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Overbuilding? I regularly stop at highway rest stops to get gas and have to wait on line at an 8 pump gas station they takes minutes per fill. If people were us

Overbuilding? I regularly stop at highway rest stops to get gas and have to wait on line at an 8 pump gas station they takes minutes per fill. If people were using electric cars with similarly distributed infrastructure that took 1/2 hour or more to charge, it would be impossible to go anywhere. I don't understand how it moves from niche to mass adoption, but under the current system, I guess it involves an insane amount of chargers Edit: my point above is that I'm talking about highway rest stops which are presumably exclusively frequented by people on long road trips. Maybe some started without a full tank, but the majority are gassing up to extend their range, and my point is that current infrastructure already gets bogged down with that despite the comparatively high speed of filling a gas tank.

peter422 4y ago
Most EV owners will only need to charge at these types of chargers when on long road trips, which are likely to be infrequent (for most drivers). Overnight charging is all you need for any daily driving <300 miles. Everybody needs to go to the gas station whether they are road tripping or a local. It’s not the same for EVs.
- vanilla_nut 4y ago
  Everyone who owns a charger, most likely in a garage, attached to a single-family home is != everyone. It’s a good point, that theoretically you’ll have fewer users at electric charging stations because individuals can self-charge. But when most homes don’t have an electric charger, and many will never have an electric charger, that might not be as big a difference as you think. My last apartment was a very nice condo and there were two electric chargers in the basement. Not sure if I could rely on that for every day commuting needs.
  - matthewdgreen 4y ago
    I mean this sounds bad but also eminently fixable. Compared to, say, replacing a condo roof the problem of installing a few new chargers is about the most straightforward capital improvement you could imagine.
  - rootusrootus 4y ago
    > Everyone who owns a charger, most likely in a garage, attached to a single-family home is != everyone. The majority of people in the US live in single family detached homes. While there are a significant number of people living in apartments or condos, we have a long ways to go before that's going to limit adoption. > most homes don’t have an electric charger Every home has 120V sockets, and installing a 14-50 isn't cost prohibitive given how much you save in the first year alone compared to gasoline. The average person could charge every day with a bog standard 120V outlet and be fine. 14-50 is nice when you go on a road trip and want to recover full charge by the next morning, though.
LeoPanthera 4y ago
The comparison is not relevant because people don't fill their gas cars with gas at home. An EV can leave the house every day at 100% charge.
- paconbork 4y ago
  Only if they have a garage or somewhere to park overnight with charging
  - rootusrootus 4y ago
    That's most people, but we do need to work on getting better solutions installed for the remainder.
- b3morales 4y ago
  And most people will stop at the gas station in their neighborhood before they get on the highway for a long trip. The experience at those interstate fueling stations is absolutely analogous.
- Rebelgecko 4y ago
  Quite a few people don't live in detached SFHs. If your EV is leaving from an apartment, condo, townhouse, etc the charging story tends to be more complex .
  - wumpus 4y ago
    My apartment complex already has chargers. Eventually most or all will.
    - Rebelgecko 4y ago
      In my area, we have an advantage in that even if your landlord doesn't want to install changing, they're legally required to let you install a charger if you want one and are willing to pay for it. However depending on your metering setup the cost can be anywhere from $5-15k
kcplate 4y ago
> If people were using electric cars with similarly distributed infrastructure that took 1/2 hour or more to charge, it would be impossible to go anywhere. This is a good point. The charging infrastructure seems to be ok to support EV requirements right now (I don’t think I have ever seen a charging station full), but with EV purchases increasing at some point this could be a problem. Without more infrastructure you have to resort to time limits to serve the need. This would be a problem.
- Tagbert 4y ago
  Or continue to build out infrastructure
  - kcplate 4y ago
    hopefully fast enough

peter422 4y ago

Most EV owners will only need to charge at these types of chargers when on long road trips, which are likely to be infrequent (for most drivers). Overnight charging is all you need for any daily driving <300 miles. Everybody needs to go to the gas station whether they are road tripping or a local. It’s not the same for EVs.

vanilla_nut 4y ago
Everyone who owns a charger, most likely in a garage, attached to a single-family home is != everyone. It’s a good point, that theoretically you’ll have fewer users at electric charging stations because individuals can self-charge. But when most homes don’t have an electric charger, and many will never have an electric charger, that might not be as big a difference as you think. My last apartment was a very nice condo and there were two electric chargers in the basement. Not sure if I could rely on that for every day commuting needs.
- matthewdgreen 4y ago
  I mean this sounds bad but also eminently fixable. Compared to, say, replacing a condo roof the problem of installing a few new chargers is about the most straightforward capital improvement you could imagine.
- rootusrootus 4y ago
  > Everyone who owns a charger, most likely in a garage, attached to a single-family home is != everyone. The majority of people in the US live in single family detached homes. While there are a significant number of people living in apartments or condos, we have a long ways to go before that's going to limit adoption. > most homes don’t have an electric charger Every home has 120V sockets, and installing a 14-50 isn't cost prohibitive given how much you save in the first year alone compared to gasoline. The average person could charge every day with a bog standard 120V outlet and be fine. 14-50 is nice when you go on a road trip and want to recover full charge by the next morning, though.

LeoPanthera 4y ago

The comparison is not relevant because people don't fill their gas cars with gas at home. An EV can leave the house every day at 100% charge.

paconbork 4y ago
Only if they have a garage or somewhere to park overnight with charging
- rootusrootus 4y ago
  That's most people, but we do need to work on getting better solutions installed for the remainder.
b3morales 4y ago
And most people will stop at the gas station in their neighborhood before they get on the highway for a long trip. The experience at those interstate fueling stations is absolutely analogous.
Rebelgecko 4y ago
Quite a few people don't live in detached SFHs. If your EV is leaving from an apartment, condo, townhouse, etc the charging story tends to be more complex .
- wumpus 4y ago
  My apartment complex already has chargers. Eventually most or all will.
  - Rebelgecko 4y ago
    In my area, we have an advantage in that even if your landlord doesn't want to install changing, they're legally required to let you install a charger if you want one and are willing to pay for it. However depending on your metering setup the cost can be anywhere from $5-15k

kcplate 4y ago

> If people were using electric cars with similarly distributed infrastructure that took 1/2 hour or more to charge, it would be impossible to go anywhere. This is a good point. The charging infrastructure seems to be ok to support EV requirements right now (I don’t think I have ever seen a charging station full), but with EV purchases increasing at some point this could be a problem. Without more infrastructure you have to resort to time limits to serve the need. This would be a problem.

Tagbert 4y ago
Or continue to build out infrastructure
- kcplate 4y ago
  hopefully fast enough