4 ms·

Where I live (in a dense German city) there wouldn't even be space at the roadside to install charging points; even the street lights are attachted to the house

by skrause 10y ago

Where I live (in a dense German city) there wouldn't even be space at the roadside to install charging points; even the street lights are attachted to the houses because there was no space left. I have the same situation at work, so personally have a difficult time imagining to own an electric car anytime soon.

dooptroop 10y ago
Where do the normal cars park?
- mantas 10y ago
  By the side of the street. In between the street and pedestrians passage. Or between street and bicycle path. Sometimes diagonally. The only possible charging would be some stuff that's underground and comes out of the ground right next to the car. Hopefully attaches to the bottom of the car, so there're no hoses/wires flinging around. And some cars are parked at grey-legal spots blocking other cars. People just leave their phone numbers if someone needs to get out earlier. That is super common when you know people around and can expect to drive away sooner than your neighbour.
  - Tempest1981 10y ago
    Or overhead?
- skrause 10y ago
  Here is an example of such a street: https://www.google.de/maps/@51.2310008,7.0720156,3a,75y,127.29h,87.72t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1skRl1Fm1VvqV_1uDpmlYDIQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.de/maps/@51.2310008,7.0720156,3a,75y,127.... You bascially park your car somewhere half on the street, half on the curb. The sidewalk is just wide enough for people to walk there.
Thlom 10y ago
On the other hand,car ownership in dense urban areas shouldn't be the norm. The future is also in active transport (walking, cycling) and transit, not only electric cars.
- mantas 10y ago
  So if you want a car for hobbies (e.g. getting to backcountry) or transporting your kids around, you shouldn't live in an urban area?
  - kamjam 10y ago
    When I was living in Montreal for a couple of years I signed up to a community car share scheme. No insurance, no maintenance, no road taxes so it worked out cheaper to "rent a car" just when I needed it: https://www.communauto.com/index_en.html https://www.communauto.com/index_en.html With a good, cheap, reliable public transport system with this as backup I could easily get rid of my car if I lived in an urban area but still needed to get around at the weekends.
    - JoeAltmaier 10y ago
      That's what I don't get about 'car sharing'. Everybody wants the car on the weekend. If the service has to have enough cars for everybody, what's the difference between that and leasing/owning? It doesn't save on cars that's for sure.
      - detaro 10y ago
        Do you really want a car every day of most weekends? What for? (I suspect the "good, cheap, reliable public transport" thing the parent mentioned is important)
      - kamjam 10y ago
        In my experience of using the service, and Montreal is a much smaller city than London (where I am from), you don't want a car every weekend. I was usually able to find a car for hire as long as I booked in advance (esp for Bank Holiday type weekends) but sometimes it meant going to a different location than the one right next to me. As the system get's more popular and more people use it then they are able to purchase more cars. > It doesn't save on cars that's for sure I disagree. Several of my friends also used the service, just between us that saved having several cars. If you need a car all weekend, every weekend then the service is probably not for you. But if, like me, you needed it every so often then it saved a lot of money over the course of a year.

by skrause 10y ago

dooptroop 10y ago

Where do the normal cars park?

mantas 10y ago
By the side of the street. In between the street and pedestrians passage. Or between street and bicycle path. Sometimes diagonally. The only possible charging would be some stuff that's underground and comes out of the ground right next to the car. Hopefully attaches to the bottom of the car, so there're no hoses/wires flinging around. And some cars are parked at grey-legal spots blocking other cars. People just leave their phone numbers if someone needs to get out earlier. That is super common when you know people around and can expect to drive away sooner than your neighbour.
- Tempest1981 10y ago
  Or overhead?
skrause 10y ago
Here is an example of such a street: https://www.google.de/maps/@51.2310008,7.0720156,3a,75y,127.29h,87.72t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1skRl1Fm1VvqV_1uDpmlYDIQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.de/maps/@51.2310008,7.0720156,3a,75y,127.... You bascially park your car somewhere half on the street, half on the curb. The sidewalk is just wide enough for people to walk there.

Thlom 10y ago

On the other hand,car ownership in dense urban areas shouldn't be the norm. The future is also in active transport (walking, cycling) and transit, not only electric cars.

mantas 10y ago
So if you want a car for hobbies (e.g. getting to backcountry) or transporting your kids around, you shouldn't live in an urban area?
- kamjam 10y ago
  When I was living in Montreal for a couple of years I signed up to a community car share scheme. No insurance, no maintenance, no road taxes so it worked out cheaper to "rent a car" just when I needed it: https://www.communauto.com/index_en.html https://www.communauto.com/index_en.html With a good, cheap, reliable public transport system with this as backup I could easily get rid of my car if I lived in an urban area but still needed to get around at the weekends.
  - JoeAltmaier 10y ago
    That's what I don't get about 'car sharing'. Everybody wants the car on the weekend. If the service has to have enough cars for everybody, what's the difference between that and leasing/owning? It doesn't save on cars that's for sure.
    - detaro 10y ago
      Do you really want a car every day of most weekends? What for? (I suspect the "good, cheap, reliable public transport" thing the parent mentioned is important)
    - kamjam 10y ago
      In my experience of using the service, and Montreal is a much smaller city than London (where I am from), you don't want a car every weekend. I was usually able to find a car for hire as long as I booked in advance (esp for Bank Holiday type weekends) but sometimes it meant going to a different location than the one right next to me. As the system get's more popular and more people use it then they are able to purchase more cars. > It doesn't save on cars that's for sure I disagree. Several of my friends also used the service, just between us that saved having several cars. If you need a car all weekend, every weekend then the service is probably not for you. But if, like me, you needed it every so often then it saved a lot of money over the course of a year.