EV Charging Station Costs

[Fly320s]

Now I am curious what stations like this cost.  Newer Buc-ees in Katy, TX.  I think the car wash alone is more than 1 acre.


https://buc-ees.com/about/world-record-holder/

That place is huge.  Is that a Sonic in the middle?

[Fly320s]

The price is regulated but not fixed.  Many places that use a lot of electricity, like 30 megawatts, run at night to take advantage of lower rates.  Even homes have variable rates, witness the latest fiasco in Texas when some people had their rate increase by a factor of ten not because they used more, but demand skyrocketed.

The price of electricity doesn't change daily.  The price of gas does change daily and it often does so regardless of the price of crude oil.

Those Texas people signed a contract that allowed the power company to change the rates as needed.  That bit the homeowners in the ass.  The general public didn't experience the say massive cost increases.

[MillCreek]

A timely article on the economics of a charging network.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-03/rivian-s-charging-plan-for-its-electric-pickups-is-adventurous-and-lower-risk

[230RN]

A timely article on the economics of a charging network.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-03/rivian-s-charging-plan-for-its-electric-pickups-is-adventurous-and-lower-risk

Does that article address my question of from where all this "new" electricity is going to come?  Are they opening any new electricity mines?  Drilling any new electricity wells?

What I'm wondering is if all this new demand will ultimately soften the anti-nuke crowd's viewpoint.

And also maybe soften the regulatory structure regarding nuclear power.

Energy is energy no matter how it's measured, BTUs or Joules (Watt-seconds) or electron volts or kWhs or ergs or foot-pounds or Subaru-feet*. 

Or no matter how it's obtained.

So where are we going to get all these new Subaru-feet of electrical energy?

Terry, 230RN

* A Subaru-foot in Terry International Units (TIU) is the energy required to lift a 1997 Subaru Outback one foot, or 3154 foot-pounds.

[Ben]

A timely article on the economics of a charging network.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-03/rivian-s-charging-plan-for-its-electric-pickups-is-adventurous-and-lower-risk

Interesting, They are saying $320K per fast charger. They specifically say "setup", so I wonder if the $260K quote in my article is just for the station, uninstalled?

[Cliffh]

Do EV batteries develop a memory like smaller rechargeable batteries?

[lee n. field]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYQ2PiX_Z9o

Jay Leno's Garage covers an interesting gas-electric hybrid from a century ago.

[Fly320s]

Do EV batteries develop a memory like smaller rechargeable batteries?

I think yes.  Tesla uses 18650 batteries, which are just fancy AA batteries.  Tesla stacks a whole bunch of them together to make the battery pack.

So if 18650 batteries have a memory, then Tesla car batteries have a memory.

[cordex]

I think yes.  Tesla uses 18650 batteries, which are just fancy AA batteries.  Tesla stacks a whole bunch of them together to make the battery pack.

So if 18650 batteries have a memory, then Tesla car batteries have a memory.

18650 are a bit more than “fancy AA batteries” as most AA batteries are not lithium ion.
No they don’t have a memory like Ni-cads.
I think Tesla has started using 21700s instead of 18650s.

[Jim147]

Learned something new. I thought a stack of 2032's would work.

[JN01]

Interesting new concept that could be a game changer if it works out.

https://www.zmescience.com/science/diamond-battery-powered-by-nuclear-waste-runs-for-28000-years/

[RocketMan]

Interesting new concept that could be a game changer if it works out.

https://www.zmescience.com/science/diamond-battery-powered-by-nuclear-waste-runs-for-28000-years/

Hmmm...  Sounds a little too good to be true.  April Fools joke perhaps?

[JN01]

Hmmm...  Sounds a little too good to be true.  April Fools joke perhaps?

Don't think so, the article came out on March 31.  Company has a web site: https://ndb.technology/

[Hawkmoon]

I think the car wash alone is more than 1 acre.

Doesn't look like it. An acre is 43,560 square feet, Think 209' x 209', or roughly 100 x 430.

[230RN]

Didn't I read a couple of years ago about development of a power cell that ran on the residual heat from waste decay?  Output from thermocouples or some kind of bandgap trickery?

[Ben]

I thought this was interesting. Tesla is offering a Tesla 3 in Canada with a software set 150km range in order to bring the car within the price range of Canada's EV incentives. I wonder if you could buy the car, get the incentive, then later pay Tesla a couple of grand to reprogram the range?

https://electrek.co/2021/04/09/tesla-starts-advertising-model-3-93-miles-range-website-canada/

[Ben]

Not really a pro or a con, but just a data point. Seems like some people who jump into EVs have unrealistic expectations. This was in the UK and the guy seemed a little lacking in situational awareness (like maybe cutting it too close on charges without taking unexpected conditions into account).

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/i-used-an-electric-car-to-drive-to-my-brothers-wedding-and-barely-made-it

[kgbsquirrel]

Does that article address my question of from where all this "new" electricity is going to come?  Are they opening any new electricity mines?  Drilling any new electricity wells?

What I'm wondering is if all this new demand will ultimately soften the anti-nuke crowd's viewpoint.

And also maybe soften the regulatory structure regarding nuclear power.

Energy is energy no matter how it's measured, BTUs or Joules (Watt-seconds) or electron volts or kWhs or ergs or foot-pounds or Subaru-feet*. 

Or no matter how it's obtained.

So where are we going to get all these new Subaru-feet of electrical energy?

Terry, 230RN

* A Subaru-foot in Terry International Units (TIU) is the energy required to lift a 1997 Subaru Outback one foot, or 3154 foot-pounds.

You will simply be made to use less, whether you like it or not.  And you'll be happy.®

[Ben]

Interesting related article:

https://news.yahoo.com/1-5-electric-vehicle-owners-164149467.html

I was quite surprised, it being CA, but I suppose population and population density versus charging station numbers and location plays a big role. As I mentioned in an earlier post, there are charging stations around here that I have never seen in use. Any EV drivers have a pretty easy time to get a charge.