1: too expensive to buy new
2: if you live anywhere that’s not a big city, or you have a garage, there is basically no electric chargers for you.
The city I live in (~30k people) has 6 chargers total. None of them are superchargers. Wait times are already a sticking point in the best case, nevermind what the wait times would be if everyone where I’m at had an electric car tomorrow. The whole downtown would maybe gridlock just because of people waiting.
For comparison, there are probably 2-300 gas pumps around the city. 5 gas stations within 5 minutes of where I am, all with at least 8 pumps, all well used. People are not going to get EV’s unless there is an infrastructure that is equivalent to gas around where they live.
And that infrastructure is not gonna be fun to get going.
The average person living in the city can’t really use them with street parking, can’t always guarantee a spot after all, and installing a personal one for yourself all but requires a personal garage, which locks out the people who live in poorer housing.
Lots of people in my city and I suspect many others live in trailer parks with low/fixed incomes, having just a simple driveway. Where are they gonna get the thousand or two to install a Level 2 charging station? My mom and dad certainly don’t have the money.
Expecting the EV companies to make the infrastructure with the money they get just from selling EV’s is gonna turn into one gigantic chicken-and-egg problem. The government is going to have to do it, and anyone who’s not living along an interstate can see just how much benefit they are personally getting from it so far… (hint: none)
A second hand Renault Zoe can be had for about £5k. MG4 for about £25k if you insist on getting new. I appreciate these may not be options where you live but the prices are coming down if you’re willing to look beyond the traditional brands.
What these articles fail to mention is that it’s the “legacy” brands like Ford that are struggling. Brands like BYD and Tesla are doing just fine and are struggling to keep up with demand in some cases.
Also, you charge at home.
The infrastructure where you live doesn’t matter. The infrastructure where you’re going to or on the route might matter if it’s far away enough.
I live in a town with a smaller population than yours. We have 2 chargers at 50kw, which is pretty slow by modern standards.
So far I’ve used it once when testing that the car was working okay when I first got it. That’s it. Never used it since. Because I charge at home.
Nearest super charger is around 50 miles away. Which is fine. Because I’ll always leave with 100% charge.
I’ve never waited for charging. Probably because I own a Tesla and have access to their super charging network which was about 50% the reason I got that over the Ioniq 5 or Nissan Aryia. I look forward to the competition getting better and my recommendation being beyond “get a Tesla if you’re worried about charging”.
And yes, I have done long trips (at least by UK standards) and I have needed to charge before I got home. But the car’s range is bigger than my bladder’s/stomach’s range so frankly I would have stopped anyway and the car took care of adding charging stops for me.
I have seen people queuing at non Tesla chargers and can only assume it’s a frustrating experience. In the UK new chargers are being opened at an impressive rate (up ~40% on last year, IIRC) so hopefully that issue won’t be so bad in the future.
It’s not there yet, but the problems are getting solved and the prices are coming down. If you can charge at home then it’s probably a good option. If you can’t, that’s another matter.
In the same way you don’t care about MTU settings to get the best out of your Internet these days, you won’t care about the issues with charging and prices soon. It will suddenly get better and nobody will even notice or care anymore.
I don’t think the vast emptiness that is the US translates well to the UK. By area, New Mexico is almost the exact same size as the british isles, and it’s only the 5th largest state. I’ve done 400+ miles in a single day of driving many times. The furthest I’ve driven in a day was close to 800 miles.
As long as there is a way of charging every 200 or so miles, you’re probably fine… If you’re in Tesla or once the network is opened up enough. Otherwise you’re probably stuck or at least having a shit experience
This video is worth a watch. Robert does the same trip in a Polestar 2 and a Tesla. The experience was very different between the two: https://youtu.be/92w5doU68D8
If you’re genuinely interested there are plenty of apps which show the chargers and you can see how it works for your routes.
Sadly Tesla is simply head and shoulders above the competition at the moment. So if you just don’t like Teslas then it’s probably best to wait for a bit and see how it plays out. Although they are gradually opening the network to non Tesla cars.
You don’t need a level 2 charger at home. You don’t need gas stations equivalents. EV companies won’t make infrastructure, because we’ve already built tons of infrastructure for EVs and it’s called the electric grid. Everywhere has electricity. I was recently in a very remote area for vacation in my EV, and just plugged my car into a regular outlet to charge it up. To get there, I stopped for lunch and plugged my car in at a supercharger while I ate.
Target is putting in superchargers at lots of their locations around me. Other places are or will follow suit. If you can’t charge at home, you’ll simply stop by the store/mall/whatever, do your normal shopping, and have your car charge in the meantime. Or you’ll charge at work, or any number of other places.
EVs aren’t hard, they just require a mindset shift. People worry about this and that, but it’s because they haven’t actually tried it and have given too much weight to FUD spread about EVs.
If a person in a trailer park is buying a brand new car from a dealership they can afford to have a level 2 charger installed. But also a lot of people are fine with just a normal plug.
There will NEVER be an equal amount of chargers as gas stations simply because it’s not necessary. Most people charge at home.
You can’t sell EV’s because:
1: too expensive to buy new 2: if you live anywhere that’s not a big city, or you have a garage, there is basically no electric chargers for you.
The city I live in (~30k people) has 6 chargers total. None of them are superchargers. Wait times are already a sticking point in the best case, nevermind what the wait times would be if everyone where I’m at had an electric car tomorrow. The whole downtown would maybe gridlock just because of people waiting.
For comparison, there are probably 2-300 gas pumps around the city. 5 gas stations within 5 minutes of where I am, all with at least 8 pumps, all well used. People are not going to get EV’s unless there is an infrastructure that is equivalent to gas around where they live.
And that infrastructure is not gonna be fun to get going.
The average person living in the city can’t really use them with street parking, can’t always guarantee a spot after all, and installing a personal one for yourself all but requires a personal garage, which locks out the people who live in poorer housing.
Lots of people in my city and I suspect many others live in trailer parks with low/fixed incomes, having just a simple driveway. Where are they gonna get the thousand or two to install a Level 2 charging station? My mom and dad certainly don’t have the money.
Expecting the EV companies to make the infrastructure with the money they get just from selling EV’s is gonna turn into one gigantic chicken-and-egg problem. The government is going to have to do it, and anyone who’s not living along an interstate can see just how much benefit they are personally getting from it so far… (hint: none)
A second hand Renault Zoe can be had for about £5k. MG4 for about £25k if you insist on getting new. I appreciate these may not be options where you live but the prices are coming down if you’re willing to look beyond the traditional brands.
What these articles fail to mention is that it’s the “legacy” brands like Ford that are struggling. Brands like BYD and Tesla are doing just fine and are struggling to keep up with demand in some cases.
Also, you charge at home.
The infrastructure where you live doesn’t matter. The infrastructure where you’re going to or on the route might matter if it’s far away enough.
I live in a town with a smaller population than yours. We have 2 chargers at 50kw, which is pretty slow by modern standards.
So far I’ve used it once when testing that the car was working okay when I first got it. That’s it. Never used it since. Because I charge at home.
Nearest super charger is around 50 miles away. Which is fine. Because I’ll always leave with 100% charge.
I’ve never waited for charging. Probably because I own a Tesla and have access to their super charging network which was about 50% the reason I got that over the Ioniq 5 or Nissan Aryia. I look forward to the competition getting better and my recommendation being beyond “get a Tesla if you’re worried about charging”.
And yes, I have done long trips (at least by UK standards) and I have needed to charge before I got home. But the car’s range is bigger than my bladder’s/stomach’s range so frankly I would have stopped anyway and the car took care of adding charging stops for me.
I have seen people queuing at non Tesla chargers and can only assume it’s a frustrating experience. In the UK new chargers are being opened at an impressive rate (up ~40% on last year, IIRC) so hopefully that issue won’t be so bad in the future.
It’s not there yet, but the problems are getting solved and the prices are coming down. If you can charge at home then it’s probably a good option. If you can’t, that’s another matter.
In the same way you don’t care about MTU settings to get the best out of your Internet these days, you won’t care about the issues with charging and prices soon. It will suddenly get better and nobody will even notice or care anymore.
I don’t think the vast emptiness that is the US translates well to the UK. By area, New Mexico is almost the exact same size as the british isles, and it’s only the 5th largest state. I’ve done 400+ miles in a single day of driving many times. The furthest I’ve driven in a day was close to 800 miles.
As long as there is a way of charging every 200 or so miles, you’re probably fine… If you’re in Tesla or once the network is opened up enough. Otherwise you’re probably stuck or at least having a shit experience
This video is worth a watch. Robert does the same trip in a Polestar 2 and a Tesla. The experience was very different between the two: https://youtu.be/92w5doU68D8
Tweet from the same guy who highlights your concern: https://twitter.com/AgingWheels/status/1722858752569651540 … Unless you’re in a Tesla: https://twitter.com/AgingWheels/status/1723001588388704427
If you’re genuinely interested there are plenty of apps which show the chargers and you can see how it works for your routes.
Sadly Tesla is simply head and shoulders above the competition at the moment. So if you just don’t like Teslas then it’s probably best to wait for a bit and see how it plays out. Although they are gradually opening the network to non Tesla cars.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/92w5doU68D8
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
You don’t need a level 2 charger at home. You don’t need gas stations equivalents. EV companies won’t make infrastructure, because we’ve already built tons of infrastructure for EVs and it’s called the electric grid. Everywhere has electricity. I was recently in a very remote area for vacation in my EV, and just plugged my car into a regular outlet to charge it up. To get there, I stopped for lunch and plugged my car in at a supercharger while I ate.
Target is putting in superchargers at lots of their locations around me. Other places are or will follow suit. If you can’t charge at home, you’ll simply stop by the store/mall/whatever, do your normal shopping, and have your car charge in the meantime. Or you’ll charge at work, or any number of other places.
EVs aren’t hard, they just require a mindset shift. People worry about this and that, but it’s because they haven’t actually tried it and have given too much weight to FUD spread about EVs.
100% agree. For most small commutes, 110v outlet is just plenty but let’s all flip out until then. Is a level 2 at home handy, sure, required nope.
The amount of misinformation, FUD, and just plain lies is mind boggling.
If a person in a trailer park is buying a brand new car from a dealership they can afford to have a level 2 charger installed. But also a lot of people are fine with just a normal plug.
There will NEVER be an equal amount of chargers as gas stations simply because it’s not necessary. Most people charge at home.