Facts are stupid things
And here a are a few stupid facts:
"A) Try that argument with most DIESELs. You'll need an AA man with fuel bleed/prime kit."
An interesting fact, if a little out of date. Not most modern diesels you won't. But the fact remains that petrol and diesel cars generally have a much longer range than battery driven cars and it's much quicker to refuel.
"B) Electrical sockets are far more common than petrol stations"
Indeed they are. As a fact on it's own I can't argue with that. It is, however, in the application where that fact becomes a very stupid thing indeed. You try knocking on a random door and asking if you can have 50KWh of electricity and seeing what answer you get.
"C) Charging times are massively reduced with 3 phase charging."
Again an interesting "fact", but totally false. Charging times are not reduced by using 3 phase. You can't charge a Tesla from 3 Phase.
"sockets for which can be fitted for nominal costs."
A three phase "socket" may command a nominal cost, however the three phase will still need to get from the substation to your house, then you will need a distribution board and of course a three phase meter. I doubt that little lot can be had for nominal cost.
"There is no reason street lights couldn't be modified to provide charging points."
There are several reasons. I don't think you'll find lamposts have the supply or the cable to provide the extra current. Then there is the matter of payment, in the utupia you occupy electricy may be a free resource, in the real world it isn't. And speaking of costs, who will foot the bill for the supply and cabling upgrades, chip and pin machines and internet connections?
"D) Portable charging units could easily be made and stashed in the back of breakdown vans."
And the mechanic has to sit around for how long waiting for you to get sufficient charge? And what do you suppose his hourly rate would be. Then of course his van has to be recharged.
No matter how you look at it battery powered cars have got one hell of a long way to go to match the convenience of their IC brethren, and you can't tell people they've got to put up with the inconvenience. Most people would rather pay the premium of fuel taxes for the convenience.
Then there's the infrastructure. We already have the infrastructure to support our massive fleet of IC vehicles. You may be surprised to learn that, at times, the national grid is close to it's limits. So it's not just a matter of laying some extra cable to support all these battery cars. We would also need to look at increases along the whole supply chain from the powerstations all the way to the point of delivery. It is the manufacturers of the leccy cars that should fund this work, ordinary consumers or tax payers should not be expected to cough up if they have no intention of using a battery vehicle.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
