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Electric vehicles close to ‘tipping point’ of mass adoption

theguardian.com

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Re: Electric vehicles close to ‘tipping point’ of mass adoption

#391

Post by username90 »

elihu wrote: post #373
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the efforts to reduce parking requirements succeed, you can be sure that more units will be built with no parking lots at all I'm having trouble seeing the problem here. :) Y'know what's even better for the environment than electric cars? No cars! I realize that living in California without a car is going to be difficult, but if you can manage it, you shouldn't have to pay for other people's parking spaces.

That would be great if that was the result, but the more likely outcome is that the tenants own cars that are parked in neighboring blocks.

What if those neighboring blocks were built using the same laws and hence didn't have any parking either?

Re: Electric vehicles close to ‘tipping point’ of mass adoption

#392

Post by username90 »

ndiscussion wrote: post #335
brewdad wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the efforts to reduce parking requirements succeed, you can be sure that more units will be built with no parking lots at all (Profit$). We are seeing this in Portland where 20 unit apartment buildings are getting built with zero parking (or maybe 10 spaces available for additional rent). The end result, for now at least, is 30-40 more cars parked in the surrounding streets.

Can confirm, I lived in one of those apartments, now I'm very happy in a suburb. It's nice to be able to haul groceries to your place without walking 4 blocks from the car for each load.

Typically in such neighborhoods in Europe the grocery store is no further than 4 blocks away, so you just walk and don't use a car. It works since the store doesn't have parking minimums either so don't take a lot of space, even if it is a fairly large one.

Re: Electric vehicles close to ‘tipping point’ of mass adoption

#393

Post by twothamendment »

ntsplnkv2 wrote: post #164
natch wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think they claimed that everyone has access at home. They said “the use case includes” which doesn’t exclude other possibilities. There are many great options for charging if you choose your car wisely. Our apartment building with six parking spaces has three Teslas and no charging on site. We do just fine. Charging takes about 15 seconds of my day on work days. And on the occasion when I need more, it’s quic…

This is what always happens when I bring up product problems about EVs. Everyone on HN who owns a luxury car Tesla in SV or some major metro with their six figure plus salary gets all bent out of shape, and ask "omg why can't everyone do this!" It's tone deaf and out of touch. EVs simply are not there yet. They're ludicrously expensive, inconvenient to refuel, don't offer utility like ICE trucks/SUVs, can't be charge…

"EVs simply are not there yet."

How do we know this? Despite tax breaks we still have to pass laws telling people they will have to buy them! If they were ready I'd be able to buy one locally, have it serviced locally and take a trip without needing to plan stops to charge.

"It's tone deaf and out of touch"

Amen. As someone who lived in a city and did the commute and left it all, I've realized that many people can't imagine what life is like somewhere else. An EV in this area it is a cross between a child's plaything and a rich person's toy - but I get that for someone else they are perfect. I'm glad we aren't all the same and in the same circumstances, but I wish that was easier to keep in mind.

Re: Electric vehicles close to ‘tipping point’ of mass adoption

#395

Post by topkai22 »

slovette wrote: post #331
mywittyname wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A staggering amount of buildings are built to code, and nothing more. If code says that there needs to be 1.5 parking spaces per bedroom for the complex, and the complex has 80 bedrooms, you can bet there will be 120 parking spots. Apartment managers will be dragged kicking and screaming into offering chargers for cars. The best way to get chargers into apartment buildings is going to be a local mandate that they hav…

I disagree with this. Retro installs maybe, yes. But new construction, which I consult heavily on, most of the developers I work with are motivated to install them. They’re revenue sources and attract the kind of tenants they want occupying their new building. The answer to retro installs (which is always about money anyway) is to not force the hand of property owners, but make the install cost a no brainer with tax…

I agree it's probably not so bad even for retrofits - 70% of housing in the US is SFH or a duplex (https://www.infoplease.com/us/census/housing-statistics). Getting a charging solution for those units seems achievable. I'm also willing to bet that multifamily housing is generally massively over represented in blue cities, which might be able to require/incentives retrofits. That's a huge marketable population to start buying electric vehicles and normalize them. I suspect that by the time there is significant used electric market there will also be enough market and political demand to figure out the multi-family situation.

Re: Electric vehicles close to ‘tipping point’ of mass adoption

#397

Post by fastball »

ryandrake wrote: post #386
worik wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

WHat a story for the twenty-first century! It is energy transfer: "Many things can break: the internet connection..." what does the Internet connevction have to do with it? (To be clear, that is a rhetorical question. I know why and how those systems are fundamentally broken - almost by design!)

Having never used or even seen a super charger, I have no idea why one would need a friggen internet connection. Don’t you just plug them in and swipe your card like a gas station?

You don't think gas stations have an internet connection?

Re: Electric vehicles close to ‘tipping point’ of mass adoption

#398

Post by skolos »

ryandrake wrote: post #386
worik wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

WHat a story for the twenty-first century! It is energy transfer: "Many things can break: the internet connection..." what does the Internet connevction have to do with it? (To be clear, that is a rhetorical question. I know why and how those systems are fundamentally broken - almost by design!)

Having never used or even seen a super charger, I have no idea why one would need a friggen internet connection. Don’t you just plug them in and swipe your card like a gas station?

To be able to swipe your card you also need internet connection. Very rare, but I did have experience at a gas station when I couldn't fill up, because the internet connection was down.

Re: Electric vehicles close to ‘tipping point’ of mass adoption

#400

Post by ryandrake »

bradlys wrote: post #328
lazyasciiart wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming you mean rural areas, they have their own parking.

Even where I live, the streets are full of cars but there are maybe 2-3 lamp posts on the street. You’d need lamp posts every 50 feet on both sides of the street. Which we definitely don’t have. I live in the peninsula in the Bay Area in a rich neighborhood. If there is that many cars on the street here in a place with $2mil+ homes then there’s no way it’s gonna work in other areas as well.

I’ve lived in mostly working class suburban neighborhoods and it’s the same thing: the entire street is Joe’s Used Car Lot. Two cars in each driveway, and more cars packed in every available nugget of street between driveways. Ain’t nobody gonna be charging all those cars if they were EVs.
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