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Hours per week charging is better than hours per day, but still only practical for people who can run heavy wiring to a private garage. I keep wishing gas stati

Hours per week charging is better than hours per day, but still only practical for people who can run heavy wiring to a private garage. I keep wishing gas station battery swaps were happening.

zanny 9y ago
The industry cannot even standardize a charging port between Tesla and everyone else (which really is more on Tesla for using a proprietary port nobody else is using and then trying to act like they are the victims by offering royalty free access to the patents... after the fact). It will be a very, very long time before standardized batteries are a thing, if they ever will be. As soon as true self driving cars are a legal thing nobody will even own a car anymore, it won't make any sense.
- greglindahl 9y ago
  This is less of an issue than you might think: Tesla ships adapters for the most common non-Tesla charging ports.
reidacdc 9y ago
This is my issue also, although I suppose I represent a small fraction of the market -- I live in an urban apartment building with street parking, I won't be able to charge an EV at home until the infrastructure gets much, much better. This means I'd have to factor charging into all my trips, which messes up the user experience pretty badly.
- greglindahl 9y ago
  Almost all of the US has parking minimums for apartment complexes. My apartment complex installed a charger after I pointed out how many existing residents had EVs.
  - reidacdc 9y ago
    That helps with the marketplace in general, of course, but it doesn't do me any good, my building was built in the 1920s. No garage at all.
    - greglindahl 9y ago
      The earliest apartment buildings in California that have garages date from the 1920s! You might want to check if your city has a program for creating on-street chargers.
s0rce 9y ago
I've seen people charging bolts and plug in hybrids on my street with the wire run across the sidewalk (ie. from their home to the car parked on the street out front). Its a low-traffic residential area (East Bay) and I think this should be legal as it allows many people who have homes but no driveways to own and charge EVs. Maybe there should be a special rubber wire cover to protect the cord and so people don't trip. I hope someone doesn't trip and fall, sue the owner and ruin it for everyone.
- dangrossman 9y ago
  > Maybe there should be a special rubber wire cover to protect the cord and so people don't trip. https://www.amazon.com/Wiremold-Ivory-Corduct-Floor-Protector/dp/B0044UM82K https://www.amazon.com/Wiremold-Ivory-Corduct-Floor-Protecto...
  - s0rce 9y ago
    Yes, I'm aware of those, not sure if there is legislation to cover their use across residential sidewalks.
- lostboys67 9y ago
  Hmm diy wiring just exposed to the elements and draped across the pavements that's just asking for some one to get an accidental electric shock
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - lostboys67 9y ago
    As a quick google finds that •Electrical hazards cause more than 300 deaths and 4,000 injuries each year among the U.S. workforce. •In the United States, 50,900 fires each year are attributed to electrical failure or malfunction, resulting in 490 deaths and 1,440 injuries Widespread introduction of electric car charging points will obviously increase those numbers
mikeash 9y ago
As long as you can replace your daily needs overnight, the number of hours of charging per day doesn't matter. If you drive less than about 50 miles per day, you can do that on a standard 120V outlet. If you need more than that, you can double your charging rate with the same gauge of wiring by switching to a 240V/15A circuit, and maxing out the Bolt's 32A charger only requires a 40A circuit which isn't too bad to install for most people.
DannyBee 9y ago
8 awg wire (max 50 amp charger, since 90C breakers don't exist in residential) is not that heavy or hard to work with. 4 awg wire (max 85 amp charger) would be heavy wiring for most folks. You can also get 6 or 4 gauge soow or whatever and make a long cord from charge spot wherever you want. (But i don't remember what NEC has to say about this and am too lazy to look)
- lostboys67 9y ago
  You don't have to get a real electrician in to do the wiring esp. at the higher Amperage's? which presumably maxes out at 240v in the USA as opposed to a 415 V in the Uk.
  - 15155 9y ago
    In my own home, I'd do this wiring myself, assuming I had panel space. Getting an electrician can be useful for liability purposes, but 240V/85A isn't scary if you do some research on how to do it safely, minimum wire gauge, etc. ahead of time. This is a much higher amperage than any residential circuit requires, though, and will have trouble fitting on many 150A residential service panels.

Hours per week charging is better than hours per day, but still only practical for people who can run heavy wiring to a private garage. I keep wishing gas station battery swaps were happening.

zanny 9y ago

The industry cannot even standardize a charging port between Tesla and everyone else (which really is more on Tesla for using a proprietary port nobody else is using and then trying to act like they are the victims by offering royalty free access to the patents... after the fact). It will be a very, very long time before standardized batteries are a thing, if they ever will be. As soon as true self driving cars are a legal thing nobody will even own a car anymore, it won't make any sense.

greglindahl 9y ago
This is less of an issue than you might think: Tesla ships adapters for the most common non-Tesla charging ports.

reidacdc 9y ago

This is my issue also, although I suppose I represent a small fraction of the market -- I live in an urban apartment building with street parking, I won't be able to charge an EV at home until the infrastructure gets much, much better. This means I'd have to factor charging into all my trips, which messes up the user experience pretty badly.

greglindahl 9y ago
Almost all of the US has parking minimums for apartment complexes. My apartment complex installed a charger after I pointed out how many existing residents had EVs.
- reidacdc 9y ago
  That helps with the marketplace in general, of course, but it doesn't do me any good, my building was built in the 1920s. No garage at all.
  - greglindahl 9y ago
    The earliest apartment buildings in California that have garages date from the 1920s! You might want to check if your city has a program for creating on-street chargers.

s0rce 9y ago

I've seen people charging bolts and plug in hybrids on my street with the wire run across the sidewalk (ie. from their home to the car parked on the street out front). Its a low-traffic residential area (East Bay) and I think this should be legal as it allows many people who have homes but no driveways to own and charge EVs. Maybe there should be a special rubber wire cover to protect the cord and so people don't trip. I hope someone doesn't trip and fall, sue the owner and ruin it for everyone.

dangrossman 9y ago
> Maybe there should be a special rubber wire cover to protect the cord and so people don't trip. https://www.amazon.com/Wiremold-Ivory-Corduct-Floor-Protector/dp/B0044UM82K https://www.amazon.com/Wiremold-Ivory-Corduct-Floor-Protecto...
- s0rce 9y ago
  Yes, I'm aware of those, not sure if there is legislation to cover their use across residential sidewalks.
lostboys67 9y ago
Hmm diy wiring just exposed to the elements and draped across the pavements that's just asking for some one to get an accidental electric shock
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- lostboys67 9y ago
  As a quick google finds that •Electrical hazards cause more than 300 deaths and 4,000 injuries each year among the U.S. workforce. •In the United States, 50,900 fires each year are attributed to electrical failure or malfunction, resulting in 490 deaths and 1,440 injuries Widespread introduction of electric car charging points will obviously increase those numbers

mikeash 9y ago

As long as you can replace your daily needs overnight, the number of hours of charging per day doesn't matter. If you drive less than about 50 miles per day, you can do that on a standard 120V outlet. If you need more than that, you can double your charging rate with the same gauge of wiring by switching to a 240V/15A circuit, and maxing out the Bolt's 32A charger only requires a 40A circuit which isn't too bad to install for most people.

DannyBee 9y ago

8 awg wire (max 50 amp charger, since 90C breakers don't exist in residential) is not that heavy or hard to work with. 4 awg wire (max 85 amp charger) would be heavy wiring for most folks. You can also get 6 or 4 gauge soow or whatever and make a long cord from charge spot wherever you want. (But i don't remember what NEC has to say about this and am too lazy to look)

lostboys67 9y ago
You don't have to get a real electrician in to do the wiring esp. at the higher Amperage's? which presumably maxes out at 240v in the USA as opposed to a 415 V in the Uk.
- 15155 9y ago
  In my own home, I'd do this wiring myself, assuming I had panel space. Getting an electrician can be useful for liability purposes, but 240V/85A isn't scary if you do some research on how to do it safely, minimum wire gauge, etc. ahead of time. This is a much higher amperage than any residential circuit requires, though, and will have trouble fitting on many 150A residential service panels.