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[Tripon]

Making an electric car is easy. We’ve been doing it for more than a century. Charging them, however, is tough. It requires infrastructure—a grid on the grid—and presents a chicken-egg conundrum: Who wants a plug-in car when there’s nowhere to plug it in? Who wants to build car chargers, when there aren’t enough cars to charge?

Rest easy, Tesla-heads and Nissan Leaf geeks; we’re finally getting there. The number of charging stations in the U.S. has reached a critical mass. The U.S. Department of Energy says there are now 14,349 electric vehicle charging stations nationwide, comprising almost 36,000 outlets. Meanwhile, electric vehicle owners still do most of their charging at home outlets that aren't included in that tally, according to the agency.

But with $2-a-gallon gasoline in much of the country, it might take longer than Romano thinks. Americans, it turns out, have been buying a record amount of gas this year, as a solid labor market and cheap fill-ups encourage them to drive more. Low fuel prices and increased driving also led to a 7.2 percent increase in fatal traffic crashes in 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“I don’t think anybody could have seen this coming a few years ago,” said Jeff Lenard, vice president at the National Association of Convenience Stores. “They’re driving more, and the sustained period of $2 gas has changed behavior both behind the wheel and in the showroom.”

So far, the rash of car-charging ports appears to be holding little sway at dealers. In the first six months of the year, Americans bought about 65,000 cars that required charging. Ford alone sold that many pickups, on average, every month.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-08/can-36-000-car-chargers-cure-our-love-of-cheap-gas

 

[Log4Girlz]

We need a big boost in range, which is theoretically possible, before electrics really take off.

 

[O Canada Our Home and Native Land]

How do people find charging stations? Do they use an app?

 

[PantherLotus]

Yes, this is the tipping point. Just wait until automated drivers take over in the next 20 years, too.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

Yes, this is the tipping point. Just wait until automated drivers take over in the next 20 years, too.

its not going to take 2 decades.

 

[sphagnum]

The only time I've seen a charging station was at a rest stop in New York.

 

[neptunes]

See quite a few of them here in the Toronto area, they're usually in the parking lots of large retail centers.

 

[Foffy]

its not going to take 2 decades.

Less, or more?

 

[Morrigan Stark]

This couldn't come too soon.

How do people find charging stations? Do they use an app?

How did people ever find gas stations before apps, I wonder

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

Less, or more?

way less

less than a decade

 

[Zackat]

Less, or more?

I would bet on less.

 

[gatti-man]

No it's not the tipping point.

We still need basic cars with good range and fast charging for under 30k. Then when we start seeing trucks and SUVs with electric motors widely available that will be the tipping point. So 20 more years?

Yeah cheap gas is also a killer. If gas gets above $5 a gallon electric adoption will be faster. It's really going to take 20 years. People aren't just going to suddenly give up utility and frugality just to be green.

 

[Foffy]

way less

less than a decade

I would bet on less.

Atta boys.

 

[SpecX]

Good to hear, but range needs to be solved before more people adopt electric only cars. Cars are expensive and people aren't ready to throw that kind of money at an electric car that limits them on where they can go especially when diesel and hybrids have expanded as well in the market.

 

[Iksenpets]

I have multiple charging stations in my neighborhood, and there are a handful of Teslas/Volts/Leafs driving around using them. It doesn't really feel like a tipping point yet though, since charging still requires taking a detour to one of the three places that has a station, unlike gas where you can just sort of go knowing that you'll hit a gas station soon enough.

 

[Neo C.]

Not sure if we have reached the tipping point, but the growth of both EV and chargers availability is pretty significant: https://youtu.be/gbS2-h2CsxA?t=22s (UK)

 

[Otakumegane]

Are we close to better battery tech yet?

 

[SRG01]

Are we close to better battery tech yet?

They just made a Li-foil electrode which solves many of the issues. That'll roll out pretty quickly since it's relatively easy to do.

Aside from that, nothing outside of a new battery chemistry will solve EV range issues.

 

[BigDug13]

This couldn't come too soon.

How did people ever find gas stations before apps, I wonder

There were street signs and plentiful options. I've seen neither for charging stations.

 

[Jisgsaw]

way less

less than a decade

I'm not even sure we'll have automated cars managing city traffic in ten years, so that seems widely optimistic.

On topic: yes, I'd expect that in the years, even will represent a huge chunk of new cars.