I guess if you live in a high population density area, all that might be lovely. For those of out in the boonies, not so much. Even aside from making a 300 mile (one way) trip to see specialists (doctors, not enlisted folks), the distances we have to cover negate the idea of just getting to the next charging station. (I am sure it is similar for the folks in the prairei provinces of Canada, as opposed to the East.)
Consider...300 miles, 210 of it interstate (in Montana between 75 and 80 MPH speed limits, 65 on the 'back roads'.) Trip time: about 5 hours. A full gas tank will get me there, but I'd stop in Miles City and grab a bite and top off (ooh! waste anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and 15).
Now that might be a good time for the electric people to plug into a supercharger (not sure if Miles City has a charging station, much less one of the fast chargers), but I will be good to Billings--and back to Miles City on the gas in the tank.
Does it cost a little more? Maybe.
Yeah, the gas is supposedly more expensive than a full charge, but time is worth something, too. If I spend two hours getting tests, etc., and turn around, fuel and coffee on the way back, I'll have a 13-14 hour day.
If, however, I have to wait for the car to charge, it's going to be longer. I'm not sure I can give a hard number on that, but after 14-16 hours, I start to flag a little, and I'm not so good at driving as I was when I was a mite younger (at that fatigue level).
So Add a motel room to the mix.
Not so much cheaper any more, because that adds at least two meals--I won't be raiding the fridge that night.
I must note the writer specified they kept a gas vehicle for long trips, and now we know why. But in this part of the country (as in a lot of flyover country), long trips are the order of the day. For just a quick run in the local area, I could buy a side-by-side for summer use (15K new), and come out $45,000 ahead of the Tesla, and use it off-road locally, too.
Reality is that I'm a bit too frugal (cheap) for that.
The most I ever paid for a vehicle (with interest added in) was my Harley (still well under $10K). I caught all the others at the market low for the model year, and they've gone up since (unless it's a Trabant or really beat, most well-kept vehicles bottom in price and then go back up, and a little research shows Trabants are considered classics, now, too).
For between $500.00 for a 'retired' rental minivan--not a misprint--to $3,000.00 for a really clean Suburban that just needed a little TLC (also a former rental), I have under $15,000 purchase price in a fleet of 6 vehicles--2 vans, 3 SUVs and a pickup. None were wrecked.
Yeah, they have needed a fix here and there, but all those fixes have only added another $5K over ten years (not counting tires) because I do a lot of the work myself. Average mileage per vehicle in a year varies, but overall, I'd say I put about 3500 annual miles on each, some more than others, and liability insurance (for all) is under $100/month (clean driving record, non-drinker), even including the million dollar rider.
The difference between that and the buy-in for one EV will buy a lot of gas, even at Biden prices, and I don't have to spend so much on motels (which leaves more for ammo).
