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Rheinmetall pilot project for curb stone chargers for EVs

rheinmetall.com

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Re: Rheinmetall pilot project for curb stone chargers for EVs

#51
post #34
post #5

Chargers that pop out of the curb. Yes please. Here in DC we have a lot of food trucks, and their fumes and noise is a sad mark upon the area. I dream of a law where these things could be connected to the grid instead. Right now that's just a fantasy as there's not a real way to accomplish that objective, but tech like this is exactly what it would take! And more inverters setup to be powered off EV voltage levels.

Aren't food trucks licensed? Surely the municipality could've placed a power connection point when they gave out the license for a food truck location?

Most food trucks in DC are illegally parked. For example, the perennial "food court" on 7th street crossing the National Mall

I don't think the DC municipality is very interested in enforcement of arbitrary HOA-style laws.

Re: Rheinmetall pilot project for curb stone chargers for EVs

#52
post #35
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what country? I've never seen a bring-your-own-cable charger in the US.

In the US it is not common. In EU the majority of EVs carry a cable in the vehicle for level 2 charging. At first I found it strange, but if you provide the cable instead having it built into level 2 EVSE (charger) its one less thing that can be broken or vandalized.

If I have to bring my own, it's one more thing of mine that can be broken or vandalized.

Re: Rheinmetall pilot project for curb stone chargers for EVs

#54

Does it become useful to carry your own charging cable?

Yes but it’s not a big issue, EV owners should already carry a charging cable inside the car for safety.

How is safety increased by carrying a cable?

Re: Rheinmetall pilot project for curb stone chargers for EVs

#55
On the one hand, I think that ICE cars should be banned from cities, the air would be much better, and these curbside chargers look like it could help with that.

On the other hand, a city filled with parked EV cars is not very different from a city filled with ICE cars. Curbside parking should be abolished or at least significantly reduced. People should just park in underground garages and walk the remaining 200m, there's no need to have parking everywhere. It's much easier to install chargers in a garage.

Re: Rheinmetall pilot project for curb stone chargers for EVs

#56
I think this is cool, but as the owner of a (non-Tesla) EV, I'd just be glad for chargers that usually work. People ask me sometimes if I have "range anxiety" - I don't really have range anxiety so much as charger anxiety.

When I'm not at home my options are pretty much Chargepoint chargers, and there is an Electrify America DC fast charging station about 20 mins away. I'd say about 50% of the time the Chargepoint stations are non-functional in some way (either totally busted and have been for years, or the station just says "offline" or some such). I haven't had problems with the EA chargers but going by online forums my experience seems to be unusual - for a lot of folks their EA experience is even worse than my Chargepoint success rate.

If all these other car companies plan to go 100% electric in the near future, they really need to invest in better charging infrastructure. Say what you will about Tesla but they understood the criticality of solving this problem early on, and their network is currently far better than anyone else's.

Re: Rheinmetall pilot project for curb stone chargers for EVs

#58

I think this is cool, but as the owner of a (non-Tesla) EV, I'd just be glad for chargers that usually work . People ask me sometimes if I have "range anxiety" - I don't really have range anxiety so much as charger anxiety. When I'm not at home my options are pretty much Chargepoint chargers, and there is an Electrify America DC fast charging station about 20 mins away. I'd say about 50% of the time the Chargepoint s…

The other car manufacturers will probably negotiate deals with Tesla to gain access to the supercharger network. Ford has already done this.[1]

1. https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2023...

Re: Rheinmetall pilot project for curb stone chargers for EVs

#60

I wish I lived in a community where these wouldn’t get fucked around with left out in the open… I’ve been renting an EV for the last two weeks while my hybrid awaits repairs and it’s been a wonderful experience. I look forward to more charging options!

I was very surprised by the company they chose for it, but from this perspective, it's definitely a great choice. If someone knows how to make things indestructible, it's them. (Rheinmetall is generally known as a military supplier, think "General Dynamics" or "BAE Systems". I didn't realize they made anything for civilian use.)

Heh, like how Teledyne makes showerheads and Honeywell makes thermostats.
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