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It is certainly holding me back at the moment. I have allocated off-street parking under my apartment that is actually owned by us as part of the lease, but I d

It is certainly holding me back at the moment. I have allocated off-street parking under my apartment that is actually owned by us as part of the lease, but I doubt the building management will let me install a charger, and I don't think the law in the UK means I can force them to let me. In London there are a few public chargers dotted around, but they are fairly infrequent. I don't have any data but it feels like there are perhaps 2 public on-street chargers for perhaps every 10 to 20 residential streets. The nearest one to me is about a 15-20 minute walk away, and if I get there and it is full or broken, then what? Try the next charger that is 30-40 minutes walk away?! The contention ratio of homes to chargers is insane - it must be in the 500-1000:1 level (guessing) There are however lampposts everywhere. There is some talk of adding charging points to lampposts but I think there are only very small-scale trials at the moment. If I could rely on every lamppost also being a charger then I'd buy an EV literally today. Sadly, right now it feels like PHEVs are a more sensible option until public infrastructure catches up.

jasoncartwright 7y ago
Lampposts is exactly how I charge whilst not having off-street parking, in central London. The council converted all the street lights to LEDs, meaning there is excess electricity delivered. So they put plugs on the posts. Works brilliantly. https://imgur.com/a/I5AtwJk https://imgur.com/a/I5AtwJk https://www.ubitricity.com/ https://www.ubitricity.com/
- throw0101a 7y ago
  Fully Charged did an episode on this: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKaEhBjt1ls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKaEhBjt1ls However, in many cities the posts are not in the sidewalk, but on people's properties, so as to allow clearer pedestrian paths. This is generally true in Toronto (where the story is written), especially on residential side-streets.
  - jasoncartwright 7y ago
    It was this video that got me lobbying my local council (Lambeth) to try them. Which, impressively, they did.
  - ed312 7y ago
    "clearer pedestrian paths" seems like a really bad trade-off for putting public infrastructure on private property (and all the right of way / access issues involved). I wonder if, since the wiring is clearly there, something on-sidewalk could be added (something parking meter-ish).
    - throw0101a 7y ago
      This has probably already been taken care of when the land went from public to private ownership I'm sure there various clauses and agreements in place via various by-laws and such. A pretty typical street in the older parts of my city (use Street View): * https://www.google.com/maps/place/50+Westminster+Ave,+Toronto,+ON/ https://www.google.com/maps/place/50+Westminster+Ave,+Toront... Putting poles in the sidewalk would be a non-starter and anyone suggesting it would be laughed out of the room.
- mymythisisthis 7y ago
  Nice, sidewalk refilling has always been a thing http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-LvpBoDIt4Q/TLcAQWn7TwI/AAAAAAAAIwc/uB7ZbxhThE4/s1600/Gas+station+in+sidewalk2.JPG http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-LvpBoDIt4Q/TLcAQWn7TwI/AAAAAAAAIw...
  - jasoncartwright 7y ago
    Wow. I've seen this in Thailand https://www.bangkokcheaphotels.com/roadside-gasoline/ https://www.bangkokcheaphotels.com/roadside-gasoline/
michaelbuckbee 7y ago
I've seen a few listings where EV charging parking spots are listed as a perk. You might be surprised how willingly your landlord is keen to go with you paying to upgrade their building.
- kelnos 7y ago
  Many people might think it's ridiculous to have to pay to have an expensive piece of infrastructure installed that isn't theirs to keep once they move away.
  - umeshunni 7y ago
    It cost me <$200 to install a 110V outlet in my rented condo's garage to charge my car and this is in SF where everything costs 2x as elsewhere. For someone in the UK, this is an even better deal since their car will charge twice as fast at 220V.
Brakenshire 7y ago
> There are however lampposts everywhere. There is some talk of adding charging points to lampposts but I think there are only very small-scale trials at the moment. Look on the Ubitricity website, they have maps of their installations in London, there are over a thousand already and anyone can pull up and use them using the qr code system. https://portal.ubitricity.co.uk/map https://portal.ubitricity.co.uk/map

jasoncartwright 7y ago

Lampposts is exactly how I charge whilst not having off-street parking, in central London. The council converted all the street lights to LEDs, meaning there is excess electricity delivered. So they put plugs on the posts. Works brilliantly. https://imgur.com/a/I5AtwJk https://imgur.com/a/I5AtwJk https://www.ubitricity.com/ https://www.ubitricity.com/

throw0101a 7y ago
Fully Charged did an episode on this: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKaEhBjt1ls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKaEhBjt1ls However, in many cities the posts are not in the sidewalk, but on people's properties, so as to allow clearer pedestrian paths. This is generally true in Toronto (where the story is written), especially on residential side-streets.
- jasoncartwright 7y ago
  It was this video that got me lobbying my local council (Lambeth) to try them. Which, impressively, they did.
- ed312 7y ago
  "clearer pedestrian paths" seems like a really bad trade-off for putting public infrastructure on private property (and all the right of way / access issues involved). I wonder if, since the wiring is clearly there, something on-sidewalk could be added (something parking meter-ish).
  - throw0101a 7y ago
    This has probably already been taken care of when the land went from public to private ownership I'm sure there various clauses and agreements in place via various by-laws and such. A pretty typical street in the older parts of my city (use Street View): * https://www.google.com/maps/place/50+Westminster+Ave,+Toronto,+ON/ https://www.google.com/maps/place/50+Westminster+Ave,+Toront... Putting poles in the sidewalk would be a non-starter and anyone suggesting it would be laughed out of the room.
mymythisisthis 7y ago
Nice, sidewalk refilling has always been a thing http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-LvpBoDIt4Q/TLcAQWn7TwI/AAAAAAAAIwc/uB7ZbxhThE4/s1600/Gas+station+in+sidewalk2.JPG http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-LvpBoDIt4Q/TLcAQWn7TwI/AAAAAAAAIw...
- jasoncartwright 7y ago
  Wow. I've seen this in Thailand https://www.bangkokcheaphotels.com/roadside-gasoline/ https://www.bangkokcheaphotels.com/roadside-gasoline/

michaelbuckbee 7y ago

I've seen a few listings where EV charging parking spots are listed as a perk. You might be surprised how willingly your landlord is keen to go with you paying to upgrade their building.

kelnos 7y ago
Many people might think it's ridiculous to have to pay to have an expensive piece of infrastructure installed that isn't theirs to keep once they move away.
- umeshunni 7y ago
  It cost me <$200 to install a 110V outlet in my rented condo's garage to charge my car and this is in SF where everything costs 2x as elsewhere. For someone in the UK, this is an even better deal since their car will charge twice as fast at 220V.

Brakenshire 7y ago

> There are however lampposts everywhere. There is some talk of adding charging points to lampposts but I think there are only very small-scale trials at the moment. Look on the Ubitricity website, they have maps of their installations in London, there are over a thousand already and anyone can pull up and use them using the qr code system. https://portal.ubitricity.co.uk/map https://portal.ubitricity.co.uk/map