As EV batteries improve, ChargePoint debuts 600 kW fast charger • Hacker News Board

Re: As EV batteries improve, ChargePoint debuts 600 kW fast charger

#11

Post by tonyedgecombe » Fri, Jun 05, 2026, 5:18 PM UTC

devolving-dev wrote: post #9

4fterd4rk wrote: post #2

Probably useful for trucks, marginal utility for your typical EV owner. Articles like this seem to be speaking to people who don't own an EV and are still focused on the ICE car model of "plugging in" your car periodically at a public location. That isn't how EVs work for the vast majority of people.

Right now, EVs are only good for people who have houses with garages that let them charge. If you need to use street parking or something then EVs don't work. But maybe if such technology improves everyone can use EVs.

I must tell my brother in law that as he has neither a garage nor off street parking but has been driving an EV for the last five years.

Re: As EV batteries improve, ChargePoint debuts 600 kW fast charger

#12

Post by PaulHoule » Fri, Jun 05, 2026, 7:34 PM UTC

4fterd4rk wrote: post #4

NetMageSCW wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do EVangalists constantly think people don’t take road trips in cars, when the vast majority do? Reducing 20 - 30 minute stops to 10 - 15 minutes is very worthwhile for road trips, and makes shorter range vehicles usable for those trips.

That is a marginal improvement to a use case that, for most people, happens once or twice a year tops.

Even back in the 1970s there was a lot of talk along the lines that the overwhelming fraction of trips are short (It ran into the problem that (rationally) people do do road trips to a certain amount and (irrationally) the whole reason people like cars is you can just get in your car anytime and go anywhere and if you wanted just to go where someone else decides when they decide you can go you can always... ride the bus.

For a long term the go-to-market picture people had for EVs was that they were going to start out as short range vehicles that were just marginally acceptable to people, we know now that Tesla's decision to position them as premium vehicles [1] rather than glorified golf carts was key to getting them accepted.

A counter though is that many families have multiple vehicles and if you have one gas car whoever needs to go a long distance can take the gas car and the others can drive a Nissan LEAF or something.

[1] ... look at how many automakers wish they could sell cars at a premium price but don't really have a differentiated product.

Re: As EV batteries improve, ChargePoint debuts 600 kW fast charger

#13

Post by circuit10 » Fri, Jun 05, 2026, 9:48 PM UTC

devolving-dev wrote: post #9

4fterd4rk wrote: post #2

Probably useful for trucks, marginal utility for your typical EV owner. Articles like this seem to be speaking to people who don't own an EV and are still focused on the ICE car model of "plugging in" your car periodically at a public location. That isn't how EVs work for the vast majority of people.

Right now, EVs are only good for people who have houses with garages that let them charge. If you need to use street parking or something then EVs don't work. But maybe if such technology improves everyone can use EVs.

If there are charge points in the street or there’s a way to run a cable there then I don’t see why that has to be an issue