[bdfh42]

A lot of the "gas" you wont be spending money on would be because the range is pretty small.

Next weekend I will be hopping into a car that has sat outside the house doing nothing for a month or so and drive it 1,000 km to the South West of France. I will stop briefly on the way to fill up with fuel (10 minutes?). It will be dark for quite a lot of the time and the car will have the headlights on. Oh - it might even rain so the wipers might be needed. The journey should take about 12 hours including the section where we cross the English channel.

A couple of weeks later I will do the reverse journey. No fuss at all. How many days would it take to do the same journey in an electric car?

[bryanlarsen]

Answer: you rent a car.

If you go a month at a time without using your car, then the financially optimal number of cars to own is zero. Since you own more than zero cars, then your ownership is based on reasons other than financial ones.

Which overlaps nicely with Tesla owners: anybody who buys a $100,000 car is doing it for reasons other than financial ones. They just have different reasons than you do.

P.S. Not judging here. My wife owns a BMW, which is also more than just a way to get from point a to point b.

[moheeb]

WRONG! "you rent a car" is not a unit of time!

[danielweber]

An electric car is completely inappropriate for that use.

Just the same as a Miata is inappropriate for a family of 6, or a smart car is inappropriate for guy who has to haul lumber, or a minivan is inappropriate for a single guy in his 20's.

Yet all of those cars sell enough to carve out markets for themselves.

[bdfh42]

But all of those cars would make the same journey without any problems - you are confusing carrying capacity with the fundamental utility of the things we call cars.

[jguimont]

That's a whole different discussion/argument by itself.

For most transportation 400km is plenty. That's a week of transport for my family and me.

[oh_sigh]

Next weekend I will be digging an in-ground pool. I will use my backhoe and complete the digging in about 6 hours. No fuss at all.

How many days would it take to do the same digging with a spoon?

(unstated, but strongly implied point: Therefore, spoons are worthless)

[rprasad]

If someone can afford an electric car, especially a Tesla, they will probably just fly first-class to their destination, where they will undoubtedly have a second electric car waiting for them.

So my estimate would be about 1-2 hours.