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Ugh... here we go again... > Problem 1: Transportation will load the grid and generating capacity in rather nasty ways Electric cars are not a _complete_ solu

Ugh... here we go again... > Problem 1: Transportation will load the grid and generating capacity in rather nasty ways Electric cars are not a _complete_ solution on their own. They are _part_ of the solution, along side more renewable power sources like solar and wind. I drive an electric car and I charge it almost exclusively with solar panels at a local free charging station provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority. (I live in Chattanooga, TN.) Also, as for putting load on the electric grid, electric cars actually help with that. Many can be configured to feed power back into the grid, and as a result, they can balance out the grid load throughout the day with their batteries. > Problem 2: Rapid charging is actually not so rapid, highway re-charging stations will have to be much larger than current gas stations Shift your thinking! Electric cars won't be charged at gas stations like gas cars of the past. Most electric drivers charge at home in their own garages or driveways. I have neither, but I still manage to charge my car in street parking with an extension cord, an exterior wall outlet, and a few of those little safety mat things so strangers don't trip over my cord. Charging stations will still be important for cross-country trips, but the average driver doesn't travel that far often enough for it to clog up charging stations across the country. > Problem 3: Gas stations are not generally in the neighbourhood of electricity generation stations. See above. > Problem 4: Re-charging will not work nearly as well when vehicle utilization goes up due to sharing See above. > Problem 5: We don’t actually have all this infrastructure yet Well, duh. That's why we need to build it. That's not an issue with electric cars themselves. That's a problem with our infrastructure that we need to fix. > Problem 6: Range This is something we need to work on, but it's not as big of a problem as people realize. More than 90% of US drivers drive far less than 100 miles per day. The few times I do need to travel farther than that, it's actually kind of relaxing to stop at a mall or restaurant with a charger, plug in, and have a 30 minute lunch while I charge. > Problem 7: Trailers Really? This is problem for most drivers? This is a niche problem for the few people that actually need to haul trailers. So those people can just use regular cars. > Problem 8: Service I drive a Nissan Leaf, and I am very active in the Leaf driver community. I have never heard of a Leaf having major maintenance problems. Chevy Volt's are known for having some issues, but in my opinion, that's your fault for buying something from GM. > Problem 9: Tax Breaks How is this a problem? Tax breaks will eventually go away? So what? The whole idea is to make these cars cheaper now until manufacturing gets cheaper and the prices start to go down on their own. This is really grasping at straws.

Unklejoe 11y ago
> Problem 2: Rapid charging is actually not so rapid, highway re-charging stations will have to be much larger than current gas stations Shift your thinking! Electric cars won't be charged at gas stations like gas cars of the past. Most electric drivers charge at home in their own garages or driveways. I have neither, but I still manage to charge my car in street parking with an extension cord, an exterior wall outlet, and a few of those little safety mat things so strangers don't trip over my cord. -> I agree to an extent, however, I think you over estimate the discipline of the average person with respect to them always remembering to charge their car at night. The time it takes to recharge an EV to a significant capacity is still too long for people to easily transition, not to mention the massive current demands that would be required for such a quick charge. In an ideal world, people would plug their EV into an outlet every night when they come home from work, but we all know that the average person isn't as deterministic as that. How many people wake up in the morning and realize that they forgot to plug their cell phone in at night? This is why there's such a push for rapid charging technology in those devices. In order for people to easily make the switch, I think we would need vehicles capable of charging to a ~100 mile capacity in under 5 minutes; similar to how long a refill for a gas vehicle takes. I’m not up to date on the latest EV news, so maybe we’re already there. Nonetheless, I find myself many times in the morning on my way to work, glancing down at the gas gauge, realizing that I forgot to refill last night. This forces me to make a quick stop on my way to refill, which only adds about 8 minutes to my total commute. Waiting at an EV charging station for 30 minutes would require a significant change in my lifestyle. People like the average HN user are generally responsible enough to make appropriate accommodations, but my 68 year old father wouldn’t go through the hassle. Another hurdle I see with overnight charging is the mess it would cause in cities like Philadelphia where you aren’t guaranteed to end up in the same parking spot every time. The people there can’t even handle shoveling out a parking spot without shooting each other, so I expect a few issues when there are extension cords in front of everyone’s house and you need your specific spot to charge your car. This could easily be solved with a universal charging infrastructure that includes chargers every 10 feet, but that infrastructure will only come when adoption reaches a certain rate where the _massive_ costs can be justified. This is the obvious catch 22. Of course, these issues will slowly go away as EVs become a part of everyday life, but I’m specifically talking about the transition period.

Unklejoe 11y ago

> Problem 2: Rapid charging is actually not so rapid, highway re-charging stations will have to be much larger than current gas stations Shift your thinking! Electric cars won't be charged at gas stations like gas cars of the past. Most electric drivers charge at home in their own garages or driveways. I have neither, but I still manage to charge my car in street parking with an extension cord, an exterior wall outlet, and a few of those little safety mat things so strangers don't trip over my cord. -> I agree to an extent, however, I think you over estimate the discipline of the average person with respect to them always remembering to charge their car at night. The time it takes to recharge an EV to a significant capacity is still too long for people to easily transition, not to mention the massive current demands that would be required for such a quick charge. In an ideal world, people would plug their EV into an outlet every night when they come home from work, but we all know that the average person isn't as deterministic as that. How many people wake up in the morning and realize that they forgot to plug their cell phone in at night? This is why there's such a push for rapid charging technology in those devices. In order for people to easily make the switch, I think we would need vehicles capable of charging to a ~100 mile capacity in under 5 minutes; similar to how long a refill for a gas vehicle takes. I’m not up to date on the latest EV news, so maybe we’re already there. Nonetheless, I find myself many times in the morning on my way to work, glancing down at the gas gauge, realizing that I forgot to refill last night. This forces me to make a quick stop on my way to refill, which only adds about 8 minutes to my total commute. Waiting at an EV charging station for 30 minutes would require a significant change in my lifestyle. People like the average HN user are generally responsible enough to make appropriate accommodations, but my 68 year old father wouldn’t go through the hassle. Another hurdle I see with overnight charging is the mess it would cause in cities like Philadelphia where you aren’t guaranteed to end up in the same parking spot every time. The people there can’t even handle shoveling out a parking spot without shooting each other, so I expect a few issues when there are extension cords in front of everyone’s house and you need your specific spot to charge your car. This could easily be solved with a universal charging infrastructure that includes chargers every 10 feet, but that infrastructure will only come when adoption reaches a certain rate where the _massive_ costs can be justified. This is the obvious catch 22. Of course, these issues will slowly go away as EVs become a part of everyday life, but I’m specifically talking about the transition period.