[clyde]

Originally Posted by ZBB

I'm struggling to understand what problem this helps solve.

You identify the problem later in your post.

VW charging robots seem overly complicated -- I give it very limited odds of rolling out beyond a demonstration site or two.

I agree and it's why I said I didn't think it would work, but the good part about it was demonstrating thinking of new models.

charging is not a problem. Most charging is done at home

I don't understand why this is brought up. As you point out in the next paragraph, finding ways for people to conveniently charge that cannot charge at home is the nut to crack. Charging at home for those that can is a solved problem, so why mention it?

The only charging problem is in larger cities where people park on the street and don't have access to an outlet. I don't see how VW's robot charging battery delivery really helps in this situation. Better solutions are to make chargers avail on street parking. I've seen that in multiple cities in Europe, and LA has started adding chargers to street lamps -- https://bsl.lacity.org/smartcity-ev-charging.html

Another potential solution is workplace charging -- my employer has it at some sites (although not at my office due to a weird thing with our county-owned garage that used federal funds to put in dedicated spots for carpoolers, but no dedicated EV spots...).

Originally Posted by JST

Yes, the real, practical solution is the one that zbb identifies--adding charging infrastructure to street lamps and other existing parking. That isn't perfect, and charging for people who don't have single family homes is always going to be less convenient, but it makes a lot more sense to me than charging robots.

The key point here is that if these Level 2 charging outlets are ubiquitous, you don't need to make them fancy and expensive Level 3 fast chargers--though you will have to have those, as well.

I may be really wrong, but chargers at nearly every parking spot seems at least as inefficient and impractical as charging robots, but practicality aside, would work just as well.