What I think people feel about range anxiety is a combination of several internalizations:
- battery-powered toys run out of power at inconvenient times; that's our benchmark
- gasoline fuel stations are everywhere, and we know it takes 5-10 minutes for everything to be completed
- we can't afford to have a second vehicle just for long-range trips, so our annual longest trip is what we think about. Adding 30 minutes to every 10 minute stop might or might not be a problem
- we've all had the experience of waking up a little late, needing to get somewhere immediately, and then realizing that we need to fuel the car -- and that makes us 5 minutes late. If the equivalent makes us 35 minutes late, that's not acceptable
- in five years, is this car going to be undrivable because the batteries only hold half as much charge? Is it going to be worth much less because it needs a new $10K battery pack?
But the number one reason why people aren't buying electric cars is the same reason they aren't buying new cars: too damn expensive. US passenger car sales peaked in 1986. In 2018 they were lower than any year since 1951, and they have sunk even lower in every year since.
1951 car sales: 5.3 million
1986 car sales: 11.4 million
2018 car sales: 5.3 million
2022 car sales: 2.86 million
- battery-powered toys run out of power at inconvenient times; that's our benchmark
- gasoline fuel stations are everywhere, and we know it takes 5-10 minutes for everything to be completed
- we can't afford to have a second vehicle just for long-range trips, so our annual longest trip is what we think about. Adding 30 minutes to every 10 minute stop might or might not be a problem
- we've all had the experience of waking up a little late, needing to get somewhere immediately, and then realizing that we need to fuel the car -- and that makes us 5 minutes late. If the equivalent makes us 35 minutes late, that's not acceptable
- in five years, is this car going to be undrivable because the batteries only hold half as much charge? Is it going to be worth much less because it needs a new $10K battery pack?
But the number one reason why people aren't buying electric cars is the same reason they aren't buying new cars: too damn expensive. US passenger car sales peaked in 1986. In 2018 they were lower than any year since 1951, and they have sunk even lower in every year since.
1951 car sales: 5.3 million
1986 car sales: 11.4 million
2018 car sales: 5.3 million
2022 car sales: 2.86 million