Letters to the Editor: Americans want big EVs that go far and plentiful charging. So sell us that

Los Angeles Times Opinion
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County worker Oliver Devera, right, got out of the drivers side of a Tesla Model 3 after taking a test drive. A free electric vehicle "Drive and Ride" event was held at the County Administration Building on Wednesday, October 2, in recognition of California's Clean Air Day. The public was able to test drive one or all of the electric cars to see if it was something they would change to in the future. The event was organized by Supervisor Nathan Fletcher.
A Tesla Model 3 and a Nissan Leaf are available for test-driving in downtown San Diego during a clean air event. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune)

To the editor: Bloomberg writer Ira Boudway seems to miss the point on electric vehicle range when he notes that 95% of all trips in the U.S. are 30 miles or fewer. ("Americans have always bought too much car. Now they're doing it with EVs," Sept. 25)

Most drivers commute or run errands locally. So what? They also take holiday breaks and vacations that often exceed the range of electric vehicles. Combined with the sparse distribution of high-speed charging stations and their frequent breakdowns, this is simply a "you can't do that anymore if you buy an electric car" limitation.

You don't tell consumers what they should like. You actually have to address their concerns.

No matter what the statistics show, we need to increase EV range and end the pitiful shortage of functional charging stations if we want to sell more electric cars. Tesla, which has the best charging network, should make its stations available to everyone. Consumers will pay for that service, and adaptor plugs are cheap.

We need to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, but that won't happen until EV deficiencies are met. We don't need lectures. We need solutions.

Peter Dekom, Beverly Hills

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To the editor: If 95% of all U.S. car trips are fewer than 30 miles, then plug-in hybrids that go 35-40 miles solely on their batteries could work — right now, today. For those who live outside major cities, transitioning to 100% EV sales isn't practical.

Why load all our driving eggs into a single all-EV basket? We already have heat waves, brownouts, broken down chargers, low water levels behind hydroelectric dams, vanishing nuclear power, mountains of spent batteries and shortages of raw materials.

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of good enough. Currently available plug-in hybrid technology can handle it.

Chuck Almdale, North Hills

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To the editor: Having done several road trips in my EV, I have learned that with a little planning, charging away from home can be stress free.

Thanks to smartphone apps like PlugShare and ChargeHub, you can find out in advance the condition and availability of almost every charging station across the U.S. Many Caltrans facilities — including rest stops — have free, reliable EV chargers. And overnight road trips became much easier when I decided to stay only at motels that offered EV charging.

One problem is the learning curve of using fast chargers on the road. Each company has its own apps and protocols, which just complicates things. Charging companies should adopt the same uniform protocols as gas stations: Insert your card and start charging.

Nicole Baker, San Gabriel

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.