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Current EV owner demographics overlap a lot with those who own a house with plenty of space, but if EVs ever become the standard this problem will get much wors

by rurp 4y ago

Current EV owner demographics overlap a lot with those who own a house with plenty of space, but if EVs ever become the standard this problem will get much worse. A large percent of car owners don't garage park and won't have easy access to charging at night. I couldn't find a precise stat for this, but it's likely a majority of car owners fall in this group. Half of drivers needing to spend 30+ minutes at a charging station each week is a huge ownership burden and will strain even a large charging network. Sure a few progressive urban areas will add charging to work and apartment spaces, but I can't imagine that being the norm and it still won't help areas with street parking. It would require huge spending from most landlords; a group that's not exactly known for happily taking on large discretionary expenses.

db48x 4y ago
A single 110V outlet per parking space is not a “huge” cost, no matter who pays for it. It’s not nothing, but it's cheap enough that I suspect that it will happen everywhere eventually. Most apartment owners are not actually averse to such improvements, as long as they can ensure the work is done correctly. I was able to get the electrical wiring in my apartment improved. All I had to do was ask nicely and let them hire their own contractor on their own schedule. It would have been nice to have the work done sooner, but I can definitely understand their point of view.
- rurp 4y ago
  An outlet isn't terribly hard to add in a house, but I'm thinking about large open parking lots and garages where there is no wiring to hook into. Adding any kind of plug to spaces like this is going to require things like digging up asphalt and installing new structures. Is it doable? Yeah, sure, in affluent areas with sufficient demand. I think EV adoption will continue to grow at a decent rate in these sorts of areas. Beyond those spots though, charging issues will be a significant barrier.
  - db48x 4y ago
    Yes, some places will be easier to retrofit than others. Big parking garages are surprisingly easy, because you can run armored conduit along the walls. Most apartment complexes won’t be that bad, because the parking and the buildings tend to be near each other and the outlets can be placed along the walls of the buildings (but more care does need to be taken when there are sidewalks between the cars and the buildings, which is not uncommon). Giant parking lots at malls and stadiums are the worst, as you point out. Nobody lives at a mall or a stadium though, so it’ll be fine if they don’t have EV charging at every spot.

by rurp 4y ago

db48x 4y ago

A single 110V outlet per parking space is not a “huge” cost, no matter who pays for it. It’s not nothing, but it's cheap enough that I suspect that it will happen everywhere eventually. Most apartment owners are not actually averse to such improvements, as long as they can ensure the work is done correctly. I was able to get the electrical wiring in my apartment improved. All I had to do was ask nicely and let them hire their own contractor on their own schedule. It would have been nice to have the work done sooner, but I can definitely understand their point of view.

rurp 4y ago
An outlet isn't terribly hard to add in a house, but I'm thinking about large open parking lots and garages where there is no wiring to hook into. Adding any kind of plug to spaces like this is going to require things like digging up asphalt and installing new structures. Is it doable? Yeah, sure, in affluent areas with sufficient demand. I think EV adoption will continue to grow at a decent rate in these sorts of areas. Beyond those spots though, charging issues will be a significant barrier.
- db48x 4y ago
  Yes, some places will be easier to retrofit than others. Big parking garages are surprisingly easy, because you can run armored conduit along the walls. Most apartment complexes won’t be that bad, because the parking and the buildings tend to be near each other and the outlets can be placed along the walls of the buildings (but more care does need to be taken when there are sidewalks between the cars and the buildings, which is not uncommon). Giant parking lots at malls and stadiums are the worst, as you point out. Nobody lives at a mall or a stadium though, so it’ll be fine if they don’t have EV charging at every spot.