21 thoughts on “Ask A Broadsheet Reader”

  2. Micko

    I’d assume that as popularity of electric cars grow, the car parking spots will probably have to be retrofitted with chargers.

    Big old cost though.

  4. Kim The Cardassian

    HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHA

    The world will burn from climate change long before any OMC will approve installing chargers in apartments complexes.

  6. Rosette of Sirius

    It’s not just a challenge for apartment dwellers, but one also for owners of townhouses – even if they have a parking spot right outside their door. You can’t have a charging cable trailing across a public footpath or other pedestrian route. Regardless of an OMC’s willingness to install. unless there’s an appropriate location for a charging point, in reality, it’s not going to happen.

    We’ve gone all-in with electric vehicles in my house and recently installed a double charging point in the garage. It’s the only way that we charge our cars as the public network is so poor. I’ve been in an EV for nearly 5 years and I can say that nothing has been done to improve or expand the public charging infrastructure in that time.

    So if you fancy yourself in an EV, unless you have your own private driveway where you can install a charging point, forget it.

    1. george

      Apartment building have car parks so I don’t think it will be much of a problem in the next couple of years.

      You’re clearly wrong about there begin no improvements to charging infrastructure. There are 4 public charging points a few hundred metres from my house that weren’t there 5 years ago. They aren’t the only ones built in the last 5 years.

      1. Rosette of Sirius

        Firstly, apartment parking is complex. it’s either a free for all or you buy your own spot. That does not make for an easy charging solution. If the parking is provided on a first come basis, charging point location becomes a lot more difficult.

        And as for the recent additions to the public charging network, it’s laughable. There almost all too slow meaning the car getting the charge will most likely hog the charging point blocking it from others. So adding a few new slow charging points to the network adds to the problem. Then, when it comes to high speed charging, installing the odd high speed at a motorway services station or wherever is, again, utterly useless. Banks of them need to be installed. They have their plans to install them, and that’s grand. But it’s still not enough and it’s not come quick enough.

        Private operators are beginning to enter the Irish market which is good. But because we lag so far behind in our public infrastructure, people have been slow to move to EV in general. The reliability of the public network is also appalling. If a charging point fails, it could be out of action for weeks or in some cases months.

        So to me, they’ve regressed and not capitalized on the opportunity to stoke demand with sufficient capacity.

        I stand by what I said, with one clarification. Unless you have access to your own charging point, don’t buy into a battery electric vehicle. PHEV, fine, but not BEV.

    1. Micko

      Somebody will own them though.

      Owning things gives you options. Not owning things leaves you at the mercy of others.

        1. Micko

          Yeah probably.

          I regret getting rid of my CD’s – just to save space.

          Imagine doing it with yer car ;(

  11. D. Ments. Yea?

    Such manifest ignorance by so many responses here, and laziness by OP.
    It’s already in the building regulations.
    Do your own research.

  12. SOQ

    I know little about this subject hence what is probably a stupid question- does each make have its own type of charger or is it one for all?

    2. Rosette of Sirius

      Yep there are. Japanese cars – certainly the early ones – used a different connection type called CHAdeMO.

      However most charging stations here use the ‘Type 2’ connector and all is needed is a different cable type… Kinda like Apple’s Lightning and USB :)

      Fast charging stations usually have three different connectors that negates the need for your own cable.

      https://www.zap-map.com/charge-points/connectors-speeds/

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