Are We There Yet II

Earlier this year, we went through the exercise of considering an electric car as a replacement for an old Volvo SUV.  I described this experience in an earlier blog post.  My wife and made two test drives in a Tesla Model S.  But after doing the math, we concluded that this car made no economic sense for us.  We ultimately leased a BMW 535d, now averaging over 36 mpg and well over 45 on the highway.  And BMW maintenance is free, a benefit Tesla does not offer where we live.  Shortly after acquiring the BMW, we drove it to a vacation on the coast, a 530-mile round trip.  When we refueled before starting back, the BMW’s indicated range was 700 miles.  We could have driven the entire trip without refueling.  There are no “superchargers” or even 240-volt chargers on the route, so the trip would have been impossible in the Tesla without an hours-long recharging stop.  Without a revolution in battery technology, electric vehicles will remain a niche product for left-and-right coast early adopters with short commutes.