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Comment by bbarn | Hacker News Reader

This was a fun read, but unfortunately, the electric car isn't practical yet in the environment it should excel the most at - the city. It's only a feasible option if you're a home owner with a garage. I could totally afford a tesla, and I love them, but I don't want to own anything beyond a condo in the city, and that means street parking. Even in the best neighborhoods where I wouldn't worry about the car getting stolen/vandalized, there's still no where to charge it! Residential city areas are never going to be lined with charger plugs for people to parallel park outside their apartments and use.

So, the only people it's practical for, are suburban (or very well off urban) people who don't drive often. I just don't see the infrastructure needed happening in a city the size of Chicago within my lifetime, and since populations are still centered there, I don't see gas cars going away in my lifetime, as much as I'd love them to.

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Over here in Finland most apartment building parking lots come with lines of electric outlets (used to keep the cars warm in the winter) that have already been there for tens of years.

Here's a picture: http://www.vastavalo.fi/albums/userpics/13723/normal_2010110...

Currently these don't have high enough amperage for fast charging of Teslas but the electric companies are already upgrading their infrastructure to enable that.

In my apartment complex (built recently in Sweden) there is a shared garage located below the building. It is a great way to get cars off the streets and certainly a feasible location for chargers. In fact, I believe there are some there already.

Just FYI my friends live in a condo in the city and drive a Tesla anyway. They use the supercharger stations just like normal gas stations -- fill up once a week (or less if you don't drive much) _for free_ and you're good to go. So it's definitely possible, just slightly less convenient than an ICE car due to the small number of high-speed charging stations currently available.

http://www.teslamotors.com/findus#/bounds/42.023131,-87.5240...

Not in this city. The nearest one is an hourish away, depending on time of day and traffic. This is by the way, the third largest city in the country.

New York has only one in JFK, which as I understand it is an awful place to have to drive to.

Possible, yes, practical, no. "Slight less convenient" is a gross understatement in at least these two cities. LA, well.. the culture of "you just have to take an hour to get anywhere" seems to permeate anyway so maybe it works.

This is such a US-centric view.

In some countries, you can't even own a vehicle if you don't provide proof that you have some place to park it at (eg. Japan, lookup Shakoshomeishou). In others, you would be crazy to leave a car parked outside overnight, luxury or not - there is insurance, but the premium will easily double (eg many areas in Brazil, particularly the North and Northest states).

It's applicable to many european cities.

And in some countries you can just park pretty much anywhere and you'll only worry will be potential parking tickets.

My rental apartment in the Bay Area has special parking spots with chargers for EVs. And it's not a particularly high end complex (though it is large). Within a year I would expect this to be standard here, maybe within two years for the rest of the country. It seems pretty standard these days for large public parking lots in places like shopping malls to have them as well.

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