“Google-backed EV charging startup Gravity opens fastest public chargers in the US”

[Chewy734]

Since it’s the size of a suitcase, they should literally use a tethered suitcase you can place next to your charging port (wherever that is). Would be an interesting charging experience.

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[Cycliste]

Education is hard.

I like the parking lot analogy. When the lot is empty, it’s fast to find empty spots to park cars. But when the lot is 96% full, it is much slower to find empty spots to park the cars.

 

[BigSkies]

I read the article and browsed their website. While it might be an incremental improvement, there's a lot of fundamental physics they're glossing over. I'm not an electrician, but I have a basic understanding of the fundamentals at play here.

They're saying this can be placed up to 500ft from the power box. That's great, but the further from the power box you are, the larger gauge wire you need and the greater your energy losses. That's physics. The more power you put through it, the bigger transformer you need and the bigger gauge wiring you need as well. That's also physics. That's also money.

Once you start putting out power at higher kW, the charging stations costs go up in a greater than linear fashion. That's just utility billing.

Having a box that is physically capable of 500kW is cool, but most charging station owners will practically choose a lower number. Flexibility to choose 50kW, 150kW, 300kW etc is the selling point here.

500kW capable is very forward-looking though. It's beyond the physical limits of current lithium ion chemistry, but we will be seeing Mercedes silicon-anode cars starting in 2025. BMW will be having solid-state batteries in prototype cars in 2025. I'll guess this means seeing them in the super-high end vehicles in 2026 or 2027. It will still be a few years before us lowly Rivian owners (much less lower price vehicles) get them, but they are coming. The battery factories are being built now.

While the primary benefit of silicon-anode and solid state batteries is higher energy density, a side benefit is the ability to sustain faster charging speeds for longer. I don't know what this means in practical kW terms, but we're talking about maybe halving charging times if the chargers can support it.

 

[Rividiculous]

Yes, I tried to. Spent about 10 minutes with the guy. I mentioned the max speed of the ID.4, I thought it was 150 kW, couldn't remember, but knew it wasn't 350 kW. I also talked about the SOC playing a big role here. He didn't seem very convinced and more annoyed at VW and the FPL Evolution charger. He said he tried EA also and got the same results. Hopefully, someone else will convey the same info to him at another stop to reinforce what I said. Education is hard.

You are a good citizen. It’s a process. I’m still learning too and can easily see myself being a dope about this stuff despite my efforts not to be.

 

[BigSkies]

You are a good citizen. It’s a process. I’m still learning too and can easily see myself being a dope about this stuff despite my efforts not to be.

It's an interesting learning curve. I had a neighbor get an ID.4 after her prior VW had some mechanical issues. She's someone that has no interest in technology or understanding how things work. She's the archetype of the mass-market buyer that just wants something that works and doesn't care about the details. She's one of my favorite neighbors, but trying to explain kW, kWh, and charging curves might as well be explaining actuarial accounting.

I had to explain home charging to her. She's just been using the free DCFC that came with the car. She's also a renter, so probably won't get an L2 charger installed.

A big part of getting mass-market adopters into the EV world is just simplifying everything.

 

[Count Orlok]

not a bad commute from East Lansing.

 

[HaveBlue]

No grid upgrades at all? Somehow 24 stalls of 500kwh each doesn't need a bigger breaker? Moreover, they can easily install as many or more than Tesla no problem? Well, that's impressive like Toyota's solid state battery.

 

[defcon888]

As much as California SUCKS, the one advantage of California is the EV infrastructure.

 

[KootenayEV]

No grid upgrades at all? Somehow 24 stalls of 500kwh each doesn't need a bigger breaker? Moreover, they can easily install as many or more than Tesla no problem? Well, that's impressive like Toyota's solid state battery.

That was one of my reactions too when reading the article! They seem to be glossing over some things and have a fair amount of hubris.

I also chuckled when I saw the size of the "carry-on suitcase" - I haven't been on a plane yet where that would be considered carry-on! (And that's ignoring the fact that this doesn't even seem to be the charger itself, similar to how the Tesla post is receiving the actual juice from the centralized boxes)

 

[Mathme]

You can plug your Rivian into that 500kWh charge port, but you'll still only get 220ish kWh...and not for very long.

Just sayin.....

 

[whyasky]

That's gonna be pretty hard to navigate with a trailer.

Unless your trailer is a pop up theater. Then you fit right in and get bonus points.

Actually, these should be free to use as long as the owner of charging vehicle agrees to act out a stream of monologues selected by passersby.

There's got to be a business model that works here.

 

[Ced]

You can plug your Rivian into that 500kWh charge port, but you'll still only get 220ish kWh...and not for very long.

Just sayin.....

You’re correct, went there today and was at 120/150 most of the time with a peak around 200. Not cheap either.

 

[Ced]

It’s not a bad option in Manhattan.

 

[Ced]

You’re correct, went there today and was at 120/150 most of the time with a peak around 200. Not cheap either.

About $0.63 kWh

 

[Gen(R3)Xer]

Interesting. I’m wondering if there’s a consensus as to the point that’s “fast enough.” My understanding is that the faster you push energy into the battery, the faster it wears. Is there data that suggests “slower DC fast chargers” could be better long term than faster fast chargers?

Maybe faster is better until fast charging only takes, say 5 minutes to add 200+ miles. Someone on this forum must have thought this out already…..

They did some studies on this with Teslas and there was no noticeable long-term degradation charging at a supercharger vs. home charging. Of course this is just Tesla and their battery packs, chemistries, and thermal management systems, not everyone else’s.

However there was a ride-share driver who bought a Tesla and supercharged it twice a day. He ended up degrading the battery in record time, so much so that he had to have the battery replaced.

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