[cstross]

In general, most gas stations have more than one petrol or diesel pumping point!

Also, electric cars mostly have a much shorter range than gas/diesel vehicles, so need to charge more frequently.

And electric cars take much longer to charge than internal combustion engines (double-digit minutes to multiple hours, vs. single-digit minutes).

So, really, even if all of these charge points were publicly accessible, there are about two orders of magnitude too few of them to service an electric vehicle fleet of the same size as the IC vehicle fleet.

(It is, however, a very promising early sign.)

[jeroen]

Yes, it would be more useful to compare capacity in range delivered. Filling up at a gas station takes ~ 5 minutes and adds 400 miles /640 kilometres of range. Filling up at a charging point takes x hours and delivers y range.

Stick in some real world average numbers, count pumping points (not gas stations) and charging points, and then adjust for peak demand (gas by day, electricity by night) and you have comparable numbers.

[derekp7]

You also have to factor in (at least for trips) the real total time it takes to fill up. Typically you turn off the interstate and drive a mile or so into town, find the gas station, pull in, fill up (where you have to be at the pump while filling), then you may make a pit stop / grab a snack, and generally stretch you legs (assuming you've been driving for 400 miles = 7 hours). Whereas the Tesla quick charge stations, I believe you can leave your car unattended while it is charging.

[shifter]

> Whereas the Tesla quick charge stations, I believe you can leave your car unattended while it is charging.

This is correct.