Gregory's Server@jonw @jan @davidho It’s only an adoption problem if you assume you have to go to a specific place to charge, like we’re forced to with petrol.
When you can “gas up” at home or at work, without being near your car, you don’t really care if it takes hours.
For those really obsessed with refueling cars quickly, they can do that. There are EVs and chargers that will let you charge at a rate of 20+km per minute. But you’ll pay a pretty penny for that type of service.
Meanwhile, at our place we leave our car plugged in whenever we’re home, and it charges for free off any excess solar power we’re not using in the house.
I reckon “drive without ever paying for fuel” is a pretty strong case for why EVs will reach critical mass quite soon.
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@evolvable @jonw @jan @davidho exactly. Having whatever version you want of a 100% charge always available at the start of your commuting day is a huge mindshift that people used to filling up with gas every few days don't appreciate. "Will I have enough gas before I need to refill" is the gas version of range anxiety.  @evolvable @jonw @jan @davidho the difference, I think, is that you can carry a can of fuel to your car, fill it, and move it immediately. An EV doesn't have any such means of moving the thing *right now* in an emergency sense. (besides towing, or course)  @draeath @evolvable @jonw @davidho I've *never* seen that being a thing here where I live.  @draeath @evolvable @jonw @jan @davidho OK but when was the last time you ran out of gas by accident and had to utilize a can of gas you were carrying around with you? I have ADHD and MECFS so when I remember to plan ahead I don’t always have the energy to actually do it. And even I have never had this problem. @maggiejk @evolvable @jonw @jan @davidho I see some poor sap doing that on the commute to/fro work at least once a month. I don't let it get that empty, though. I have been in the "reserve" once or twice, where I had "0" gallons left, but I have a fuel flow monitor and know how much tank space I actually have. Habits from learning to fly.  @draeath @evolvable @jonw @jan @davidho Lithium batteries may take slightly longer to self discharge, but as far as I know they rarely survive when it does happen.  @draeath @evolvable @jonw @jan @davidho Actually the equivalent is charging from any ordinary grid socket. There is a standard cable for that coming with every EV. It is not recommended except in an emergency and only gives 3.7 kW. Yes, you should *never* go to zero charge, or close to it. That means towing. The thinking with an EV is really different... much more forward looking. A bit like flying. @MikeFromLFE @evolvable @jonw @jan @davidho I didn't say you kept it in the car, but that you could obtain one quickly if you had a problem. @evolvable @jonw @jan @davidho However, for street lighting, as opposed to slow charging from one's residential installation, there are costly complications: 1. Street lighting circuits are usually un-metered. Adding meters is a costly investment with under-powered results. When you charge from home this is already taken care of, since your private installations are billed. 1/4 @evolvable @jonw @jan @davidho 2. Street lighting was already efficient before LEDs. Most street lamps are/were one of the discharge gas variants. They are slow to start but in the same range as LEDs for efficiency. It's not really the case that there is untapped capacity in these circuits. 2/4 @evolvable @jonw @jan @davidho 3. Slow charge at home may be OK, but if all the cars along a busy row-house street attempt it at the same time, it becomes unfeasible. Again, the circuits feeding homes are larger and can usually cope with night-time simultaneous charging, but street lighting circuits would struggle in most areas where the spatial need makes the idea attractive. 3/4 @evolvable @jonw @jan @davidho 4. There are safety issues regarding the earthing (grounding) and protection offered by street lighting circuits. In the UK they cap individual loads on these circuits to 2KW (9Amsp) to get around that cheaply. If you want to connect bigger loads, then you'll need to invest in compliant earthing, which may make the concept unfeasible. Once all of those issues are addressed, the whole concept withers on the vine due to costs. 4/4 |
@jonw @jan @davidho Imagine if everyone was already driving cars they could fill up slowly at home cheaply or even for free, and someone tried to convince them to switch to expensive petrol only available at select locations that change the price every day based on events on the other side of the world, just because it’s really quick. They’d be a laughing stock.