4 ms·

I disagree completely. In your hypothetical world, what if they were all private gas stations? That would certainly affect the economics of owning a gasoline ca

I disagree completely. In your hypothetical world, what if they were all private gas stations? That would certainly affect the economics of owning a gasoline car for the worse, if you also had to build and maintain your own gas station to go along with it. But apparently we shouldn't take that into account? Here's another hypothetical: What if every single private charging station in Japan was owned by the same individual, and he refused to let anybody else use them? Would that change your opinion? Because from the perspective of someone who's deciding which kind of car to buy, that scenario is functionally identical to the current reality. The only infrastructure that affects "viability" of a new technology is infrastructure that's available to use. A bunch of roped-off private infrastructure doesn't change the equation for anybody whose not already a member of the club.

capote 10y ago
> The only infrastructure that affects "viability" of a new technology is infrastructure that's available to use. In-home chargers do affect the viability of a new technology, and they are available to use. Just not to everyone. But most people who have an electric car have access to at least one private charger, and it's the one they will use most, so it affects them more than any other charger, especially for regular, in-region daily use/commuting. > doesn't change the equation for anybody whose not already a member of the club. Anyone who's not a member of the club probably doesn't have an electric car. When they get an electric car, they will likely either use their in-building charger or get their own. All of these hypotheticals don't change the fact that this figure is encouraging to me. It shows that Japan is starting to figure out how to use the electric car as a reasonable replacement for the gasoline/diesel car. The number is still impressive, even if you don't compare it to the number of gas stations--but rather just to the number of people--it shows that they've adopted the electric car more than most (if not all) countries without their economy going to shit or a transport-related crisis happening.
- sparky_z 10y ago
  > In-home chargers do affect the viability of a new technology, and they are available to use. Just not to everyone. But most people who have an electric car have access to at least one private charger, and it's the one they will use most, so it affects them more than any other charger, especially for regular, in-region daily use/commuting. Yes, but you have to pay for one. It's part of the cost of switching (in a way that "constructing your own gas station" isn't). That's my point.
  - capote 10y ago
    You're right, and I wasn't saying this article is groundbreaking, or that the progress is tremendous. I was just defending the figure/comparison as a reasonable one to make us aware of the progress in this early stage of EV adoption.

capote 10y ago

> The only infrastructure that affects "viability" of a new technology is infrastructure that's available to use. In-home chargers do affect the viability of a new technology, and they are available to use. Just not to everyone. But most people who have an electric car have access to at least one private charger, and it's the one they will use most, so it affects them more than any other charger, especially for regular, in-region daily use/commuting. > doesn't change the equation for anybody whose not already a member of the club. Anyone who's not a member of the club probably doesn't have an electric car. When they get an electric car, they will likely either use their in-building charger or get their own. All of these hypotheticals don't change the fact that this figure is encouraging to me. It shows that Japan is starting to figure out how to use the electric car as a reasonable replacement for the gasoline/diesel car. The number is still impressive, even if you don't compare it to the number of gas stations--but rather just to the number of people--it shows that they've adopted the electric car more than most (if not all) countries without their economy going to shit or a transport-related crisis happening.

sparky_z 10y ago
> In-home chargers do affect the viability of a new technology, and they are available to use. Just not to everyone. But most people who have an electric car have access to at least one private charger, and it's the one they will use most, so it affects them more than any other charger, especially for regular, in-region daily use/commuting. Yes, but you have to pay for one. It's part of the cost of switching (in a way that "constructing your own gas station" isn't). That's my point.
- capote 10y ago
  You're right, and I wasn't saying this article is groundbreaking, or that the progress is tremendous. I was just defending the figure/comparison as a reasonable one to make us aware of the progress in this early stage of EV adoption.