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by cogman10 950 days ago
> Pull out the pumps and tanks, put in the chargers, keep the islands and the convenience store. Charging stations now look like gas stations, not parking lots. Transitioning to BEV does not require new real estate.

You really don't need to even do that. You can put a charger at every parking lot in front of the convenience store (Already happening in a few locations around me).

But also, most charging (at least early on) will be happening at home. There really is no need to convert every gas station into a charging station. We just need major throughways covered. The one missing piece is L2 chargers, We need more of those installed in more locations. For example, employers could easily put them in office parking lots. With 8 hours to charge, you could even do L1 chargers.

2 comments

Employers are going to drag their feet I suspect. And so are apartment complexes and condos. If you don't own a home, charging is going to continue to be a fast charging proposition for most.
I predict the opposite with apartment complexes. Apartment management companies love additional streams of revenue.

EV charging companies will offer revenue sharing (if they aren't already) so that the apartment complex gets a cut every time a car is charged.

Prices will be marked up because only the apartment management company can offer the convenience of charging at home.

"I predict the opposite with apartment complexes. Apartment management companies love additional streams of revenue.

EV charging companies will offer revenue sharing (if they aren't already) so that the apartment complex gets a cut every time a car is charged."

Yes, this is exactly how it works at my (sort of) condo.

Yeah, this is where we need some gov incentives. In the US with the infrastructure bill, there's a bunch of money earmarked for improving EV infrastructure. However, it looks like the current admin is looking at mostly building out L3. I really wish they'd instead put out incentives for employers and apartment complexes to add L2 chargers. You could install hundreds of 240V outlets for the cost of a single L3 charger. And, the more common those become the more likely you are to see them become a standard feature of parking lots/apartments.
I'm not sure why we need government incentives. If they were profitable on their own, the problem would solve itself. If they aren't profitable on their own, then we'll undoubtedly end up with poorly maintained chargers and tons of wasted spending.

There's no reason L2 chargers can't be profitable. We'll be better off solving that problem.

> I'm not sure why we need government incentives. If they were profitable on their own, the problem would solve itself.

Government incentives and regulations are why every home has indoor plumbing and electricity. Those, I think, are widely seen as a good.

But to this, these things can absolutely be profitable. However, landlords may not want to take on the initial purchase price for fear that none of their tenants will use it or for dumber ideological reasons. A modest charge over the utility price would be all that's needed to indefinitely maintain these chargers.

> You can put a charger at every parking lot in front of the convenience store

Once charging drops below 10 minutes, it's all about throughput. You don't want people clogging the charging units. You want to get them in and out. Revenue per charging unit, that's what it's all about.

Charging is faster and more convenient at home. Theres nothing special about 10min fast charging vs the current 15min.