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>Today you get roughly 200 miles from a 20 min charge with tesla supercharger, seems like a non-issue if stations are ubiquitous. I'm very interested in what t

>Today you get roughly 200 miles from a 20 min charge with tesla supercharger, seems like a non-issue if stations are ubiquitous. I'm very interested in what this will actually look like. 20 minutes may not seem long every 200 miles for an individual person. But it's far larger than the equivalent gasoline fueling, which might take, what? 10 minutes per 400 miles? There were National Parks that had to close this year due to too much traffic. Will 20 minutes per person provide the throughput? Will we have massive parking lots filled with chargers? Can the localized infrastructure handle that? What does this look like in practice?

IshKebab 4y ago
I think it will be fine for two reasons: 1. It's way easier to install 100 chargers at a service station than it is to install 100 petrol pumps. 2. Lots of people can charge at home and will almost never charge anywhere else, so there will be fewer people wanting to charge there anyway. Maybe not at very sparsely populated American states but they surely have space for huge charging car parks anyway?
- pjkundert 4y ago
  Definitely not easier. By a wide, wide margin. Each physical “charger” comes off a truck and the concrete foundation is trivial, of course. No limiting factors there. The infrastructure to route sufficient power and energy to the site? Massive. Think in terms of a small town or aluminum smelter suddenly popping into being on a random street-corner. Every upstream electrical distribution component must be questioned and possibly upgraded. Once the low-hanging fruit are gone, possible locations will get harder and harder to find. Source: a friend who manages the physical installation of car charging stations.
  - quonn 4y ago
    It's pretty clear by now that there will be three types of charging: 1. Medium fast charging at home. Most people will do that. No problems with infrastructure, especially if combined with solar. 2. Slow charging on basically every parking spot at the side of the road in cities. Most people living in apartments will do that. This already exists, it's not a problem. It also means that most trips can now be done with just 50-75% of the range because the car will be able to recharge at the destination. 3. Superchargers for cross-country trips. These will become more expensive and even faster. Most people will use them on holidays.
  - klabb3 4y ago
    Yes, the biggest issue is grid support and energy production. In total, if all daily driving was replaces with EVs overnight, it would increase electricity demand by ~25% total (or ~80% in residential use). Still, expanding the grid is a no-brainer, because everyone who comes off petrochemicals are going to need electrification. So, if you can't expand the grid (slowly over time) you have bigger problems.
smileysteve 4y ago
> 20 minutes may not seem long every 200 miles for an individual person. Not only should it not seem long, but biologically all research shows it being meaningfully unhealthy to not get out of a static position for a longer break more often. These types of trips are also the 5% exception (as opposed to the 95% errands and weekly errands) > There were National Parks that had to close this year due to too much traffic. Zion has had too much traffic for almost 50 years. IMO national parks are better enjoyed on ebikes and public transit - to get to the trailheads.

IshKebab 4y ago

I think it will be fine for two reasons: 1. It's way easier to install 100 chargers at a service station than it is to install 100 petrol pumps. 2. Lots of people can charge at home and will almost never charge anywhere else, so there will be fewer people wanting to charge there anyway. Maybe not at very sparsely populated American states but they surely have space for huge charging car parks anyway?

pjkundert 4y ago
Definitely not easier. By a wide, wide margin. Each physical “charger” comes off a truck and the concrete foundation is trivial, of course. No limiting factors there. The infrastructure to route sufficient power and energy to the site? Massive. Think in terms of a small town or aluminum smelter suddenly popping into being on a random street-corner. Every upstream electrical distribution component must be questioned and possibly upgraded. Once the low-hanging fruit are gone, possible locations will get harder and harder to find. Source: a friend who manages the physical installation of car charging stations.
- quonn 4y ago
  It's pretty clear by now that there will be three types of charging: 1. Medium fast charging at home. Most people will do that. No problems with infrastructure, especially if combined with solar. 2. Slow charging on basically every parking spot at the side of the road in cities. Most people living in apartments will do that. This already exists, it's not a problem. It also means that most trips can now be done with just 50-75% of the range because the car will be able to recharge at the destination. 3. Superchargers for cross-country trips. These will become more expensive and even faster. Most people will use them on holidays.
- klabb3 4y ago
  Yes, the biggest issue is grid support and energy production. In total, if all daily driving was replaces with EVs overnight, it would increase electricity demand by ~25% total (or ~80% in residential use). Still, expanding the grid is a no-brainer, because everyone who comes off petrochemicals are going to need electrification. So, if you can't expand the grid (slowly over time) you have bigger problems.

smileysteve 4y ago

> 20 minutes may not seem long every 200 miles for an individual person. Not only should it not seem long, but biologically all research shows it being meaningfully unhealthy to not get out of a static position for a longer break more often. These types of trips are also the 5% exception (as opposed to the 95% errands and weekly errands) > There were National Parks that had to close this year due to too much traffic. Zion has had too much traffic for almost 50 years. IMO national parks are better enjoyed on ebikes and public transit - to get to the trailheads.