On the other hand, a significant number of trips will begin their trip with a full "tank" (battery) and will therefore not even need to stop to refill.
The median distance travelled on long-distance trips is less than 200 miles in the US, which is clearly within the limit of a normal BEV battery.
https://www.bts.gov/statistical-products/surveys/national-ho...
The GP's point about the energy density of gasoline and how quickly it can be transferred is not refuted by this irrelevant statistic; indeed, reading the same statistic with a pessimistic interpretation makes my point: if the median trip distance is 200 miles, about half of trips are longer than an EV battery charge, requiring a long refuel stop.
Half is a lot of trips to give up by switching to an EV!
> how quickly it can be transferred is not refuted by this irrelevant statistic
Of course it is refuted. No need to transfer is without a doubt faster than a transfer taking a few minutes.
> if the median trip distance is 200 miles half of trips are longer than an EV battery charge
The median LONG distance trip. The trip which only happens a few times per yer. That trip. There are about 2.6 billion long distance trips, and 411 billion daily trips. So this means that just over 0.5% of all trips in a year is a long-distance trip, and therefore significantly less than half of those again can be completed without a refill.
0.25% of 365 = 0.9125
So one, probably two, long distance trips in USA per year on average need a refill on the way, when adjusted for all trips in the nation.
In what world is that a lot?
> if the median trip distance is 200 miles,
This is a figure not based on reality. The normal commuter car does not have a median trip distance of 200mi. More like 20mi, if even that.
How many people do you know have a 200 mile daily commute? Who normally drives 200mi to go get groceries? Absolute insanity.
For most people I know their median car trip is probably <15mi. Mine is probably like 10.
I was the person who brought up the number originally as a way to illustrate that the he median _LONG_ distance trip is that distance. Those trips accounts for less than 1% of all travel by personal vehicle. Maybe it was unclear.
You are entirely correct in noting that the mileage for the average daily/normal trip is about 15 miles: https://www.bts.gov/statistical-products/surveys/national-ho...
Ah, yep, that's on me for missing that context. Neat to know I was pretty close on my gut estimates there. Thanks for sharing that link.