get many miles per 20 minute “fill up” and they do other nasty things to their owners (like refusing to unlock the door or open a window to let them out if the battery fails). Even in the days of stagecoaches they had fresh horses for the next leg of the journey … why can’t they have fresh batteries?
As if that is not bad enough, now there is a growing criticism about how RUDE owners have become. Face it, owners have become rude because of the multiple failure scenarios associated with the vehicles they purchased. They feel like it was a mistake. They are angry and therefore don’t behave well.
For instance, if you own an electric vehicle, you have to travel 190 miles, and the car only can be relied upon for 220 miles, you might make some decisions based upon that info. For example, since you can’t depend on miles needed due to road repair programs, you will want some spare miles available. Plus, you may want to stop for a snack or a potty break (more miles).
Then the reliable miles figure is based upon a full battery. If you have a ¾ full battery you will need to top it off OR find a recharge station away from home (do you know if it is reliable?). Thus, the following headline is popping up among others criticizing owners:
“ ‘Charger hogs’ are ruining the electric vehicle experience. ”
Well! When the system is broken it is clearly the fault of the owners? However, if you read the article to which that headline is attached you find out that the problem really is too few chargers which is causing long wait times for those who merely want to exchange a half hour of time to get their batteries above 75%.
Stop right there! No one wants an 80% full battery! That’s dumb. I have not stopped at a gas station to get my tank ¾ full since the day I could afford a full tank. A ¾ full battery gets you half the miles of a full battery (if you are a careful person who doesn’t ride on “empty” all the time). If I had an electric vehicle with a ¾ full battery, when it got to 1/8th I would be riding with my window down so I could get out if it went dead. In a gas vehicle you can run it out of gas, open the door, reach into the trunk, pull out a gallon gas can, pour it into the car’s tank, and with a few cranks, roar down the road for another 20-30 miles. You can’t do that with an electric vehicle. If an electric dies, your only choice is a tow to a charger if the heat doesn’t kill you before help comes.
These owners merely want a margin of safety to get home or to the next charger. That’s being “competent” not a “charger hog.” Calling people names won’t solve the problems. Bad design + too few refill stations = an even worse design. If I ever get a battery vehicle it will be a golf cart. Then I won’t have the expectation that it will get me very far in the first place and will be easily recharged with a simple jumper cable attached to any 12 volt battery. But if I bought a $45,000 car I would want it to reliably take me where I need to go and home afterward. And I wouldn’t want to be called a “charger hog” by some bad tempered dude who has to wait a half hour to connect to get ¾ of a charge.
At what point does an intelligent person declare”this isn’t safe?” It is not the occasional long distance traveler who ends up spending far longer getting sufficient charge. It is still very common. Who wants to waste precious vacation time? For us, we know that some time soon we will be making a trip far away for a relative’s death or serious hospitalization. We can’t imagine trying to get there in a reasonable amount of time while simultaneously trying to find a charging station or two. More than that, how do you plan a hotel stay 250 miles away when you don’t know whether you will arrive before they sell your room to someone else? We don’t live in a third world country where time is fluid. We are Americans who live by our watches.
If time isn’t important, an oxcart is just as good as a jet. An oxcart would be excellent because you’d never worry about running out of fuel mid-trip. Speaking of “charger hogs,” you could even take your hogs to market in your cart or use the cart and a tarp for a traveling tent for the journey, no need for hotel reservations. Just set up shop at the edge of a Walmart parking lot.
While on the subject of public chargers for electric vehicles there are a myriad of weird things that can happen which will prevent your batteries from being charged properly. Thankfully, some of the earlier issues have been addressed, including there not being a proper adapter for your vehicle. However, there is one issue which will affect EVERY electric vehicle. The public charger station needs 2 things to operate properly. First, sufficient electric supply. If the electrical grid collapses, ain’t nobody gonna’ get a charge. Second, wifi/internet/phone service to the charging station. It relies on technology to take payment, as well as do other types of maintenance and safety features. For instance, the station has to “read” your vehicle’s system and access info about your batteries. If the technology system breaks down you aren’t going to get a charge either. Its like those air stations that gas stations installed that take your credit card… I used one once where it took my card but didn’t deliver any air pressure. Great! If you are expecting a battery boost but only get a credit card deduction you are going to be mad!
Some may think some of these same issues would prevent getting gas. That’s fair, except for two things … First, gas cans and hand-crank pumps. Second, a gasoline vehicle might go a lot farther before the need for a fill. Our car squeezes 40 miles per gallon-highway. With our 15.9 gallon tank that’s 636 miles (9 hours), which is to the Atlantic Ocean, New York City, Saginaw in Michigan, or about anywhere we would want to go. Can your EV match that?
[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere.
ALSO, Don is always open to offer his thoughts on various topics. If you have a specific request, you can let him know in a comment; he reads – and replies to – them all. ~ Sherry]
See more GUEST POSTS from Don!
Comments