White House petition for more chargers

[RegGuheert]

There are widely varying ideas of what government should do and there will always be vast disagreement about that. Even if we can agree on some things, there will never be agreement on that part of it.

I agree that is a big part of the disagreement here. I'm on the side that says if you see massive spending going on elsewhere in our federal govenment, don't use that as a justification for your own favorite massive spending program. I say let's eliminate those other programs. EVs cannot and will not solve the problems of massive waste that goes on in our government and in our society. That waste must also be addressed if we are ever to thrive again.

Another part seems to be related to timing. Some see this as a chicken and egg problem. I am not one of them. To me, one of the great beauties of the EV is the ability to eliminate refueling away from home. While I appreciate that can can be useful in some instances, I also feel that the EV market still has a massive amount of growth potential with no quick chargers added.

At some point in the future I expect that quick chargers will be cheap enough, reliable enough and sufficiently standardized to justify a massive rollout of them. By then, I also expect that most EVs will have over 100 miles of usable range and will not be dependent upon quick charging for everyday use. There will also be enough EVs on the road to justify public support for these networks, at least at the state levels. Even then, I'm not convinced the federal government is right for the job.

Frankly, I'd prefer to find quick chargers located at the places I would stop at along the highways anyway: restaurants and rest areas. My prediction is that some enterprising company will figure out that putting in quick chargers at McDonald's and Cracker Barrels is the right thing to do. Some will undoubted try this before the technology is cheap enough or the need is great enough, but eventually, someone will get the timing right and it will take off. They will also find they can install these profitably in rest areas. The government's role in all of this can be to pass legislation which ensures that these charging locations are kept available and enforce those laws.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I don't think coal interests are against QC's. Coal loves EVs - look at the West Virginia EV credit. Now gone but was the most generous in the nation from one of the poorest states in the nation. Who lobbied for that I wonder.

Amazing how installing QCs could become a polarizing issue.

There are widely varying ideas of what government should do and there will always be vast disagreement about that. Even if we can agree on some things, there will never be agreement on that part of it.

counterpoint;

i contend that "some" of the people introduced to the world of EVs enjoy them so much they look for other ways to "green up". Solar is one of them. granted the largest percentage of the EV'ers can only pay for the car so another large investment is not in the cards, but there are others that can.

In the cloudy, rainy, Seattle area there have been nearly a dozen who are now investigating solar. now is it because of the EV in their garage? could be but hardly a wise financial decision since many pay dirt cheap rates.

or is it simply the concept of reducing one's footprint with the extra money they just happen to have?