Why mass produced electric cars ain't gonna happen any time soon. - Page 2

 wrote:

They haven't sold them yet, and at the price I saw I don't see them
being a "mass market" item any time soon.


Agreed.


Considering that large users pay very little per KW hr I can see where
many employers would allow employees to plug in at work, quite
possibly for free.  I know a few diesel users that plug in block
heaters at work during the winter months.  They use as much
electricity as a charger would.  But again, we're not talking a whole
lot of difference here.  They get the lower rate because they are a
big user.


If they put charging stations along the highways so that you can drive
your EV cross country you can bet people will want to take advantage
of the fact that capacitors can be charged in a minute or two.  That
will mean having some sudden and very large loads put on the grid,
maybe in some remote locations.  It will also mean a lot more miles of
EV use since it would then be practical to take your EV outside a 50
mile radius from home on a trip.  But I don't see these charging
stations being built over night since there will need to be a fair
number of capacitor equipped cars in use to support them.  Also they
could be required to keep a large bank of stationary capacitors on
site to do the actual charging, so the grid would only see the lower
steady load to keep the on site capacitor bank charged.


Agreed.


That ain't going to happen where I live.  Not enough people to make it
cost effective.  People that live in cities seem to forget that there
is a whole lot of world out there that is not near a metro area.

Bruce

  Sat, 8 Aug 2009 09:47:27 -0700 (PDT), Bruce Richmond, bsr3997@my-deja.com
wrote:


  My diesel's block heater shows 256 watts on the
Kill-A-Watt.  If you charge your EV batteries at that
rate, you'll only refresh your batteries by 2 KWh
during an 8 hr shift.  How far will that get you?

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 wrote:

Probably about 10 miles.  My point was that many employers wouldn't
have a problem with you plugging in.  I know mine wouldn't.

 Sun, 9 Aug 2009 00:33:40 -0700 (PDT), Bruce Richmond, bsr3997@my-deja.com
wrote:

  Most employers' parking lots don't have convenient
outlets.  Between the 40 or so places my wife and I
have worked, I've only seen it once (Cass Lake, MN),
and that lot only had receptacles at 12 of the 100+
parking spaces.

  In order to charge employee batteries, the employer
will have to trench up the lot, run conduit, pull wire,
install posts with boxes, breakers, outlets, patch the
areas he's dug up, not to even mention the stuff at the
building end.  I contend that MOST employers wouldn't
dream of spending all that money just to be able to
give you "free" battery recharges.  How many people do
you know get free gasoline from their employers?
  It has traditionally never even occurred to employers
to pay for workers' transportation to and from work.

  Now... pass some form of cap'n'trade where the
employer gets carbon credits for doing that, and you
might see a few doing it.  Without carbon credits, I
don't see even Al Gore providing charge points for
his employees.  

  As for the infinitesimal number of parking lots
already equipped with receptacles... I'm with you.
Most employers probably don't care whether you're
plugging in a 250 watt block heater a few days out of
the year (coupla bucks), or a 1500 watt battery
charger every day ($hundreds per parking space/yr).  
Then again, some would.

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 wrote:

Gee, I don't have the vast experience you have in reguards to this.
I've only been employed by two companies over the last 37 years.  But
I do know that both of them have allowed us access to power.  Both
were industrial companies that got their power dirt cheap.  My post
even said, "Considering that large users pay very little per KW".  If
that doesn't apply to the company you work for it might explain why
they aren't so generous.  Could also be that they figure it buys them
a little good will.  Maybe that's why they have so many long term
employees.


Well it sounds like you wont be getting any outlets put in right away,
doesn't it.

Try reading what I wrote, not what you think I meant.  I wrote,
"Considering that large users pay very little per KW hr I can see
where many employers would allow employees to plug in at work, quite
possibly for free."  "many" is not the same as "most", and "possibly
for free" means it's not a given.

Also keep in mind the context in which that statement was written.  It
was in responce to someone questioning why anyone would charge their
car during peak hours.  Free or reduced cost juice is a pretty good
reason.  It's not going to be common enough to crash the grid, but it
will happen.

As for free gas, know a fair number of employees that take company
vehicles home, to say nothing of the gasoline that gets put into them
by the company.  Again it is a perk that not everyone gets.


That doesn't surprise me in the least.


Sounds like you finally figured it out ;)