this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2023
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The infrastructure isn't there. I live in an apartment (and likely will for the foreseeable future), and there are no chargers here.
The option of a (practical) electric car does not exist for a sizeable portion of the country. The fact that they're really expensive is actually secondary considering they're just a non-starter without the infrastructure.
I think this is ignoring the fact that the average americans daily milage is so little (around 30 miles)that an electric car can be topped up off a Level 1 charger. Even more if you can get a level 2 charger.
So for most americans average driving, an electric car would be a boon, even if no independent in the wild infrastructure/charging facilities existed.
OK, but if you live in an apartment, where do you plug in that level 1 charger?
I would love to consider getting an electric car whenever I can afford a new(er) vehicle. But there's no way my landlord will let me run an extension cord from my 3rd story apartment around the building and around the pond between my building and the parking lot. It's sad that an EV would be so great, but its really a mark of privilege to own both in initial affordability and just having the place to park and charge one. Not that it matters, I can't afford anything other than my 24 year old Honda.
Level 1 charging works off of a regular power outlet
And if you only have street parking?
Is there a power outlet in the street? If not, it would be hard to use level 1 charging and wouldn’t really be relevant to bring up, would it?
Let me summarize the stream of these comments for you, as if it was a conversation between two people.
A)There isn't infrastructure for electric cars, particularly for those living in an apartment.
B)Level 1 charging is good enough for most people.
A)How is a person who lives in an apartment going to use a level 1 charger?
B)You just use a regular outlet.
A)But I live in an apartment, there is no regular outlet near my car.
B)(this is your comment BTW)Well then why did you bring up level 1 charging?
You're a moron.
It's kind of disturbing that they can't follow this.
Some apartments have outlets in them, this is a simple solution for those people. Not every solution will solve every problem for every person. Only a moron would expect that.
Haha. Alright, bud. All those people with the simple solution of parking in their living room will be so pleased.
Yeah no one parks in a covered garage or in a parking structure, so it’d be impossible for those people, who live in apartments, to use this simple solution. And it would be impossible to ever get electricity to street parking. You’d have to put it on the sidewalk or something. Oh, I mean, in your living room, because I’m the moron here. Thanks for the great discussion, genius.
I'm loving your solutions. Do you know what they call covered garages and parking structures with outlets and even your big brain idea of sidewalks with electrical outlets in them? They call those things INFRASTRUCTURE.
You should be loving the fact that this simple solution exists instead of being a random asshole cynic about it, yeah. The infrastructure is in place already for a lot of people to use this as a solution.
My dude, the comment at the top of this thread is stating that there isn't enough infrastructure to support most people buying electric cars. Sure, there's some infrastructure for some people to be able to charge their cars but its a significant barrier for many and an impediment to widespread adoption, causing a decrease in demand. You know, relevant information regarding the original post.
"But some people can charge their cars" is irrelevant when so many can't, because of infrastructure.
This word has lost all meaning for me. Infrastructure infrastructure
Ok you win the argument. Some people who live in apartments officially CANNOT charge their cars using a regular level 1 outlet because cantsurf cannot charge his car on the street.
Let it be known far and wide.
You're close, but you've still missed. My opinion (and I'm agreeing with the guy at the top of this thread) is that charging an electric car is impractical for such a large proportion of the population that it is slowing down electric vehicle adoption and that mass adoption is unlikely to occur until this infrastructure issue has been addressed.
And also that I can't charge my car on the street.
I didn’t miss your point, I dismissed it as irrelevant to what I was bringing up to the person I was responding to. Not everyone knows what “level 1 charging” means. I wanted to let them know it means a regular outlet. For whomever that applies, I hope they find it helpful. For whomever that does not apply, I hope the infrastructure continues to mature to help meet their needs, as it obviously will despite your cynicism.
At this point, I'm just curious to know where you live that makes you think that sidewalks have power outlets.
Here’s an article with pictures of a made up fantasy land where there are cars on a street and electricity on the street and the cars are somehow charging and whaaaaaaaaat https://www.motoringresearch.com/car-news/government-electric-car-street-funding/
Haha. That's great. That is some great infrastructure, which I hope is built soon, but which currently exists almost nowhere.
Yeah it would be like putting up giant wooden poles all over the country and wires running between them to somehow service hundreds of millions of individual homes, residences and buildings level impossible to get that kind of thing built. I guess we’ll never see it in our lifetimes. Time for you to fuck off now.
I never even implied anything like that. Don't try to straw man me just because you're saying silly things.
Just in case you didnt read the article you linked. It says, "Research indicates that one of the main hurdles to EV adoption in the eyes of car buyers is adequate charging infrastructure."
Hahaha
Except ice cars already solved the problem, you dingus.
Oh yeah, problem free ICE cars. Way to track the conversation.
Do they make wireless extension cords?
an extension cord.
This is just not a practical day-to-day solution. Most people don't have a parking spot right outside their window that they can reliably use for charging. There is often a sidewalk that the cord would have to cross, creating the opportunity for someone to trip and sue you. There is often landscaping between buildings and parking, creating the opportunity for the landscapers to accidentally run over your cord with their lawnmower. Some asshole is going to walk by and unplug your car and then you may be late to work.
Sure, you could it, but it's not a practical solution.
I mean, sure, when you dont want to do it, its easy to really cook up a convuluted scenario to justify not doing it.
I'm going to borrow a picture that somebody else posted. https://www.rent.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/apartment_building.jpg
Do you think its practical for extension cords to run from that building to most of the parking spots? It would be a spiderweb of a tangled mess.
I'm going to borrow a picture that somebody else posted. https://www.rent.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/apartment_building.jpg
Do you think its practical for extension cords to run from that building to most of the parking spots? It would be a spiderweb of a tangled mess.
Oh god, the horror of 6 cords. You're right, the world cant support such madness.
if you don't like EVs, thats fine. Don't gotta keep playing this game of "UNLESS ITS 1000% PERFECT, WE CANT HAVE IT".
I do like EV's! I'm looking forward to the day when its practical for me to have one. I want less vehicle maintenance and I hope that the cost to charge it is less than it would cost to put gasoline in an equivalent ice vehicle.
You're right that technically you would probably be able to run an extension cord for charging. I'm suggesting that this is a pain in the ass solution. Your landlord is going to tell you that you're not allowed to do that. The spots within reach of your house won't always be open.
Within the next 10 years, hopefully more charging infrastructure will be built. Currently, its not available.
If I wanted inexpensive transportation that's a pain in the ass, I'd just take the bus.