Electric car charging

 https://youtu.be/pLcqJ2DclEg

Incredibly clearly and thoroughly explained. The tipping point for adoption of electric cars has been reached in terms of vehicle cost and range: 

Consumers expect: 

And fast charging: 

Battery costs are declining rapidly:

But DC charging inverters are expensive!

The average American lives 4 miles from the nearest gas station, but 31 miles from the nearest electric charging station. To make up that difference, Tesla, for example, would have to spend $8bn 

Interestingly, he also points out that higher kW charging stations do not make charging faster, once the battery is above 50% capacity (where most consumers do their charging) and where the battery is physically unable to accept charge any faster. Note the identical rate of charging from 50% to 90% full despite almost twice the kW charging potential output. 

He argues that government standardization of charging plugs, as in Europe, would greatly facilitate the adoption of electric vehicles. 

 

Here's an interesting idea - Electric vehicle batteries can be used to supplement the electric grid during peak demand, then charge back from the grid at off-peak times. It starts at 10:42 

https://youtu.be/3FSMG5KbQkM?t=642

 

Here's a consumer survey report from 2011 about consumer perceptions of electric vehicles. Such perceptions are very valuable to automakers, before they pour billions into electric car development. So I'm sure the surveys are well funded to be an accurate representation of consumer interest regarding desires like EV range and charging time. 

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Manufacturing/gx_us_auto_DTTGlobalAutoSurvey_ElectricVehicles_100411.pdf

Vehicle range is a funny thing - it's such a preoccupation for electric vehicle sales, and yet 99% of our driving is just our daily commute of a few miles. But this is what consumers want, so they get it. 

Swappable EV batteries have been proposed and tried, but there are just too many technical challenges. I like this vlogger and how she summarizes things. She begins talking about it at 1:09 in this video:

https://youtu.be/xPzXzKpv1xY?t=69

"Ensuring the battery is properly aligned, the vehicle is completely immobilized, and the battery is isolated to prevent shock...and the size of facility needed to inventory and recharge all the proprietary battery packs for each vehicle..."