Contributor
At the Tesla "supercharger" stations anyway there is a substantial surcharge added to your bill if you overstay the time needed to charge your car to ~80%, so there is a strong incentive not to leave your car there. I don't know whether the other charging networks work similarly.Originally Posted by Ronald Blue
Contributor
The one I observed recently was a "generic" station. Whether there is feedback between the vehicle and charger would be interesting. I suppose the current draw could also be how it's monitored as well. Just the fact that this is a small rural town and nearly everyone would commute to their jobs makes me think they were camped but I don't know that. I actually will be in that town this week so I will check and see if it appears vehicles are "camped" there again. I don't recall what brand was there but I know neither were Tesla's. They tend to be noteworthy.
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Personally-- I don't see this ending well...
Even with all the hybrid/EV/AF vehicles on the road, I can't remember the last time I went to a gas station that didn't have a half dozen or more cars filling up. Imagine if, right now, the ratio of gas/diesel to electric vehicles was flipped; what are the lines to get charged going to look like? And I don't see home-charging as much of an answer the moment, in many places it's hard to keep the central air running when it's hot, how's 'the grid' supposed to handle gazillions of cars constantly charging in addition to current electric demands?
just wondering... but honestly, I see some major growing pains in the automotive future...
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ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
FOUR - CO2 lasers
THREE- make that FOUR now- fiber lasers
ONE - vinyl cutter
CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle
Contributor
I could have sworn we did a multi-page thread on this exact topic not too long ago...
Yup. OP was some guy with the initials "KW".
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
Contributor
its difficult to answer questions when they are formed as an opinion not based on facts.I could have sworn we did a multi-page thread on this exact topic not too long ago...
Yup. OP was some guy with the initials "KW".
the answer is then assumed the same and to be thrown out, instead of considered.
the answer is, though, that most people charge at night when there is a much smaller demand on the grid, and evening out that demand curve actually makes the grid more efficient and the cars themselves present opportunity for surge capacity in the home when they are connected, and if you opt in, surge grid capacity.
as an engineer in the O&g industry and a current plug in and future EV owner, i'm excited about the possibilities.
Contributor
No doubt there will be growing pains in the transition away from fossil fuels but the fact that every major car manufacturer in the world is investing millions in EV development and many have set dates by which they will stop ICE production, makes me think it will happen. Add to that, the fact that study after study shows EV' s are cheaper to own over as little as five years.
Contributor
I could have sworn we did a multi-page thread on this exact topic not too long ago...
Yup. OP was some guy with the initials "KW".So, I'm not supposed to have an opinion, and/or add my half/cent because I've already talked about this before?
I'll just FO&D then....
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ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
FOUR - CO2 lasers
THREE- make that FOUR now
ONE - vinyl cutter
CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle
Contributor
Sorry you took it that way. I was just pointing out some gratuitous dead-horse beating.
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
Contributor
I don't think battery swapping is going to be a viable option. In sunny California it would work much better than in the dead of winter on a car with it's undercarriage covered in ice and frozen grime around here. Then there's mud season. Battery swapping would also need standard sized batteries. Even the good old car battery comes in far too many different sizes and terminal locations. If EVs are our future it'll be the government setting standards (like different levels of gasoline) is the only way it'll work.
Contributor
I think there is an application for battery swapping in electric scooters where the batteries are much smaller and the owner can easily do the swap. This video discusses battery swapping in both cars and scooters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-xWYScsvts
Contributor
We bought our first EV in 2018. It was the only bright green Chevy Bolt in the area for quite some time. Super easy to find in a parking lot full of grey and black cars.
We love our EV. I know about the recall but am actually excited for it. I'll get a brand new battery pack with 8% more charge and a reset on the warranty.
We charge our car at home with a level 2 charger. I only have to charge maybe once every 2 weeks and it's only for about 5 hours to fill it to 90%. I'm not worried about the extra electricity cost as our house has solar already.
We now live in Ottawa Canada and this past year was our first winter with an EV. No problems at all. Range went down a little maybe 50km less but we never let the battery get bellow 1/4 charge.
We also have a 2014 Durango for towing our airstream and for picking up lumber. I cannot wait for more EV SUV/Trucks to hit the market. At that point we will sell both our Bolt and Durango and just go with 1 larger EV that can tow and haul things. Until then we are happy to kick around town in our EV.
Member
Our next car will be an EV. The F-150 Lightning is appealing – aside from the ability to haul tons of lumber and gardening supplies, the ability to use it as a backup electricity source has some serious value, given that it's dangerously hot or cold for at least six months of the year here and we're on a rather unreliable grid. For us, long-distance driving only happens a few times per year, and that's not often enough to justify staying on an ICE platform.
All of that is secondary to the fact that ICE vehicles will be hard to buy and fuel in about a decade, so debate about whether people will switch to EVs is not a "yes or no", it's a matter of how much inconvenience people will put up with and for how long before they bite the bullet and go electric.
Contributor
I do not think that ford pickup can carry tons of stuff unless it is high density. Just not enough to put it. A station wagon has a bigger cargo area.
Bill D
Contributor
The majority of people with EVs will charge at home, not at public charging stations. With gasoline, you have no choice but to fill up at a gas station. People who will have to use public charging stations are those who have to park on the street, travelers, and those who forgot to plug in their vehicle at home. In my area, large companies are putting charging stations in their parking lots. They can automatically contact the employee to move the vehicle when it's charged. Failure to do so will revoke charging privileges.
In my area, there is an excess of electricity in the daytime because of the amount of installed solar. I suppose you could encounter problems on the grid, but we generally do not have such problems because solar generation is distributed into the places where the electricity is used.
The "crunch" time for electric power is in the evening when solar is tapering off. Rates go up at 4pm in my area. During the 8am to 4pm time they're practically giving electricity away. You can program you electric vehicle to charge during the time of lowest rates, which generally coincides with greatest availability.
As others have pointed out, the other time for low rates and low demand is generally overnight, perhaps from 9pm to 7am. Charging your vehicle at night actually helps the power company manage their system.
Mike
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
Contributor
Unfortunately, for those who commute to work during the day there usually isn't a place to charge the car to use some of that solar generated electricity. It seems crazy that California requires all new houses to have solar panels even if that electricity isn't really needed.
Some areas in Hawaii the power company won't allow solar customers to export power to the grid. The customer's solar inverter can only produce as much power as the customer is using. Electricity is so expensive in Hawaii that solar makes a lot of sense. Some neighborhoods were overloading the local grid with all the excess solar power during the day.
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