EV's. More convenient than ICE cars?

As an interesting thought exercise, I tried to calculate the time difference between charging an EV and an ICE for myself

For me, it's approximately 10 mins to the local petrol station, plus another 5 mins at least to fill the car and pay (could easily be 10 if there's a queue but let's make it easy). So let's say 15 mins every 2 weeks for an ICE car

I reckon it takes 30 seconds to plug or unplug the car and stow the cable. Maybe twice that for an untethered charger

If I was plugging in every day (I am at the moment to try and divert as much solar as possible) that'd be 14 mins, so 1 minute quicker than an ICE on average

I would say No ICE car is more convenient. You can go where you want without considering in advance where you refuel. Can fill up in a short time and drive further when full. It will handle unusual scenarios, that do sometimes happen, better too. The above is true for almost everyone no matter where they live.

I don’t think it makes ICE better than EV and think this should be a minor consideration for most people.

Most inverters will allow you to set a time to charge the battery from the grid. I've got mine set to charge to 40% from midnight to 3am and I'll do a timed boost on the Zappi at the same time so it doesn't drain the house battery

It covers any overnight charging I need at the moment and also means there's some useable power in the battery in case it's a cloudy day

Outside of that I just charge from excess using the Zappi during the day when I'm home

so you are already stopping for coffee en route, in such a scenario why would using that time at a fast charger be a big inconvenience ?

The biggest thing holding me back from an electric car is the urgent situation scenario. I'll give you an example of someone I know (and he himself told me this story so its unlikely to be embellished).

He bought an electric car and after a period of a month or so his wife became ill and was in hospital about 50 miles away, she needed to have an operation and it was scheduled. On the day of her operation he was called and asked to bring her medication to the hospital, so he set off for the hospital and when he was half way there realised he'd left one of her medications at home so had to double back. At this point he was under time pressure so had no time to charge the vehicle so had to set off again immediately. He spent the journey worrying about whether the car would make it or not and he couldn't drive too quickly or the car's range would drop, if he didn't make it, his wife's operation could not go ahead. In the end he just about made it but had to charge the car before he could head home while his kids came home from school and then he went back again that evening when his wife came out of surgery, having to charge the car that day was a major hassle for him. (99% of the time it was a non-issue)

I've had a similar situation myself over the past year or so with a sick parent, where I might have to drop everything and go at a moment's notice. If I had an electric car, the anxiety if the car was charging from a low starting point would be tough to take.

Don't get me wrong I like electric cars, but on the day you need to be somewhere in a hurry, or the day you have to make an unexpected detour and 20-30 minutes charging a car is more time than you have is the day that worries me (I guess because I have lived with that reality). I'm sure range issues will be fixed and I am fortunate enough to have room for a charger and private parking at home but these aren't options for everyone. I'm also aware that what I'm talking about here is an edge case, but on the day it matters, it might really matter.

I reckon I'm about 5 years out from switching to fully electric (its getting there but its not quite there yet for me).

Or the electricty stopped working and the petrol pumps don't work and you don't have enough fuel to get to the next petrol station ;)

Yep in fairness you have a point, and I think you are actually right it was a used Nissan Leaf ;) I'm aware much better electric cars do exist but they also tend to be quite expensive, my day to day car is a mid sized hatch but with all the toys to make it as nice a place to be day-to-day as possible, I bought second hand as I couldn't afford new and saw it as a better prospect at the time (2 years ago). I did seriously consider electric options at the time but only at the lower end of the market and only new as diminished range in older electric cars ruled them out in my book (again for now).

I do get what you are saying, about its the dash to the hospital that matters, yes it is, but trust me if you have done a dash to the hospital where a loved one is in a bad way, you are there for hours and need to get up for work the following morning, the last thing you want to think about on the way home is where is there a charging point.

Sounds like your set up suits you and works well, my setup suits me well for the moment so I don't think there's any right or wrong here, just horses for courses. In time I will go electric, just not today :)

A few questions.......

1) how much range do you think an EV is likely to have.....

2) in miles how long is that Coventry to Edinburgh trip.

3) how long do you think an EV going from Coventry to Edinburgh needs in terms of charging time....

Any decent forecourt retailer would have a back up generator, foolish if not, imagine all the food going to waste, besides lost sales on non perishable items.

Well what is the question in the first place “EV’s, more convenient than ICE Cars?” Isn’t that a general question so a question that regards everyone not just oneself? I think it is so to answer the question asked everyone must be considered

I worked out earlier that it's 1 minute faster over a 2 week period to charge every day than refuel

I don't actually have to charge every day, maybe every third day. But I plug in every day to charge from solar panels because free driving is worth 30 seconds IMO

It depends on your situation of course, you might not be able to get a home charger and live right beside a petrol station, then the EV is not gonna beat an ICE for time

EDIT: Another consideration is that you also need to keep enough petrol in an ICE to reach hospital, which might add to the inconvenience

When my wife was pregnant I had to fill the car I had then every week. I was worried that if I said we had to stop for petrol on the way to the maternity ward then I'd end up being a bigger medical emergency than her 😂

Also, it's worth keeping in mind that realistically if it's a big enough emergency that you needed to rush to hospital without any sort of stop then you should probably call an ambulance instead

my village all in one petrol/mini market/post office/butcher and pharmacy has a generator, they are not so big, the engine is the same as a car engine , generator and fuel tank in a box,

Honestly I hardly visit them, once every 2 months or so, I will endeavor to find out, even the supermarkets, the freezers you see are probably stocked from a huge drive in freezer in the back? Insurance springs to mind now.

Any way EVs are great love not going to petrol stations.

It comes back to the question asked, EV’s more convenient than ICE? I think it is a general question so needs a general answer so consideration is needed for all drivers with different circumstances. Overall I say no they aren’t as I would weigh the added conveniences for all and the added inconveniences for all to make an overall judgement call. You find doing that weird and that’s fine by me we all have our own way of deciding and sometimes of reading a question. I don’t see the equivalence of what you ask about buses but I did consider the question only in relation to cars.

The leap you speak of would indeed be bold but I don’t see where it was made. To say what is more convenient for one does not make it more convenient overall is not the same as saying what is more convenient overall is more convenient for everyone.

For me, ICE quite a bit more convenient than EV. For many years EV was going to be next car. Finally after MY price drop, there was the car to fit our needs, but we knew it was a lifestyle change. We don't charge over night. Daytime charging from solar. So everytime we head out, we unplug. Everytime we arrive back we plug in. 7 weeks and we have supercharged 10 times, queued 4 times, once for an hour. It was Easter. Some trips to superchargers involve detours.

Filling cars with diesel every 900km or so was never onerous.

100% happy with our lifestyle choice. But to answer specific thread title, for me No.