[close04]

> there are a lot more uses for it than you might otherwise think

This looks like a solution in search of a problem. People are buying stuff they don't need then finding a good justification for it (from their perspective). But almost anything can be justified this way. Even driving an 18-wheeler will have advantages you never thought about but this doesn't negate the downsides. Mainly that you carry around 4000-5000lbs (over 2000Kg) of metal mainly just to move 1 or 2 people and nothing more. This is a lot of wasted fuel and a lot of space taken in the street.

Coal also has advantages but few people would dare defend it with this argument.

[jiofih]

No wasted “fuel” for an electric car, especially if it comes from 100% solar power...

[pauletienney]

Moving a total of 2600kg with only 150kg of "useful load" (2 people) is a waste of energy.

[jiofih]

Sun shining on your roof is also a waste of energy.

[learc83]

The top end model S weighs about 2300kg, so it's not really much of a difference.

[close04]

That doesn't make it better. Moving around by yourself (like most drivers out there) in a 2300Km vehicle is not efficient. It's just better by comparison because at least it's an EV. But you still use a lot of (not so clean in the majority of cases) electricity to move a lot of weight just so one person gets from point A to point B.

People want one car to be the jack of all trades. Big enough for 7 people and carry a house's worth of furniture in one go while towing a boat, and travel 800Km on a charge. So it ends up being truck sized, 2500+Kg, to carry 1 person on their 5Km commute to work 99% of the time.

[learc83]

It's all relative. You could build something that weighed 100kg, so anything heavier is a waste of energy if we only look at ability to go from point A to point B.

But it would be a death trap to drive around other 2000kg vehicles, and it wouldn't be comfortable.

>5Km commute

Almost no one in the US has a commute that short.

[close04]

99% of the people could do with a sub-compact 99% of the time as seen everywhere else in the world. Are the only 2 options you see a 100Kg dingy or a 2500Kg fat-mobile? It's like saying you can't have electric cars because how far can they go on 2 AA batteries.

If that's a death trap around the "real" vehicles, should cyclists and pedestrians expect 90% mortality rate should they ever decide to go out on the streets? Is that normal?

> Almost no one in the US has a commute that short.

It's all relative. You just multiply that (avoidable) waste.

Do you really need to drive a "tank" just to survive? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21609767

[Fjolsvith]

See how fast you can go 250 miles on foot power.