undefined | Better HN

0 pointssomethoughts8d ago0 comments

My hot take for Japan is that hybrids make the most sense until one the major markets (US or all of EU) has significant traction with respect to ubiquitous EV charger infrastructure.

Tesla can fund the project of making EV chargers ubiquitous in the US and make it make sense within the context of a profitable business plan.

Chinese manufacturers can similarly make it make sense financially.

Japanese auto makers who are heavily subsidized by the Japanese government can't easily fund the infrastructure project of making EV chargers ubiquitous in a foreign country like the US or EU and their home market is much smaller.

0 comments

hedora8d ago

California has 1.6 charge stalls per gas nozzle. Does that count?

I places like Japan (small, population dense, with small cars) you can use a 120V outlet to charge an EV. Most places have 240V household outlets, and can charge at least twice as fast.

So, if you have a garage with electricity, infrastructure isn’t really an issue. Sooner or later it will be common to mandate a charger per residential parking spot. The chargers themselves are $200. The main costs are permitting and retrofitting, but that matters a lot less for new development.

If one circuit per parking spot seems like a lot of infrastructure, consider the fact that most apartments have at least a half dozen circuits already.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse