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Yeah, this entire article has a single mention of "charging infrastructure", and even that's a passing reference. This doesn't address all the arguments against

Yeah, this entire article has a single mention of "charging infrastructure", and even that's a passing reference. This doesn't address all the arguments against an EV. The fact of the matter is, if I don't have a Tesla and rent my apartment, I won't be able to reliably charge this vehicle. Even for someone with a house, long trips face unreliable charging infrastructure. It's gonna take a few more years

LeifCarrotson 3y ago
Conversely, if I own my home, with an attached garage, and especially if my spouse has a gasoline vehicle we would use for long trips, then charging infrastructure and range over ~80 miles are largely irrelevant to me. Being a perfect vehicle for 2/3rds of the population is good enough for now.
- vsskanth 3y ago
  Agreed. EVs are a great second commuter vehicle for someone with a garage.
- TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
  50% of people in EU are living in apartments. So it is not 66%
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    Much of Europe doesn’t have free street parking like the states does, a lot of those people don’t have cars or are paying extra to have their cars garaged.
lukeschlather 3y ago
Teslas are pretty expensive and charging infrastructure is very cheap. If you can afford a Tesla you can afford to rent a parking space and get it outfitted with a charger. If this sounds impractical to you it's not because the charging infrastructure is too expensive, it's because the parking space is too expensive.
- TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
  It does not matter if building cost is cheap, when charging prices are more expensive than taking petrol into ICE. Of course if you can get the charge at the first place, because having car with CCS connector and having charger with CCS connector does not mean they are compatible with each other.
  - lukeschlather 3y ago
    You can pay to install a charger to your own electrical meter, at which point the cost is just the cost of electricity. And with the cost of public chargers, yes, this pays off very quickly.
    - TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
      But people does not want to charge their car for 24+ hours from my outlet. They want to charge their car in less than an hour, which is expensive.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  In the states, renting a parking spot outside of where you live just isn’t common. Maybe in LA or NYC, but I haven’t seen it anywhere else.
eulers_secret 3y ago
I'm a permanent apartment-dweller (houses are far too expensive in my area and I will never need/justify the space and expense), this is exactly it. I might get an EV when I have a personal (guaranteed) at-home charging spot. Not likely to happen, so I'll probably drive hybrid cars for the rest of my life. That's OK with me, though.
_hypx 3y ago
The article is just a big fantasy. It makes the fundamental mistake of assume current trends will just continue into the future without regard to technical limitations. People have at various times made similar predictions about how diesel cars are the future, or ethanol and biodiesel powered cars, or even compressed air cars, just by looking at short-term trends. Battery cars are just the next stage of this charade.

LeifCarrotson 3y ago

Conversely, if I own my home, with an attached garage, and especially if my spouse has a gasoline vehicle we would use for long trips, then charging infrastructure and range over ~80 miles are largely irrelevant to me. Being a perfect vehicle for 2/3rds of the population is good enough for now.

vsskanth 3y ago
Agreed. EVs are a great second commuter vehicle for someone with a garage.
TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
50% of people in EU are living in apartments. So it is not 66%
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  Much of Europe doesn’t have free street parking like the states does, a lot of those people don’t have cars or are paying extra to have their cars garaged.

lukeschlather 3y ago

Teslas are pretty expensive and charging infrastructure is very cheap. If you can afford a Tesla you can afford to rent a parking space and get it outfitted with a charger. If this sounds impractical to you it's not because the charging infrastructure is too expensive, it's because the parking space is too expensive.

TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
It does not matter if building cost is cheap, when charging prices are more expensive than taking petrol into ICE. Of course if you can get the charge at the first place, because having car with CCS connector and having charger with CCS connector does not mean they are compatible with each other.
- lukeschlather 3y ago
  You can pay to install a charger to your own electrical meter, at which point the cost is just the cost of electricity. And with the cost of public chargers, yes, this pays off very quickly.
  - TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
    But people does not want to charge their car for 24+ hours from my outlet. They want to charge their car in less than an hour, which is expensive.
seanmcdirmid 3y ago
In the states, renting a parking spot outside of where you live just isn’t common. Maybe in LA or NYC, but I haven’t seen it anywhere else.

eulers_secret 3y ago

I'm a permanent apartment-dweller (houses are far too expensive in my area and I will never need/justify the space and expense), this is exactly it. I might get an EV when I have a personal (guaranteed) at-home charging spot. Not likely to happen, so I'll probably drive hybrid cars for the rest of my life. That's OK with me, though.

_hypx 3y ago

The article is just a big fantasy. It makes the fundamental mistake of assume current trends will just continue into the future without regard to technical limitations. People have at various times made similar predictions about how diesel cars are the future, or ethanol and biodiesel powered cars, or even compressed air cars, just by looking at short-term trends. Battery cars are just the next stage of this charade.