My office has installed a couple of free level 2 chargers and I haven’t needed to charge at home or elsewhere since. Charging for a few hours a couple of times a week is enough for my Bolt and my 10 mile commute as well as driving around the metro area on the weekends.
Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?
151–160 of 545 posts
Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?
#152It 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 t…
Lampposts is exactly how I charge whilst not having off-street parking, in central London. The council converted all the street lights to LEDs, meaning there is excess electricity delivered. So they put plugs on the posts. Works brilliantly. https://imgur.com/a/I5AtwJk https://www.ubitricity.com/
Fully Charged did an episode on this:
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKaEhBjt1ls
However, in many cities the posts are not in the sidewalk, but on people's properties, so as to allow clearer pedestrian paths. This is generally true in Toronto (where the story is written), especially on residential side-streets.
Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?
#153I thought it was illegal to own a car without having a parking spot. I don’t know really, can someone clarify?
Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?
#154I have this problem with my electric moped - I often need to find a charger for it.
Its going to be an app that connects users with each other to help provide charging facilities.
Or else, gas stations will pivot.
Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?
#155I think this points out the elephant in the room: why are so many people in supposedly high income cities not able to buy properties? This is an issue that needs to be solved hand in hand with pollution: less travel, less need for a car, and more living outside overcrowded cities means more living space. So how can we move more jobs to suburbs, where people can work at nearby or home locations and can afford more liv…
Where do garage orphans plug in their cars? Same place lounge orphans plug in their TVs. They are probably both not bothered since they are watching youtube videos on the underground on the way to the pub.
Times are a changin.
Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?
#156Earlier 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…
It would be extremely rare for the cops to finger you as the person that told me.
Seriously, let them sort it out. It's their job. They will likely give them a warning the first time, depending on the department. Mine would.
Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?
#157Besides garage orphans, also those with self standing homes and a garage will have (or become) a problem. Say that in you street that are 50 single family homes connected to a same cabin/transformer. The electric infrastructure powering them (lines, transformer, etc.) has been dimensioned to power them at their average current power consumption rate + something to take care of peaks + something more to take care of e…
I believe that some of that is covered by other appliances becoming more efficient. How many 60-100w light bulbs did people used to run in their home? Tube tvs? Those devices have largely been replaced by more modern versions that use an order of magnitude less power.
Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lampposts is exactly how I charge whilst not having off-street parking, in central London. The council converted all the street lights to LEDs, meaning there is excess electricity delivered. So they put plugs on the posts. Works brilliantly. https://imgur.com/a/I5AtwJk https://www.ubitricity.com/
Fully Charged did an episode on this: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKaEhBjt1ls However, in many cities the posts are not in the sidewalk, but on people's properties, so as to allow clearer pedestrian paths. This is generally true in Toronto (where the story is written), especially on residential side-streets.
It was this video that got me lobbying my local council (Lambeth) to try them. Which, impressively, they did.
Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?
#159Honestly I think the low hanging fruit would be to put 115V outlets in at apartment complexes that have designating parking spaces. Just normal 115V, which is usually already wired at or near the spot.
Re: Where will ‘garage orphans’ charge electric cars?
#160I 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.
Laundry. That just might be the perfect example. What a huge division of experience between the wealthy and the less wealthy.
Most homeowners have laundry in their home. Starting and switching loads is a few minutes, and the rest of their time is still free. Many high-end apartments have laundry within a short walk from each residence. It's largely the same experience. But then those with less ability to afford "nice" housing often have to use shared public laundromats that are not as close to home. You probably plan a trip once a week or two, and it takes you several hours. If you're lucky, it's close to other errands, but since you've got your hands full with your laundry, it's not like you can really combine it with grocery shopping.
In a future where everyone drives EVs, the wealthier will have higher range vehicles, easy access to super fast chargers, and even chargers in their home or luxury apartment. But the poor, with lower range vehicles, will just have to visit a mediocre public charger, and hope they can make that time useful, or read a newspaper while they wait. They'll have to be more thoughtful about how they use their car because going an extra 20 miles for some unexpected errand might screw up their schedule and send them to the public charger where they can waste a half an hour of precious time waiting in line and getting a partial charge.