Further thoughts about electric vehicles. I can see the value in battery-powered electric bicycles and scooters, which are understood to be short-range transport, a couple of miles or so. And yes, there are cars which are used the same way, much as people in retirement communities scoot around in electric golf carts.
Suppose you want to go exploring. The other DrC and I have driven all over North America in a series of RVs and enjoyed it immensely. There have been summers when we drove from NorCal via SoCal to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and back to NorCal. Others when our route went from NorCal to Key West, Florida and back. And one memorable summer we drove from NorCal to Fairbanks, Alaska and back.
We have been “wheels on the ground” in all 50 states and Guam, though in Hawaii it was a rental car and in Guam a car we bought locally, drove for a year, and resold. We have driven across Canada too.
Other automotive “grand tours” have included circling both islands of New Zealand (twice) and a drive from Melbourne to Sydney via Canberra. And one August we drove around England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland in a heat wave in a rental car with no A/C. All of this was on the “wrong” side of the road.
The sort of “seven league boots” touring I’ve described above isn’t doable with electric vehicles in any practical sense. Assuming you want to do more than run to the store and drive to the commuter train station or the airport, an electric vehicle just doesn’t cut it.
