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Comment by simion314 | Hacker News Reader

When EV gets popular enough won't all petrol station install chargers too? When this happens the super charger network will not be a large advantage. The only issue I see is if each company creates it's own "super/fast" charging system and DRMs it for "security" reasons.

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> When EV gets popular enough won't all petrol station install chargers too?

More importantly, when EVs get popular we'll obviously see new power supply stations everywhere, and they may not comply with today's notion of a gas station. We'll see for example EV-specific stations such as rest areas or highway diners or shopping centers or autosilos or private parking spots that provide that service while drivers go on with their lives. These actually already exist, but as the number of EV cars is so small in comparison to ICE cars that they are barely noticeable.

Yes, the form factor is different so we will get more chargin stations then petrol station, I was thinking at the long trips Tesla owners say they can do because they can recharge the car in 39 minutes or something like that, but most citizens will be fine with night charging at home.

The best place to charge an EV is wherever the car spends the majority of its daylight hours (which for many workers will be the company parking lot). That way they can be charged directly from solar PV during the peak hours, avoiding the necessity for storing that energy anywhere else.

Also, if these charging stations are managed by the power company, they can act as reserves of power for the area, so electricity spikes can be handled by EVs. This also goes for cars parked at home, which can charge after peak hours and use other renewable sources, like wind.

I'm very interested to see if this actually happens in the near future.

Unless solar panels evolve _considerably_ in efficiency, or you cover a gigantic area with panels for a single car, I believe that’s not really a viable option

Petrol stations are usually on prime commercial land. I doubt theyd get more revenue from charging stations over sale or lease to commercial activities like shops, etc.

I guess in the future Movie theatres, airports, malls, etc will be equipped with charging stations as an incentive to customers.

I think the idea is that most people will use home charging.

Although not being able to charge from home looks like an opportunity for someone.

Maybe some stations will have charging lobbies, where you can charge your phone and take a nap (charge yourself) while the car charges.

In that case, I foresee another wave of dongles.

Will dongles work if we talk about DRM? You may need to pay a hell lot to buy an approved dongle that contains the correct security key or someone needs to crack the DRM.

I hope we don't get scenarios where you need to charge a car, there are 10 free sports but all are from different manufacturers and are not compatible or charge you extra like we had with ATMs where you had to find teh right ATM or pay extra.

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