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> Because Tesla knows that the vast majority of people will never need it. I don't know what portion of US drivers park either on the street or in a parking ga

by lkbm 5y ago

> Because Tesla knows that the vast majority of people will never need it. I don't know what portion of US drivers park either on the street or in a parking garage, but I'm pretty sure it''s tens of millions of people. Driveways pretty much don't exist in my neighborhood. It's all parking garages and street parking. Lining every parking garage and neighborhood street with dozens of chargers may be the optimal solution, but I'm skeptical.

avianlyric 5y ago
I think people overthink how complicated EV chargers are (specifically slow chargers). At they’re core, they’re just a normal 3-pin plug with a fancy computer controlled switch. All of the heavy lifting is done by the car, it has the inverter, the battery controller, and all the monitoring equipment. All the charger does is tell the car how much power it’s allowed to use, authenticates the car, and flicks the switch on at the command of the car. The charger also has a cheap-as-chips current transformer so it can make sure the car doesn’t consumer more power than it allowed, and will flick the switch off if the car misbehaves. The car is responsible for everything else. So at the end of the day, and on street slower charger is a metal post with a plug on the outside, and a Raspberry Pi and relay inside. They can, and will eventually be, dirt cheap to manufacture. As for power cables, well, and can just slice into the cable already powering houses and lampposts.
stetrain 5y ago
AC slow chargers (for overnight or at work) are cheap and simple. Basically the same as installing an outlet for a clothes dryer or oven with a circuitry box to act as a relay and monitor. DC fast chargers are more complex and expensive but still way cheaper than a robotic mechanical battery swap system that works across multiple makes and models of car. And more of these are being installed literally every day: Tesla: https://supercharge.info https://supercharge.info Others (US): https://fastcharger.info https://fastcharger.info We're getting to the point where many newer EVs are coming with 300+ miles of range that can do an 80% charge in 20 minutes. The swappable batteries seems like a great solution for mopeds etc. but for giant car batteries I think better and cheaper batteries will outpace any advantages that battery swapping has within a few years.

by lkbm 5y ago

avianlyric 5y ago

I think people overthink how complicated EV chargers are (specifically slow chargers). At they’re core, they’re just a normal 3-pin plug with a fancy computer controlled switch. All of the heavy lifting is done by the car, it has the inverter, the battery controller, and all the monitoring equipment. All the charger does is tell the car how much power it’s allowed to use, authenticates the car, and flicks the switch on at the command of the car. The charger also has a cheap-as-chips current transformer so it can make sure the car doesn’t consumer more power than it allowed, and will flick the switch off if the car misbehaves. The car is responsible for everything else. So at the end of the day, and on street slower charger is a metal post with a plug on the outside, and a Raspberry Pi and relay inside. They can, and will eventually be, dirt cheap to manufacture. As for power cables, well, and can just slice into the cable already powering houses and lampposts.

stetrain 5y ago

AC slow chargers (for overnight or at work) are cheap and simple. Basically the same as installing an outlet for a clothes dryer or oven with a circuitry box to act as a relay and monitor. DC fast chargers are more complex and expensive but still way cheaper than a robotic mechanical battery swap system that works across multiple makes and models of car. And more of these are being installed literally every day: Tesla: https://supercharge.info https://supercharge.info Others (US): https://fastcharger.info https://fastcharger.info We're getting to the point where many newer EVs are coming with 300+ miles of range that can do an 80% charge in 20 minutes. The swappable batteries seems like a great solution for mopeds etc. but for giant car batteries I think better and cheaper batteries will outpace any advantages that battery swapping has within a few years.