Re: [LincolnTalk] Need for public electric car charging

[Christopher Eliot]

I support adding public chargers; I wasn’t clear if it seems I am not.  My 
point is that at home chargers provide an option that has no equivalent for 
gasoline cars.  In the past I was forced to use a gas station once a week; now 
I can do all my normal driving without ever using a public or commercial 
station. I’ve gone to Amherst and back, Southern NH and all around the Boston 
area without recharging. I can do local driving for a whole week on one charge, 
or a substantial day trip. Anything I used to do with one tank I can do with 
one charge. Given my lifestyle, it is already easier to keep my electric car 
going than it was to keep my gas car going.

Improving the infrastructure will just make it better, but it is already good 
enough for me. I know other people have different lifestyles or situations, but 
I think there are many people like myself. For people in my situation, there is 
nothing about the current infrastructure that makes it difficult to use an 
electric vehicle, and the future will be better.

> On Sep 30, 2022, at 11:54 AM, Anne Sobol  wrote:
> 
> I don't agree.  I would like to explore the possibility of some public 
> chargers in Lincoln.  (I have my own charger in my garage here.)  
> 
> When I stayed with my friends in Westford after moving from California with 
> my Chevy Bolt in late 2020, charging was a problem.  It's not so simple as 
> you make it sound to just plug into any old socket in someone's garage, I'll 
> spare you the details.  Subsequently Westford undertook to install several 
> public chargers in the center of town, and that is great.  When I visit my 
> sister in Mattapoisett, I no longer have to drive down to New Bedford and sit 
> on the wharf while my car charges.  The town hall in Marion next door to 
> Mattapoisett has two free chargers, and when I visit my sister, we drive over 
> to Marion, plug my car in overnight, and pick it up in the morning.  I think 
> I understand that Marion made a deal to change its town vehicles to electric 
> and somehow scored the chargers for free.
> 
> I'd like to look into this for Lincoln.  My friend Ellen in Westford can put 
> me in touch with the people there who handled the issue in Westford.  I 
> understand how difficult this may be, but I envision a few chargers in 
> Lincoln Station and perhaps at the Library.  What do you say?
> 
> On Fri, Sep 30, 2022 at 11:37 AM Christopher Eliot  > wrote:
> There has been a lot of national discussion about the need to improve access 
> to charging stations for cars.  Since many or most people who buy electric 
> cars will install a charger at home, I don’t think we need a public 
> infrastructure equal to the gasoline infrastructure.  I have used public 
> chargers about three times in the three years I’ve had an electric vehicle, 
> so it really is not critical to me. Obviously there are people in different 
> situations but there are many people in the same situation.
> 
> I am happy to see more public chargers installed, but access to public 
> chargers is often given as a deal breaker for the purchase of electric 
> vehicles. I question the truth of this assumption; about 65% of americans own 
> their own home and should be able to install a charger. Some percentage of 
> apartments provide chargers, and many people can charge vehicles at work. I 
> don’t think it is correct to think that electric vehicles require just as 
> many charging locations as we have gas stations because this ignores the 
> possibility of charging at any location you can find an electric plug, which 
> is just about everywhere.
> -- 
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> 

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Re: [LincolnTalk] Need for public electric car charging

[John Robinson]

I’ve had experiences on both sides of this. I have a charger at home (and my 
landlord let me install one previously, when I rented). The last place I worked 
had chargers. I own a Tesla, and they have enough stations that I never worry 
about charging: I just tack a half hour or so onto my estimate for every long 
trip, and make sure I plug in most of the time at home. So I agree that today, 
access to charging probably wouldn’t be a dealbreaker for a lot of people, at 
least in an area like Boston. (It’s a different story at my parents’ in Central 
New York, where it takes 24+ hours to a full charge at their house, and it’s 
30+ miles to the nearest fast charger.)

At work, they had chargers, but several people got new EVs, and suddenly I 
could only charge if I got there pretty early. The same thing is happening 
across the US. Right now, EV adoption in the US is relatively low: Reuters says 
it’s less than 1%. The number of chargers available is okay right now (at least 
as I see it), but it will be different when (eventually) there are 100x the 
number of EVs to charge. Some chargers around Boston are already full at peak 
times. Even at 2x or 3x what we have today, I think we’d see significant 
congestion.

At least until technology progresses, a full charge for an average EV at a very 
fast charger takes about an hour. Just back-of-the-napkin, with four pumps 
Doherty’s, assuming about 5 minutes to pump a full tank, they can serve 
somewhere around 48 cars an hour. With four EV chargers today, they could do 4.

Hopefully, progress will make this all meet somewhere in the middle, and we 
won’t feel a crunch. Charging will get faster, more workplaces will have 
chargers, home installs will get easier and cheaper, and more stations will 
open. But I think we’ll need a lot more stations available before adoption gets 
much higher.

— John
On Sep 30, 2022, 11:37 AM -0400, Christopher Eliot , wrote:
> There has been a lot of national discussion about the need to improve access 
> to charging stations for cars. Since many or most people who buy electric 
> cars will install a charger at home, I don’t think we need a public 
> infrastructure equal to the gasoline infrastructure. I have used public 
> chargers about three times in the three years I’ve had an electric vehicle, 
> so it really is not critical to me. Obviously there are people in different 
> situations but there are many people in the same situation.
>
> I am happy to see more public chargers installed, but access to public 
> chargers is often given as a deal breaker for the purchase of electric 
> vehicles. I question the truth of this assumption; about 65% of americans own 
> their own home and should be able to install a charger. Some percentage of 
> apartments provide chargers, and many people can charge vehicles at work. I 
> don’t think it is correct to think that electric vehicles require just as 
> many charging locations as we have gas stations because this ignores the 
> possibility of charging at any location you can find an electric plug, which 
> is just about everywhere.
> --
> The LincolnTalk mailing list.
> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org.
> Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/.
> Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/.
> Change your subscription settings at 
> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
>
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Re: [LincolnTalk] Need for public electric car charging

[Stephanie Smoot]

Similar to why diesel didnt take off.  I would only get a hybrid car.
Electric cars are  impractical unless you stay close to home. In that case,
bikes also work well.
Regards,
*Stephanie Smoot*






On Fri, Sep 30, 2022 at 11:37 AM Christopher Eliot 
wrote:

> There has been a lot of national discussion about the need to improve
> access to charging stations for cars.  Since many or most people who buy
> electric cars will install a charger at home, I don’t think we need a
> public infrastructure equal to the gasoline infrastructure.  I have used
> public chargers about three times in the three years I’ve had an electric
> vehicle, so it really is not critical to me. Obviously there are people in
> different situations but there are many people in the same situation.
>
> I am happy to see more public chargers installed, but access to public
> chargers is often given as a deal breaker for the purchase of electric
> vehicles. I question the truth of this assumption; about 65% of americans
> own their own home and should be able to install a charger. Some percentage
> of apartments provide chargers, and many people can charge vehicles at
> work. I don’t think it is correct to think that electric vehicles require
> just as many charging locations as we have gas stations because this
> ignores the possibility of charging at any location you can find an
> electric plug, which is just about everywhere.
> --
> The LincolnTalk mailing list.
> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org.
> Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/.
> Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/
> .
> Change your subscription settings at
> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
>
>
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Re: [LincolnTalk] Need for public electric car charging

[Anne Sobol]

I don't agree.  I would like to explore the possibility of some public
chargers in Lincoln.  (I have my own charger in my garage here.)

When I stayed with my friends in Westford after moving from California with
my Chevy Bolt in late 2020, charging was a problem.  It's not so simple as
you make it sound to just plug into any old socket in someone's garage,
I'll spare you the details.  Subsequently Westford undertook to install
several public chargers in the center of town, and that is great.  When I
visit my sister in Mattapoisett, I no longer have to drive down to New
Bedford and sit on the wharf while my car charges.  The town hall in Marion
next door to Mattapoisett has two free chargers, and when I visit my
sister, we drive over to Marion, plug my car in overnight, and pick it up
in the morning.  I think I understand that Marion made a deal to change its
town vehicles to electric and somehow scored the chargers for free.

I'd like to look into this for Lincoln.  My friend Ellen in Westford can
put me in touch with the people there who handled the issue in Westford.  I
understand how difficult this may be, but I envision a few chargers in
Lincoln Station and perhaps at the Library.  What do you say?

On Fri, Sep 30, 2022 at 11:37 AM Christopher Eliot 
wrote:

> There has been a lot of national discussion about the need to improve
> access to charging stations for cars.  Since many or most people who buy
> electric cars will install a charger at home, I don’t think we need a
> public infrastructure equal to the gasoline infrastructure.  I have used
> public chargers about three times in the three years I’ve had an electric
> vehicle, so it really is not critical to me. Obviously there are people in
> different situations but there are many people in the same situation.
>
> I am happy to see more public chargers installed, but access to public
> chargers is often given as a deal breaker for the purchase of electric
> vehicles. I question the truth of this assumption; about 65% of americans
> own their own home and should be able to install a charger. Some percentage
> of apartments provide chargers, and many people can charge vehicles at
> work. I don’t think it is correct to think that electric vehicles require
> just as many charging locations as we have gas stations because this
> ignores the possibility of charging at any location you can find an
> electric plug, which is just about everywhere.
> --
> The LincolnTalk mailing list.
> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org.
> Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/.
> Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/
> .
> Change your subscription settings at
> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
>
>
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Re: [LincolnTalk] Need for public electric car charging

[Sara Mattes]

With all due respect, this argument ignores the potential for travel beyond 
local jaunts.
One cannot travel must past Central MA before one struggles to find a charging 
station- a convenient one, that functions, that will super charge so as not to 
add hours to travel time, and is not in use.
We have tried!

So, yes we do need lots of charging stations added to infrastructure.
Without that,  the wide-scale use of electric vehicles will not work.
The new Fed. bill will go a long way to boost the necessary infrastructure.

In the meantime, even locally, I cannot imagine just assuming I could rely on 
finding any electric plug to charge my car.

Sara Mattes

--
Sara Mattes




> On Sep 30, 2022, at 11:26 AM, Christopher Eliot  wrote:
> 
> There has been a lot of national discussion about the need to improve access 
> to charging stations for cars.  Since many or most people who buy electric 
> cars will install a charger at home, I don’t think we need a public 
> infrastructure equal to the gasoline infrastructure.  I have used public 
> chargers about three times in the three years I’ve had an electric vehicle, 
> so it really is not critical to me. Obviously there are people in different 
> situations but there are many people in the same situation.
> 
> I am happy to see more public chargers installed, but access to public 
> chargers is often given as a deal breaker for the purchase of electric 
> vehicles. I question the truth of this assumption; about 65% of americans own 
> their own home and should be able to install a charger. Some percentage of 
> apartments provide chargers, and many people can charge vehicles at work. I 
> don’t think it is correct to think that electric vehicles require just as 
> many charging locations as we have gas stations because this ignores the 
> possibility of charging at any location you can find an electric plug, which 
> is just about everywhere.
> -- 
> The LincolnTalk mailing list.
> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org.
> Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/.
> Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/.
> Change your subscription settings at 
> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
> 

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[LincolnTalk] Need for public electric car charging

[Christopher Eliot]

There has been a lot of national discussion about the need to improve access to 
charging stations for cars.  Since many or most people who buy electric cars 
will install a charger at home, I don’t think we need a public infrastructure 
equal to the gasoline infrastructure.  I have used public chargers about three 
times in the three years I’ve had an electric vehicle, so it really is not 
critical to me. Obviously there are people in different situations but there 
are many people in the same situation.

I am happy to see more public chargers installed, but access to public chargers 
is often given as a deal breaker for the purchase of electric vehicles. I 
question the truth of this assumption; about 65% of americans own their own 
home and should be able to install a charger. Some percentage of apartments 
provide chargers, and many people can charge vehicles at work. I don’t think it 
is correct to think that electric vehicles require just as many charging 
locations as we have gas stations because this ignores the possibility of 
charging at any location you can find an electric plug, which is just about 
everywhere.
-- 
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