Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars? • Hacker News Board

Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?

#121

Post by jedberg » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 7:10 PM UTC

oh_hello wrote: post #114

I always thought this was a big problem for EVs, but recently came to think nightly charging might not matter so much for these drivers. If an urban apartment dweller has an EV with 200+ miles of range, can't a public fast charger be used once or twice a week instead? I lived in an apartment with a ~200 mile range ICE car and filled it less than once a week.

Filling your car at the gas station is a five minute stop on the way home. Filing your electric car is at least an hour if you have a DC fast charger and that gets you only 80% full. To get totally full, it would take a multi-hour stop.

Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?

#122

Post by gok » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 7:11 PM UTC

I live in a high rise apartment with three shared level 2 chargers in the garage. I would say there are ~10 EVs in the building and sharing the chargers has never been an issue. It's like shared laundry; you really only need it once a week or so for a few hours. Once it's easy to make people pay for electricity, adding lots of chargers will be a no-brainer for garage owners.

Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?

#123

Post by pkaye » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 7:11 PM UTC

The Target in my neighborhood has like 10-20 charging stations. Its packed to the brim with Teslas with even a waiting line at times. I'm not sure if they are people trying to save money or apartment dwellers.

Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?

#124

Post by NullPrefix » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 7:11 PM UTC

txcwpalpha wrote: post #115

NullPrefix wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1.3kW/m^2 * 20% efficiency = 260w/m^2 260w/m^2 * 5m^2 = 1.3kW 1.3kW * 4 hours daily sun = 5.2kW/day 265 miles range / 85kW full charge capacity = 3.1 miles/kW 5.2kW/day * 3.1 miles/kW = 16.12 miles / day Still sounds too good, what did I miss?

16.12 miles a day is not going to cut it. In your previous comment you suggested 50 miles a day. In various studies, Americans drive >30 miles a day. 16 miles would hardly even cover most American's one-way commute, let alone any other errands or trips.

>you suggested 50 miles a day

/s/suggested/calculated using data provided by parent comment/

Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?

#125

Post by m4rtink » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 7:13 PM UTC

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #9

rootusrootus wrote: post #6

Why does everyone need a place to charge at home? Sure, it is one of the big advantages of an EV, but not everyone can take advantage of it. If the car has a 300-400 mile range, then charge it like you fuel up a gas-powered car. Takes a little bit longer, but that will improve over time.

I imagine the same people who are garage orphans are probably also those who haven't got time to charge their machines for an hour or two. That's already a concern for road trips, but day to day that'll be a nightmare. Just hang around the charging station for an hour while your car recharges.

Is "garage orphan" really a commonly used term? It sounds really weird & needlessly emotional to me.

Just saying "people without a garage" seems perfectly adequate to me & does not require manufacturing new terms.

Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?

#126

Post by badwolf » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 7:14 PM UTC

dmitrygr wrote: post #77

AshleyGrant wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A) It doesn't take an hour to charge an EV unless you're charging past 90%, which isn't typically done as it hurts the battery. B) You're bored b/c you have to stand next to the pump waiting for it to finish. This isn't a problem with EV charging. Go get a coffee or read a book.

Not everyone has time to "get a coffee or read a book" when the car runs empty. Some people live years without a free hour to "just go read a book", for example: anyone with young kids.

Charge while you go grocery shopping? While you're at work?

Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?

#127

Post by wffurr » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 7:14 PM UTC

Yet another reason the real answer to the climate crisis isn't EVs - it's public transit, bicycles, e-bikes, scooters, e-scooters, walking, etc. All these other modes are much lower impact on the environment than purchasing and operating an EV, much less an ICE.

Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?

#128

Post by wil421 » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 7:15 PM UTC

microtherion wrote: post #97

e40 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Call the parking department of your local PD. They will gladly write a ticket to that Teshole. I've seen the same in my 'hood, and it's highly annoying.

Yeah, but I intend to keep living in my house for decades, and sic'ing the cops on a neighbor is a somewhat unpleasant way to introduce oneself, and sometimes a prelude to lengthy feuds. Since I've never met them, I'm still pondering the best way to address the problem. Cops, anonymous note, signed note, each have their drawbacks. So for the time being, I content myself with passive aggressive whining to third partie…

You’re worried about keeping up appearances with a neighbor you never met? Call the local police it’s their job to sort that out. If your neighbor confronts you deny or avoid the question if it suites you. Respond with “Oh, you were the guy blocking the sidewalk.”

Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?

#129

Post by mattlondon » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 7:16 PM UTC

It is certainly holding me back at the moment. I have allocated off-street parking under my apartment that is actually owned by us as part of the lease, but I doubt the building management will let me install a charger, and I don't think the law in the UK means I can force them to let me.

In London there are a few public chargers dotted around, but they are fairly infrequent. I don't have any data but it feels like there are perhaps 2 public on-street chargers for perhaps every 10 to 20 residential streets.

The nearest one to me is about a 15-20 minute walk away, and if I get there and it is full or broken, then what? Try the next charger that is 30-40 minutes walk away?! The contention ratio of homes to chargers is insane - it must be in the 500-1000:1 level (guessing)

There are however lampposts everywhere. There is some talk of adding charging points to lampposts but I think there are only very small-scale trials at the moment. If I could rely on every lamppost also being a charger then I'd buy an EV literally today.

Sadly, right now it feels like PHEVs are a more sensible option until public infrastructure catches up.

Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?

#130

Post by ryanmercer » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 7:16 PM UTC

oh_hello wrote: post #114

I always thought this was a big problem for EVs, but recently came to think nightly charging might not matter so much for these drivers. If an urban apartment dweller has an EV with 200+ miles of range, can't a public fast charger be used once or twice a week instead? I lived in an apartment with a ~200 mile range ICE car and filled it less than once a week.

>can't a public fast charger be used once or twice a week instead?

It takes me less than 2 minutes to fill up my tank and pay, now you want me to sit 1-4 hours at a fast charger a week twiddling my thumbs?

Never mind the fact a Tesla Model 3 starts at my annual salary.