Reflection on 5 years of EV driving

[Scandinavian]

I reflected a bit about all of us focussing so much on the GOM in the Taycan. Myself included. And the surprise that our range disappears with higher speeds, lower temperatures. Especially when navigating on a longer trip, trying to reach a certain charging stop! Of course there can be issues with the new technology and a fault in the drive train that triggers ones worry! But the same can happen in an ICE car.

I know I have a GOM for range in my DB9. But I have really never looked at that. Or have that displayed. I drive the car in towns, on the roads, motorways and Autobahn at high speeds. My consumption has in best case been, with the sun at the back, tailwind etc 24 mpg (imperial miles and gallons). But when beating it down the Autobahn or up mountain roads in Switzerland it has been down to 12 - 15 mpg. And on a few laps on a track I was easily down to single figures. And summer or winter I never adjusted the set temperature to get anywhere. It was set to have a comfortable trip!

But none of the range or consumption figures has ever concerned me in the DB9, or I guess the same goes for all that own a 911 or other sports car. Never ever looking at the GOM, but the needle on the fuel gauge! When it gets low you pull in to a fuel station and fill up. And pay with your credit card. You might skip a certain station that tries to charge outrageous prices for fuel. If you go very fast on the autobahn you accept that the fuel is consumed much more rapidly. And you need to stop after a short time

And I never ever have sat down to plan the route with fuel stops at petrol stations. There are plentiful of stations and I stop when needed.

We are not quite at the same stage in rollout of Charging stations as yet, but in many countries in Europe, we are getting close. There are many networks being rolled out now, and they understand that you need to have more than 2 lousy Charging places! New builds at main roads now seems to be 6-12 chargers. The main focus starts to shift to the challenge to start and pay for the charge! Many new operators at fuel stations also now start to advertise their rates per kWh, just like fuel prices. And you can pay with you credit card! So things are definitely moving in the right direction! But huge differences and challenges in countries and parts of countries.

The future does look bright as an EV driver for the routes I frequently use!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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[whitex]

What is GOM?

 

[Scandinavian]

GuessOMeter. The range calculator in the car

 

[whitex]

I have a decade of EV driving (4 Tesla Mode S'es in the past, now Taycan+Q8 Etron, Taycan being the road tripping car even though Audi has a bigger battery and longer range). I relate to your experience, though I gotta say that I don't miss driving till Fuel light went on, then scrambling for a gas station. I actually almost got stranded in an ICE twice in my life (many years), only once in an EV. For the ICE, it was not being to find an open gas station in the middle of the night, and one time GPS guided me to middle of nowhere where a gas station used to be, then had to drive on fumes (fuel on E all the way) desperately looking for another one. With the EV, my only scare was a over 20 mile detour due to road work to get to a Tesla supercharger, ended up hypermiling half of it driving parallel to a highway at low speeds. I actually kind of like planning out my next stop, braking the trip up into 2-3hr chunks, vs. driving till Fuel light goes on, then looking for a gas station. I also have in the past driven spiritedly, so I know even a Honda Civic can run out of full tank in less than 2hrs, especially on California gasoline (not sure WTF they put in it or how they water it down, but the Civic Si was burning so much more of it per mile, instant and noticeable change whenever I filled up out of state, technically same octane rating).

USA DCFC EV charging is not yet to the level of EU, but it is possible to road trip, I do. I haven't done much up/down the east coast though, where I hear the EV charging situation is more dire. Also, my California EV tripping is all Tesla so far, I also hear CCS network there is on life support, though will probably do a trip there this year, so fingers crossed (I will be staying at hotels with destination charging, plus maybe by summer time there will be more Tesla Magic Docs and/or Porsche will pull a miracle by actually doing something in just a few months, and negotiate adapter based access to Tesla superchargers for Taycans - not holding my breath though, it is Porsche, other than cars, everything else runs at glacial speed for Porsche).

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