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> I have a suspicion that as electric cars become more common, free chargers will become less so. (Free charging) will not be sustainable as demand increases.

> I have a suspicion that as electric cars become more common, free chargers will become less so. (Free charging) will not be sustainable as demand increases. For "superchargers" and other fast charging, I agree. But slower L2 entry-level chargers are so cheap, and electricity so cheap, I don't see free charging going away entirely. Already in Michigan, it's cheaper to just give away free L2 charging to anyone who wants it, than it costs to keep the lot clear of snow in the winter. I suspect slow charging will become similar to Salt / Sugar packets in restaurants. Free basically anywhere that abuse or insane land costs aren't a problem (so free basically everywhere except major cities)

Robotbeat 7y ago
Yup. And equivalent to providing free parking. You have a captive audience, and the price isn't high. Any time I use one of those "free" level 2 chargers, I always buy something where it's possible to do so. You're only talking like one or two dollars worth of electricity (I think people who don't have electric cars don't realize this), and then only if I stay an hour or three. If I could seemlessly pay about 120% of my residential rate to slow charge, I would for convenience sake alone. But no one has really figured this out, yet.
- maxsilver 7y ago
  > You're only talking like one or two dollars worth of electricity (I think people who don't have electric cars don't realize this), Yeah, I get the impression a lot of people don't really know what electricity costs. Like, they know what their monthly utility bill is, but they probably don't know what that bill was really for, in any measurable units. If someone (for example), charges at a L2 charger @ 3.3kw at a restaurant for an hour, in the state of Michigan, they've used up about 53 cents worth of electricity. That's all the restaurant paid for that electricity. For that 53 cents, their car probably got an extra 10 to 13 miles of range.
  - Robotbeat 7y ago
    Right. The cost of the electricity for L2 charging is much less than the fully burdened price of providing free parking (or using the bathroom, etc).
cbm-vic-20 7y ago
Taking a Chevrolet Bolt on a road trip, we look for places with L2/L3 chargers when we stop for a meal, quick shopping trip, etc. Simply having the charger there makes us choose those businesses over others. We alter our routes based on the charging network.

Robotbeat 7y ago

Yup. And equivalent to providing free parking. You have a captive audience, and the price isn't high. Any time I use one of those "free" level 2 chargers, I always buy something where it's possible to do so. You're only talking like one or two dollars worth of electricity (I think people who don't have electric cars don't realize this), and then only if I stay an hour or three. If I could seemlessly pay about 120% of my residential rate to slow charge, I would for convenience sake alone. But no one has really figured this out, yet.

maxsilver 7y ago
> You're only talking like one or two dollars worth of electricity (I think people who don't have electric cars don't realize this), Yeah, I get the impression a lot of people don't really know what electricity costs. Like, they know what their monthly utility bill is, but they probably don't know what that bill was really for, in any measurable units. If someone (for example), charges at a L2 charger @ 3.3kw at a restaurant for an hour, in the state of Michigan, they've used up about 53 cents worth of electricity. That's all the restaurant paid for that electricity. For that 53 cents, their car probably got an extra 10 to 13 miles of range.
- Robotbeat 7y ago
  Right. The cost of the electricity for L2 charging is much less than the fully burdened price of providing free parking (or using the bathroom, etc).

cbm-vic-20 7y ago

Taking a Chevrolet Bolt on a road trip, we look for places with L2/L3 chargers when we stop for a meal, quick shopping trip, etc. Simply having the charger there makes us choose those businesses over others. We alter our routes based on the charging network.