>>1128520So I got an idea. Roadside charging stations, kinda like the ones in the OP, just a solar farm with a few battery packs. You don't even need anybody manning it, just insert your credit card and charge away. No need for refueling, gasoline storage. Just a few thousand dollars worth of solar panels and battery packs.
The main downside of EV is limited range, so station them alongside long and lonely roads like pic related. Maybe every 50-100 kilometers. They are just charging stations, no toilets or stores or food so they are just meant to a quick top up. Like you just drove in a cramped car for the last 2 hours and you want to stretch you legs and walk around, so you might as well do so while you give your car a quick top up.
Same for say, a cigarette break or stopping for some packed lunch or something. Just a quick 10-15 min charge. Which hopefully, battery tech advances to the point where even a few mins of charging can somewhat fill the battery. Maybe 10 mins for a extra 30KM range or something like that.
Hell, it could even be free. Government or company sponsored charging stations that allow anyone to charge for as long as they like. So if your car was really really low on battery, you can just break out your phone and watch a movie as the solar panels slowly charges your car.
And then there's the traditional manned stations that have a store, a dinner, a toilet, maybe even a motel etc. All covered with solar panels, which helps with their electrical bill and means that they don't have to be connected to the grid. So you go eat while your car charges using the solar panels, so your carbon emissions is neutral.
What do /n/ think? Keep in mind that this assumes 10-20 years later with much reduced solar panel and battery pack cost and of course a massive increase in EV. Do you think that we can afford to just litter the roadsides with solar panel chargers?
