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Japan Has More Car Chargers Than Gas Stations

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Re: Japan Has More Car Chargers Than Gas Stations

#21

Post by lotsofmangos »

cpwright wrote: post #16
lotsofmangos wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would be hard to fit a petrol station in everybody's home though. edit - was also thinking that providing extra plug-in points on the side of your property to sell rooftop solar or grid at a premium, as part of a global charger sharing network, is probably going to happen eventually and has a good business plan in there somewhere.

I don't think it is that hard, it just isn't as useful. I have a tank in my basement that holds 300 gallons of heating fuel (basically diesel); and it is pumped to my boiler. Instead of diesel it could easily be gasoline to a car; but why worry about delivery, etc. when there is already a large infrastructure to fuel my car and the marginal benefits are tiny. Whereas, if I bought an electric car; having the charger w…

For a lot of people it is one less thing to work into their routine. For other people it is hassle. Round where I live no houses have driveways or garages, so the only electric vehicles I have been seriously researching have been motorbikes that can fit through the front door and as much as I think electric cars are the future of much of transport, the charging cable problem hasn't yet been seriously addressed for high density urban use yet.

edit - Or fold-up cars. One that can fit in a lift.

Re: Japan Has More Car Chargers Than Gas Stations

#22

Post by mikeash »

cpwright wrote: post #16
lotsofmangos wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would be hard to fit a petrol station in everybody's home though. edit - was also thinking that providing extra plug-in points on the side of your property to sell rooftop solar or grid at a premium, as part of a global charger sharing network, is probably going to happen eventually and has a good business plan in there somewhere.

I don't think it is that hard, it just isn't as useful. I have a tank in my basement that holds 300 gallons of heating fuel (basically diesel); and it is pumped to my boiler. Instead of diesel it could easily be gasoline to a car; but why worry about delivery, etc. when there is already a large infrastructure to fuel my car and the marginal benefits are tiny. Whereas, if I bought an electric car; having the charger w…

People who already have a tank in the basement are pretty rare. How much effort/money would it take to install a new tank, plus a car-compatible pump? Compare with a couple hundred bucks for an electrician to install a 240V outlet, and a few hundred more for a charger (if you don't just use the one that comes with your car).

Re: Japan Has More Car Chargers Than Gas Stations

#23

Post by ghaff »

oaktowner wrote: post #14
Shivetya wrote: post #5

I would be real happy if employers would focus more on adding reserved parking with chargers instead of reserve parking for mid level management. It would send a much better message. It might take something akin to handicap parking to convince people to think different. I would use the carrot method, get better parking with your plug in (hybrid or otherwise) instead of taxing the other to death.

There are companies that reserve parking for mid-level managers?!? I agree: that sends a terrible message.

Where mid-level = VP+, it used to be quite common. Among companies I go to these days, it would be rare enough as to be noteworthy--not that I visit a representative cross-section of all companies.

Re: Japan Has More Car Chargers Than Gas Stations

#24

Post by to3m »

sbierwagen wrote: post #7
acveilleux wrote: post #4

They count charging stations in homes, not just public ones.

Plus, you really should be comparing the number of pumps , not gas stations. Additionally, the power throughput of a gas pump is way, way higher than a car charger. (Probably measured in the dozens of MWe per hour, compared to 50 KW/h of a DC fast charger) A single car ties up a gas pump for five minutes, an electric car ties up a charger for half an hour.

https://babelniche.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/power-in-your-ha... suggests (with calculations) a throughput of 87MW.

Re: Japan Has More Car Chargers Than Gas Stations

#26

Post by sparkman55 »

skywhopper wrote: post #10

IMO, including home chargers is fine (if it were common practice for people to have gas pumps in their garages those would be fair to count as well), but to be a fair comparison, I think you need to count the actual number of gas pumps in total, and factor in the difference in "charging" time between the two technologies. So if there are an average of 6 pumps at each station, and if it takes two minutes to gas up an…

In rural areas, it's actually common to have a gas pump near the garage. After all, what are you going to do, drive your tractor to town to fill up?

Re: Japan Has More Car Chargers Than Gas Stations

#27

Post by vkjv »

nightski wrote: post #19
skywhopper wrote: post #10

IMO, including home chargers is fine (if it were common practice for people to have gas pumps in their garages those would be fair to count as well), but to be a fair comparison, I think you need to count the actual number of gas pumps in total, and factor in the difference in "charging" time between the two technologies. So if there are an average of 6 pumps at each station, and if it takes two minutes to gas up an…

Assuming 100% utilization of course, which around here is very far from the truth.

Peak utilization is more important than average.

Re: Japan Has More Car Chargers Than Gas Stations

#28

Post by stcredzero »

sparkman55 wrote: post #26
skywhopper wrote: post #10

IMO, including home chargers is fine (if it were common practice for people to have gas pumps in their garages those would be fair to count as well), but to be a fair comparison, I think you need to count the actual number of gas pumps in total, and factor in the difference in "charging" time between the two technologies. So if there are an average of 6 pumps at each station, and if it takes two minutes to gas up an…

In rural areas, it's actually common to have a gas pump near the garage. After all, what are you going to do, drive your tractor to town to fill up?

Near Dillingham Alaska: The guy I was briefly working for would have to take his boat two miles up (down?) river to get his mail.

Re: Japan Has More Car Chargers Than Gas Stations

#29

Post by liyuanli »

It would be cool to see more automakers invest in an infrastructure dedicated to electric vehicles (not necessarily limited to charging). EVs are not mainstream today, but they most likely will be in the near future. I see a vague connection with mobile ecosystems like iPhone and Android. Heavy investment in the mobile development infrastructure is paying off. It's giving device/app makers more leverage to turn ideas into products. A great infrastructure definitely helps drive adoption.

Re: Japan Has More Car Chargers Than Gas Stations

#30

Post by stcredzero »

paws wrote: post #25

"Three years after the Fukushima nuclear crisis all of Japan's 48 operable reactors remain shut, with no restarts scheduled." via http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/28/japan-utilities-pl... Worth keeping the big picture in mind.

The real bogeyman isn't nuclear. It's companies getting away with poor practices, hanging onto outdated equipment, and whittling down safety recommendations/regulations. The same thing with the BP refinery disaster. (And two of those 3 with the gulf oil spill.)

If we look at organizations with good records with regards to nuclear power (US Navy and France) it's somewhat different from what we have in the US.

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