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Comment by moocow01 | Hacker News Reader

The thing is as adoption increases there will be less charging stations and just spots with EV charging whether its in a home, apartment or street parking. I think the idea of a station where you go to fill up with electricity or gas will become obsolete - it'll be ubiquitous as anywhere can effectively be a gas station for very little investment comparatively.

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I suspect there will definitely be concentrations and branding around charging stations. As I wrote above, users of fast charging stations will likely be heavily oriented toward those that put the most miles on their vehicles everyday- commercial drivers. I predict that lunch spots will end up with a lot of charging stations- drivers will do half a day's work, charge the vehicle during lunch, then be able to finish up the day without worry. The restaurant/charging station association works will for travelers.

This is likely true even once we get autonomous vehicles- people may not drive the vehicles anymore, but they will still be loading/unloading, selling, or fixing things at the destinations.

I think the unknown really is the progression of battery technology. If in 5-10 years every EV's range is 1000 miles, charging stations could be very limited in their economic viability if apartments and homes have ubiquitous installations. Commercial is a bit different but still battery technology would likely have similar effects where it would still push charging to be at the home base.

With current battery tech, fast charging wears out the battery faster than slower charging. If you are fast charging every day, your battery won't last very long.

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