EVs are a bad choice for a high-use vehicle like taxis / ubers. You'd need to recharge every 30 - 40 trips; in an ICE, that's 2 minutes at the pump - in an EV that's an hour of time you're not making an income.
It’s sad that I was downvoted when this whole thing just makes sense. Electric cars shine in cities, they are only problematic / less efficient to use at long distances. Taxi / Uber drivers are low payed people, they care much more about gas costs than waiting an hour (lunch break).
In general what matters for humanity is using electric cars instead of selling it, that’s why there should be the focus. Though I guess me repeating it doesn’t help, as it’s a huge initial investment for taxi drivers :(
For taxis that operate from taxi stands, that shouldn't be a problem. Even if the individual breaks are short, you only need to recharge one trip.
According to a Uber driver I asked about this, it's not a major problem for them either: The battery comfortably lasts half a day, and after that, it's lunch time anyways.
Or, using your numbers, you'd need to recharge after 5 hours of 6-8 trips per hour.
Looking at EV ranges, ranges inside cities are higher (unlike with ICE cars). Combine with lower speeds (i.e. more hours per mile) and more frequent stops, and it means a lot of "range" in terms of hours between recharges.
That's way more than enough trips for an Uber and a taxi.
In NYC, the average taxi driver drives 180 miles per day. This is the total distance covered, whether they have a passenger or not, and including the distance to and from their home.
Tesla Model 3s have a range of 272 miles. Also it doesn't take an hour to recharge a Model 3. You can charge from 10% to 80% in 25 minutes at a Supercharger.
Even in the worst case when an electric car goes less (people don’t just use Teslas), net revenue can go up if costs go down, it’s just basic business 101.
But as others have said, plugging in the car in a mall while having a lunch break is not a big deal, all people deserve a lunch break, they are not robots.
> EVs are a bad choice for a high-use vehicle like taxis
That's funny. In London, all the new "black cab" taxis are a custom EV (1) and the vehicle of choice for "minicab" taxis has long been Toyota Prius Hybrids. Though newer models such as Hyundai EVs are also present now.
That wouldn't be the case if you were correct, would it?
Slight correction, the new London Black Cab is a plug-in hybrid vehicle. Although it did seem to be in all-electric mode, every time that I've been in one.
