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Yeah, except now each parking spot at work needs its own power outlet.

function_seven 4y ago
That would be the best part. Cover all that parking with solar panels, use those panels to partially or completely offset the charging demands of the cars parked under them. An average parking space has enough room for (napkin math...) 6kW of solar output. That's more than enough to offset a level 2 charger while the driver of that car is in the office. And it leaves the car cooler at the end of the say. Costs a bit upfront, sure. But I think we'll continue to see these costs come down, and the incentive to build out parking lot solar arrays will increase as the grid has to adapt to the demands we're placing on it.
- drdec 4y ago
  >Cover all that parking with solar panels This would help in many cases, but parking garages are a thing, even in my relatively small city. We would need a solution for them as well.
  - kadoban 4y ago
    Putting solar on the roof (adding a roof if necessary) should help a lot. You'd run into issues where it won't scale with garage height of course, but most garages aren't that tall anyway (at least in my area).
chipsa 4y ago
Future is SAE J2954 (aka Witricity): you have a wireless charging pad under each parking spot. No screwing with power plugs, just park and go. This isn't ideal for fast charging, but for the slower charging you'd get from being somewhere for 6-8 hours, it's perfectly fine. You still need to run power to every parking spot, but now it's embedded in the ground, and you don't have to worry about someone just coming around with cable cutters and stealing it.
- adgjlsfhk1 4y ago
  Losing 30-70% of the power and adding a bunch of cost doesn't seem like the way forward. Cables exist for a reason. They are the best way to move charge.
  - ZeroGravitas 4y ago
    These can actually be cheaper than the alternative to install, and get greater use (assuming the standard gets widely implemented). Definately going to be a thing. Loading/waiting areas for taxis and delivery vehicles seem like an early adopter market.
    - adgjlsfhk1 4y ago
      A wireless charger is cheaper than a power outlet?
      - ZeroGravitas 4y ago
        Cheaper than an equivalent EV charger. Safety requires an isolating transformer in the charger, which adds costs and an efficiency loss. The wireless charger is the isolating transformer in their case, leading to surprisingly high efficiency and low costs in comparison.
        adgjlsfhk1 4y ago
        have you ever looked at a level 2 charger? it's literally just a beefy extension cord.
        ZeroGravitas 4y ago
        The pitch isn't a 1 for 1 replacement, it's that the Witricity system (which is like a level 2.5) provides via convenience the extra charging that would otherwise require the speed and power of a level 3 charger. You're trading off speed of charge for time fiddling with the system. This trade-off may not work for someone with one car they plug in when they get home and unplug in the morning, just like they don't need a level 3 charger anyway, but might for an airport taxi firm, where they can charge their fleet while boarding passengers, or a loading bay for EV delivery vans. If that demand is enough to make it a standard item on the car side, then it'll likely displace plug in charging in a lot of places where both are possible for silly reasons like "nothing for drivers to crash into", feeling more "luxurious", "cheaper install" and so on.

That would be the best part. Cover all that parking with solar panels, use those panels to partially or completely offset the charging demands of the cars parked under them. An average parking space has enough room for (napkin math...) 6kW of solar output. That's more than enough to offset a level 2 charger while the driver of that car is in the office. And it leaves the car cooler at the end of the say. Costs a bit upfront, sure. But I think we'll continue to see these costs come down, and the incentive to build out parking lot solar arrays will increase as the grid has to adapt to the demands we're placing on it.

drdec 4y ago
>Cover all that parking with solar panels This would help in many cases, but parking garages are a thing, even in my relatively small city. We would need a solution for them as well.
- kadoban 4y ago
  Putting solar on the roof (adding a roof if necessary) should help a lot. You'd run into issues where it won't scale with garage height of course, but most garages aren't that tall anyway (at least in my area).

chipsa 4y ago

Future is SAE J2954 (aka Witricity): you have a wireless charging pad under each parking spot. No screwing with power plugs, just park and go. This isn't ideal for fast charging, but for the slower charging you'd get from being somewhere for 6-8 hours, it's perfectly fine. You still need to run power to every parking spot, but now it's embedded in the ground, and you don't have to worry about someone just coming around with cable cutters and stealing it.

adgjlsfhk1 4y ago
Losing 30-70% of the power and adding a bunch of cost doesn't seem like the way forward. Cables exist for a reason. They are the best way to move charge.
- ZeroGravitas 4y ago
  These can actually be cheaper than the alternative to install, and get greater use (assuming the standard gets widely implemented). Definately going to be a thing. Loading/waiting areas for taxis and delivery vehicles seem like an early adopter market.
  - adgjlsfhk1 4y ago
    A wireless charger is cheaper than a power outlet?
    - ZeroGravitas 4y ago
      Cheaper than an equivalent EV charger. Safety requires an isolating transformer in the charger, which adds costs and an efficiency loss. The wireless charger is the isolating transformer in their case, leading to surprisingly high efficiency and low costs in comparison.
      - adgjlsfhk1 4y ago
        have you ever looked at a level 2 charger? it's literally just a beefy extension cord.
        ZeroGravitas 4y ago
        The pitch isn't a 1 for 1 replacement, it's that the Witricity system (which is like a level 2.5) provides via convenience the extra charging that would otherwise require the speed and power of a level 3 charger. You're trading off speed of charge for time fiddling with the system. This trade-off may not work for someone with one car they plug in when they get home and unplug in the morning, just like they don't need a level 3 charger anyway, but might for an airport taxi firm, where they can charge their fleet while boarding passengers, or a loading bay for EV delivery vans. If that demand is enough to make it a standard item on the car side, then it'll likely displace plug in charging in a lot of places where both are possible for silly reasons like "nothing for drivers to crash into", feeling more "luxurious", "cheaper install" and so on.