Speculation EV companies giving access to free ICE rentals for long distance

[hydbob]

I guess the caveat would be none of these other EVs can make these trips without stopping, unlike the Lucid.

 

[Bobby]

I am a committed EV owner and will not ever purchase another ICE vehicle. But for long trips, until they improve the charging infrastructure, I plan on renting an ICE vehicle for such trips (driving from Scottsdale to Las Vegas/San Diego/Los Angeles takes about 5 hours or so without stops) for all the reasons stated by no gas. Lexus is already doing what was suggested:

Lexus Smooths Out the Transition to EVs With Free ICEV Rentals

The Japanese brand is well known for its reliable vehicles. But can they provide the same with electric vehicles (EVs)? Until it’s revealed, enjoy an ICEV

www.autoevolution.com

I’ve made that drive will zero issues in my GT. Will be doing it again in 2 weeks.

 

[xponents]

I am a committed EV owner and will not ever purchase another ICE vehicle. But for long trips, until they improve the charging infrastructure, I plan on renting an ICE vehicle for such trips (driving from Scottsdale to Las Vegas/San Diego/Los Angeles takes about 5 hours or so without stops) for all the reasons stated by no gas. Lexus is already doing what was suggested:

Lexus Smooths Out the Transition to EVs With Free ICEV Rentals

The Japanese brand is well known for its reliable vehicles. But can they provide the same with electric vehicles (EVs)? Until it’s revealed, enjoy an ICEV

www.autoevolution.com

Thats because the only EV Lexus makes is a pathetic piece of crap that has 200 miles of range.

 

[Steveinarizona]

Thats because the only EV Lexus makes is a pathetic piece of crap that has 200 miles of range.

Understood but that wasn't the point of the post.

 

[xponents]

Understood but that wasn't the point of the post.

I know, my point was to illustrate that Lucid owners likely wouldnt need it due to the amazing range we already have!

 

[Sandvinsd]

Range anxiety is not an issue with the Lucid. However you might have EA fast charger anxiety!

 

[nck]

Do that in the mid west though… and probably get stranded.

We took a trip from Phoenix, AZ to Tulsa OK in our Taycan and did not have issues. It can be done.

 

[Sandvinsd]

We did 9000 miles from San Diego to the southeast to Maine and back this summer without any range anxiety. It was very doable. Just plan the chargers and have alternates due to the unreliability of of the EA network.

 

[nck]

We did 9000 miles from San Diego to the southeast to Maine and back this summer without any range anxiety. It was very doable. Just plan the chargers and have alternates due to the unreliability of of the EA network.

Exactly, I planned out our entire trip (Phoenix to Tulsa and Back) on Plugshare with alternates before we left the house.

 

[Tesla2.0]

ABRP app is my road trip buddy along my native navigation.

 

[skndrni]

Just had an idea. Perhaps this is something Lucid could be the first to initiate.

Imagine if EV only vehicle manufacturers ( meaning EV only- Tesla, Lucid, Rivian, Fisker etc) gave every buyer of an EV 5-10 days a year of free ICE SUV/minivan rental for longer trips. For example, Lucid could tie up with Enterprise. Anyone buying a new Lucid, will have access. Whenever customer prefers ICE for a long trip (considering the charging infrastructure is not adequate and could take another decade), they get the vehicle rental paid by Lucid.

This would entice more buyers to get an EV, knowing they can still go on the trip to Yellowstone and not have to worry about range anxiety.

I'm sure this would push more sales and could be temporary till sales significantly improve and charging infrastructure improves.

Hey all, just got “Luci” a week ago and I’m in love (don’t tell my fiancée). This is an interesting post: I “adopted” waaay too early back in 2015 and had a Fiat 500e. Gas was “expensive” (relative term), mileage was creeping up on my Audi so for $75/mo I had an EV. Yep, $75/mo. Sold. What really clinched it was an agreement with Enterprise to rent an ICE 10 days a year for longer trips. I’m a dinosaur but still an elephant so the idea had merit back then but dubious now that our amazing rides have the range to kick an ICE in the gass. Not quite a diesel’s range but a gass for sure.

 

[Tesla2.0]

I am a committed EV owner and will not ever purchase another ICE vehicle. But for long trips, until they improve the charging infrastructure, I plan on renting an ICE vehicle for such trips (driving from Scottsdale to Las Vegas/San Diego/Los Angeles takes about 5 hours or so without stops) for all the reasons stated by no gas. Lexus is already doing what was suggested:

Lexus Smooths Out the Transition to EVs With Free ICEV Rentals

The Japanese brand is well known for its reliable vehicles. But can they provide the same with electric vehicles (EVs)? Until it’s revealed, enjoy an ICEV

www.autoevolution.com

For years, Toyota Corp spent billions $ in marketing campaign bashing EV and promoting hybrid and ICE, especially in domestic Japan. They are banking on cheaper alternative when solid State battery comes out. So far, not happening.

 

[Steveinarizona]

For years, Toyota Corp spent billions $ in marketing campaign bashing EV and promoting hybrid and ICE, especially in domestic Japan. They are banking on cheaper alternative when solid State battery comes out. So far, not happening.

You omitted from your list Toyota suing California to stop it from continuing to have tougher standards than the national standard. I have in the past owned many Toyotas but SHAME OIN TOYOTA.

 

[no gas]

For years, Toyota Corp spent billions $ in marketing campaign bashing EV and promoting hybrid and ICE, especially in domestic Japan. They are banking on cheaper alternative when solid State battery comes out. So far, not happening.

They have been singing the SSD car batteries coming soon tune since 2019, half a decade ago….I used to trust Toyota, no longer…..now that they realized they don’t know how to make a competitive EV, they are throwing their toys out of the pram. If they don’t figure this out soon, they are going to lose a lot of sales.

 

[scal_air]

Yeah, I actually believe that SS batteries are the future but Toyota has (intentionally?) misstated how close they are to commercial production. Call it too rosy predictions, ineptitude, to disingenuous statements meant to dissuade purchasing an EV now, technology continues to move forward. There will always be cheaper EVs with better range if we only wait another year or two...
But in the meantime, you are missing out on the experience. I've got a shelf full of computers and oddly enough, most of them cost about the same price despite wildly varying capabilities. You'd be surprised what that old KayPro cost back in the day. Should I have waited 10 -20 years to purchase a much better computer at around the same price? Please...

Here a nice article that summarizes current solid state battery development

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/23/cars/solid-state-battery-tech-promises-to-radically-change-evs/index.html

 

[Steveinarizona]

Yeah, I actually believe that SS batteries are the future but Toyota has (intentionally?) misstated how close they are to commercial production. Call it too rosy predictions, ineptitude, to disingenuous statements meant to dissuade purchasing an EV now, technology continues to move forward. There will always be cheaper EVs with better range if we only wait another year or two...
But in the meantime, you are missing out on the experience. I've got a shelf full of computers and oddly enough, most of them cost about the same price despite wildly varying capabilities. You'd be surprised what that old KayPro cost back in the day. Should I have waited 10 -20 years to purchase a much better computer at around the same price? Please...

Here a nice article that summarizes current solid state battery development

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/23/cars/solid-state-battery-tech-promises-to-radically-change-evs/index.html

Excellent response. I believe it is disingenuous. Toyota is way too sophisticated to miss the time range on SS batteries.

Yeah...if I waited another year I could have gotten more for less. And if I waited another three years I could really get more for less. And...finally...if I kept waiting I would be dead and never have driven an EV but it wouldn't have cost me anything. If you don't want to risk the evolving technology--lease.

 

[scal_air]

Lol, doesn't FOMO mean anything?

 

[Tesla2.0]

Actually current progress is that Taiwan is closer to have Solid State Battery sooner than Japan. Sorry Toyota!

 

[Haggy]

Just had an idea. Perhaps this is something Lucid could be the first to initiate.

Imagine if EV only vehicle manufacturers ( meaning EV only- Tesla, Lucid, Rivian, Fisker etc) gave every buyer of an EV 5-10 days a year of free ICE SUV/minivan rental for longer trips. For example, Lucid could tie up with Enterprise. Anyone buying a new Lucid, will have access. Whenever customer prefers ICE for a long trip (considering the charging infrastructure is not adequate and could take another decade), they get the vehicle rental paid by Lucid.

This would entice more buyers to get an EV, knowing they can still go on the trip to Yellowstone and not have to worry about range anxiety.

I'm sure this would push more sales and could be temporary till sales significantly improve and charging infrastructure improves.

That could create range anxiety by giving potential buyers the impression that EVs can't handle road trips. With the Lucid, things are now at the point that a trip longer than what 99% of people take in a day won't need a charging stop. Even with my Tesla, with much less range, not only could I make similar trips by charging only when I would have stopped anyway for meals and restroom breaks, health experts recommend stopping at least that long on long trips anyway. For those who want to argue that they could make the trip faster in an ICEV, my counter argument is that they shouldn't. If you do a web search for how long you should be taking breaks on long trips, the consensus is somewhere around every two hours, with some recommending every 100 miles or so. And it has nothing to do with what kind of car people drive.

Then there's the issue of charger reliability. I read a lot of negative stories prior to getting the Lucid, In real life, I've used an app to check availability at nearby EA sites, and each time, I was able to charge with no problem. However, the apps typically reported how many were available and how many were down, and more times than not, there were some out of operation. So in terms of percent working, I've "encountered" a sizeable percentage of non-working chargers, but not in a way that affected me.

Then there's the issue of road trips where I might have a navigator decide over 100 miles ahead of time where I should stop to charge, leaving it with no way to predict availability. But with enough range to get to wherever I'll be stopping for the night, getting a hotel with EV charging seems like a better way to go.

If people told me that I could get an ICEV for road trips, it wouldn't have helped much since I had one that I knew I could use for that purpose. Prior to getting my first EV, I figured that it would be a very real possibility, until I started taking road trips in an EV and realized that I didn't want to deal with an ICEV. It might be worse with a rental, since rental companies don't go for all the options when buying cars.

 

[Steveinarizona]

If people told me that I could get an ICEV for road trips, it wouldn't have helped much since I had one that I knew I could use for that purpose. Prior to getting my first EV, I figured that it would be a very real possibility, until I started taking road trips in an EV and realized that I didn't want to deal with an ICEV.

I just had an almost new ICE G80 as a loaner for my GV60P for five hours. The driving seemed so crude compared to driving my EV.