Porsche Explodes The “EVs Aren’t Good For Long Distance Traveling” Myth
A Porsche Taycan recently completed a coast to coast journey, during which it spent a mere 2 hours, 26 minutes, and 48 seconds plugged in to a charger. By doing so, it exploded the myth that electric cars are no good for long distance driving.
I hear it all the time from my friends and neighbors. “Oh, your Tesla is all very nice but it’s no good for road trips. I can’t waste my time waiting for a car to charge every hundred miles.” Where to begin? An electric car is not the same as a car powered by an infernal combustion engine, just as a horse and buggy was not the same as a Model T. Different technologies have different use cases.
The short answer is that the poisons and gases spewing out of the tailpipes of gasmobiles are killing the planet and perhaps people ought not to be doing that. In the era before the automobile, horse manure was often piled several feet high on the sides of streets. Cities were constantly immersed in the sweet aroma of fetid dung. Bicycles had fenders primarily to keep droplets of liquid animal waste from getting splashed on the clothes of riders. And yet many mourned the passing of the horse and buggy era when automobiles came on the scene, just as many today mourn the passing of the internal combustion era. Back then, there were no gasoline stations. People bought their petrol at pharmacies.
I made my first road trip in my Tesla Model Y last week, which gave me a chance to experience fast charging for the first time. Lo and behold, sitting still while plugged in for 20 minutes or so is not the end of the world. In fact, it’s a fairly pleasant experience that allows one to savor the trip rather than driving like a frenzied maniac hour after hour after hour until you develop an advanced case of white line fever.
But the myth about how you can’t use an electric car for long trips continues to circulate, so Porsche decided to do something about it. According to Business Insider, the 2,834-mile long trip was carefully planned to take advantage of high power chargers along the route. Driving an electric car does require a bit more planning for trips than a gasmobile does. But it showed that electric car road trips are perfectly doable.
Think about it. You set out to make a transcontinental journey. How many hours do you think you would spend parked along the way? At an average of 60 miles per hour, the trip would take more than 47 hours. Do you think you would take a break from driving for less than 2 hours and 26 minutes on a cross country trip, even even if you had a co-driver? Seriously?
It’s true that the Porsche Taycan is one of the fastest charging electric cars you can buy. It can accept a charging rate of 350 kilowatts, allowing it to add 75% of its battery capacity in 22.5 minutes, according to Porsche. At one stop, the Taycan took just 22 minutes to charge from 6% to 82%, the company said. That, friends, is some fast charging.
Was this a publicity stunt? Partially. The trip was made using fast chargers in the Electrify America network and the route was planned to take advantage of those chargers. 350 kW chargers are not available on every street corner, but they are becoming more common, as are cars with rapid charging capability like Hyundai Ionic 5 and KIA EV6.
It’s time to stop apologizing for electric cars and start celebrating how good they are. It’s discouraging having to deal with the FUD pushed by the oil industry all the time. Get over it and get a grip. As Bob Dylan told us, “The old road is rapidly ageing. Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand, for the times, they are a’changing.” So adapt to to the new paradigm, drive electric, and be happy!
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