Recharge My Electric Car? (1 Viewer)

[Uncle Gizmo]

people park in garages or are limited to on-the-street parking, charging stations will be difficult to install

Currently, cars are refueled at gas stations, not at homes.

Indeed, charging "at home" will be a boon to some, but those who can't charge at home can charge whilst shopping, Whist at work, with the occasional inconvenience of having to grab a coffee and charge when the aforementioned options aren't available.

Charging speed will be improved upon, I'm sure ...

Might be time to invest in an electric cable company!

I can't see it being a big problem.

 

[Isaac]

Speaking of California, below is a picture of a Tesla recharging station near a mall where my daughter works. No matter what time of day or night there seems to be a long line for recharging. It takes me ten minutes tops to wait and fill up my car with gas. These poor souls sit there endlessly waiting for their turn, sometimes the owner who is charging is not present, they might be in the mall shopping while charging. An added bonus I guess.

As @The_Doc_Man said because California has restrictions (mostly L.A. county) on the peek hours and frequency while running low on electrical power, how could this ever make sense even on the "left coast"?


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Wait... you wait in line for 10 minutes at gas stations??

 

[Pat Hartman]

Every once in a while I hit the cheap gas station at the wrong time and end up having to wait for maybe two cars to fill up before I can move in. As with the grocery store, the bank, and the DMV, I always seem to pick the slow line.

 

[pbaldy]

Wait... you wait in line for 10 minutes at gas stations??

The only lines like that (and probably worse) I've seen are at Costco. I just come back at a different time, it's usually worth the price difference (typically 20 cents/gallon).

 

[AccessBlaster]

Wait... you wait in line for 10 minutes at gas stations??

Actually, my quote was...

"It takes me ten minutes tops to wait and fill up my car with gas".

 

[Pat Hartman]

I found a link that told how long it takes to charge a Tesla. Using a home charger, even the highest rated one, it takes 1 hour for a 30-40 mile charge so that equates to around 9-10 hours for a full charge. The superchargers can do ~ 300 mile charge in 15 minutes. I couldn't find anything about price.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Yeah, and when you factor in energy-starved grids like California the wait times and prices are only going up. Not to mention there will be green fees and taxes involved.

 

[Isaac]

Actually, my quote was...

"It takes me ten minutes tops to wait and fill up my car with gas".

Oops I wasn't paying attention. My wife and I joined Sam's club for the first time that we have ever joined one of these type of clubs about a year ago. We've gotten gas three times and each time we swear to ourselves this is totally not worth it and we will never do it again. We wait like 10 minutes to save a grand total of $3 it's crazy. However I do enjoy buying a set of about six or eight different products Max.. but heck the membership was only $40 for a year and we got a rebate so it was free so I guess it's worth it.
Just for the fact that they still sell an ultra-high quality $5 rotisserie chicken which we buy once every 5 days, over a year's time just that makes it worth it. The other stores like Safeway have gone up to almost $9 for a much crappier rotisserie chicken.
Costco I can't stand. Actually scratch that, it's the crowd I can't stand. Everyone is just a little too excited to be there and it creeps me out. Too many of the type of families with 12 children buying 3 gallon jars of mayonnaise. Maybe it reminds me too much of the way I grew up.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Costco I can't stand. Actually scratch that, it's the crowd I can't stand. Everyone is just a little too excited to be there and it creeps me out. Too many of the type of families with 12 children buying 3 gallon jars of mayonnaise. Maybe it reminds me too much of the way I grew up.

We like Costco for the protein, we buy in bulk about a month's worth of meat. We use very little carbs and no sugar so we skip 99% of isles and it's straight to checkout

I will get gas if it's early morning otherwise I'm out of there.

 

[Pat Hartman]

The nearest Sam's club is too far to be useful so we go to Costco. Although with my husband gone, most of their stuff is in packages too large to make sense for me so I will probably just drop the membership and live with BJ's. They also have excellent rotisserie chickens and smaller packaging for the other bulk stuff although I rarely buy fruit or vegetables there because I don't eat them fast enough. I can barely carry the packages of toilet paper but who cares. As long as I have a place in my garage to store the large packages, I'm fine. Turns out I was lucky. I had a few rolls left and had just bought a new package when the toilet paper crisis hit and it completely disappeared from the shelves. By the time I was running out again four months later, at least some brands were back on the shelves

 

[Lightwave]

I'm hoping that by the time I get round to buying an electric car- range will be 1500 miles and you'll be able to get all your power from solar and there'll be solid state batteries.

I've got a feeling its just a case of when...

I'm hoping for stellar improvement in the efficiency of solar as well.. At some point its just going to be a no brainer to go electric..

 

[Pat Hartman]

If the Democrats would back off on their irrational fear of nuclear power, we could actually make a huge dent in our use of gas, coal, and oil to generate electricity. Right now, the EV's may not be belching exaust on our streets but the plants that produce the "clean" power they use are still burning coal so maybe, we should think of them as coal powered cars

The currently unsolvable problem is the battery. Tesla is making pretty good progress on battery life and capacity but what materials are those batteries made from? Where does it come from and who mines it? What happens if China is no longer our "friend"? Then there's the disposal problem. You have to take your used flashlight batteries to a special disposal site, if you are a good citizen. What happens to the car battery after 5 years or so? What do you do with your old computers and TVs?

 

[Steve R.]

Then there's the disposal problem. You have to take your used flashlight batteries to a special disposal site, if you are a good citizen. What happens to the car battery after 5 years or so? What do you do with your old computers and TVs?

Disposal, a major issue that gets overlooked in the unthinking insane push for a "green environment". Our local "solid waste and recycling" center does not take (household) toxic products such as paint or gas powered equipment. There is a semiannual, (limited) toxic disposal collection day, but it is not well advertised. Its a bit ludicrous to "force" everyone to go "green", but then not provide a system for people to recycle toxic products.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

My wife and I shop at Sam's Club for a few things, but lately their bags of chicken breasts have a single breast so large that you wonder if it came from a dinosaur chicken. They are big enough to make me think you could throw them (still frozen) at a department-store shooter and kill him with the impact. We can sometimes find an off-brand in their aisles that is closer to the right size for aging folks whose appetites have declined over time. However, for us the advantage is buying cleaning supplies and certain specific vitamins in bulk. We have 3 1/2 baths in the house (4 toilets & lavatories) so on bathroom cleaning day, we churn through supplies like paper towels, spray cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, etc. For a $40 membership, we get a yearly summary that suggests we saved a total of about $180 to $200 for the year. It adds up.

 

[Isaac]

My wife and I shop at Sam's Club for a few things, but lately their bags of chicken breasts have a single breast so large that you wonder if it came from a dinosaur chicken. They are big enough to make me think you could throw them (still frozen) at a department-store shooter and kill him with the impact. We can sometimes find an off-brand in their aisles that is closer to the right size for aging folks whose appetites have declined over time. However, for us the advantage is buying cleaning supplies and certain specific vitamins in bulk. We have 3 1/2 baths in the house (4 toilets & lavatories) so on bathroom cleaning day, we churn through supplies like paper towels, spray cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, etc. For a $40 membership, we get a yearly summary that suggests we saved a total of about $180 to $200 for the year. It adds up.

We like Sam's club too. Costco seems to get most of the fame and popularity but there's just something I don't like about the crowds etc. We have a Sam's club near us that's not quite as crowded and even though I've only been able to find about 10 total products that I want to buy from there, just that is well worth the membership price. Technically our membership was free because they gave us a rebate. Just the fact that they have $5 chickens that are bigger and better than their rivals $9 chickens is probably worth it at once a week.
I also buy cases of monster, boxes of granola bars, and the occasional sweet treat.
I love the pay as you go feature on the app where I can just scan things as I put them in the car and then walk straight out the door.
I think I saw a sign in a regular Walmart the other day that indicates I might be able to do something like that there too, may have to check it out next time. Bonus that they have bags there

 

[AccessBlaster]

Those chickens seem a little unnatural at costco, they may be boosted with some juice I'm thinking.

 

[NauticalGent]

I think I saw a sign in a regular Walmart the other day that indicates I might be able to do something like that there too,

Here in VA, Wally-World doesn't have that feature although SAMS does. I hope they do get it because I HATE standing in line...

 

[Isaac]

Those chickens seem a little unnatural, they may be boosted with some juice I'm thinking.

I read an article that said that they somehow raised the chickens to be so heavy that they have trouble standing on their own weight.
Of course the animal rights people were going crazy about it.
Kind of like Walmart denying that they use forced monkey labor.
Interesting, the things that get liberals sympathy over and above an 8 month old baby.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Kind of like Walmart denying that they use forced monkey labor.

Having read some of the owners manuals from overseas electronic products, I think all the monkey labor has been recruited for typewriters.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Imagine if they did that with potato chips, you actually have a full bag!