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

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

#211

Post by reificator » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 8:07 PM UTC

firstplacelast wrote: post #201

trilila wrote: post #139

I 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…

Because people are willing to work for wages that can't buy them the shittiest home within a reasonable commute to their office. If people were more willing to die, unionize, or advocate for a mediocre life, this wouldn't happen. If you're working for less than it takes to buy the shittiest home in your city, you are exacerbating inequality and thus making the world worse. Better to sit on the sidewalk until you're d…

> If you're working for less than it takes to buy the shittiest home in your city, you are exacerbating inequality and thus making the world worse. Better to sit on the sidewalk until you're dead.

I'm not normally one for this term, but this has to be the pinnacle of blaming the victim.

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

#212

Post by paxys » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 8:08 PM UTC

mattmcknight wrote: post #187

It seems like an opportunity to building an electrified parking garage where people can buy a powered spot. Could also sell powered street spots to municipalities in a rev share agreement. Many office buildings and apartment complexes are ramping up charging facilities with the number of EVs.

Lots of shared building garages as well as public parking lots/garages have dedicated spots for EVs with chargers built-in nowadays.

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

#213

Post by olivermarks » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 8:08 PM UTC

In California the bankrupt PG&E power company will be turning off power during fire season high risk periods to limit their exposure. Escape from fire in an EV won't be possible unless you keep a fully charged vehicle on standby regardless of the charging location.

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

#214

Post by psychometry » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 8:08 PM UTC

whalesalad wrote: post #181

trilila wrote: post #139

I 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…

This is my hangup too, and it crosses over into the craze around building high density housing in California. I don’t want high density housing. I don’t think anyone does. I want a yard for my dogs to play, for my wife to nurture the garden she has always wanted, for fruit trees, a garage where I can work on my car, etc... We have so much land all around this country and no one is using it.

I know that a lot of property owners are out of touch, but "I don't think anyone wants high-density housing" is really at another level. Time for you to take your fingers out of your ears.

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

#215

Post by mumblemumble » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 8:08 PM UTC

whatshisface wrote: post #134

wffurr wrote: post #127

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.

You have to add "redesigned cities" to that list. Electric vehicles are almost as much a patch for ICE cities as they are a replacement for internal combustion.

I don't think most actual cities would need to be wholesale redesigned; plenty of urban planners have proposed plenty of incremental ways to successfully re-tool cities to favor humans over automobiles. And it has successfully happened in the past - see Amsterdam, for example, or (admittedly to a lesser extent) Montréal.

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

#216

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 8:08 PM UTC

trilila wrote: post #139

I 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…

[deleted]

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

#217

Post by gmanley » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 8:09 PM UTC

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #26

ecpottinger wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since it does not take an hour to charge for a normal drive, maybe you are the one with bad timing. If a person is driving 30 miles or less a day they only need less than 10 minutes charging to get by.

Yeah, I didn't consider the reduced time required for the short trip. Though that's adding 10 minutes to every electric car owners commute, isn't it? Can you imagine a large portion of the city all trying to charge up every night?

Electricity rates and demand are insanely low during the night. In fact whole sale rates can dip into the negatives where they will literally pay you to use electricity. Aluminum smelting plants run during this time. Even if everyone suddenly started charging cars at night at the most we would be back close to daytime demand, but more math is needed.

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

#218

Post by 6gvONxR4sf7o » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 8:09 PM UTC

trilila wrote: post #139

I 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…

It's not about buying property. Residential street parking is used by residents, not just visitors. Those cars can't charge whether you own your place or not. Meanwhile, the car in the garage can charge whether you're owning or renting.

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

#219

Post by psychometry » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 8:09 PM UTC

reificator wrote: post #211

firstplacelast wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because people are willing to work for wages that can't buy them the shittiest home within a reasonable commute to their office. If people were more willing to die, unionize, or advocate for a mediocre life, this wouldn't happen. If you're working for less than it takes to buy the shittiest home in your city, you are exacerbating inequality and thus making the world worse. Better to sit on the sidewalk until you're d…

> If you're working for less than it takes to buy the shittiest home in your city, you are exacerbating inequality and thus making the world worse. Better to sit on the sidewalk until you're dead. I'm not normally one for this term, but this has to be the pinnacle of blaming the victim.

True, but it's also a historical reality that in the early 20th century that's exactly what happened to usher in labor laws that we enjoy today.

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

#220

Post by thehappypm » Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 8:09 PM UTC

This stopped me from buying a Tesla with my most recent car purchase. I live in a 100 year old apartment in Boston that has 0 parking spots for over 100 units. My wife and I share a car, mostly for weekend adventuring, so we rent a spot in a dude's backyard down the block from us. It works well for us, much more convenient than the rat race of street parking. But it was hard to imagine that life with a Tesla. I could probably negotiate that I could plug it into an outlet connected to the guy's house, but I'd only get a slow trickle charge, and it's an odd request he could easily reject. I could rent in a garage with chargers, but there are none near my apartment, and it would also be much more expensive. The thought of only being able to charge at Superchargers was a big turnoff.