When I wrote about Tesla's rapid expansion of its supercharger network, I was equally surprised by the extent of its less publicly touted network of "destination chargers"—slower, "Level 2" chargers that it is distributing to hotels, malls, restaurants and other locations so folks can charge while they shop/eat/sleep, and thus relieve some pressure from the faster superchargers which folks use for longer distance road tripping.
It got me thinking about another network of charging infrastructure which folks often don't talk about: The Level 2 chargers which most of us electric vehicle drivers install in our homes and—sometimes—places of business. These chargers don't just enable our own electrified driving, but they also provide some peace of mind to any friends and relatives who may consider driving electric, and who can now be sure of a charge if they come for a visit.
In fact, I've noticed several private charging station owners—especially businesses—in my region are publicly listing their charging stations on the various apps that are available for locating charging spots. Interestingly, this isn't just limited to restaurants or shops offering charging as a perk for your business: We have real estate companies and industrial operations simply offering up their charge points as a free service to the electric vehicle community. (Often, they'll stipulate—quite reasonably—that their own vehicles get first dibs.)
Is a network of free- or metered Tier 2 charging stations the solution to EV range anxiety?
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Wednesday June 21 2017, @01:57PM (1 child)
Too true in my experience as well, a rich person once told me "Nobody ever got rich by being generous". It is true, accumulating wealth is not just about being able to earn enough money to do so, but to be able to reduce your expenditures (this includes reducing your tax burden as well).
Likewise some of the most generous people I know are poor, primarily because they don't really care about money, they make it, then they spend it pretty much immediately, if not on themselves, then on friends and family, and sometimes neighbours or the local homeless guy.
Quite frankly both extremes of behavior are not good to the individual or society, but the human race is full of extremes. Keeps things interesting.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 22 2017, @04:37PM
If you remove the extremes the new edge of the middle then becomes the extremes.