Five Years of no EV for Me

Five years ago this week my search for an electric compact SUV ended with me buying a conventional gas-powered car. I disliked the car (a Nissan Rogue) within a month after buying it, and I've been on the lookout for an electric replacement ever since. 

Over the years, I've vented my frustrations with the EV market in a number of blog posts, sometimes focusing on their high cost and sometimes on the lack of models with the basic features I'm looking for: all-wheel drive, an openable moonroof, a 360-degree camera, and an EPA range of at least 235 miles. In November, I discussed the luxury-car-level pricing of the only two cars that meet these criteria: the Nissan Ariya and the Volvo XC40 Recharge. Since then, the only things that have changed are the name of the Volvo (now called the EX40) and the elimination of the prospect of Chinese imports pushing down EV prices. (The US government has adopted a policy of keeping them out of the market.)

In the meantime, what I'm looking for in an EV has evolved a bit. I still want all-wheel drive, an openable moonroof, and an all-around camera, but I now want a car on the shorter end of the compact SUV spectrum. My Rogue is 185 inches long. I'd prefer no more than 180 inches. (Tesla's Model Y is 187 inches. Ford's Mustang Mach-E is 186. VW's ID.4 is 181.)

My thinking about range has also changed. EV ranges can't touch those of gas-burners, so I understood that distance driving in an EV requires planning. But this didn't strike me as a problem. If you're driving, say, 400 miles to get from Point A to Point B, stopping for a half hour at 200 miles to recharge isn't a hardship. 200 miles represents 3-4 hours of driving, and who doesn't want to stop at that point to stretch one's legs, use the bathroom, grab a snack, etc? 

A recent trip made me realize that not all long drives consist of extended driving sessions. My wife and I put 400 miles on a tank of gas while meandering along the southern Oregon coast. Most of our driving sessions were under an hour, because we stopped at various beaches (including, of course, Meyers Creek Beach, which is at the mouth of Myers Creek) and small coastal and inland towns (e.g., Bandon, Coquille, Port Orford, and Gold Beach). Many of the places we stopped had no facilities of any kind, much less charging stations. 

According to the Oregon Clean Vehicle Rebate Program EV Charging Station Map, the charging options in Gold Beach, where we spent one night, consist of one 120V charging outlet for E-bikes and one 120V outlet for use by hotel and shop patrons on the opposite side of the river from where we were staying. A two-port charging station at a motel we weren't staying at is noted as "coming soon." The source for this information is shown as PlugShare, but the PlugShare web site shows only the "coming soon" charger, so it's possible that there aren't any charging options in Gold Beach at all.

This casts the "planning" aspect of traveling by EV in a different light. If you're off the beaten track and poking along in a gas-powered car, stopping here and there as the whim moves you, you can take refueling opportunities for granted. (There are four gas stations in Gold Beach.) In an EV, you may have to actively seek out recharging options. You really do have to plan. 

I haven't yet decided what that means for me as a potential EV owner. It's a simple fact that EV ranges are notably lower than ICE ranges, and it's an equally simple fact that the EV charging infrastructure is much less well developed than the gas station network. For the foreseeable future, buying an EV means accepting those facts and finding ways to cope with them. If I really want to own an EV, I'll have to figure out how to do that.

I probably have plenty of time. The only EV that satisfies my basic criteria and fulfills my new not-longer-than-180-inches criterion is the Volvo EX40 (née XC 40 Recharge). MSRP as I'd like it equipped is nearly $62,000, which is about $20,000 more than my budget.

However, I have a gas-powered riding lawn mower that's not likely to last a lot longer. I'm already thinking of replacing it with an electric version. It could be that the form my first EV takes will be that of a machine you sit on top of and cut grass with.