this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2026
134 points (97.9% liked)
Technology
85330 readers
4334 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
Approved Bots
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
One of the largest issues is the American mindset when it comes to buying vehicles. Many people consider all of their needs, even those that might be yearly. Most EVs have the range to handle 99% of most peoples trips, but they consider that last 1% of a yearly road trip when thinking about range. It's one of the reasons that Trucks and SUVs are so popular with their higher capability.
Trucks and SUVs are popular because they can be made cheaper due to government subsidies and lax emissions laws that exempt them.
That's on top of the massive tariff in place for any truck imported into the US. Its a main reason the Big 3 basically stopped making sedans.
How can you not consider your all of your needs when buying a vehicle?
One of the needs was not driving a huge ass truck for the 99% of trips where a smaller, more efficient car works so much better.
It's more over-weighting rare long road trips compared to everyday use. People are terrified of having to spend an extra 30 minutes charging an EV on a road trip, but don't think about all the time they can save on a weekly basis by never having to go to a gas station, or never having to get oil changes, etc.
¿Por qué no los dos? I own an EV for city driving, but I also own a gas car for road trips.
I've taken the EV on road trips a hand full of times and sometimes it was just 30 minutes. Other times, it was waaay longer than that because there were 5 charging stations, but, surprise, 2 of them are broken and the rest have long lines of cars waiting.
Personally, I find those situations pretty stressful, so I don't take the EV for road trips now.
You can rent a truck, but owning a truck means you have to pay more to haul around a bunch of stuff you don't need. That's why you shouldn't be worried about every possible thing you might need a vehicle for.
If you haul multiple times a month, perfectly understandable. If you haul things once or twice a year, the $20 rental from your local hardware store is probably more than sufficient for the task. And significantly cheaper, too.
This is a good point. I've watched a lot of idiots ruining their vehicles hauling stuff from Home Depot when a truck is only $20.
Home Depot is pro-Trump. I wouldn't spend a dime there.
What $20 rental?
Those do not exist anymore.
Truck rentals start at $50 now, when all fees are in.
How the hell are truck rentals so cheap in the US? Vans start at 70 euros here and I have to go the other side of the country because that's where the airport is.
I get most of my needs done with the much more easily available rental trailers instead. My wagon has a tow hitch for that.
I am, however, considering an SUV and buying a bigger trailer of my own so I could put more than ~500 kilos on it as that's the limit or the brake less rental trailers. I expect to do a bunch of hauling next few years, major home repairs are in order and I ain't paying other people to do all of it for me. I'll bring my own materials home from the shop and DHL my own work.
Home Depot charges 29.99+ a charge per mile. Otherwise I was going to agree with you.
they do not charge per mile, only time. 75 minutes is $20 or $30 depending on the type of vehicle. A whole day is like $150.
eg: https://www.homedepot.com/p/rental/load-n-go-truck-rental/316822131
It's actually a bargain.
Damn, it’s been a minute since I looked into it but that’s a lot more than it used to be and even furthers the point.
It's literally less than you just said. $20 for a truck and no mileage charge.
You're missing the forest for the trees anyway. The point is it's a lot less to pay $20 a few times per year than it is to pay thousands more for a full sized truck instead of a car.
How is $150 for a day less than $30 + (60miles x .50¢ a mile)??? You would need to go 240 miles for that to be more which even in my state is further than the next nearest Home Depot.
Since when are we talking about an entire day's worth of hauling? People need a truck to pick up a TV or couch from Costco that takes well under 75 minutes.
Also, you don't have to go to home depot, I was just correcting what you said about their pricing.
You didn’t answer my question. It doesn’t matter how long you have it that’s still more expensive than it used to be unless you can get your hauling done in less time than it takes to watch The Lion King. I’m not even sure what you’re trying to argue at this point.
Home Depot fucking sucks, then. Menard's has a $0.50 per mile charge, $19 for 75 minutes, $6 for each additional 15 min
The difference in price between a sedan and a truck is like $400-500 annually
I can’t say I have heard of Menards but they sound the same as Home Depot, or worse maybe since Home Depot charges for the whole day last I checked.
OMG, this is ludicrous! $60+ for a couple of hauls a year!!! How dare they!!!
If you live right next-door to the Home Depot then sure, if you live in a town like the one I grew up in and it has no Lowe’s or Home Depot or other car rental place even though it has 16,000 people and a college in it then no not at all.
True. I often forget that people are living in vastly different environments even within the same country
You don't need more than 200 miles of range if you are using roads in the United States.
So, 260 advertised.
You just don't.