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Wow. What city do you live in where EVs are impractical? Even the small cities where I live are starting to make ICE vehicles feel a bit less convenient. Righ

Wow. What city do you live in where EVs are impractical? Even the small cities where I live are starting to make ICE vehicles feel a bit less convenient. Right now it's barely noticeable, but you can certainly see where it's headed. Just as an example, things like going to the city for groceries, pulling into a parking space, and realizing that it is for EVs only. That was last year. This year, at the good grocery store anyway, a second bank of spaces were made EV only. Point is, I can kind of see where this is all going. So if even small cities here in bass ackwards Wisconsin are doing this kind of thing, I'd have thought it would be rampant in the large cities?

Eric_WVGG 8y ago
New York City? Most cars are stored out on the street. The notion of sidewalk-side EV chargers around here is ridiculous.
- outworlder 8y ago
  It is just as ridiculous a notion as parking meters. Yet, they exist.
  - Eric_WVGG 8y ago
    Barely. Modern parking meters, there's one per side of the street, folks walk up and down to retrieve receipts. That model isn't going to work with power cables. And parking meters don't even exist in most of Brooklyn and Queens (or even a huge amount of Manhattan). That's a massive amount of infrastructure. (Don't interpret this as an anti-electric-car argument, I just personally think it's better and maybe more likely that personally-owned-cars in general are what fade from NYC)
    - outworlder 8y ago
      Understood. It is expected that some places are better positioned for an EV switch than others. That's ok. One thing of note: dense cities like NYC are less amenable to cars in general. And at the same time, driving distances tend to be less, and there is congestion, all of which benefit EVs(engine is not turning if you are not moving, draw from other systems is negligible). If you don't drive as much as someone commuting in the bay area, then you might be able to get away with topping off whenever you go to a mall or something like that. Chargers are appearing at public parking buildings too. Also do you park you car in the street at your workplace? If they have their own parking, that could also eventually be a charging location (as it is in many workplaces elsewhere). As we speak, my car is charging at my employer's parking garage (it's actually shared between several buildings, but you get the picture). By the time I end my shift I'll just disconnect and go home. I haven't charged at home in more than one year(although I have the ability). In fact, Chargepoint tells me it's already charged. This means that I don't have to take time off my schedule to go to a gas station, all because of my employer. Given the proximity, I only have to charge once a week or less. If you also have to park in the street at your workplace, then it won't be as convenient. But then again, I think finding a parking spot should already be stressful enough as it is :) Hold on for a while. Cities will adapt, they will have no choice.
    - Symbiote 8y ago
      Many towns and cities in Europe are installing electric car charging points to on-street parking. It's certainly not enough to rely on to charge a personal car, but it's increasing. I usually see the pay-per-minute rental cars parked in the spaces. It might help that 220-240V is the standard voltage, it's a bit more worthwhile than 115V would be, but for more than a couple of points the existing wiring (streetlights etc) probably needs to be upgraded anyway. https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/electric-cars-charging-london-62002929.jpg https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/electric-cars-charging-londo... (in case it's not clear, this is a street in London with a pavement/"sidewalk". The block paving is probably an attempt to make the area look more appealing.)
- bilbo0s 8y ago
  If you own a car in NYC, you have a toy, not a necessary transportation device. I would think NYC would be a step ahead of everyone else in this regard. ie - I would think they would be actively discouraging use of motor vehicles at all. Especially ICE vehicles. I think of NYC as being more like Paris in that regard than Houston or Minneapolis. If you want to own any car in the future, I think living in NYC is not the place for you. I really do believe they are out to reduce the number of cars in NYC. (Or more precisely, I believe they are out to reduce the number of personally owned vehicles.) So it's not surprising to me that you don't see this sort of infrastructure in NYC.
  - zjaffee 8y ago
    This isn't necessarily the case in NYC the further out you go, and really many of the older parts of the north east. Tons of streetcar suburbs only really have street parking.
- solarkraft 8y ago
  What's special about NYC that makes sidewalk chargers impractical?

Eric_WVGG 8y ago

New York City? Most cars are stored out on the street. The notion of sidewalk-side EV chargers around here is ridiculous.

outworlder 8y ago
It is just as ridiculous a notion as parking meters. Yet, they exist.
- Eric_WVGG 8y ago
  Barely. Modern parking meters, there's one per side of the street, folks walk up and down to retrieve receipts. That model isn't going to work with power cables. And parking meters don't even exist in most of Brooklyn and Queens (or even a huge amount of Manhattan). That's a massive amount of infrastructure. (Don't interpret this as an anti-electric-car argument, I just personally think it's better and maybe more likely that personally-owned-cars in general are what fade from NYC)
  - outworlder 8y ago
    Understood. It is expected that some places are better positioned for an EV switch than others. That's ok. One thing of note: dense cities like NYC are less amenable to cars in general. And at the same time, driving distances tend to be less, and there is congestion, all of which benefit EVs(engine is not turning if you are not moving, draw from other systems is negligible). If you don't drive as much as someone commuting in the bay area, then you might be able to get away with topping off whenever you go to a mall or something like that. Chargers are appearing at public parking buildings too. Also do you park you car in the street at your workplace? If they have their own parking, that could also eventually be a charging location (as it is in many workplaces elsewhere). As we speak, my car is charging at my employer's parking garage (it's actually shared between several buildings, but you get the picture). By the time I end my shift I'll just disconnect and go home. I haven't charged at home in more than one year(although I have the ability). In fact, Chargepoint tells me it's already charged. This means that I don't have to take time off my schedule to go to a gas station, all because of my employer. Given the proximity, I only have to charge once a week or less. If you also have to park in the street at your workplace, then it won't be as convenient. But then again, I think finding a parking spot should already be stressful enough as it is :) Hold on for a while. Cities will adapt, they will have no choice.
  - Symbiote 8y ago
    Many towns and cities in Europe are installing electric car charging points to on-street parking. It's certainly not enough to rely on to charge a personal car, but it's increasing. I usually see the pay-per-minute rental cars parked in the spaces. It might help that 220-240V is the standard voltage, it's a bit more worthwhile than 115V would be, but for more than a couple of points the existing wiring (streetlights etc) probably needs to be upgraded anyway. https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/electric-cars-charging-london-62002929.jpg https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/electric-cars-charging-londo... (in case it's not clear, this is a street in London with a pavement/"sidewalk". The block paving is probably an attempt to make the area look more appealing.)
bilbo0s 8y ago
If you own a car in NYC, you have a toy, not a necessary transportation device. I would think NYC would be a step ahead of everyone else in this regard. ie - I would think they would be actively discouraging use of motor vehicles at all. Especially ICE vehicles. I think of NYC as being more like Paris in that regard than Houston or Minneapolis. If you want to own any car in the future, I think living in NYC is not the place for you. I really do believe they are out to reduce the number of cars in NYC. (Or more precisely, I believe they are out to reduce the number of personally owned vehicles.) So it's not surprising to me that you don't see this sort of infrastructure in NYC.
- zjaffee 8y ago
  This isn't necessarily the case in NYC the further out you go, and really many of the older parts of the north east. Tons of streetcar suburbs only really have street parking.
solarkraft 8y ago
What's special about NYC that makes sidewalk chargers impractical?