> * The time required to charge an EV is just not acceptable for long-distance driving. It's just not. I can fill my 30 gallon V8 truck with gas in 5 minutes. The F-150 lightning takes TEN HOURS to charge. That's just not going to work. And if you're towing something a good distance? Hopeless. Utterly hopeless.
for level 2 charging... level 3 is ~30 minutes for a F-150.
level 3 coverage is lower and not available in the house. If every gas station also had a level 3 charger - on a universal standard... I think that's the goal of EV infrastructure (to get to that scale), if that's actually achievable is another matter.
Yep, Lots of issues with EV's, still better than ICE in a growing number of situations as the tech improves.
> If every gas station also had a level 3 charger - on a universal standard... I think that's the goal of EV infrastructure (to get to that scale), if that's actually achievable is another matter.
The achievable is the problem. Most people are expect to level 2 charge at home most of the time. Level 2 charging is better for the battery so you will want to do that when not on road trips. Plus level 2 at home is likely to be cheaper - it can use cheaper off peak rates (though few have the ability to take advantage of this), and since there is no "gas station" to support there is less overhead and so you are going to pay less per watt. Thus there is every reason to expect there is much less need for "gas stations" to charge at.
On all major freeways I expect to see level 3 chargers about as often as you see gas stations and with more chargers than pumps (since you use them longer). However if you get off those main routes chargers will likely be much harder to find - most people using the current gas pumps are locals - and they will be filling at home.
Admittedly I thought it was lower than that but Google's stupid AI kept telling me 10 hours.
However even 30 minutes is a problem. I'm guessing that's the 15% to 80% charge time. That's still a SIXTH of the throughput of a standard gas station, so to achieve the same rate of refueling (and I dunno about you, but highway-side gas stations are always pretty busy) you would not only need six times the fueling spaces available as a gas station, but you would also need like... something for those six-times-as-many vehicles worth of people to do for half an hour. People already get impatient standing next to a fuel pump for the little bit of time that takes, you expect them to sit there for the average length of a television block?
AND, that also assumes you can have the electrical backbone in place to let, what, 24 vehicles pull their maximum rapid-charge amount of electricity? Which is a fuck-shit-ass-load of electricity to pull.
> That's still a SIXTH of the throughput of a standard gas station, so to achieve the same rate of refueling (and I dunno about you, but highway-side gas stations are always pretty busy) you would not only need six times the fueling spaces available as a gas station
You can’t directly compare these, there are lots of factors to take into account.
Lots of people will charge at home. I used a public charger yesterday for this first time in 6 months yesterday. It took 29 minutes. My time refuelling my diesel at 5 minutes a week would have been 2 hours. So for me it was a quarter of the usual time. Someone that can’t charge at home would be more.
> you would also need like... something for those six-times-as-many vehicles worth of people to do for half an hour. People already get impatient standing next to a fuel pump for the little bit of time that takes, you expect them to sit there for the average length of a television block?
Highway safety engineers are cheering - they want people to stop more often and take longer breaks for safety reasons. People can and often do stop only when the fuel tank is low, and they do all their bathroom time while the car is filling - this is very unsafe and people die from it. If the cars forced a longer stop those people would get some exercise, maybe take a nap - all things that increase safety.
Yes. Everything you said is true. The places I see level 3 chargers the most is Malls or shopping centers, where 30 minutes to grab lunch or do some shopping can be integrated with getting a charge.
If charging time can be put down to a couple of minutes, the number of chargers go down... powering them is the last question...
small scale (used fuel) nuclear reactors seem like a really promising option for fast power scaling. they can be built super fast (about 3 years - compared to the old-school options of 8-10 years). https://www.nuscalepower.com/-/media/nuscale/pdf/publication...
Yep. It's a lot of work: money to do it all is up for grabs. Opportunity for a lot of people is knocking.
for level 2 charging... level 3 is ~30 minutes for a F-150. level 3 coverage is lower and not available in the house. If every gas station also had a level 3 charger - on a universal standard... I think that's the goal of EV infrastructure (to get to that scale), if that's actually achievable is another matter.
Yep, Lots of issues with EV's, still better than ICE in a growing number of situations as the tech improves.