Where is everyone going to charge their electric vehicle?

[TeapotCollection]

On the way to work I saw a car on charge, parked on the road with the cable trailing over the footpath. I’d be worried about someone tripping over it, or someone stealing the cable! But then I thought what are people meant to do?

Hadn’t thought about it before but this just isn’t going to work is it?

If you live in London you will be fine.

London, paradoxically, is the area with the lowest rate of vehicle ownership - 0.76 csrs per household compared with 1.30 per household on average in England.

I think this thread is less about people with EVs batting away concerns and more about people with concerns batting away the idea of EVs (for everyone? Just themselves? The cryptically ominous "this isn't going to work" doesn't really specify!).

@Chersfrozenface that is because public transport is so good. I did not have a car when I lived in London. But there are plenty of EV chargers, so if do have an EV you will be fine.

@FlowerBlowing I know I will need to buy an EV car, although god knows how I will afford one! But I also know I will have to plan to charge it. Parking on our street is already hard, and there are not enough lamp posts to cover every parking space - nowhere near it. So as I said before I will plan and adapt. But I will have to plan rather than just nipping to the petrol station.

These are being installed locally to me. The owners of the properties have also taken to hanging no parking signs on their front walls as the space is required to charge their electric car. Absolute twattery. Having an electric car doesn't guarantee you parking on a public road.

Where is having EV charging points installed in gullies?
I have never even seen a charging point in a lamp post. I have seen trailing wores across the pavement and through a letter box.

@Shallana

Also, it's very difficult to steal a cable, they lock in place when you lock the car and you need to be stood right next to the car socket to unlock the cable (at least for my car).

The scrotes use heavy duty cutters. That's what they use when they steal cabling alongside railway lines. They don't hang around disconnecting/unscrewing the cables - they just slice through them!

Once upon a time there was a handful of petrol stations in the country. Did the first motorists complain about a lack of infrastructure? Probably. Did things improve as demand increased? You bet it did, and quickly. Plus, there is already an electricity supply literally everywhere. This is not an insurmountable problem, far from it.

In the very early days, people had their petrol delivered by the local "garage" so were filled up at their homes/farms etc.

@ForRealTurtle

If you live in London you will be fine.

The majority of the population don't live in London.

I would like an EV but most cars don’t have driveways to install a charging point. Where I live you can’t even park in front of your house. You generally park wherever you find a spot about 5 mins away. I’m really struggling to work out where they would put all the charging points.

Its very easy to transport fuel around the country, but it requires upgraded cabling and transmission for EV charging, then there is the issue of those without off street parking, so fucking what if you put an EV charger in a lamppost? are there lampposts every 3m???

But the biggest issue is cost, most people i know struggle to run a car that cost them maybe 2 or 3k, they'll use them for work, caring responsibilities inc the school run....
How is a community carer going to replace his/her 10 year old Citroen C3 with an EV ? when their C3 gives up the ghost they can buy another runabout for a couple £k.... a 2nd EV will be 10k and may well have limited battery life.

The majority of people have just a few 100 in savings, they live from month to month, how the fuck are they going to be able to buy an EV???

Its a bonkers policy dreamt up by people and i include Labour in this, who think everyone is as well off as they are.

Just let people chose? & improve public transport so people can leave their car at home..... the planet isn't going to be saved because people buy an ev, their batteries have huge environmental cost, limited life, v expensive to replace, limited recycling....

the dickheads that dream up these awful policies do and thats the problem......

It’s banned to have a charging cable across the pavement, even if it’s covered up, where I live. It’s all terraced housing, so no drives. But there are increasing numbers of lamppost charging posts. There’s one just opposite my house and several on my street alone.

Well yes exactly @Alexandra2001 My ancient Smart car cost me £4k to buy. I spend about £35 a month on fuel, next to nothing on road tax and cheap insurance. If I wanted an electric version I’d be looking at at least £15k for a new one and around £10k for a used one. I don’t have that sort of money so will keep my little petrol car going for as long as possible.

They carried petrol with them in cans.

When people are living hand to mouth as so many do they really don't care about these things.

Why are we not banning woodstoves? They are terrible for health and having more of an impact than cars?
I know why. Well off people tend to have them. And well off people can afford EV cars.

Prices will come down. Electric locomotives were invented over 100 years ago, and today they're used the world over. This is mainly because electric trains are wildly more energy efficient, and therefore cheaper to run, than other types. Improved battery technology means that electric cars are now a viable alternative to ICE vehicles. They also happen to be mechanically simpler, quieter, accelerate faster, generate less particulate emissions and, contrary to popular belief, are much less likely to catch fire or explode. They're simply a better technology, not some "bonkers policy".

@MemorableTrenchcoat Of course they will come down in price a bit. But most people without lots of money buy second hand cars. We do, I have never had a new car. And the limited battery life worries me. It means we will have to buy a newer EV car than the equivalent in petrol.

It's depressing that the government is nudging us to go electric by increasing taxes on normal cars. It's just more cost for everyone.

Electric locomotives were invented over 100 years ago, and today they're used the world over.

Though not where the overhead lines haven't been installed to power them.

Which is why GWR, for instance, has to operate bi-mode trains i.e. trains with both electric and diesel power, even on main lines.

Infrastructure, as always.

I don’t have a car and don’t drive, but I think it would be foolhardy to rush out and buy an EV at this point.

Remember when Petrol was the work of the devil and everyone was told to go diesel? Well, they did, and look at where we are now.

The impact of electric vehicles, or more specifically their lithium batteries on the environment is huge and unknown all in the same breath.

It’s not beyond the realms of reality that in 5/10 years time they’ll decide that electric cars with lythium batteries are a no go and an alternative needs to be found.

So charging points not withstanding, I wouldn’t personally look to buy an electric car for at least another 5 years, 10 if your existing car is young enough.

We've been told you need a driveway and a electric meter box thingy , our electric box is in our rear terraced garden so not a easy fix

Lamp post charging is far more expensive that being able to charge at home. This means people who can't charge from home (who are often already less well off, living in flats for example) are going to be hugely penalised.

We live in a tiny village, 50m away from where we can park our car. It's going to be a nightmare for us, we'll be holding on to our petrol car as long as we can.