> The fact is, the infrastructure for renting gas vehicles for long drives is already in place, and 99% of driving is short and local.

Exactly.

If you are going on a long trip, renting or renting plus flying is likely best. If you are traveling 1200 miles, do you really want to drive for 20 hours solid? I've done it and it mostly sucks.

Except now your back to using fossil fuels again.

This is the big problem pro-BEV people are missing. If your goal is to reach 100% green transportation, batteries will never get you there.

> If your goal is to reach 100% green transportation, batteries will never get you there.

When you pose every problem as an absolute, it's impossible to come up with a solution for anything.

I'm not one to make perfect be the enemy of good. If 99% of driving is EV and 1% is ICE then we have a much smaller problem to deal with.

Not long ago, people predicted EVs would never get to the point they are now. The picture will be entirely different in 10 more years. By the time we've replaced the first 90% of ICE vehicles, the solutions to the last 10% will become more obvious than they are now.

The problem is that fuel cell cars really can take you to 100% green transportation. This is a problem that can be avoided entirely.

Nobody seriously expects to get to 100% green anything. Getting to 95% provides all the benefit anyone rationally hopes for. Squeezing out the remaining few percent is not worth the extra cost, much as getting the last bit of toothpaste out of the tube is not worth the bother (unless you are indulging obsessiveness).

People seriously expect fuel cell cars to allow for 100% green transport. Only from a BEV context do you talk about figuring out the last 10% or whatever.

I’m significantly more interested in saving the planet for my child than I am in driving a car with a specific powertrain. I’m pro-BEV because it seems to be a good way to move in the right direction. I drive an ICE VW but will move as soon as it makes sense to.

When I need a 4x4, I rent one.

Are pro-BEV people actually missing this? At least for now, the goal is only to remove some of the more significant sources of pollution. Vehicles for personal transport are a reasonable place to start. Obsessing about perfection is only going to hold us back.