Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 450 posts

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#21

Post by ricardobeat »

pankajdoharey wrote: post #10
chrisbrandow wrote: post #9

Seems just as likely that the correct interpretation is that exponential growth is difficult to appreciate when starting from a small base. The “inflection point” cited in the article could easily be a continuation of the exact growth rate present for the previous 10 years.

The prices have to come down too. the Electric cars are 5-6 times more expensive than the normal cars. By cheap normal cars i meant Hyundai Accent which costs $14,995, Or Toyota Yaris $16000 or Chevrolet Sonic $20K or a ford fiesta $14K.

That's just not true. You can buy the Hyunday Ioniq for €32k, €38k for the maxed up model, Kona Electric for €40k with 500km range, soon the Kia Niro EV for €38k. These prices are only 20-30% higher than their ICE versions, and there are _many_ normal cars that go beyond this in the same categories.

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#24

Post by rando444 »

cowmix wrote: post #7
saudioger wrote: post #5

The only thing holding back EVs are/were batteries/charging times. Aside from that they're easier to maintain and perform better — on paper they're loads more practical.

Range more than charging times. With EVs (and if you have a charger) waking up with a 'full tank' is pretty amazing... something ICE auto can never experience.

Never is not the right word.

I owned a natural gas combustion engine Honda Civic for a decade and refueled at home.

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#25

Post by radiorental »

madengr wrote: post #16
CalChris wrote: post #3

I'm on my third EV (Leaf, S, M3). Never going back. Since the Model 3 is so well built (after some startup hickups), I can recommend it on that alone. Tesla is very vertically integrated now (they make their own seats) and so the Model 3 is profitable for Tesla although the capital investment was quite high. Also, it's fun to drive next to a Viper and throw shade.

Ditto. I’m driving a Leaf and will never buy an ICE car again. In the article, I’m surprised the EVs are about the same sales as hybrids. I figured there would still be more hybrid sales.

Was talking to staff at the rental counter in Phoenix. They said that they stopped buying hybrids when gas dropped back down and the fact that they were costly to maintain... (More moving parts).

Fleet sales were a big driver when gas prices were higher

Plus, hybrids are a gutless jack of all trades and master of none

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#26

Post by p1mrx »

I'm currently attempting to install an EV charger in my condo carport. The first step was to exchange parking spaces with another owner, in order to get physically close enough to run conduit from my panel.

However, I found the property laws surrounding the modification of assigned parking spaces to be pretty murky. It'd be nice if there were a state/nation-wide effort to clarify this sort of transaction, because lots of maps and HOA documents were written decades ago, with zero thought given to electrical access.

There will always be some homes where EV charging is infeasible, but map reordering could fix a lot of the marginal cases.

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#27

Post by tomjakubowski »

kasey_junk wrote: post #23

My big issue is that in the places that electric cars make the most sense (cities) it’s hardest to own them. What am I going to do, run a really long extension cord from my condo to the random parking spot I found around the block?

Doesn't seem all that hard to solve. My city, Los Angeles, reserves some street parking spots for electric vehicles and has installed outlets on the curb for those spaces.

Also, if you live in a city, unless you "reverse commute" to the suburbs, you probably won't drive enough miles regularly that you'd need to charge every night anyway. Give it a fast charge every few days in a commercial garage while you run errands.

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#28

Post by mikekchar »

kasey_junk wrote: post #23

My big issue is that in the places that electric cars make the most sense (cities) it’s hardest to own them. What am I going to do, run a really long extension cord from my condo to the random parking spot I found around the block?

Interestingly, I went to a Nissan dealer in Japan (where I live) to ask the exact same question. They have a deal where you can spend the equivalent of about $30 per month and you can go to the dealer to charge your car (unlimited charging). It takes about half an hour and they have a waiting room with free coffee and a TV.

Although I'm worried that they don't have anywhere near the capacity to handle the volume if it gets popular (imagine waiting for 2 or 3 people ahead of you...), for the moment it seems doable. As my wife can't live without her car (I don't drive), we're seriously thinking about it.

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#29

Post by newfocogi »

kasey_junk wrote: post #23

My big issue is that in the places that electric cars make the most sense (cities) it’s hardest to own them. What am I going to do, run a really long extension cord from my condo to the random parking spot I found around the block?

This situation is when employers providing chargers in company parking will become a notable work benefit.

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#30

Post by CharlesW »

newfocogi wrote: post #29
kasey_junk wrote: post #23

My big issue is that in the places that electric cars make the most sense (cities) it’s hardest to own them. What am I going to do, run a really long extension cord from my condo to the random parking spot I found around the block?

This situation is when employers providing chargers in company parking will become a notable work benefit.

This. I've owned an electric car for 6+ months, and have literally never charged it at home.
Post reply on HN