They should build ev charging stations with a drive in theater so you can watch a movie as you're charging up to continue your road trip
Teslas do this already with the center screen. And a charging stop usually isn't long enough to make that much meaningful progress on a show. You're there for like 15 mins a lot of time tops. Going to the bathroom/getting a sandwich/etc substantially eats into that time.
lol my kids are always disappointed when we’re done charging on road trips because they weren’t done with the episode of their TV show. We can’t even make it through one whole movie 20 minutes at a time on an all-day road trip. Supercharging really only allows enough time to stretch your legs and go for a quick walk before getting back on the road every ~200 miles or so, which you should absolutely be doing anyway.
Enough time to squeeze in an episode of Frasier. I'm down.
A better idea is a vacuum nearby the charger. Meanwhile you pay for the charge you could also pay to vacuum the car. Maybe pay for that water less car wash
I'd start with a trash can nearby. Almost none of them that I've been to have a trash that's anywhere close.
I like this!
Yeah, all I can think of is that they would play ads 24/7 right in front of the parking spot.
The couple I went to when I rented a polestar didn’t even have like a coffee shop or anything nearby. It seemed like such a wasted opportunity for capitalism to squeeze more money out of the traveling public. Oops I meant provide valuable services.
It only takes twenty minutes to fast charge an EV these days. Better to install them at places like Starbucks and McDonalds so travelers can stop, get a drink, and use the bathroom.
I like this idea just for bringing back drive-in theaters. They're pretty non-existent around me. Used to be several and it was always more fun than a regular theatre.
We have 2 near me. I don't go as much as I'd like but they're pretty fun
You’re only charging for 15ish minutes.
Oh wow you're right. Those supercharger stations must be pushing a lot of amperage. I had no idea it only took 15 minutes for 200 miles range. I assume there would be battery degradation over time but still impressive.
So batteries are happiest to charge with high power between like.. let’s call it 25-60%. Most of the time the cars will have you pull over to charge at 10-20% and you’ll only charge up to 70-75% tops.
Charging in that band would take like 15-20 mins. If you charge to 100%, it could easily take 30 mins just for the final 30% because the batteries can’t fast charge as they top off.
It really depends on the vehicle. The fastest ones (Kia/Hyundai) will charge 10-80% in ~18 minutes (350kW max). Something like a Nissan Leaf can take an hour or more.
I assume there would be battery degradation over time but still impressive.
There is degradation over time. Long term results are showing 10% capacity loss over a 10 year period. So if you start with a 300 mile range, after 10 years of use charging and discharging, you have 270 miles of range.
Anywhere from 150 to 350 kilowatts! Usually 400-800 volts. It’s pretty serious.
This actually exists here, the first two rows at the Aschheim drive in cinema have chargers.
I’m sure corporate America is ready to charge you $100 to watch that movie too.
Drive in movies are often cheaper than regular movie theaters.
Drive-in movies where you charge your car?
Not anymore. In LA at least.
IMO, there's a lot of things EV charging stations should have that they do not. Free WiFi for one. It doesn't need to be fast, just enough that you can use the stations app or whatever to buy the electricity. There's a nontrivial number of stations in places with poor or no 3G/4G connectivity. But it's obvious that the station has internet somehow, so it can process transactions.
Then, for any locations that don't have nearby amenities, maybe a covered area, or small indoor area with vending machines? Like the ones that dispense "fresh brewed coffee" which never seems very fresh. Even if it sucks, it's something, and sometimes that's exactly what you need.
Toilets. I think this is obvious, so I'll leave it at that.
Maybe some picnic tables or benches to rest on so you're not glued to your driver's seat.
Make charging stations actual rest stops.
For the TV thing, that's not bad, but I wonder how it would work to pick a movie or something. Alternatively, you could tune it to the local over-the-air channels, then turn the TV on or off based on the presence of a vehicle in the bay.
IDK, there's a ton of work still to do.
At home, my car plugs in over the weekend once a week
On long trips, it charges at a fast charger in less time than it takes to get the children toileted and fed. You need to set an alarm on your phone to avoid getting idle fees
On long trips without kids the in car entertainment is great, but even without it you don't have much time for YouTube, especially if you need to pee
(Tesla with premium connectivity)
With your external screen idea, wouldn't you prefer one you can cast your own content to?
Or we should improve rail and bus transit. Wi-Fi on board and you can stream whatever you want. Plus no stressful, bad for the earth, driving. #fuckcars
There's wifi on board Australian inter-town buses and trains, it's really useful as there's not much phone network between towns here
Legitimately solid idea here, my friend!
It will be really cool when AR becomes a bigger thing. Then you can watch movies or whatever anywhere.
Drive in theaters rocked. Miss them.
There's a new charging technology that allows to charge 50km of range in ten minutes already being rolled out by either Renault or Stellantis. Next step will be full charge. I like your idea but: is it necessary?
The lithium fire would make it dinner and a movie.
I would rather stop at a gas station, fill up my tank which takes like two minutes, pay and be on my way.
I 100% Guarantee you that EV owners spend less time charging their cars than you do getting gas. You don’t have a gas station in your garage (or destination chargers at work, shopping centers, hotels, parking garages etc) that add range to your car while you’re doing literally anything else. You also don’t start every day with a full tank. These destination chargers in parking lots etc are often FREE.
DC fast chargers are only used when you need to travel 200+ miles away. Which isn’t very often.
Example: With the amount that I drive I would need to go out of my way once per week to get gas. This would be conservatively 15 minutes to get to the gas station, pump the gas, and get back on track. With 52 weeks in a year that is about 12-13 hours spent pumping gas into my car. When I get home I plug in my EV and walk away, its fully charged by morning. I spent 0 minutes fuelling it. With occasional road trips I need to use superchargers about 10 times per year at 20 minutes each. ~3 hours vs 13. You would need to fast charge about 50 times per year to start to break even. At 200 miles of range each charge that means you would need to be driving 10,000 miles per year above your normal around-town and commute habits for this to make sense. Like needing to drive straight from NY to LA and back twice every year.
This is a terrible argument against electric cars that needs to die.
Hot swappable EV batteries would be cool
Exists, Nio does it and is steadily expanding the network, but with how fast the 800v cars are charging it’s not really a problem anymore. I took longer breaks on roadtrips than my ev needs to charge even when I still drove a diesel.
I don’t think this really caught on because not everyone takes care of their batteries to the same degree. Frequently charging to 100% or draining to 0% has some negative impacts reducing range and performance. You’re likely to receive one of these used batteries in your car with a swap.
Imagine doing an engine swap on an ICE vehicle with a used one that never had an oil change.
This is what is needed. Serviceable by design, with ease.
Roadways that charge your vehicle as you drive on them would be even cooler
I think this would be the way to go. The infrastructure with gas stations or petrol stations as we call them here in the UK.
Gasoline is based.
We live in a corporate hellhole so you’ll get a screen just big enough to play obnoxious ads instead.
Hey, the thoughts I have while I'm showering do not account for the dystopic problems that'll likely prevent their implementation. My shower is a happy place.
Sorry to take a pee in your shower, that was rude of me
PSA: At every Exxon Mobil I've been to, when the screen on the pump starts vomiting up ads as you're pumping your gas, if you tap the 2nd button from the top on the right side of the screen, it mutes it.
Enjoy your peaceful gas station visit.
I bought an EV two months ago because I didn't know this one trick
This is already done on gaz pumps here. It's fucking terrible how everything is trying to sell you more shit
The lower right buttons on those screens usually mute if they have audio. In case anyone didn't know that.
the screen will be large. Mostly because it was a good idea by some well-meaning soul. The problem is there was a soulless corpo bureaucrat that inserted themselves into the implementation process.
Maria Menounos has become a little demon inside my skull making me think about her every time I think about deisel.
BTW, you can hit one of the buttons to mute the audio.
Only on some of them. Some service stations have disabled this mute function.
assuming the charger works.. which I've heard a certain charger company seems to have trouble keeping their shit functional.