Why not rent a gas car for the one day a year you need that distance?
That's sort of where I'm ending up. Not w/ electric vehicles, but with bicycling. I bike commute year-round & use it for most of my travel, but for the rare case when I need to use my car for longer trips it's nice to have. However, paying the cost of upkeep & monthly insurance for something I use so infrequently is starting to make less sense.
Oh where to start. Ignoring the fact that I've rarely had a good experience renting:
Space - Rear seats have been unbolted/removed in my SUV and a roof rack added for the climbing/camping/canyoneering/safety gear I bring. Perhaps there are rental places with roof racks, I've yet to see one.
Cost - Most rental places I've checked charge > $0.50 per mile if you are out of state or over a couple hundred miles (if they allow it at all). On a 3000+ mile trip I'd have $1500 in mileage fees. Don't be fooled when they say unlimited mileage - its like unlimited data for cell phones. If anyone has experience to the contrary where it isn't prohibitively expensive for a trip this length I'd love to hear it (keeping in mind I go down rough dirt roads so SUV/truck, not passenger car).
Comfort - Custom stereo and other things that you can have in your own car but not a rental. Also my car is modified so passenger seat can lay flat allowing one person to sleep while another drives, greatly reducing travel time.
Safety - I'm very familiar with the capabilities of my vehicle when I go down some of the rougher roads, or have to get through sand. Also how far I can push when the gas tank gets low.
I'm not opposed to the idea, it's just a hard sell. I'd love to have an electric car for commuting to work and just rent a few times a year that I need something bigger.
One problem with the "rent a gas car for long trips" approach is that for many people their long trips are at times or for events that a lot of people also need a gas car for. Rental cars may be hard to come by at such times, or may be very expensive.
Because it’s a huge pain in the ass. So I go to a car rental place in my EV and then what, leave it there? Bring someone along to drive it back. Add a couple of hours renting a car to a trip that’s already jam packed with fussy kids and irritated spouses, that you’re trying to squeeze in on a weekend?
When I didn't have a car, I rented from Enterprise several times a month. I never found it to be inconvenient. They pick you up! Besides, if like GP you mostly get around by bicycle or public transport, it doesn't seem like a hardship to get to or from the rental place that way.
Yep. Here in Portland we also have services like ReachNow & Car2Go which have the cars sprawled out around the city rather than needing to go to a specific place.
As a cyclist, I wish more of these services (Enterprise included) would have cars with bike racks on them. Car2Go did with their Smart-car fleet, but that was phased out.
It still takes ~30 mins, and the one near me isn't open on Sunday afternoons, which cuts into my Monday morning and pushes a 2 day rental to a 3 day one.
I don't understand why car rental places haven't tried to address this yet: e.g. offer drop-off and pick-up (of the car, not me), including evening and weekends.
You can sort of get this through Turo, but you don't get the network benefits (one-way rentals, easy replacement, etc.).
I ride 6 miles to work and pack my work clothes. It only takes me 25-30 minutes. If I arrive to work sweaty, I shower. I know not everyone has the luxury of having a shower at work, but every company I've worked at so far has had one.
On the ride home I change back into my riding clothes and spray sunscreen. Just keep hydrated and you will be fine.
My impression is that most people think cycling regularly is far more difficult than it actually is.
You'll adapt in more than one way. You'll get in better shape, so you won't sweat as much or be as tired by the cycling (or tired at all). More importantly, your attitude towards the discomfort will change. Yes, it takes effort and can be uncomfortable, but it's all perfectly acceptable after a while. Seems like a good example of the hedonic treadmill.
I already run about 25 miles per week, but thanks for your concern.
The thing is, I get up at the crack of day so as to do it in coldest weather, I wear appropriate athletic attire, I'm unladen by luggage, and if I feel too tired or something goes wrong then I lose a workout instead of my job.
None of the things you mention can't be done while cycling. Many of us get up early to beat the heat, wear reasonable clothes, and drive or take the bus or whatnot if cycling is not possible. I have reasonable cargo capacity on my bike so a normal day's bag is not a problem. Cycling in this case could replace a workout for you which could overall save you time given that it doubles as a commute. I used to be a fairly dedicated runner, but I decided cycling was a better use of my time.
Be sure to also learn best practices & procedures on how to be a good operator if you go this route. The ARRL tech manual is great for this.
This is similar to what I did; I bought the tech manual, and then used hamstudy.org to learn the tests. Once you get your radio and are able to actually get on the air, use the tech manual as a reference on how you should operate.
He's wrong. You don't need to use the internet to talk to someone from Australia. Using HF radio you can talk all over the world just using the Earth's ionosphere.
Or V/U/SHF - there's this big, passive repeater in the sky known as the Moon.
(Earth-Moon-Earth communication, or moonbounce, is basically to aim your antennas at the Moon and blast as much RF as you can muster at it, in the hopes that someone will pick up your echoes as the arrive back at Earth 2.5 seconds later.)
Anyone having the Moon over their horizon at the same time as Australia does should have a fair shot at working an Aussie at 144MHz and above.
You can talk to someone in Australia without routing through the internet. Through HF radio (3MHz-30MHz), you can bounce radio signals off of the Earth's ionosphere and talk all around the world.
That's sort of where I'm ending up. Not w/ electric vehicles, but with bicycling. I bike commute year-round & use it for most of my travel, but for the rare case when I need to use my car for longer trips it's nice to have. However, paying the cost of upkeep & monthly insurance for something I use so infrequently is starting to make less sense.