Ed Driscoll, posting at Instapundit, links to an article in Torque News about issues with using a battery-powered electric vehicle (BEV) for long road trips. Author John Goreham describes himself as a "recovering engineer."
His advice: Don't. The range is less than the EPA says it is, charging them takes longer than you've got, cold weather makes the range even less, and so do highway speeds. In the mountain west where I live, interstates are often posted at 75-80 mph with most driving 5-10 mph faster.
Goreham specifically deals with the impracticality of heavily loading or towing anything behind a BEV, as for example depicted at the other DrC's blog here. Neither of us could believe what you'll see there, and we've been RVing since 1972.
BEVs work okay for people who commute/drive 50-60 miles a day, or less. They are quiet, reliable, and give you green bragging rights with people too stupid to realize most electricity is generated by burning fossil fuel.
If you live, as I do, where 500-1000 mile road trips are a several-times-a-year experience, you're better off with a plug-in hybrid electric or petroleum-fueled vehicle. Leave the 'super golf cart' BEVs for those who stay within an hour of home.
