Coopec. Everyones driving distance scenario will be somewhat...

Coopec.

Everyones driving distance scenario will be somewhat unique and you could quote an almost infinite number of scenarios with minor variations. In your personal case where you live close to work it could work for you to own an electric vehicle. The comments regarding the electrical grid are still applicable in your case however - if you do one refill per week drawing an additional 4.4kW * 12 hours then this is the delivered amount of additional electricity required per week. Conversion of thermal energy to electricity in modern power plants is about 30% efficient vs 50%efficiency for modern turbo diesel power plants. The electric car also has to lug the battery around vs fuel that is consumed reducing its total efficiency further (higher CO2 emissions).

Electric vehicle owners wont always find driving holidays very convenient unless they stick to the main roads and drive less than 400km per day. If the accomodation facilities you are in are not up to standard you will have to stay there anyway to recharge. If your battery runs flat in the middle of nowhere you could get a tow to the nearest power point vs small jerry can.

Another minor consideration is human factors. Everyone remembers to charge their phone each night and nobody's phone ever gets critically low at unplanned times because they know they have to charge their phone regularly and they never forget. Occasionally a long car recharge will be intended to start as soon as they get home but some kind of inevitable distraction will make people forget some day. I thought i turned it on - oh well only 12 hours and I will be back in action. As I say there is development underway to address these issues but they all add significant cost to the vehicle and or premises infrastructure that acts as a barrier to entry. Why would you risk this and pay extra when you can have greater convenience at a lower price?

Eventually all of these issues will be resolved through massive funding of R&D because we need this technology once the oil runs low and becomes too expensive.