Exactly. I simply don't get this. All of that effort when it's (for lack of a better way to put it) 'not ready for prime time'. Other comments include running an electric extension cord out the window and other hacks. A cord out the window be serious.
Imagine for a second of what compensating good could be done for the world if people put the same time, thought or effort into something else with more immediate (and urgent payback).
I agree that running a cord out the window is ridiculous, but planning a ~40m charging stop at a place that has shops, restaurants, grocery stores, etc. like my local chargers doesn't seem so inconvenient.
I can personally choose to buy an EV, I can't personally choose to convert the power plants in my state to nuclear.
Obviously supporting multiple policies that improve emissions and sustainable energy is the way to go, and supporting one does not mean I don't support the others.
The major payback of buying an electric car is that it creates knock-on effects by (a) causing battery and charging technology to accelerate more quickly than any other consumer dollar expenditure can, which will have other benefits ranging from grid storage to electrified public transit, (b) demonstrating to automakers that ICE cars are a dead end, and they should accelerate their plans to move to electric (which they are doing more rapidly now, thanks to consumers buying so many EVs), which hopefully (c) leads to a virtuous cycle in which ICE deployment drops, governments legislate against gas cars (at least in Europe and China at first), oil demand drops, investment in oil exploration drops, refining pollution drops off a cliff, and maybe we have a fighting chance of making it through the next few decades. Obviously none of this is sufficient on its own, but certainly a better way of spending consumer dollars than buying a petroleum car.
Also, from a selfish perspective, EVs are almost infinitely more fun to drive. Don’t even get me started (as someone who has a parking spot with a charger) about this ridiculous historical idea of going to buy my fuel at some “gas station” instead of having it delivered to my house while I sleep.
It's not any extra effort to plug your car in at the grocery store while you're shopping. In fact, it's often less effort because the electric charging spots are often closer to the doors.
Then you don't have to make an extra stop or trip just for gas. It sounds way better than the current situation with gas.
Extra effort? You have the anxiety of wondering if the spot will be open or not. Also as the method becomes more popular it would make sense that the spots will not be increased immediately and therefore will not be open. And of course the grocery store is only one place you go and how many people go there regularly enough to use it for charging and how many spots do they have or will have?
> It sounds way better than the current situation with gas.
Seriously? Where do you live and where would you get gas? This is a non issue for most people.
Imagine for a second of what compensating good could be done for the world if people put the same time, thought or effort into something else with more immediate (and urgent payback).