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posted by martyb on Thursday September 07 2017, @07:34AM   Printer-friendly
from the plugging-BEVs dept.

Around the world, support is growing for electric cars. Automakers are delivering more electric models with longer range and lower prices, such as the Chevrolet Bolt and the Tesla Model 3. China has set aggressive targets for electric vehicle sales to curb pollution; some European countries aim to be all-electric by 2040 or sooner.

Those lofty ambitions face numerous challenges, including one practical consideration for consumers: If they buy electric cars, where will they charge them?

[...] Mr. Romano says there's no exact ratio of the number of chargers needed per car. But he says workplaces should have around 2.5 chargers for every employee and retail stores need one for every 20 electric cars. Highways need one every 50 to 75 miles, he says. That suggests a lot of gaps still need to be filled.

Automakers and governments are pushing to fill them. The number of publicly available, global charging spots grew 72 percent to more than 322,000 last year, the International Energy Agency said. Navigant Research expects that to grow to more than 2.2 million by 2026; more than one-third of those will be in China.

Tesla Inc. – which figured out years ago that people wouldn't buy its cars without roadside charging – is doubling its global network of Supercharger stations to 10,000 this year. BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen, and Ford are building 400 fast-charging stations in Europe. Volkswagen is building hundreds of stations across the United States as part of its settlement for selling polluting diesel engines. Even oil-rich Dubai, which just got its first Tesla showroom, has more than 50 locations to charge electric cars.

If range anxiety and the availability of charging stations remain a barrier to EV adoption, then for Tesla it seems like it's nearly a solved problem. Will a reliable supply of batteries or the self-driving features piggy-backing on EV platforms like the Teslas or the Nissan Leaf prove the real differentiators in the market?


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday September 07 2017, @01:22PM (3 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday September 07 2017, @01:22PM (#564546) Journal

    Momentum is building for gasoline powered automobiles. Some dreamers believe these may one day replace our beautiful horse drawn carriages. But where will these automobile thingies refuel?

    They'll never catch on. They're noisy. Smelly. Unreliable. Difficult to start. You can break your arm if the engine backfires while you are cranking starting it. And worst of all, automobiles frighten the horses.

    Please don't have any vision. Please continue to think strictly within the box. Continue to believe that there actually is a box. Thank you.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +4  
       Insightful=3, Funny=1, Total=4
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Thursday September 07 2017, @02:36PM

    by hemocyanin (186) on Thursday September 07 2017, @02:36PM (#564581) Journal

    Yet another demonstration of the need for an "insightfunny" mod.

  • (Score: 2) by Weasley on Thursday September 07 2017, @03:45PM (1 child)

    by Weasley (6421) on Thursday September 07 2017, @03:45PM (#564612)

    I'll give you my buggy whip when you pry it from cold dead hands!

    • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday September 07 2017, @07:52PM

      by bob_super (1357) on Thursday September 07 2017, @07:52PM (#564737)

      *Pulls over, turns down the music, opens the car door, bitches about the cold*
      Hey look, another dead guy with a dead horse. Should know better than commute in a carriage by -30 in this wind. Well, can't help him anymore, but that's too nice a whip to let the coroner get it.
      *closes door, cranks up the heater, drives away while dialing 911*