[BobTT]

I would like to see the decision to only send Electric Models in 2018 to the USA reconsidered, where I live there are nearly NO charging stations, and I don't have a Local Mercedes Benz Dealer, Love the Car, but if there are no more New Gas Models offered, It will be my last .

 

[stevenjb]

In the 1950's the push was to build a national highway infrastructure - now the push should be to build a national highway charging network.

The UK has EV chargers all over the place

Sent from Tapatalk on Android

 

[Blaine]

I would like to see the decision to only send Electric Models in 2018 to the USA reconsidered, where I live there are nearly NO charging stations, and I don't have a Local Mercedes Benz Dealer, Love the Car, but if there are no more New Gas Models offered, It will be my last .

Charging stations are not like gas stations. Sometimes they are useful to pick up a little extra power, but only if they are in places you are likely to go and stay for a while.

So while my wife does charge at work, we do almost all of our charging in the garage. Its very convenient.

If you need to drive the ED more than 100km regularly, get different EV with a larger battery.

 

[MB DNA]

Charging stations are not like gas stations. Sometimes they are useful to pick up a little extra power, but only if they are in places you are likely to go and stay for a while.

So while my wife does charge at work, we do almost all of our charging in the garage. Its very convenient.

If you need to drive the ED more than 100km regularly, get different EV with a larger battery.

NOT like gas stations, so true.

Because the charging stations are usually stand alone with no "attendant" they can be out of order for days/weeks.

Or, because of the prime parking or the look at me "status" you can find them "in use" by the likes of a Volt or Tesla with miles of range remaining?

With home charging - you control your own destiny but only if you plug it in before bedtime . . .

 

[Blaine]

With home charging - you control your own destiny but only if you plug it in before bedtime . . .

We haven't managed to forget to plug the car in yet. It's sort of like pressing the garage door opener... >

 

[gewitzt]

Charging stations are not like gas stations. Sometimes they are useful to pick up a little extra power, but only if they are in places you are likely to go and stay for a while.

This.

There is such a thing as "gas-n-go." Electric charging takes a lot longer; even a "top off" takes about 20 minutes. The more electric cars on the road, the more charging posts will be needed, and the more electric generating capacity will be needed. The infrastructure needed to support EVs is more than just charging stations along the way...

 

[otbiker]

I don’t know if the Smart ED supports “quick charge”. Our Nissan Leaf did. On a Level 3 charger, it would charge from 20% to 80% in about 30 minutes. Nissan didn’t recommend a steady diet of this as its awfully hard on the batteries.

 

[gewitzt]

I don’t know if the Smart ED supports “quick charge”. Our Nissan Leaf did. On a Level 3 charger, it would charge from 20% to 80% in about 30 minutes. Nissan didn’t recommend a steady diet of this as its awfully hard on the batteries.

Would you tolerate waiting 30 minutes for the person in front of you to finish filling their gas tank? Imagine going to Costco/Walmart/BJs, etc. where people line up to buy cheap gasoline. At 30 minutes a pop, you're potentially asking people to wait up to 90 minutes to charge their car -- and then not up to full capacity.

Sorry, that math doesn't work.

 

[MB DNA]

I don’t know if the Smart ED supports “quick charge”.

No, not in N.A.

 

[Blaine]

There is such a thing as "gas-n-go." Electric charging takes a lot longer; even a "top off" takes about 20 minutes. The more electric cars on the road, the more charging posts will be needed, and the more electric generating capacity will be needed. The infrastructure needed to support EVs is more than just charging stations along the way...

Unless you live in a rustic hut, the infrastructure is already in every house. The generating capacity is also present. Overnight is the low demand period, and that's where most EVs get charged.

 

[gewitzt]

Unless you live in a rustic hut, the infrastructure is already in every house. The generating capacity is also present. Overnight is the low demand period, and that's where most EVs get charged.

But without an interstate infrastructure, you are limiting electric vehicles to commuter cars.

 

[jwight]

But without an interstate infrastructure, you are limiting electric vehicles to commuter cars.

I think that's the point of the smart USA decision to concentrate ED sales in metropolitan areas on both coasts. The 453 ED is a city car for sure now.

 

[SuperSmartie]

But without an interstate infrastructure, you are limiting electric vehicles to commuter cars.

Did I miss something? That's what they are!
Nobody will make a cross-country trip with half-hour charging stops every 100-200 miles, even if you had a dense fast-charger network blanketing the country. Well, ok, maybe a handful enthusiasts would - for the adventure.

All it would help is enable occasional trips that are between 1.1x and 1.9x the range of the car. Only occasional, because you wouldn't want to spend the time waiting to charge every day, and only a little more range because you wouldn't want to do it several times each trip.

Seems like very little value derived from huge infrastructure investments.

 

[gewitzt]

Did I miss something? That's what they are!
Nobody will make a cross-country trip with half-hour charging stops every 100-200 miles, even if you had a dense fast-charger network blanketing the country. Well, ok, maybe a handful enthusiasts would - for the adventure.

All it would help is enable occasional trips that are between 1.1x and 1.9x the range of the car. Only occasional, because you wouldn't want to spend the time waiting to charge every day, and only a little more range because you wouldn't want to do it several times each trip.

Seems like very little value derived from huge infrastructure investments.

Except that not everyone (especially the young) wants to be, or can afford to be, a two-car family. I'm unusual, in that I have my smart ED as my (mostly) commuter car and my MB as my "distance vehicle." A couple of weeks ago, I went to a baseball game. The one-way trip was about 35 miles (I live in the suburbs). That's just too far to go considering a round trip and no known charging stations at the ball park. Without my "distance vehicle," I can't take those trips that add to the quality of my life: going to the beach, a trip to the mountains, a scenic drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway...

 

[InjuredAgain]

Nobody will make a cross-country trip with half-hour charging stops every 100-200 miles, even if you had a dense fast-charger network blanketing the country. Well, ok, maybe a handful enthusiasts would - for the adventure.

I used to think that too, but as we've gotten older, we find that if we end up driving a full gas tank's worth of distance, we want the half hour just to stretch out, get loose, and walk around. In younger days, probably not as much.

But the baby boomers are now the ones that are dominating the market, and we're all getting older, getting retired, traveling more, and seem more determined than ever to spend our money rather than give it to our kids. Maybe if this infrastructure becomes more fully developed to suit our generation, that it will benefit those following us and the delay that charging imposes will just become a normal part of a road trip.

 

[eloder]

But without an interstate infrastructure, you are limiting electric vehicles to commuter cars.

So every problem you've mentioned is pretty much 100% solved by Tesla.

You'll never have to wait in line for a Tesla (unless you're in urban California where people like to save $5 instead of charging at home) at their supercharging network.

Their supercharging network has allowed coast-to-coast roadtrips for a couple years now. In the span of 30 minutes, a Tesla can charge enough energy equivalent to three full smart ED batteries (and completely for free for Model S and X).

Their cheap model is in production right now.

I've had the pleasure of road tripping in a Tesla, it's incredibly nice and way beyond any gas car. You save so much more time overall because 99% of the time you just plug it in overnight at home, like a smartphone. No more wasting 20 minutes at gas stations once a week, you only have to take breaks while road tripping a few times a year.

https://supercharge.info/ here's Tesla's national infrastructure. Each dot represents a minimum of 4 stalls, but it's more common to see 8 stalls per location and they even have massive 40-stall locations under construction today.

So the problem isn't that EVs don't work, it's that no other manufacturer cares enough to make it work. Smart has a nice niche as a city-only commuter car, but don't extrapolate that out to general all-purpose EVs that exist and can be bought today.

Smart is wonderful for a city commuter. It'll save you hours and hours a year from no gas station visits, along with a boat-load of money from gas and maintenance savings. Don't buy it if you can't charge overnight at home or while at work.