EV Owners, What Are The Biggest Problems You Face?

LClarence2 on 10/11/2020 - 13:50

We're building software and partnerships that will incentivise businesses (restaurants, hotels, theme parks etc.) and domestic users to install and rent out charging stations, even in more rural areas. The software will provide EV users with a view of all chargers and their statuses around Australia, and we need some questions answered by EV users:

  1. What is your strategy when travelling interstate? (500+ km)
  2. Do you have a go-to website/app for looking for charging stations?
  3. Are there any problems/missing features you wish they had?
  4. Would you rent out your domestic charger to other EV users?
  5. Finally, what do you think is the number 1 reason people don't buy EVs?

Thank you! And hopefully we will be able to help you in a few months!

Automotive

Comments

  • MS Paint on 10/11/2020 - 14:00
    +3

    Do you have a go-to website/app for looking for charging stations

    I thought Tesla vehicles have inbuilt mapping with charging locations?

    Finally, what do you think is the number 1 reason people don't buy EVs?

    Have you seen the price for the only one I would be seen in (taycan turbo s)

    • Clarence2 on 10/11/2020 - 14:37

      Yep Teslas have them but not the Nissans and Hyundais (Not as comprehensive at least)
      But yes i do agree that EV designs can be quite polarizing

  • punkindrublic on 10/11/2020 - 14:04
    +2

    Electric scooter owner here (Vespa style, not Razor!).

    For me the biggest issue is that the charge time for the battery makes it impossible to make any spontaneous decision to travel further than you had planned. In a car or petrol scooter/motorbike you just drop into the nearest servo and refuel to go that extra few kilometres - for electric scooters, even having the charge kit on you doesn't help since you're looking at a 3-4 hour charge time to get the battery back up and running. Luckily I only use the scooter for short trips and usually have plenty of juice for unplanned detours (the max speed is also 80km/h so it's not as if I'm travelling interstate even if I wanted to), but if you need the flexibility to change routes and extend trips electric isn't quite there yet.

    • pao2x on 10/11/2020 - 14:05

      What kind of scooter is that? Fonz?

    • pegaxs on 10/11/2020 - 15:12

      Woot! I got the Super Soco CUx. (Wanted the Fonzarelli Arthur 3, but too much for an electric scooter)

      Anyone reading this, don't buy the CUx. They are sad. 55km/h with a range of about 30km. But I do like the electrical concept. I ride it to work (about 5km each way) but it really struggles on hills.

      Electric bikes are a great novelty, but unlike cars, with the limited space and weight of a bike, they just dont have the power or range or refillability of the electric cars… yet.

      • brendanm on 10/11/2020 - 17:19

        CUx

        Chuckles childishly

  • Mechz on 10/11/2020 - 14:18
    +1

    Not an owner but I wouldn't own one until they can take a 50% (2-300ks worth) of charge in 10 minutes or less.

  • toomuchdogfur on 10/11/2020 - 14:31
    +1

    Not an EV owner, but my thoughts on two Qs:

    Q1. I'd imagine you'd rent a car if you have a once-off, range-anxiety-inducing trip like that. Don't think there'd be many charging points in AU unless you're travelling along the coast.

    Q5. Still so expensive. I'd love an EV, but when a Kona Electric costs >$60k (more than double its petrol brethren) it's a really hard sell.

    • Clarence2 on 10/11/2020 - 14:43
      +1

      Yeah thats true. What we're hoping for is that restaurants/rest stations along the way of the trip will install fast chargers that will give 2-300 km of range in 45 mins, so that when the driver goes for lunch the car chargest up enough to finish the trip.

      But yes prices of EVs are definitely still too high right now for mass uptake. Hopefully the upcoming low cost Tesla model will change that. Thanks for your input tho!

  • arkie0 on 10/11/2020 - 14:36
    -4

    What is your strategy when travelling interstate? (500+ km) Don't.
    Do you have a go-to website/app for looking for charging stations? No.
    Are there any problems/missing features you wish they had? Yes.
    Would you rent out your domestic charger to other EV users? No.
    Finally, what do you think is the number 1 reason people don't buy EVs? They love the smell of petrol

  • pegaxs on 10/11/2020 - 15:02
    +7

    EV Owners, What Are The Biggest Problems You Face?

    Updating my cars Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook accounts and updating it's website and blog.
    Weekly meetings with my financial adviser to advice me what to do with my millions from Tesla stock.
    And again when I sell the car and have to declare I got more for it used than what I paid for it new.
    Updating all my co-workers on what new features my Tesla got via the last over the air update.
    Telling everyone at parties how I drive an EV.
    Thinking of witty tag lines for my new number plate (LOL-01L).
    Butting into conversations about fuel pricing and laughing. "Oh, you guys still buy fuel??"
    Remembering to use cliché words like "frunk"

    Being an EV owner is not easy, and it isn't for everyone…

    • brendanm on 10/11/2020 - 17:20

      😂

    • [Deactivated] on 10/11/2020 - 17:29
      +1

      You forgot to add commenting on every single article about traditional automakers doing anything and saying "LOL, ICE is dead, Tesla has killed Toyota". That takes a lot of time.

      • pegaxs on 10/11/2020 - 20:30
        +1

        "tEsLa iS nOw tHe MoSt VaLuAbLe CaR CoMpAnY iN ThE wErLd!!!1!!1!" (Tesla churn out 300,000 cars a year over 3~4 models… Toyota, about 10 million across about 40 models. "tEsLa sToCk iS nOt bUbbLe StOcK!!1!1!!")

        What I forgot to add was;

        Getting my Martin Shkrelli smug look on when talking about the environment…

  • CheapandUsed on 10/11/2020 - 15:26
    +2

    Not an EV owner due to:
    Q5 Finally, what do you think is the number 1 reason people don't buy EVs?
    Still too expensive and not the 'right' size. Hyundai Kona is getting close, but really the next size up into that mid-size SUV range is probably where the bulk of people would be wanting and a much small price differential between ICE and EV (whole of life/TCO).

    Q1 What is your strategy when traveling interstate? (500+ km)
    Q2 Do you have a go-to website/app for looking for charging stations?
    I saw this site linked somewhere and it has pretty good route planning options https://abetterrouteplanner.com (although it defaults to Copenhagen it does map routes in Australia) you can select your preferred brand of chargers and tell the map to skip a planned stop to see what alternative stops are possible.

    Q4 Would you rent out your domestic charger to other EV users?
    Not a bad idea, put the 'EV Pump' at the front of the garage and charge people for off street parking and charging. I am sure councils would jump on closing that down unless they were getting a piece of that pie.

  • Trance N Dance on 10/11/2020 - 15:41
    +1

    Q5.
    Initial cost, whilst running costs over time are less than ICE vehicles, the price of the vehicle prohibits and deters many from buying an electric vehicle.
    Also depending on use case, an electric vehicle may not be cheap enough over the long run to justify the large initial outlay.
    Battery life. Teslas have a 8 year warranty on their batteries, average age of vehicles in Australia is 10 years. What happens to the car after the original battery dies, will there be a replacement, how will it affect resale value, what happens if there isn't a suitable battery replacement in 10 years time or the cost to do so is factored into the resale value and tanks it, thus making ownership costs higher.
    Is the environmental impact in production and shipping of the car initially actually offset by the reduction in emissions over its lifetime.

  • netjock on 10/11/2020 - 16:19
    +2

    About range. One option to solve it was to have swappable batteries. Literally you are buying the car not including battery and when you pull into a station it ejects the depleted one and puts in a fully charged one. Then you won't ever have battery replacement problems etc.

    But you know people are possessive and they want to keep their original battery blah blah blah, now we have this range anxiety problem.

    • Trance N Dance on 10/11/2020 - 20:54

      There's also a liability issue. What happens if the mechanism that holds the battery in place fails and drops the battery in the middle of the road and causes an accident or the terminal fails/shorts and causes a fire.

      • netjock on 10/11/2020 - 21:22

        Exhaust pipes don't come falling off the back of cars neither does bumper bars or body work. You don't replace the battery with some tradies pushing it into the back try and tie it down. It is a serious design task. It is fears like this which now means built in batteries and range anxiety.

        • Trance N Dance on 10/11/2020 - 22:56

          How often do you change exhausts and bumper bars though. They're designed to be fixed in place, replaceable batteries are not. If you can design a method in which after being used thousands of times will still function safely, then there's no issue with replaceable batteries.

          Sure there's risks of bumper bars and exhausts falling off by those who modify their cars but they're few and far between when taking the general population into consideration. But if you take all electric cars in the general population (assuming once there is high take up) the same percentage risk in general population will see a real world event happening far more often than the 1% risk of the subgroup.

          It's a genuine concern, when things are designed to be replaced, failure rates need to be an important factor, especially when it's a major component.

          Okay, so lets ignore the risk factor of catastrophic failure in high wear components (that affect more than just the individual car). Where would these stations be located, who covers the operating costs, how large do these stations need to be to store enough batteries to be plausible/viable, if the stations are automated what happens when the system fails (especially midswap). They all have solutions, but when all the answers are added together the costs become unrealistic.

          • netjock on 11/11/2020 - 09:28

            @Trance N Dance:

            How often do you change exhausts and bumper bars though. They're designed to be fixed in place, replaceable batteries are not. If you can design a method in which after being used thousands of times will still function safely, then there's no issue with replaceable batteries.

            You would not think the designers would design the batteries to be secured? Don't think like an amateur. The days of car designs with high levels of failure are behind us. With ICE even when there is a failure it is generally contained within the engine bay.

            Sure there's risks of bumper bars and exhausts falling off by those who modify their cars but they're few and far between when taking the general population into consideration. But if you take all electric cars in the general population (assuming once there is high take up) the same percentage risk in general population will see a real world event happening far more often than the 1% risk of the subgroup.

            You pretty much validated my point. Battery swap for EV would not be like gas bottle swap at the service station. You would think it is dedicated infrastructure that would eject, replace and ensure there is enough security.

            It's a genuine concern, when things are designed to be replaced, failure rates need to be an important factor, especially when it's a major component.

            Think history of aircraft. It was dodgy to start but the engineers learnt over time. Same with cars. Don't think like an amateur.

            Mobile phones with replaceable batteries, how often did it fall off the phone of it's own accord unless you dropped it?

  • Sunshines bright on 11/11/2020 - 07:31

    We own a Mitsubishi PHEV
    What is your strategy when travelling interstate? (500+ km)
    We have a electric/hybrid/petrol motor since charging stations are not guaranteed
    Do you have a go-to website/app for looking for charging stations? No see above
    Are there any problems/missing features you wish they had?
    As far as phev nothing
    Would you rent out your domestic charger to other EV users?
    No
    Finally, what do you think is the number 1 reason people don't buy EVs?
    Price and styles available

  • Itburns on 11/11/2020 - 07:32

    1. Spread my trip out so I am stopping for a recharge around when I would need a rest stop/toilet break anyway. East Coast is fine. Outback & west past SA isn't well serviced atm. Recharge takes around 20 - 30 mins.

    2. PlugShare is the current standard site

    3. Charge stations should be swipe & go rather than an app or specific card.

    4. Not practicable as I'm in a secure carpark but otherwise would be workable.

    5. Cost & ignorance about charging. I plug in at home overnight & have a full battery (tank of fuel) every day with approx 450kms real range at 1/3 the price of petrol. I just get in the car each day & drive. No stopping at petrol stations etc.

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