OT. EVs For Rural Drivers

[gfretwell]

That is a short term load tho and the load calcs give you a lot of wiggle room on the amps you need to use in the calculation. Most of the amps are drawn while you are striking the arc. My 230a Buzz Box still runs on a dryer plug (30a) and has happily done it for almost 50 years. I cut the original 50a plug off and put a dryer plug on it day one. (~1972). Three prong dryer plugs are my go to 240v plug here. I have six

10-30Rs here and one dryer. I also have a 25' and a 50' dryer extension cords. ;-)

[gfretwell]

It can't be any worse than the old OMC V-4 outboards.

[gfretwell]

The guy I knew who owned the Shell station on the corner said all of that "service" you got with a fill up was really a sales call. They got to sell oil, wiper blades even tires at a big markup. They also had a customer loyalty thing that kept customers coming back for tune ups and other service work. Kids today would not believe how much maintenance we had on our 50s and 60s cars. Tires lasted 15,000-20,000 miles, tuneups may be more often than that (AKA points, plugs and condenser). People changed oil every 1000-1500 miles because the engines ran so dirty. At 100,000 miles you took the tags off and junked the car if it lasted that long.

[Ed Pawlowski]

If it lasted 100k it was often because you did rings and bearings at

50k. If you were lucky you pulled the plugs at 5,000 and sand blasted them at the gas station and changed them at 10,000.

[rbowman]

I don't go looking for them but I've only run across one in my travels at the Casey Jones museum in Jackson TN.

Between the museum, restaurant, and gift shop you could amuse yourself while the car recharged. I doubt many of the charging stations are as interesting.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I see them along I95 at many of the rest stops. Some used when I'm there.

There was one at the 99 Restaurant, a small chain in MA about 5 years ago. It was used fairly often when I was there or drove by it. It was an early adopter and had at least a little draw.

[rbowman]

I get gas at a Lucky Lil's more often than not but pay at the pump and have never been in the casino. The one on the other side of the road had a laundromat and the bathrooms were in the casino so I have passed through that. The turned the laundromat into a liquor store which was disconcerting when I stopped there when they were remodeling the one I usually go to.

[rbowman]

And peak A/C time. And peak heating time. 12 AM to 6 AM is a safe bet for most places, other wise the peaks move around depending on the season.

[danny burstein]

Of course now things are way more complicated, but in the Ancient Thymes NYC's electrical utility, Con Edison, had about a half dozen tariffed rates for common services (plus lots of specialized ones...)

So there was "residential, small", "residentil, large", and misc similar ones.

The one I loved was "public street lighting", and the costs listed per kw-hr for that one was maybe one fifth the others...

Naturally, pretty much by definition, this was in the way off peak time period...

[gfretwell]

That has always been a code violation and would also void your warranty on the dryer. It was listed for a 30a circuit.

You were lucky. RV parks and camp grounds are famous for nickel diming you any way they can.

[gfretwell]

They have a charging station at my credit that is not really near anything else. What in the hell do you do in a credit union for a few hours? My guess is the idea came up when they were next to Planet Fitness and nobody changed it before they moved out to the middle of nowhere. I am still not sure what the business attraction is unless it is pay as you go. I will look next time I am there and see if it says anything about paying.

[Scott Lurndal]

Here, the local outlet mall has a couple dozen Tesla superchargers; given the location on a major commute and inter-city route, it's highly popular - including amongst the outlet mall businesses.

[Scott Lurndal]

[rbowman]

Are the ones on I95 free? I think the I5 ones in California are. One more way the rest of us can subsidize the EV crowd.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Never got close enough to look. They are Tesla though.

[Scott Lurndal]

No, they're not free. And those that are are paid for by Tesla, not the public.

[danny burstein]

[snip]

"Paid fr by Tesla, not the public". That's, umm, a massive oversimplification of how Tesla's financing works.

Short version: Buyers of gasoline powered vehicles in the US kick Tesla some cash.

[Marilyn Manson]

"Dig We Must!"

[trader_4]

How much extra lot space does a typical gas station have? And what are you going to be doing while your car sits there for a couple of hours or more? The most logical, easy place to put charging stations is at commuter car parking lots and workplace garages and lots. But it's not a trivial task, you need it to be close to each car. Probably solar too, to supply all the power needed and available grid capacity for when it's cloudy if you're going to do it in any reasonable volume that makes a difference.

[trader_4]

It's a lot worse than 10X. That's the beauty of gasoline, the incredible energy packed into a gallon.

Where is that? I thought most of the charging stations were subsidized to make it cheaper, just like the cars.