12 ms·

Chargers that pop out of the curb. Yes please. Here in DC we have a lot of food trucks, and their fumes and noise is a sad mark upon the area. I dream of a law

Chargers that pop out of the curb. Yes please. Here in DC we have a lot of food trucks, and their fumes and noise is a sad mark upon the area. I dream of a law where these things could be connected to the grid instead. Right now that's just a fantasy as there's not a real way to accomplish that objective, but tech like this is exactly what it would take! And more inverters setup to be powered off EV voltage levels.

izacus 3y ago
Since US failed to standardize chargers, Tesla will decide whether anyone is allowed to build such infrastructure. Will they allow it?
- rsynnott 3y ago
  Eh? Pretty much all US electric cars these days have CCS charger ports, don't they?
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    All non-Tesla cars except for Nissan use CCS.
  - wmf 3y ago
    Not any more. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36079236 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36079236
    - rsynnott 3y ago
      Looks like their current electric vehicles use CCS; I'd imagine the future ones would probably have _both_, or some sort of adaptor.
      - Robotbeat 3y ago
        That’s correct, there will be an adapter & there already is
    - recursive 3y ago
      I assumed these fords would have both. But I guess I haven't seen anything concrete about it.
  - izacus 3y ago
    Most US working charging infrastructure is Tesla plugs. Tesla also started pushing companies like Ford to adopt their proprietary charger.
    - chroma 3y ago
      It's no longer proprietary. As of last year the standard is open and anyone can adopt it without paying Tesla a dime.[1] Of course car manufacturers will have to negotiate access to Tesla's charging network, but that's also true of Electrify America. Considering the advantages of Tesla's connector (much more compact, much more popular than CCS in the US), I hope it wins. Now that Ford[2] and Aptera[3] are adopting it, I think it will. 1. https://www.tesla.com/blog/opening-north-american-charging-standard https://www.tesla.com/blog/opening-north-american-charging-s... 2. https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2023/05/25/ford-ev-customers-to-gain-access-to-12-000-tesla-superchargers--.html https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2023... 3. https://aptera.us/tesla-charging/ https://aptera.us/tesla-charging/
      - usrusr 3y ago
        Considering the Tesla patents pledge of 2014, I find it hardly surprising that manufacturers don't immediately jump at "open since 2022".
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
  - Robotbeat 3y ago
    No, most US electric cars are Teslas and they use the better NACS port. Which is an open standard now. Ford will use it in the future.
    - KennyBlanken 3y ago
      There's nothing better about Supercharger connectors. CCS is now twice the voltage and supports 25% more current; the common max CCS charger power is 350KW, whereas most superchargers are at best 250KW, and often that power is shared among several stalls. Teslas use CCS2 in Europe where (ahem) they were required to, so by opening up their network, millions of cars there are out there able to use the stations since it's largely a software change. No mass-produced car uses Supercharger plugs except Teslas, so them opening up their network means only some Fords, produced at some time in the future, will be able to use them - and it's really not a plus, given the slow charging speed, and how oversubscribed many of the stations are. It's going to be fun when people with 100k Teslas can't charge because there's someone with a $35k electric Ford using a charging port... The entire mass-production auto industry save Tesla has standardized on CCS1/2. The only downside to CCS is that the US and Europe use different CCS connectors, which is a giant facepalm.
      - wilg 3y ago
        > There's nothing better about Supercharger connectors. The size, usability, and industrial design is clearly better. > CCS is now twice the voltage and supports 25% more current The max NACS/Tesla current is 1MW. > The entire mass-production auto industry save Tesla has standardized on CCS1/2. China has a different (and way crazier) plug.
        Robotbeat 3y ago
        Right. And CCS1 sucks, mostly just used in America where there are more NACS plugs anyway. Adapters aren't a huge issue, but the base plug should be the most compact and simple one. NACS.
      - Robotbeat 3y ago
crote 3y ago
Aren't food trucks licensed? Surely the municipality could've placed a power connection point when they gave out the license for a food truck location?
- rektide 3y ago
  I think in DC the food truck locations are first come first serve, they're just using street parking to do their thing. There's other practical challenges of deploying high power charging here. The power connection is only part of the system. How we do metering, how we get get power to the area, how we convert it are all complicated challenges. Doing it at scale would be non trivial.
  - ianai 3y ago
    Are we really thinking food trucks need more than the 3.3-6.6kw that a typical outlet can deliver? Just make them EV chargers as those companies already exist and have the stuff figured out. No reason to run an ICE.
- c22 3y ago
  It's probably different from place to place, but in my city mobile food trucks can operate on any non-residential private property with no additional permitting requirements and can operate on public streets with a permit for up to two weeks. Presumably private property can figure out their own power infrastructure and the 2-week limit on public streets would seem too short of a time for installing power to make sense.
- dabluecaboose 3y ago
  Most food trucks in DC are illegally parked. For example, the perennial "food court" on 7th street crossing the National Mall I don't think the DC municipality is very interested in enforcement of arbitrary HOA-style laws.
m4rtink 3y ago
Likey really ? They just have an engine running, not even an external generator ? Around here in the Czech Republic they hook up to the grid (they often have regular spots they visit, so often arrange a connection to be available) or cook on gas from gas bombs anyway, so don't really need electricity when cooking.
- r00fus 3y ago
  > cook on gas from gas bombs anyway Ok… either this was a typo or I don’t understand what a gas bomb is.
  - RetroHippyNimby 3y ago
    Maybe 'propane tank'?
  - franga2000 3y ago
    In a couple of languages, things like portable propane tanks are commonly, although not officially, referred to as "gas bombs" (literal translation)
- KennyBlanken 3y ago
  Most US food trucks have a generator unless they're operating in a location that is planning to accommodate them (I've been to several where the host business provided some circuits.) The quiet generators are pretty expensive, if you want one that lasts. That said, OP's "I don't like noise and smelly stuff, it's ruining my city" is laughable.

izacus 3y ago

Since US failed to standardize chargers, Tesla will decide whether anyone is allowed to build such infrastructure. Will they allow it?

rsynnott 3y ago
Eh? Pretty much all US electric cars these days have CCS charger ports, don't they?
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  All non-Tesla cars except for Nissan use CCS.
- wmf 3y ago
  Not any more. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36079236 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36079236
  - rsynnott 3y ago
    Looks like their current electric vehicles use CCS; I'd imagine the future ones would probably have _both_, or some sort of adaptor.
    - Robotbeat 3y ago
      That’s correct, there will be an adapter & there already is
  - recursive 3y ago
    I assumed these fords would have both. But I guess I haven't seen anything concrete about it.
- izacus 3y ago
  Most US working charging infrastructure is Tesla plugs. Tesla also started pushing companies like Ford to adopt their proprietary charger.
  - chroma 3y ago
    It's no longer proprietary. As of last year the standard is open and anyone can adopt it without paying Tesla a dime.[1] Of course car manufacturers will have to negotiate access to Tesla's charging network, but that's also true of Electrify America. Considering the advantages of Tesla's connector (much more compact, much more popular than CCS in the US), I hope it wins. Now that Ford[2] and Aptera[3] are adopting it, I think it will. 1. https://www.tesla.com/blog/opening-north-american-charging-standard https://www.tesla.com/blog/opening-north-american-charging-s... 2. https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2023/05/25/ford-ev-customers-to-gain-access-to-12-000-tesla-superchargers--.html https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2023... 3. https://aptera.us/tesla-charging/ https://aptera.us/tesla-charging/
    - usrusr 3y ago
      Considering the Tesla patents pledge of 2014, I find it hardly surprising that manufacturers don't immediately jump at "open since 2022".
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- Robotbeat 3y ago
  No, most US electric cars are Teslas and they use the better NACS port. Which is an open standard now. Ford will use it in the future.
  - KennyBlanken 3y ago
    There's nothing better about Supercharger connectors. CCS is now twice the voltage and supports 25% more current; the common max CCS charger power is 350KW, whereas most superchargers are at best 250KW, and often that power is shared among several stalls. Teslas use CCS2 in Europe where (ahem) they were required to, so by opening up their network, millions of cars there are out there able to use the stations since it's largely a software change. No mass-produced car uses Supercharger plugs except Teslas, so them opening up their network means only some Fords, produced at some time in the future, will be able to use them - and it's really not a plus, given the slow charging speed, and how oversubscribed many of the stations are. It's going to be fun when people with 100k Teslas can't charge because there's someone with a $35k electric Ford using a charging port... The entire mass-production auto industry save Tesla has standardized on CCS1/2. The only downside to CCS is that the US and Europe use different CCS connectors, which is a giant facepalm.
    - wilg 3y ago
      > There's nothing better about Supercharger connectors. The size, usability, and industrial design is clearly better. > CCS is now twice the voltage and supports 25% more current The max NACS/Tesla current is 1MW. > The entire mass-production auto industry save Tesla has standardized on CCS1/2. China has a different (and way crazier) plug.
      - Robotbeat 3y ago
        Right. And CCS1 sucks, mostly just used in America where there are more NACS plugs anyway. Adapters aren't a huge issue, but the base plug should be the most compact and simple one. NACS.
    - Robotbeat 3y ago

crote 3y ago

Aren't food trucks licensed? Surely the municipality could've placed a power connection point when they gave out the license for a food truck location?

rektide 3y ago
I think in DC the food truck locations are first come first serve, they're just using street parking to do their thing. There's other practical challenges of deploying high power charging here. The power connection is only part of the system. How we do metering, how we get get power to the area, how we convert it are all complicated challenges. Doing it at scale would be non trivial.
- ianai 3y ago
  Are we really thinking food trucks need more than the 3.3-6.6kw that a typical outlet can deliver? Just make them EV chargers as those companies already exist and have the stuff figured out. No reason to run an ICE.
c22 3y ago
It's probably different from place to place, but in my city mobile food trucks can operate on any non-residential private property with no additional permitting requirements and can operate on public streets with a permit for up to two weeks. Presumably private property can figure out their own power infrastructure and the 2-week limit on public streets would seem too short of a time for installing power to make sense.
dabluecaboose 3y ago
Most food trucks in DC are illegally parked. For example, the perennial "food court" on 7th street crossing the National Mall I don't think the DC municipality is very interested in enforcement of arbitrary HOA-style laws.

m4rtink 3y ago

Likey really ? They just have an engine running, not even an external generator ? Around here in the Czech Republic they hook up to the grid (they often have regular spots they visit, so often arrange a connection to be available) or cook on gas from gas bombs anyway, so don't really need electricity when cooking.

r00fus 3y ago
> cook on gas from gas bombs anyway Ok… either this was a typo or I don’t understand what a gas bomb is.
- RetroHippyNimby 3y ago
  Maybe 'propane tank'?
- franga2000 3y ago
  In a couple of languages, things like portable propane tanks are commonly, although not officially, referred to as "gas bombs" (literal translation)
KennyBlanken 3y ago
Most US food trucks have a generator unless they're operating in a location that is planning to accommodate them (I've been to several where the host business provided some circuits.) The quiet generators are pretty expensive, if you want one that lasts. That said, OP's "I don't like noise and smelly stuff, it's ruining my city" is laughable.