Poll - Have you ever ran out of charge or gas?

[Kengineer]

I think it’s crazy that early results show that 50% of people have ran out of gas but not depleted their battery. Not sure how to read that except that range anxiety might be overrated.

Yeah Tesla range anxiety happens only for the media and uninformed. Problem is that there are lots of uninformed people out there.

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[malinecentral]

Have run our gas twice, both times with broken gauges where I had to reset the odometer with each fillup and do the math. First time was an old truck where I was too broke to fill it so wasn’t the usual math distance, second time was my old Mazda with A gauge that wouldn’t go below 1/4 tank, and I had forgotten to reset the odometer.

I’ve gone to 0 and below several times in my EVs, once when the expected destination charging station was full of PHEVs ?, and twice while towing my camper. I misjudged a long mountain pass in Utah and a caught off guard by a massive headwind in west Texas (the windmills were a frightening clue), so the excess weight and aero profile were the wildcards. But I’ve never been stranded in my EVs.

So you got down to Zero but still made it. How far did you get once you hit 0. Which vehicle? Did you consider dropping the trailer at any point and going to charge and then come back?

 

[BlueLightning]

Prior, almost, charged up over 300 miles, drove on highway for 120 miles few hills, and cross wind, had under 10 miles when making it to next SC. ?

Do have a fear of running out of gas on my 92 Chevy, gas gage is broke, need to fix it. Fill up every week to ensure not stranded that 350 V8 loved to drink. LOL

 

[kdn]

I was on my way to the gas station and the one I was headed to was closed. Next one was 1.5 miles away and I was 400 yards away when she died. Other than that it hasn't even been close.

 

[FreeRadical1101]

My first time running out of gas was actually about 6 months ago. I was very used to driving electric to cruise ports and charging while on the boat. I took an unfamiliar gas burner and made it to the port. We left very early and wasn’t thinking about gas. Ran out on the interstate not too far out. Vehicle didn’t give very good warnings…

 

[kdn]

I do remember now a second time I ran out of gas. A co-worker and I went up to the western basin of Lake Erie to perch fish. Excited as we were we rented a boat and used my 6 HP Johnson with remote tank. Had a blast but when we returned the boat we were so excited I never checked the gas level in the VW bug. Ran out about halfway home. So I took the fitting off of the remote tank and pumped the primer bulb to get enough gas to get to the next exit(2 miles) we gassed up and headed home to show off our catch to our families. We were like 17 at that time….. 53 years ago. We all laugh at that one once in awhile

 

[DJAlan2000]

I think it’s crazy that early results show that 50% of people have ran out of gas but not depleted their battery. Not sure how to read that except that range anxiety might be overrated.

Range anxiety MOSTLY exists in those that haven't bought an EV yet...

We like to think that we NEED enough 'fuel' for a weeks worth of driving because that's how most 'ICE' cars/truck drivers think... They don't 'fuel up' every day like most BEV drivers do...

Once you OWN an EV and you have taken your first 'trip', it's really a no brainer for most... I mean the nav app will tell you if you need to stop to charge along the way and even pick chargers for you...

Imagine if you had that with an ICE vehicle... You plug in the route in a nav system, it knows how much mileage you get per gallon, checks to see if you have enough fuel and if not, tells you that you will need to stop for gas and shows you a list of gas stations, with prices, that you can stop at...AND you can tell it "I want to arrive with 1/4 tank of gas"...

yeah, right... probably not going to happen...

 

[Beetlebug62]

In response to the thread about creating a business having cyber trucks charge other cars I am curious if anybody has ever ran out of range in any vehicle. I have been driving for 30 years and I’ve never run out of gas or charge.

Back in 2013, I think AAA had a pilot program to charge EVs that had run out of charge. Oh look, a Leaf.

I ran out of gas 2x, both in bad spots. I was crossing the bridge into NH, when I ran out of gas. The bridge is tall, because there's a naval shipyard there. Has to be well over 100ft high. Anyway, I was trying to get to the top, so I could coast down to the other side, where I knew I could get gas. Nope, ran out. I then rolled all the way back to the offramp. Yep, without power steering or power brakes! Manhandled driving backward in neutral! I was a stupid college kid back then, 40+yrs ago. Then I walked to a gas station and got a gallon, walked back, filled up and was on my way.

The other time, I was in Europe, picking up a BMW thru their Eurodelivery program. I did not realize the digital fuel gauge was counting down to zero. I thought it was counting down to the low fuel light, where I'd have a couple gallons left. Oops! Anyhow, I ran out on the Autoroute between Grenoble and Geneva. I remember running to one of those yellow phone booths they had alongside the road, about 1km! Then over the noise, I was shouting to someone in my broken french and trying to tell them where I was! Hahaha. Amazingly, I saw a service truck drive by 20mins later, so I ran back to my BMW, and they put in 6 liters of fuel! For free! I suppose Eurodelivery comes with roadside assistance! Another lesson learned.

 

[malinecentral]

Range anxiety MOSTLY exists in those that haven't bought an EV yet...

We like to think that we NEED enough 'fuel' for a weeks worth of driving because that's how most 'ICE' cars/truck drivers think... They don't 'fuel up' every day like most BEV drivers do...

Once you OWN an EV and you have taken your first 'trip', it's really a no brainer for most... I mean the nav app will tell you if you need to stop to charge along the way and even pick chargers for you...

Imagine if you had that with an ICE vehicle... You plug in the route in a nav system, it knows how much mileage you get per gallon, checks to see if you have enough fuel and if not, tells you that you will need to stop for gas and shows you a list of gas stations, with prices, that you can stop at...AND you can tell it "I want to arrive with 1/4 tank of gas"...

yeah, right... probably not going to happen...

sounds like a good idea for an app.

 

[malinecentral]

Range anxiety MOSTLY exists in those that haven't bought an EV yet...

We like to think that we NEED enough 'fuel' for a weeks worth of driving because that's how most 'ICE' cars/truck drivers think... They don't 'fuel up' every day like most BEV drivers do...

You are absolutely spot on about the mindset. I hear people say that they “don’t want to have to charge their car everyday”. For 95 percent of my use I guarantee the 10 seconds it takes me to plug in my car when I get home adds up to way less time than they spend going to/filling up/going home from the gas station on a weekly/bi-weekly basis. Especially the ones that like to save a few bucks by driving 15 minutes to Costco to wait in a line. Do I give up some of that convenience the few times a year we take a road trip, for sure. Is it for everybody, of course not. But if the worst thing about my car is that I turned a 6 hour drive into 7 because I had to stop a couple times to charge a handful of times a year I’ll gladly make that trade for waking up to a full tank every morning that cost me a few bucks as well as all the other things I love about EV’s. No noise. Instant Torque. $10 for a “full tank”. I have 3 kids and I was making stops anyway so when we can we just plan our trips that way.

The reality is that as time goes on there will be more charging options and not less. And unless you are boondocking or going to extremely remote areas you are always going to have some kind of power you could tap into in emergencies. Unless something changes drastically in the future I will never purchase an ICE vehicle again in my lifetime.

 

[DJAlan2000]

Lines at the pumps... HATED THEM!! Having to wait for up to 20 minutes or more just to buy gas because it was 10-15 cents a gallon cheaper!
Here's pics of a local one in my area (Silva's Oil - Oxnard/Ventura next to the 101 Freeway) - You can't really tell, but there is a long line that goes out into the street (on right side in pic) from where that black SUV waaaaay in the background is and about a block down the road...

If you have to wait behind just 4 cars it means 4 X 5(minutes MINIMUM) = 20, then your 5 minutes to pump (10 for my old Charger SRT) MINIMUM and another 5 to input credit card stuff and get receipt at the end (IF there's paper!!) is about 30 minutes total...

30 MINUTES!!

Oh, and don't forget that I DROVE there and back... Add on another 20 minutes for that!! So yeah, it can take almost AN HOUR sometimes to get gas...

We just don't think about it that way though, do we? We always forget about the drive time, and then wait time...

My car now? I drive home (do that anyway), park and it takes me 10 seconds to 'plug in'... Then I go in the house, eat dinner, watch some tv, play with the kids (ours are 4 legged ones) then off to sleep and when I wake up in the morning, car is ready, filled up to 65% (I only use about 30 for my 88 mile commute), warmed up and I just unplug (another 10 seconds) hop in and go!!

So, where I USED TO SPEND about an hour or more per week getting gas (usually had to get gas every 5 days, or about 6 times a month, not 4), I NOW spend 20sec per day X 7 = 140 seconds per week... That's what... 2 minutes and 20 seconds? yeah, I can live with that!!

2 min 20 seconds VS about 45 minutes per week... Hmmm.... Tough choice...

OH, and here's a pic from Costco:

 

[CyberDoug007]

Only came close while towing but never with gas.

 

[SlegMD]

Had old school Camaro that was on ‘early’ empty, knew I could get to gas station. Unfortunately the gas station access ramp was long and steep and the remaining fuel was not able to be drawn to injector's ?

Anyway- new to EVs and I’ve forgotten to plug my CT at night, almost stranded myself in my garage when trying to start my work commute.

 

[kdn]

Had old school Camaro that was on ‘early’ empty, knew I could get to gas station. Unfortunately the gas station access ramp was long and steep and the remaining fuel was not able to be drawn to injector's ?

Anyway- new to EVs and I’ve forgotten to plug my CT at night, almost stranded myself in my garage when trying to start my work commute.

Now That's Funny!!!

 

[Kengineer]

You are absolutely spot on about the mindset. I hear people say that they “don’t want to have to charge their car everyday”. For 95 percent of my use I guarantee the 10 seconds it takes me to plug in my car when I get home adds up to way less time than they spend going to/filling up/going home from the gas station on a weekly/bi-weekly basis. Especially the ones that like to save a few bucks by driving 15 minutes to Costco to wait in a line. Do I give up some of that convenience the few times a year we take a road trip, for sure. Is it for everybody, of course not. But if the worst thing about my car is that I turned a 6 hour drive into 7 because I had to stop a couple times to charge a handful of times a year I’ll gladly make that trade for waking up to a full tank every morning that cost me a few bucks as well as all the other things I love about EV’s. No noise. Instant Torque. $10 for a “full tank”. I have 3 kids and I was making stops anyway so when we can we just plan our trips that way.

The reality is that as time goes on there will be more charging options and not less. And unless you are boondocking or going to extremely remote areas you are always going to have some kind of power you could tap into in emergencies. Unless something changes drastically in the future I will never purchase an ICE vehicle again in my lifetime.

I take less than 3 seconds for me to connect/disconnect the charger. I back in on the left side of the garage. I open the driver side door, close door, on my way inside the house, 1. grab charger (1 second) (2 feet away from the charge port), 2. push charger button (1.5 second), connect the charger to Cybertruck (.5 seconds)

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