Quote:
Originally Posted by rbryantaz
This is why I get annoyed when coworkers say "I will get an EV when there are more charging stations."
That is a narrative that everyone has including the media but it makes no sense.... I then ask, if you were to go on a road trip would you take the EV or your X5? They say "I would take the X5" and then realize that it is a silly notion that public chargers are the problem.
Sure it would be nice if all apartment complexes had EV chargers and if all parking spots had cheap charging but the reality is that even with only 160 miles of range I still only charge at home because it is much cheaper. I have a full 80amp tesla wall charger (which I can only use at 40amps) in my wife's garage (the house has a 2car/1car split garages) that gives about 30 added miles of range per hour on the model S. I also added NEMA 14-30 outlet that is shared with my air compressor in my garage (which was taken from the electric dryer outlet because mine is gas) so I can charge at 17mph (240v, 24amps) in my garage. Costs for those installs were done and deducted from my taxes in back to back years...
If someone lives in an apartment and has no access to a charger then public paid charging stations probably still won't work well for them or be economical (unless they are free at work or something). The first step is to get people that have a house with a garage to understand that EVs work great in that scenario and that they don't need 500 miles of range 99% of the time.
Having an EV as an only car will require more charging stations but most people I see buying EVs (or saying they are waiting for more charging stations) have more than one car anyway... But even then I would probably rent an ICE car for a road trip and save the miles on my EV. 
As an amusing coincidence: They are currently putting in 4 tesla chargers in my work parking lot right now (100ft from my parking spot). I will probably never use it and it will probably just be annoying with more traffic in the complex even though I have an EV... I guess all of my coworkers that have bought into the false narrative no longer have excuses...
-Rich |
All fair points. My problem is the bulk of the demographic that is propping up current EV sales are buyers who own a home and or are purchasing the EV as a second vehicle. This group is only going to shrink due to the housing crisis this country seems content to kick down the road (gen Z and everyone after has basically accepted that they will never own a home) and wages continue to stagnate, leaving people with insufficient income to own two vehicles. I can't see it possibly ending well once the last of the boomers and their children die off or stop purchasing cars at the volumes they have been. Obviously, part of a much bigger discussion, but I think the rush into EVs is just one ingredient in the crap sandwich we're all going to be eating for the next decade or more.