The Secretary of Energy takes a road trip in an electric vehicle

[HankB]

I remember several years ago a couple of local malls put in a couple of "free" charging stations . . . but I've heard they're not "free" any more and with the upcharge (ha!) for power, using them to charge your electric car will make cost per mile as high as for an IC powered vehicle.

I don't know - can anyone confirm or refute this?

[Jim147]

I'll have to see if I can find the story I was reading yesterday about the diesel chargers. I think by the time it charged the car it was equal to it getting six miles per gallon.

[zahc]

There is a US DOE report on the forecast for charging, that's pretty well done. The conclusion is that the number and availability and capability of charging is projected to basically grow very rapidly over the next 20 years, basically orders of magnitude. The problem is that the projected wait time for car charging is expected to remain flat or even get worse, because the popularity of EVs will continue to grow, basically in lockstep with the available charging infrastructure. So if you are looking forward to seeing lots more chargers, you are in luck because they are coming in a big way. The bad news is if you think charging availability sucks now, it's probably going to keep sucking about the same because the new EVs are going to soak up the capacity.

[zxcvbob]

I think hybrids make a lot of sense and have for a long time.  A small efficient but barely adequate IC engine for steady-state driving, and an electric motor to assist with acceleration and for regenerative braking.  You could do electric-only for short distances, but the battery capacity wouldn't be that high.  Electric only range could be extended as battery technology gets better but it would never be the primary mode except as a "city car".  City car is not a pejorative, there's a place for them.

[Kingcreek]

The plug in hybrid version of the car I ordered will travel the first 37 miles on electric power then goes into regenerative hybrid mode. And it adds $5k to the price. And you lose the spare tire and some under deck storage space. And because of the added weight it doesn’t average better gas mileage.
And I can buy a lot of gas for $5k

[Nick1911]

I think hybrids make a lot of sense and have for a long time.  A small efficient but barely adequate IC engine for steady-state driving, and an electric motor to assist with acceleration and for regenerative braking.  You could do electric-only for short distances, but the battery capacity wouldn't be that high.  Electric only range could be extended as battery technology gets better but it would never be the primary mode except as a "city car".  City car is not a pejorative, there's a place for them.

I evaluated this when I bought my corolla.  The breakeven point vs a prius, using $4/gallon for fuel, published MPG numbers, and assuming everything else being equal was around 200k.  I wonder how that balances out now.

[MechAg94]

I think hybrids make a lot of sense and have for a long time.  A small efficient but barely adequate IC engine for steady-state driving, and an electric motor to assist with acceleration and for regenerative braking.  You could do electric-only for short distances, but the battery capacity wouldn't be that high.  Electric only range could be extended as battery technology gets better but it would never be the primary mode except as a "city car".  City car is not a pejorative, there's a place for them.

I could see that.  The language I would use is a "neighborhood" car or something similar.  Short commutes or down to the store and back.

However, as others have noted, the cost of a little 4 cylinder engine car is pretty cheap (or used to be).  It would take a lot of fuel purchase to justify the difference in cost. 

[zxcvbob]

I could see that.  The language I would use is a "neighborhood" car or something similar.  Short commutes or down to the store and back.

However, as others have noted, the cost of a little 4 cylinder engine car is pretty cheap (or used to be).  It would take a lot of fuel purchase to justify the difference in cost.

I called it a city car because I think that's already a thing, or at least used to be.  Like a Nash Metropolitan or a Reliant Robin, but make it roadworthy on the highway if someone really wanted to take it out.    

I'm thinking more of a little 2-cylinder car. :D  Roughly 30HP, or whatever it takes to propel a small aerodynamic car down the highway at 65MPH with a headwind or 70 without.  A late-50s VW beetle could do that without an electric assist to help it get there.  There needs to be a little extra power to charge the batteries, so maybe 35HP.  It's what the Smart Car could have been.  Something like that could be extremely economical in gasoline mode.

[MechAg94]

I would think a small 4 cylinder would be better, but not my area of expertise.  I imagine by the time you met all the US road safety standards, a little engine like that wouldn't be big enough. 
I also think the fuel emissions could be a lot better if the EPA would relax the emissions standards a bit.  Hard to say.