I used to like hybrids, and obviously series hybrids are the coolest kind of hybrids, but now that I’m driving a budget EV, I honestly don’t see the point anymore. Just get the EV and skip the awkward half-way step that inherits the most expensive and complicated parts from both designs.
Seeing a sleek modern car pull away whisper quiet and then start the ICE 3 seconds later with a stutter and a puff of water vapor from underneath is the most schizophrenic sight, it somehow feels more dated than actual ICE cars.
Unless you live in bumfuck nowhere with expensive electricity, zero solar power and a daily 5 hour commute, an EV will likely work just fine for you.
> bumfuck nowhere with expensive electricity, zero solar power and a daily 5 hour commute
If we put aside 5 hour commute, this describes central Tokyo, not bumfuck nowhere. Bumfuck nowhere has land for offgrid solar and therefore free home charging.
If the city you're in offers free roadside parking with L1 or L2 charging on light poles, good for you, but Tokyo and Japan at large isn't like that at all(unattended roadside parking is banned nationwide and robotic garages are everywhere).
Yeah, so few households that still own a car but don't use for commute choose cheaper ICEs that require no attention during weekdays. Then company cars driven weekdays when necessary remain ICE for familiarity as well as various EV chicken and egg problems.
The canonical American setup of a house with a garage where you can charge your car is exceedingly rare in Tokyo. Most people live in apartments and don't have cars, and even suburbam houses rarely have garages. If they have cars, they're parked in the apartment garage or a monthly contract parking lot, neither of which has charging.
It's a solvable chicken and egg problem, and China cracked it, but for time being Japan is way behind the curve in EV adoption.
The trays that hold cars are either passed between different rails or rotated around like a paternoster lift(the Prague city hall weird elevator thing). It's just incompatible with the concept of a cable, and a third rail or giant bus bar docking plug upgrades for those systems would be too costly and risky.
Maybe that might have happened already if Japan was as insane as it was in 1995, but it just costs too much right now.
You’d think they could have a connector which lined up fairly easily when storing them and building a new one. Have a standard 30kW supply which automatically plugs in, then powers an on ramp charger. Not every ramp/spec would need the electic, only cars that need charging.
Yeah, they do exist but IIUC, real world deployments are rare. I totally forgot about this when writing the original comment, but a lot of these systems can't take many SUVs and all Tesla vehicles(including Model 3) mainly due to width and also to height. Maybe that is a compounding factor for rarity of those upgrades.
Toutouxc · · focus · HN ↗
Seeing a sleek modern car pull away whisper quiet and then start the ICE 3 seconds later with a stutter and a puff of water vapor from underneath is the most schizophrenic sight, it somehow feels more dated than actual ICE cars.
Unless you live in bumfuck nowhere with expensive electricity, zero solar power and a daily 5 hour commute, an EV will likely work just fine for you.
numpad0 · · focus · HN ↗
If we put aside 5 hour commute, this describes central Tokyo, not bumfuck nowhere. Bumfuck nowhere has land for offgrid solar and therefore free home charging.
If the city you're in offers free roadside parking with L1 or L2 charging on light poles, good for you, but Tokyo and Japan at large isn't like that at all(unattended roadside parking is banned nationwide and robotic garages are everywhere).
WarmWash · · focus · HN ↗
numpad0 · · focus · HN ↗
flakeoil · · focus · HN ↗
motionlessveloc · · focus · HN ↗
It's a solvable chicken and egg problem, and China cracked it, but for time being Japan is way behind the curve in EV adoption.
hdgvhicv · · focus · HN ↗
numpad0 · · focus · HN ↗
Maybe that might have happened already if Japan was as insane as it was in 1995, but it just costs too much right now.
hdgvhicv · · focus · HN ↗
Indeed this seems to be an available product:
<a href="https://www.ip2.co.jp/parking/kikaishiki/products/ev-charging-system/" rel="nofollow">https://www.ip2.co.jp/parking/kikaishiki/products/ev-chargin...
<a href="https://www.tokyo-gas.co.jp/news/topics/20220930-04.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.tokyo-gas.co.jp/news/topics/20220930-04.html
With this being a retrofit
<a href="https://www.mhi.com/jp/news/1101285025.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.mhi.com/jp/news/1101285025.html
So it just seems to be a commercial question of demand rather than a technical question of feasibility.
numpad0 · · focus · HN ↗