As to whether to buy an extended range EV or something like a Volt, Clarity, Plug in Prius etc, much depends on how and where you would use the car. After more than 6 years, we love our EV's, but getting something for extended range travels, we had to evaluate where we live, where we travel and what support is available
Since we do virtually all of our local driving in the iMiEV's, whatever we buy would largely be a garage queen when we're not traveling and do I really want a $50K Tesla sitting in my garage unused for months at a time depreciating? I decided I did not. To my way of thinking, there are two methods for long range EV travels - Those which use the Tesla network of chargers which are nearly everywhere and have enough stations at each one that you're pretty much guaranteed of getting a quick charge without a long wait . . . . and every other EV out there which
can't use the Tesla network
A quote made by Joe in another thread praising the Bolt bought by a relative -
" . . . . he's made a successful 800-mile round-trip down to the SF Bay Area to visit his daughter in it - but what a hassle fraught with unknowns and and a few slower (25kW) chargers . . . . " - Keep in mind that this is travelling up and down the I-5 corridor, one of the best supported EV routes in the country. It's much worse everywhere else
So, no $50K Tesla and no interest in a $25K, 100K mile used Tesla and not wanting the hassle of the more sparse charging facilities available elsewhere, and specifically in our neck of the woods, we ruled out the other EV options.
Instead, we looked at other longer range cars where recharging was an option to be considered when it's convenient and not a necessity to be able to go at all - We settled on a Volt and so far, we're pretty happy with it. We do find an excuse to drive it locally once in a while (twice or three time a month) but other than the 1,000 mile trip to bring it home, we haven't put 500 miles on it in the 6 months we've owned it - The iMiEV's are just too darned good at what they do, and why would you want to park a $25K car in the WalMart parking lot (or anywhere else?) when you have two perfectly capable cars which make that trip easier and less expensive, so the Volt pretty much sits in the garage . . . . but then, that's what we expected when we bought it
I really do like driving the most practical vehicle for the task at hand, even though it means paying insurance on 4 cars. We have a little Ford Transit Connect van that we travel in when we're taking our Segways and other cargo along and it also has a trailer hitch for those trips to Lowes to trailer home heavy, bulky items - It too sits in the garage for months at a time . . . . we've racked up only 12,000 miles on it in 3 years, but since 95% of those are freeway miles, it's averaging nearly 29 mpg for us
Every vehicle is a compromise - None of them can do it all . . . . oh, the guys driving F-150's all think their truck can, but one of my prerequisites is not burning ANY gas around town . . . .
Don