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> I can't see what possible good passing a charging station on my highway commute would do me. Helping people not driving an electric understand that charging

by xienze 7y ago

> I can't see what possible good passing a charging station on my highway commute would do me. Helping people not driving an electric understand that charging stations exist and are in abundance, thereby alleviating concerns that an electric will leave them stranded. I know where at least ten gas stations are in my normal driving radius, and where some are in adjacent towns. I have no clue where the nearest charging station is, even though I'm aware that some exist. To the average person, it appears as though charging stations don't exist at all and gas stations are in abundance. It's a mindshare thing.

sokoloff 7y ago
I'm not sure that "here's a place where you could park and charge for 2 hours in the middle of your commute home" is a positive influence for adoption.
- xienze 7y ago
  Well, remember that "range anxiety" is more about "I wouldn't buy an electric because what if I have to make a 200 mile trip?" than "I'm worried it won't make it to my office 15 miles away." The fact that electric charging stations are essentially hidden from view reinforces the notion that an electric car would be a horrible choice because it would be unable to handle anything other than in-city commuting (and remember that not everyone has the luxury of buying a car for tooling around town and one for lengthier trips, hence the desire to have one car that "does it all"). Keeping charging stations hidden from view reinforces the notion that you're SOL for long-range trips. Having them be visible and in abundance, even though they wouldn't need them often, would go a long way towards reassuring people that charging stations aren't these incredibly rare things that you won't be able to find when you really need one.
  - sokoloff 7y ago
    If you have an 80 mile electric (as I do), take your second ICE car or rent an ICE car. No one is going to add 2 3-hour charging sessions (at 24 miles of charge per hour) into a 200 mile road trip and be happy about it.
- Klathmon 7y ago
  well to be fair, with a Tesla Model 3 it's not "park and charge for 2 hours", it's "park and charge for <20 minutes" in most cases. (assuming it's at a tesla supercharger) I feel like throwing out exact numbers is disingenuous at best since a lot of things vary charge rate (state of charge, temperature, type of charger, etc...), but 20 minutes will almost always get you to the next charger or a destination in the Model 3. And while I agree it's not quite "charge on your way home from work", it is something that at least Tesla is working on. Their "Supercharger v3" stalls cuts the stop times roughly in half in the ideal situations. And IMO "stop for 10 minutes on the way home" is absolutely acceptable.
  - sokoloff 7y ago
    Yes, but the Tesla Model 3 already has enough range for most to charge 2x per week at most. It's the $20K 80 mile electrics that have legitimate range anxiety issues, not the $40K 200 mile electrics. My LEAF has a fast charger (CHAdeMO) and a 6.6kW Level 2 charger. My car has seen a CHAdeMO charger exactly once in its lifetime and that was before delivery. Most non-Teslas are charging at 3.3 or 6.6 kW (~12 or ~24 miles per hour of charge).

by xienze 7y ago

sokoloff 7y ago

I'm not sure that "here's a place where you could park and charge for 2 hours in the middle of your commute home" is a positive influence for adoption.

xienze 7y ago
Well, remember that "range anxiety" is more about "I wouldn't buy an electric because what if I have to make a 200 mile trip?" than "I'm worried it won't make it to my office 15 miles away." The fact that electric charging stations are essentially hidden from view reinforces the notion that an electric car would be a horrible choice because it would be unable to handle anything other than in-city commuting (and remember that not everyone has the luxury of buying a car for tooling around town and one for lengthier trips, hence the desire to have one car that "does it all"). Keeping charging stations hidden from view reinforces the notion that you're SOL for long-range trips. Having them be visible and in abundance, even though they wouldn't need them often, would go a long way towards reassuring people that charging stations aren't these incredibly rare things that you won't be able to find when you really need one.
- sokoloff 7y ago
  If you have an 80 mile electric (as I do), take your second ICE car or rent an ICE car. No one is going to add 2 3-hour charging sessions (at 24 miles of charge per hour) into a 200 mile road trip and be happy about it.
Klathmon 7y ago
well to be fair, with a Tesla Model 3 it's not "park and charge for 2 hours", it's "park and charge for <20 minutes" in most cases. (assuming it's at a tesla supercharger) I feel like throwing out exact numbers is disingenuous at best since a lot of things vary charge rate (state of charge, temperature, type of charger, etc...), but 20 minutes will almost always get you to the next charger or a destination in the Model 3. And while I agree it's not quite "charge on your way home from work", it is something that at least Tesla is working on. Their "Supercharger v3" stalls cuts the stop times roughly in half in the ideal situations. And IMO "stop for 10 minutes on the way home" is absolutely acceptable.
- sokoloff 7y ago
  Yes, but the Tesla Model 3 already has enough range for most to charge 2x per week at most. It's the $20K 80 mile electrics that have legitimate range anxiety issues, not the $40K 200 mile electrics. My LEAF has a fast charger (CHAdeMO) and a 6.6kW Level 2 charger. My car has seen a CHAdeMO charger exactly once in its lifetime and that was before delivery. Most non-Teslas are charging at 3.3 or 6.6 kW (~12 or ~24 miles per hour of charge).