3 ms·

Also, charging by the minute seems wrong .... a Porsche Taycan is going to get a whole lot more range out of each minute than a five-year-old Nissan Leaf, so wh

Also, charging by the minute seems wrong .... a Porsche Taycan is going to get a whole lot more range out of each minute than a five-year-old Nissan Leaf, so why should they pay less for the same amount of range? Hmmmm. Bear in mind that at home with the Level 2 charger in the carport, charging feels close to free. You are primarily paying rent to take up a charging spot vs. buying electricity. If it took some vehicles 45 minutes to pump 20 gallons of diesel, I guarantee stations would start charging per minute.

rootusrootus 5y ago
IIRC the primary reason there are any chargers with bill by the minute is that in some jurisdictions it is illegal for any entity other than the electric utility to sell power by the kWh.
- theluketaylor 5y ago
  In Canada where this trip took place it’s currently illegal to sell electricity via DC fast charger because Measurement Canada has not defined the standard to which your charger has to measure against to ensure fair dispensing. They are really dragging their heels and it’s super annoying. Even utility like BC or Quebec Hydro can’t sell by the kWh and either have to give it away from free or charge by time. https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/mc-mc.nsf/eng/lm04949.html https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/mc-mc.nsf/eng/lm04949.html
  - 908B64B197 5y ago
    Again the feds encroaching on state powers.
    - notatoad 5y ago
      in canada, all governmental power belongs to the federal government. provinces only have authority when it is granted to them by the federal government. there is no such thing as the feds encroaching on "state powers" because provinces are not states.
      - theluketaylor 5y ago
        Plus the us constitution grants congress the power to “fix the Standard of Weights and Measures” in article 1, section 8. The official measure is exactly what measurement Canada isn’t supplying. If the us congress did want to impose a standard accuracy for dc fast chargers the weights and measures clause plus the commerce clause would give them all the authority they need without encroaching on states rights.
      - xrendan 5y ago
        It's not true that all government power belongs to the federal government and that provinces only gain power by devolution from the federal government. The Canadian constitution describes areas of responsibility for both the federal and provincial governments with some shared areas of responsibility.
pengaru 5y ago
> If it took some vehicles 45 minutes to pump 20 gallons of diesel, I guarantee stations would start charging per minute. I wouldn't be so sure, not in the US anyways. It sounds like a captive audience, and convenience store+gas station combos are already known to generate more profit from the overpriced crap inside than the gas since gas prices are so cut-throat competitive. There's already a few gas stations around me that I explicitly avoid because their pumps are notoriously slow to pump. If gambling were legal here, they'd have video slots in the convenience store.
- olyjohn 5y ago
  Don't forget the gas stations that play video ads with audio blasting on the damn pump.
nharada 5y ago
Yeah, I own an EV with piss poor fast charge rates so it pains me to say this, but charging per minute is probably the right move. It certainly feels like the bottleneck right now is charger availability, not amount of electricity available. We should be incentivizing higher charge rates to make the chargers more accessible especially as EV penetration increases. Nothing more annoying than arriving at a charger on a roadtrip and having to wait 45 minutes just to start your charge because all the spots are full. And don't even get me started on the people who just leave their EV on the charger for hours at a time even after fully charged.

rootusrootus 5y ago

IIRC the primary reason there are any chargers with bill by the minute is that in some jurisdictions it is illegal for any entity other than the electric utility to sell power by the kWh.

theluketaylor 5y ago
In Canada where this trip took place it’s currently illegal to sell electricity via DC fast charger because Measurement Canada has not defined the standard to which your charger has to measure against to ensure fair dispensing. They are really dragging their heels and it’s super annoying. Even utility like BC or Quebec Hydro can’t sell by the kWh and either have to give it away from free or charge by time. https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/mc-mc.nsf/eng/lm04949.html https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/mc-mc.nsf/eng/lm04949.html
- 908B64B197 5y ago
  Again the feds encroaching on state powers.
  - notatoad 5y ago
    in canada, all governmental power belongs to the federal government. provinces only have authority when it is granted to them by the federal government. there is no such thing as the feds encroaching on "state powers" because provinces are not states.
    - theluketaylor 5y ago
      Plus the us constitution grants congress the power to “fix the Standard of Weights and Measures” in article 1, section 8. The official measure is exactly what measurement Canada isn’t supplying. If the us congress did want to impose a standard accuracy for dc fast chargers the weights and measures clause plus the commerce clause would give them all the authority they need without encroaching on states rights.
    - xrendan 5y ago
      It's not true that all government power belongs to the federal government and that provinces only gain power by devolution from the federal government. The Canadian constitution describes areas of responsibility for both the federal and provincial governments with some shared areas of responsibility.

pengaru 5y ago

> If it took some vehicles 45 minutes to pump 20 gallons of diesel, I guarantee stations would start charging per minute. I wouldn't be so sure, not in the US anyways. It sounds like a captive audience, and convenience store+gas station combos are already known to generate more profit from the overpriced crap inside than the gas since gas prices are so cut-throat competitive. There's already a few gas stations around me that I explicitly avoid because their pumps are notoriously slow to pump. If gambling were legal here, they'd have video slots in the convenience store.

olyjohn 5y ago
Don't forget the gas stations that play video ads with audio blasting on the damn pump.

nharada 5y ago

Yeah, I own an EV with piss poor fast charge rates so it pains me to say this, but charging per minute is probably the right move. It certainly feels like the bottleneck right now is charger availability, not amount of electricity available. We should be incentivizing higher charge rates to make the chargers more accessible especially as EV penetration increases. Nothing more annoying than arriving at a charger on a roadtrip and having to wait 45 minutes just to start your charge because all the spots are full. And don't even get me started on the people who just leave their EV on the charger for hours at a time even after fully charged.