So I did the same recently, but in a PHEV, and I honestly think it's the best of both worlds. In my daily usage, I use zero fuel. Last time I filled up was in March, because I just charge it at home and nearly all of my daily driving is within the 30 mile EV-only range. But when we drove across Europe I could just carry on for about 600 miles per tank, only filling up once at a well stocked petrol station(with working bathrooms and a restaurant).
Anecdotally - tried to charge the car in Germany when we stopped for lunch, but found that it was impossible to start the session, the app wouldn't accept my non-german payment card so that was that. Would suck if I had to charge.
When the infrastructure is multi-fuel, the car being multi-fuel is a great value.
Many years ago, I was driving across Europe with my old petrol car that was converted to use LPG. I like LPG because it's cheaper, the engine makes less noise and it is more environmentally friendly(but it's bad for the car AFAIK, the car was a clunker anyway).
What I found out was that in Europe, even within the EU, LPG stations don't have the same popularity everywhere and even if you find one it may have different port, thus you may need an adapter to fit yours.
When driving In Austria, I run out of LPG multiple times because the LPG stations were more like novelty, away from the main roads with no guarantees on the working hours.
Electric chargers still feel like that. There are many of them but not everywhere and the quality and availability on the spot is non-standart.
Petrol stations are actually quite good experiences most of the time. The refuelling experience is very robust and most of the time they will provide you with a WC, a place to rest, a place to wait, a place to eat, a place to shop.
Petrol stations at remote places tend to be relaxing, revitalising experiences even when the facilities are not top-notch. Well, at least in Europe.
I would love electric infrastructure to catch up and preserve that culture.
LPG is becoming progressively less common in Australia, this article[1] focuses on Queensland but the story is the same across Australia
”Since July 2010 there has been a 70% drop in the volume of LPG sales,” Mr Jeffreys said.
“The number of LPG registered vehicles has also fallen in the last five years.”
RACQ Technical Advisor Bill Reeves said the availability of LPG is set to further decrease.
“New fuel outlets simply aren’t putting in LPG bowsers and many existing stations are removing their LPG tanks when they are due to be recertified because the limited returns from the sale of LPG do not justify the expense,” Mr Reeves said.
Regional Queenslanders bear the brunt of the shortage with only one LPG bowser in 15 regional centres and no bowsers in Blackwater, Childers, Moranbah, Proserpine, Tully and Cunnamulla.
For residents of Moranbah this means a more than 270km round trip to the nearest LPG bowser at Puma Carmilla.
“Remote service stations may be less reliable because, if the LPG machinery breaks down, they have to wait a long time for parts and a technician to repair the equipment,” Mr Reeves said.
“This can cause problems for regional Queenslanders when there’s only one LPG bowser in the area.”
In addition to the shortage, no new LPG passenger cars are being manufactured in Australia and the benefits of choosing LPG are diminishing.
“LPG tanks in your car are expensive and must be recertified every 10 years,” Mr Reeves said.
“The costs associated with maintaining your car’s fuel tank means LPG is no longer a cheap fuel source for Queenslanders.
> So I did the same recently, but in a PHEV, and I honestly think it's the best of both worlds. In my daily usage, I use zero fuel.
Yeah in theory PHEV provide the ideal flexibility of EV for commute and ICE for long-range driving, however apparently lots of people with PHEV never charge them, mostly resulting in less efficient ICEs / HEV (because the plug-in-ability means a larger battery and more complexity, so a PHEV is heavier and more complex than an equivalent HEV).
I think that mainly happens when they are bought for fleets where cars are issued to drivers who did not choose the PHEV. The drivers are often told that they can be reimbursed for fuel and only need to turn in receipts, but there is no provision for reimbursement of electricity. This pushes people to just drive them as hybrids instead of EVs.
I’ve got to think that anyone who chooses and buys their own PHEV has done so because it meets their needs and they plan to use the EV mode significantly. Most PHEV drivers that I know hate it when they have to switch to gasoline partially because of the added noise and cost and partially because it seems like a kind of failure.
>>Most PHEV drivers that I know hate it when they have to switch to gasoline partially because of the added noise and cost and partially because it seems like a kind of failure.
Ha, that's literally me. It's like a game - you have to keep the needle in the EV range when driving normally, pushing it a bit too much and making the ICE start feels like losing. Obviously as long as there is any charge in the battery, if I'm driving long distance then it really doesn't matter, but it's cool to see the ICE shut down every time I lift my foot off the throttle.
I know, it's a disgrace - apparently here in UK a lot of people buy PHEVs because they have a much much lower tax rate for company buyers, but obviously you get the tax discount whether you plug it in or not. So some people just....don't. Which as you said, actually means poorer fuel economy and increased complexity for zero reason. I absolutely think that those people should lose their tax discounts entirely.
As an electric car owner, the thought of paying for batteries and oil changes sounds terrible. I looked into the hybrid jeep to replace my aging one, but I know how much the maintenance on my gas beast is. I'll pay a premium to add a electic drive train and still have to take it back to the dealership every several months. Awful. I'll just wait for the fully electric version.
I mean, that's a fair point, except that the pricing structure doesn't reflect the differences at all. Servicing a fully electric car should be cheaper, but in practice it just isn't. Servicing a PHEV should be more expensive but it also just isn't. A service of the E-Tron or the MB EQC costs the same as an equivalent ICE car even though there's hardly anything to do, and the service of my PHEV Volvo costs the same as the service of a regular ICE Volvo despite there being more to do.
So you might find that you'll get a fully electric Jeep but your servicing costs won't go down at all, it will still require an annual service to keep the warranty, and the dealer will almost certainly charge the same as for a normal one if not more(and I've seen dealers charge more, since EV cars can only be worked on by technicians trained to work on them, and there's comparatively fewer of them)
I've got to disagree with you. I've got a Tesla. Maintenance costs going into 2 years have been tire rotations. I guess I'll see in years 3-5, but I have a VW of about the same vintage and it's required coolant system repairs (thankfully under warranty), oil and other fluid changes, brakes are coming up. I don't really expect to see anything like that in the Tesla unless there is suspension wear/tear and then eventually things like the power windows, etc.
Interesting that other car manufacturers are requiring maintenance of their electric cars. I haven't hear that before. Sounds like legacy businesses maintaining their legacy business models.
The best part about things not working in Germany is seeing the lengths they'll go to to blame you for the failure and refuse to admit the system in question is anything other than the Best Thing Ever That Never Breaks.
So what you are saying, you could do the 2000 mile trip in 33 hours! Of-course, that assumes you do not sleep for the entire trip, don't take bathroom breaks or stops for food.
I think I rather do the 2000 miles in a BEV and take some breaks in the driving.
With multiple drivers, sure, why not drive non-stop? My brother and his family drove across Canada a year or two ago to visit family; with kids, flying would have been exorbitantly expensive ($1000 per person) and he only had so much time off of work, so him and his wife made the 4000 km trip in less than 40 hours. And the same on the way back.
