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> Is the assumption that charging stations need to become even more ubiquitous than gas stations Electricity is already ubiquitous, we just need to install the

> Is the assumption that charging stations need to become even more ubiquitous than gas stations Electricity is already ubiquitous, we just need to install the chargers. E.g. trials have started to install EV chargers in lamp posts https://www.driving.co.uk/news/lamp-post-powered-electric-car-charging-points-arrive-london/ https://www.driving.co.uk/news/lamp-post-powered-electric-ca...

virgilp 7y ago
I don't know... it also requires: - charging cables that can't easily be stolen, between my car & lamp post. - infrastructure that allows me to pay for consumed electricity, and doesn't allow random person to steal it (or are we assuming electricity will be free?) I mean, I'd love to see that, but it doesn't look likely in the near future, unfortunately. I still think it's more likely that we'll have fast-charging batteries that you can refill in a few minutes, rather than charger-at-every-parking-spot.
- m-i-l 7y ago
  Most electric cars now have locks on the charging cable port so cables cannot be unplugged without unlocking, and these types of charging solutions are operated by dedicated app and/or NFC card and won't start charging if you haven't registered your payment details first so electricity can't be "stolen". I'm sure both can be hacked, but if you really want to steal cables and/or electricity there are probably easier/safer ways to do so.
- kalleboo 7y ago
  > infrastructure that allows me to pay for consumed electricity, and doesn't allow random person to steal it Smart meters have existed for quite a while now. An electricity meter with LTE and a card reader is not a difficult thing to make (not very different from a parking meter)
  - virgilp 7y ago
    Yes, but having one smart meter at each lighting pole? Neah, sorry, I don't see that happening in my city. (we don't have "smart parking meters" either. In fact, we have no parking meters at all....)
m-i-l 7y ago
Char.gy (referenced in the link) seems to be in just 2 or 3 London boroughs[0], whereas Ubitricity seem to cover more boroughs[1]. Looking at the photos, it seems Char.gy add a box to the lamp posts while Ubitricity don't, which may be an issue for conservation areas which have installed heritage lamp posts. [0] https://char.gy/map https://char.gy/map [1] https://www.ubitricity.co.uk/residential_charging/ https://www.ubitricity.co.uk/residential_charging/
jaclaz 7y ago
>Electricity is already ubiquitous, we just need to install the chargers. And actually provide enough power. I mean, a street lamp is usually (traditional lamp) 250 W, a modern (led) lamp 80-100 W, there is no way the existing infrastructure (cables and before them transformers) will be able to provide 10 or 15 or 20 kW (at each post). Typically street lamps are 30 m or so apart, and in that gap at least 6 or 7 car (maybe more) park in a city. If they become most (or prevalently) electric each post will have 6 car connected. Even with 1/3 coincidence factor, further divided by two (assuming that people will charge their cars every two days), we are talking anyway of 6*10/6= 10 kW per post, whihc means that to power a 300 m stretch of street you need a 100 kW dedicated transformer. And a receptacle is "lost" for the whole night (or day). I mean, you come back home around 19:30 and plug your car in a lamp post power receptacle, even if your car is fully charged after - say - 4 hours, are you really going to go out at 11:30, unplug your car and move it to another spot (IF there is a free one) in order to allow another person to charge his/her car? And how long will be the charging cable (the one you have on board)? It must be at least 20 m long to reach the lamp post if the parking spot you find is in the middle of two lamp posts.

virgilp 7y ago

I don't know... it also requires: - charging cables that can't easily be stolen, between my car & lamp post. - infrastructure that allows me to pay for consumed electricity, and doesn't allow random person to steal it (or are we assuming electricity will be free?) I mean, I'd love to see that, but it doesn't look likely in the near future, unfortunately. I still think it's more likely that we'll have fast-charging batteries that you can refill in a few minutes, rather than charger-at-every-parking-spot.

m-i-l 7y ago
Most electric cars now have locks on the charging cable port so cables cannot be unplugged without unlocking, and these types of charging solutions are operated by dedicated app and/or NFC card and won't start charging if you haven't registered your payment details first so electricity can't be "stolen". I'm sure both can be hacked, but if you really want to steal cables and/or electricity there are probably easier/safer ways to do so.
kalleboo 7y ago
> infrastructure that allows me to pay for consumed electricity, and doesn't allow random person to steal it Smart meters have existed for quite a while now. An electricity meter with LTE and a card reader is not a difficult thing to make (not very different from a parking meter)
- virgilp 7y ago
  Yes, but having one smart meter at each lighting pole? Neah, sorry, I don't see that happening in my city. (we don't have "smart parking meters" either. In fact, we have no parking meters at all....)

m-i-l 7y ago

Char.gy (referenced in the link) seems to be in just 2 or 3 London boroughs[0], whereas Ubitricity seem to cover more boroughs[1]. Looking at the photos, it seems Char.gy add a box to the lamp posts while Ubitricity don't, which may be an issue for conservation areas which have installed heritage lamp posts. [0] https://char.gy/map https://char.gy/map [1] https://www.ubitricity.co.uk/residential_charging/ https://www.ubitricity.co.uk/residential_charging/

jaclaz 7y ago

>Electricity is already ubiquitous, we just need to install the chargers. And actually provide enough power. I mean, a street lamp is usually (traditional lamp) 250 W, a modern (led) lamp 80-100 W, there is no way the existing infrastructure (cables and before them transformers) will be able to provide 10 or 15 or 20 kW (at each post). Typically street lamps are 30 m or so apart, and in that gap at least 6 or 7 car (maybe more) park in a city. If they become most (or prevalently) electric each post will have 6 car connected. Even with 1/3 coincidence factor, further divided by two (assuming that people will charge their cars every two days), we are talking anyway of 6*10/6= 10 kW per post, whihc means that to power a 300 m stretch of street you need a 100 kW dedicated transformer. And a receptacle is "lost" for the whole night (or day). I mean, you come back home around 19:30 and plug your car in a lamp post power receptacle, even if your car is fully charged after - say - 4 hours, are you really going to go out at 11:30, unplug your car and move it to another spot (IF there is a free one) in order to allow another person to charge his/her car? And how long will be the charging cable (the one you have on board)? It must be at least 20 m long to reach the lamp post if the parking spot you find is in the middle of two lamp posts.