2 0 2 5 choose to drive on trips that require the use of public charging stations, you'll need to be both brave and patient. Public fast charging stations are still incontinently located, unreliable, and it takes at least 30 minutes to charge your vehicle. And be forewarned - the money you don't spend ■ Who needs an SAV? B M W i 5 M 6 0 on gasoline will be used to pay for your significantly increasing electric bill. It should also be noted that since first experiencing the Northern California public fast charging network three years ago, there have been no improvements made to numbers of chargers, the " safe " and convenient locations of those chargers, or to their reliability. And the average charging time for under 40% to 100% is about an hour. Hertz learned the hard way that mass market acceptance of EVs is difficult,which is why they are selling off their entire EV fleet. If you are willing to be tethered to a home charger and adventuresome enough to trust a very poor public fast charging network, then lease a BMW EV. Just have a gasoline powered BMW ready for your longer trips. ■ Chicken Soup for this Southern California native's soul. ■ Folding rear seats allow for more usable cargo space. ■ More mouth-watering goodies. ■ Handy storage area for the portable charger. ■ Seen along the route, a Tesla Cybertruck. July I August 2024 25