The Secretary of Energy takes a road trip in an electric vehicle

[MillCreek]

https://www.npr.org/2023/09/10/1187224861/electric-vehicles-evs-cars-chargers-charging-energy-secretary-jennifer-granholm

I am starting to see more one-off charging stations in this area, in grocery store parking lots and the like. There are three Tesla charging banks within a 25 mile radius of my house, and if I was buying an electric vehicle today, I would want it to be able to use the Tesla chargers.

[Kingcreek]

An electrician I know installed a charging station right off the interstate about 25 miles away. He laughed when he told me people don't know it is powered by a Cat diesel generator behind the store.
We ordered a hybrid but the plug-ins just wouldn't be practical for us.

[WLJ]

An electrician I know installed a charging station right off the interstate about 25 miles away. He laughed when he told me people don't know it is powered by a Cat diesel generator behind the store.
We ordered a hybrid but the plug-ins just wouldn't be practical for us.

They should paint the generator green, that way they can tell them with a straight face it's a green generator.

[ConstitutionCowboy]

I would not buy an electric car unless it had a big enough trunk for a good sized generator and a 25 to 30 gallon tank for gasoline.... Oh, wait!

Woody 

[RocketMan]

https://www.npr.org/2023/09/10/1187224861/electric-vehicles-evs-cars-chargers-charging-energy-secretary-jennifer-granholm

I am starting to see more one-off charging stations in this area, in grocery store parking lots and the like. There are three Tesla charging banks within a 25 mile radius of my house, and if I was buying an electric vehicle today, I would want it to be able to use the Tesla chargers.

A few years ago our city installed three charging stations in reserved parking spots at the downtown shopping square.  Kind of a hip, trendy place with a bunch of neat little shops and restaurants.  All the charging stations have since been removed and the reserved parking spaces changed to general parking.

[griz]

A few years ago our city installed three charging stations in reserved parking spots at the downtown shopping square.  Kind of a hip, trendy place with a bunch of neat little shops and restaurants.  All the charging stations have since been removed and the reserved parking spaces changed to general parking.

At our new (this year) casino in Portsmouth Virginia, they have a row of chargers fairly near the entrance.  In a dozen or more trips there I have never seen one in use.  The spaces are just used as more parking.  Recently the parking section where those spaces are located has been turned into members only parking, so that will probably reduce the likelihood of use even more.

By the way, a question for the EV owners here.  To me a casino seems a logical place to charge.  Do you just plug it in and go inside for a few hours?  Any problems with people unplugging it?  Does the charger automatically cut off when full?

[MillCreek]

Two of the three Tesla banks near my house are at the Tulalip and the Stillaguamish casinos, both right off of I-5 and about 20 miles apart.  When my wife and I go there to eat, there are usually at least a couple of Teslas there and once we saw a Chevy Bolt.

[Kingcreek]

Two of the three Tesla banks near my house are at the Tulalip and the Stillaguamish casinos, both right off of I-5 and about 20 miles apart.  When my wife and I go there to eat, there are usually at least a couple of Teslas there and once we saw a Chevy Bolt.

You live in the land of cheap hydro electric power generation. You can’t turn around there without falling into a fast moving river.

[BobR]

In my little rural town of 35,000 I "think" we have one public charging station that is actually built. The two car dealers have one each but I don't know if they are accessible. We recently had a guy on FB having a fit because his rented EV needed a charge to get back to Las Vegas and he couldn't find one. Sucked to be him, I don't know if he ever left town. Near Barstow is a roadside ripoff store, gas station, etc and they have a row of about 6 chargers. Sometimes they are being used, other times not. Most EVs need that boost at Barstow after being in Las Vegas and now going back to SoCal. I fill up my truck in Pahrump, drive at 70-75 to SoCal, putz around a bit and then come home, usually on the same tank of gas. If I do need gas in CA I do just enough to get home. It does help to have a 48 gallon tank, until fill up time. :(

bob

[Hawkmoon]

The parking lot of the town office building where I work has two EV charging stations. At least one of the town vehicles is either electric or hybrid, and I see it at the charging station maybe once every week or two. I see other vehicles there on a regular but not daily basis. I've seen electric Mini Coopers, Teslas, and Jeeps charging there.

There's one charging station at the supermarket a couple of miles from the office. In two years of stopping there (on average) weekly, I've only seen one vehicle plugged in.

When the state adopted a new building code in 2022, they added a requirement that any new building with a parking lot that holds more than 20 vehicles must have the infrastructure for future charging stations equal to at least 10 percent of the number of spaces. By "infrastructure," our electrical inspector has been interpreting that (since it isn't defined in the statute) to mean an empty conduit from the building to the location for future charging stations, and enough unused circuit breakers in the panel to power charging stations in the future.

In at least one instance already, that has resulted in the panel having to be upgraded from 200-amp to 400-amp ... with commensurate increases in the size of the electric service from the street to the building.

[dogmush]

Most of the WaWa's in Tampa have Superchargers installed, and I usually see at least one Tesla using them and charging when I drive past.

The parking lot in my Reserve center has 3 POV Teslas and two GSA teslas in it right now.  EV's are becoming a pretty common sight in central FL, and the people that buy them seem to really enjoy them.  It's a really nice choice to have available when shopping for personal transportation.

That said, the Wife bought a new car last month, and while we looked closely at EV's we just couldn't stomach the cost of entry for an Electric SUV, even with the tax incentives.

[RocketMan]

Visiting my Dad right now in Tigard, OR.  I've seen a number of Teslas and other EVs since I've been in town.

[lee n. field]

I see a few Teslas around here, as well as some other electrics.

Decided to check.

Tesla's finder tool

A couple locations in East Rockford, and a couple more in a line north and south of there.  More in Madison.  Some in the Quad Cities one in Dubuque.*

A more general charger finder thing, found one in the parking lot of a local insurance company.  Which I knew about, and I doubt is available for public use, seeing as half the time I see it, the parking lot is chained off.

--edit  to add---

(*point being, accessable chargers are 45 minutes to over an hour away.)

[JTHunter]

EV's are becoming a pretty common sight in central FL, and the people that buy them seem to really enjoy them.

  Electrical components don't mix well with salt water. 

[HankB]

The Austin, TX area has a lot of Teslas - other electrics are showing up, including a number of Rivians, both pickups and SUVs. I saw what I think was a Polestar, and my next door neighbor has a Hyundai Ioniq she likes. Although she had a close call on a trip down to San Antonio when her planned recharge didn't work out - she was down to <10 miles range when she pulled into a Hyundai dealer shortly before it closed for the day and they charged her up enough to get home.

At home she just plugs the car into the standard wall socket - she claims it charges up "pretty fast" but I'm not so sure about that. The local Hyundai dealer told her that tire rotations cost more because of the special electric foam filled tires the car has. (Wonder if she gets the headlight fluid checked too.)

If you only drive locally, I can see virtue in an electric - aside from the high initial price. ("If you want to save money, it's going to cost you.")  And I saw a Tesla last week with Virginia plates, so longer trips are possible, at least if you can use Tesla charging stations and plan your route carefully. But personally, I'll be sticking to the well established IC engine for the foreseeable future.

[zahc]

Developers get tax credits for installing chargers, and sometimes grants, but they don't get anything for maintaining them. So the usual pattern is there will be a few chargers, but half or more will be broken.

[WLJ]

In related news

A deposit of lithium recently discovered along the Nevada-Oregon border may be among the world’s largest, having potentially huge implications for the transition to electric vehicles.

Volcanologists and geologists from Lithium Americas Corporation, GNS Science, and Oregon State University reported their findings in a paper for Science Advances, published August 31.

The deposit exists in the McDermitt Caldera, a caldera approximately 28 miles long and 22 miles wide. It is believed that the caldera contains around 20 to 40 million metric tons of lithium – a figure that would dwarf deposits in Chile and Australia.

See how long before Biden bans any mining or makes sure a Chinese firm gets control of it, Hunter may have painting or two up for sell soon.

Lithium deposit found in US may be among world’s largest, study finds
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/lithium-deposit-found-us-may-be-among-worlds-largest-study-finds

[Ben]

In related news

See how long before Biden bans any mining or makes sure a Chinese firm gets control of it, Hunter may have painting or two up for sell soon.

Lithium deposit found in US may be among world’s largest, study finds
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/lithium-deposit-found-us-may-be-among-worlds-largest-study-finds

Yup, I expect lots of fed red tape, and the Chinese laughing with glee. I drive by there when I have to go back to CA, and it's a pretty desolate, low population area, near a reservation. I bet that mine development would help out the locals a lot.

[HankB]

. . . See how long before Biden bans any mining or makes sure a Chinese firm gets control of it, . . .

That was my first thought - my VERY first thought - when I saw that story the other day. 

[MechAg94]

Gonna upset people if you start trying to block a charging station. 

Her advance team realized there weren't going to be enough plugs to go around. One of the station's four chargers was broken, and others were occupied. So an Energy Department staffer tried parking a nonelectric vehicle by one of those working chargers to reserve a spot for the approaching secretary of energy.

As carbon removal gains traction, economists imagine a new market to save the planet
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As carbon removal gains traction, economists imagine a new market to save the planet
That did not go down well: a regular gas-powered car blocking the only free spot for a charger?

In fact, a family that was boxed out — on a sweltering day, with a baby in the vehicle — was so upset they decided to get the authorities involved: They called the police.

The sheriff's office couldn't do anything. It's not illegal for a non-EV to claim a charging spot in Georgia. Energy Department staff scrambled to smooth over the situation, including sending other vehicles to slower chargers, until both the frustrated family and the secretary had room to charge.

[MechAg94]

Never messed with these myself.  Do the locations charge money at these charging stations?  Some of those pictured look like gas pumps so I assume that is the case.

[RocketMan]

In related news

See how long before Biden bans any mining or makes sure a Chinese firm gets control of it, Hunter may have painting or two up for sell soon.

Lithium deposit found in US may be among world’s largest, study finds
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/lithium-deposit-found-us-may-be-among-worlds-largest-study-finds

That's exactly what will happen.  Biden will shut down any opportunity to mine that lithium.  He's done that a few times already for other mineral discoveries.  Not to mention oil.

[MillCreek]

It seems to be a sport in this area for younger white males in their lifted pick up trucks to block charging stations.

[lee n. field]

The Austin, TX area has a lot of Teslas - other electrics are showing up, including a number of Rivians, both pickups and SUVs. I saw what I think was a Polestar, and my next door neighbor has a Hyundai Ioniq she likes. Although she had a close call on a trip down to San Antonio when her planned recharge didn't work out - she was down to <10 miles range when she pulled into a Hyundai dealer shortly before it closed for the day and they charged her up enough to get home.

At home she just plugs the car into the standard wall socket - she claims it charges up "pretty fast" but I'm not so sure about that.

The number that comes to mind from looking it up a while back for the Teslas is, 5 miles of travel for each hour of charging from a standard wall plug.  Still a good number?  I'd call that a fallback option.

The local Hyundai dealer told her that tire rotations cost more because of the special electric foam filled tires the car has. (Wonder if she gets the headlight fluid checked too.)

Them batt'ries do weigh.

[K Frame]

There are a shitpot load of chargers near my house. Of course I'm in an urban liberal hell.

Probably close to a dozen Tesla chargers at the new WAWA about 1/4 mile from my house and another maybe half dozen to dozen (not Tesla, another company) in the parking garage serving the new grocery store and apartment complex.