Back to Gas? No Thank You

Really? You’re going to try to upsell me while filling up?

After my first road trip in a fully electric car, I swore I would never go back to gas. Yet here I am, nearly two years and six road trips later, cruising down I-5 in our ‘old’ gas car (it was new in 2020), headed from Seattle to southern Cal.   It wasn’t by choice:  due to a tight schedule and commitments at both ends of each day, we simply did not have the hour or so of extra time needed each day to make the trip in our EV.   Plus it was Memorial Day weekend and we figured that the charging stations along our route might just have lines.  And yes, I was mildly curious to remind myself how the receding side of the driving world lives.

Digital Overboard

Back in our VW Alltrack - the last six-speed AWD wagon sold in America - immediately I noticed just how easy it is to do the simple things like turn on the A/C or defog the windshield.  Nearly 100 years of HMI design has pretty much determined that twist knobs are simple and intuitive for humans to understand, especially when your eyes are meant to be on the road.  Knobs are tactile and can be ‘found’ by fingers even when the lights are off or when your eyes are on the semi truck that just cut in front of you in the rain storm.   Our EV is a Volkswagen ID.4 and I love it but just can’t for the life of me understand why they decided to throw the baby out with the bathwater in the rush to go all in on anti-analog.  The Tesla mistake should have been a lesson for all other auto designers; images of frustrated drivers swerving while picking through a big computer screen just to find the auto wiper settings. Our ID.4 is not far behind; I have to go through a series of screens to get to the ‘climate’ settings.  Perhaps the real lesson is to just get used to talking to your car. “Hey ID, adjust my side to 72 and her side to 68 and while you’re at it, heat the seats.”

Range Anxiety Reversed

The other thing that hit me was the mileage. Wow. From Seattle we made it well into California - over 500 miles - before we had to fuel up for the first time.  The trouble is that 9 hours is a long time to spend in a car pressing the gas pedal and fidgeting in the seat. I know you can stop anytime you want, but the temptation to drive non-stop until the gas gauge is on ‘E’ is always there. At least for me. The trip ends up like a ride in a Gemini space capsule. Not fun, especially with a panting cat crawling up on the dashboard and back on the tonneau cover and under every seat. Our ID.4 can max out at about 300 miles. Stopping every three hours - for 30 minutes - forces a cozy cadence that ensures you will arrive relaxed and well rested. It results in a happy kitty, too.

Gas Station Anxiety, too

Getting gas was not as easy or as pleasant as I had remembered it.  At the Yurok Nation gas station in Klamath, I actually had to go inside the station four times. It was comical. First, the machine asked for my card. I put it in and kept it in until the machine told me to remove it.  On the screen, I saw the number of gallons and total price from the previous person.  That seemed strange. Did I just pay for someone else’s gas?  I went inside and waited while a number of people purchased chips and ice cream sandwiches.  The guy at the cash register assured me that was normal and, sighing out loud, told me to go back out and just put the gas hose into my tank.  “It will work,” he assured me. I went back out and put it in. It did not work. The previous person’s gallons and dollars was still up in the big display.  I went back inside. Second time. “Still doesn’t work,” I said. He called an assistant who came out to the machine with me.  “Hmm, doesn’t seem to work,”  she said. Let’s go back in.  Third time. She reset everything from the register then we went back out together to the pump. I went through the same process again while she watched. Same price and gallons from the previous person. ‘Ignore that,’ she said.  I put the nozzle into the tank opening and this time, the price and gallons both reverted to 0.  “Looks good,” she said and headed back inside.  I selected the grade of gas.  Then another message popped up. “Too many tries. You’ll have to pay inside.”

Meanwhile, I don’t need a credit card or even my smart phone when I pull up to charge at Electrify America. I just plug it in, and it starts charging. Great for those times when I’ve dropped both my credit card and my iPhone down the toilet at the previous gas stop.

Electric is Quieter, Safer, More Funner

One other difference is the sheer power and torque of an EV. Our Alltrack manual shift six-speed is really zippy and can blow away any Subaru Outback on the highway. But it’s completely anemic compared to any electric vehicle. EV’s are fun to drive, like being in a video game. They are also much quieter because there is no engine and because of the layer of batteries that sits below you, giving the car a much safer low center of gravity and insulating the car from the sounds and vibrations of the road. And most importantly, the instant torque is much safer. I can accelerate from 50 to 100 in just a few seconds, excellent for getting out of dangerous situations or just passing a car on a two-lane highway.

Gas? No, Thank You

So that’s great. But let’s not forget the real reason to switch to electric: the earth is burning up. Yes, EV technology is not there yet. Yeah, the charging infrastructure is not there yet (actually it is, see here). Sure, battery tech is not there yet and there are real ethical questions about the extraction of minerals for batteries. So? The earth is burning up. It is literally burning up. I’ll say it again: The earth is burning up.

“Our house is on fire. I am here to say, our house is on fire.”

- Greta Thunberg

You might also like: https://qamera.com/blog/2023/4/8/ev-road-trip

120 degrees at midnight.