Posted on 05/23/2021 7:10:50 AM PDT by DoodleBob
So you’re thinking about trading in your gas-guzzling SUV for a futuristic, energy-efficient, quiet-as-a-nun-walking-through-the-Vatican fully electric vehicle? Mazel Tov! But you’re wondering how long it takes to charge an EV? Well, fine sir or madam, you’ve come to the right place.
The electron pit-stop offers different charge rates based on capability, type of charger, weather, temperature, how many cars are connected to the station, time of day, and your car’s battery capacity. As such, EV chargers often require a quick tutorial by the manufacturer or dealer. But just like pumping gas, after a few fill-ups it becomes second nature.
To make understanding EV jargon easier, The Drive’s crack How-To department is here to answer just how long it takes to charge an electric vehicle, along with a handful of other frequently asked questions about EVs.
Game?
Nearly every electric vehicle comes with a factory-provided charger, but manufacturers and third-party businesses offer faster, more efficient chargers, too. These can be installed by an electrician or be gas station-like chargers installed throughout the country.
Here’s a quick rundown of the type of chargers available:
Now that you have an idea of the types of chargers available, here are The Drive’s estimates of how long it will take your electric car to charge, variables notwithstanding.
While conventional gasoline pumps have a predetermined flow rate, which can be somewhat affected by the number of cars fueling up, a charger’s is subject to a great many more variables that affect how quickly its EV juice is dispensed.
Here are some variables that affect an electric car’s charge speed:
In the U.S., the national average cost per kWh is around $0.13 but can reach $0.32 per hour in Hawaii—aloha. On average, however, you’ll spend less charging your EV than you would fueling a gasoline-powered vehicle.
There are also costs associated with your selected charger. Standard Level 1 chargers are normally included in the price of a vehicle, but if you want a faster Level 2 charger, that’ll require more investment as they’re more than just a plug-and-play setup.
Tesla offers its Gen 3 wall charger for $500, and third-party chargers can range from $400 to $900, plus $1,500 to $2,000 for installation.
How far you can travel in an electric vehicle has become a sticking point, with many potential buyers citing “range anxiety” as the biggest hurdle to adoption.
Just like a gasoline-powered car, the estimated electric range varies from car to car. Consumers can get anywhere from 84 miles in a Fiat 500e to well into the 300-mile range in an EV like a Tesla Model 3 Long Range or Porsche Taycan.
Considering the average American’s commute is 16 miles, any of the current EVs offer more than enough range. Charging stations are also becoming more common along highways making long-distance road trips achievable.
Electric vehicles are still in their infancy and as such can still suffer from build quality issues that commonly affect the first-generation system. That will change.
As subsequent evolutions of the electric vehicle roll off the assembly line, EVs have the real potential to be more reliable than any gasoline-powered car. An electric car requires only a few moving parts, as well as few parts that require fluids that could be corrupted by the elements, fuel, particulates, or grease. Thus, electric cars won’t need as much maintenance and could triple a car’s longevity.
You've got questions, The Drive has answers!
A. As shown about, they'll supply about 30 miles of range in one hour. Though, at-home chargers are getting faster as the tech proliferates.
A. That would be either the Porsche Taycan or Audi E-tron GT, both of which ride on the same electrical architecture and can make use of the 800v ultra-fast charging.
A. You can and can't. Most manufacturers have built-in safe guards so that you don't overcharge your vehicle. Tesla actually released a patch that modifies its car's thermal loads and charge capabilities after a handful of cars spontaneously combusted.
A. According to GMC, it'll take about 10 minutes to restore 100 miles of range when the truck goes on sale in 2022.
NJ is the armpit of the USA.
You mean kinda like downtown Richmond?
Just because you have 2, 200 Amp panels doesn’t mean you have 400 amps.
“And I’ve heard the only things in Texas are steers and queers. Do you have horns?”
Bet you don’t know what a steer is!
You didn’t answer the question.
NJ odors are so bad that New Yorkers had to evacuate. People in NJ were wondering what was all the fuss!
Define steer.
Define steer.
Your confusion must mean you’re the latter.
I KNEW you didn’t know.
Downtown Bayonne???
It depends how far you drive, the vehicle you drive, and how you have it set up to charge your vehicle. Many people have been putting solar on their roof. Some families near me have been adding 1-2 extra panels and a backup storage battery that feeds to the garage. Free fill ups, and the expertise to install a charger that will get you from 0% to full in 4 hours. Not everyone thinks this far ahead, but it will start to become a way of life. The power construction sector might need more time. Diesel engines are going to be hard to replicate. For now, the average American would be perfectly content with a Tesla Model 3 and a 220V charger in the garage. As technology shifts, cars go farther, more stations get built, you can still go inside and get your Double Gulp and chips.
I don’t know how many people take cross country trips anymore. My boss does about 4 times a year and his app tells him where to stop and charge. Mostly densely populated areas and dealerships that sell similar cars. Plug, lock, eat lunch.
I don’t know when the last time you got gas was, but it took me longer than 5 minutes, and I only drive about an hour a day. Even if i drove 3 hours a day, the first models were a racket. Now technology is catching up. I can go 350, some 400, some 500, some farther miles away. And i’d prefer to drive home, park my car, and plug it in until the morning and have a full battery than hanging around gas stations.
Also, your analogy is pretty weak that any charging station is immediately a hold-up junction. What are they going to get? Your super speed charging minutes? Criminals aren’t that smart. ATMS have been loaded with lines of people depositing and retrieving large stacks of cash. Where’s the hold ups?
Amongst the environmental intelligentsia, there is what they call transition risks, which in many ways is crystallized as the costs incurred on the way to a greener world. Often, these are hard costs - outlays for green hardware, costs for disposal of non-green things, and losses on non-green businesses (e.g. Chapter 7 of ExxonMobile etc.).
But there is also an economic cost, which is an overall reduction in "consumer utility" or satisfaction. These costs are, often, ignored in part due to the difficulty in quantifying utility. But they are REAL costs.
This was perhaps best seen in the US' flirting with going full-metric system. Sure...base 10 measurements sure are easy to remember, more logical, and we got a few extra ounces from a 2 liter soda bottle vs 64 ounces. But it failed in part because few Americans really WANTED the "better for us" metric system.
Until some bright bulb can convince a large swath of Americans that EVs will enhance their net utility, this transition either won't happen or it'll require force.
i’d prefer to drive home, park my car, and plug it in until the morning and have a full battery than hanging around gas stations.
To be sure, many Americans are more than willing to put up with the many transiton risks that accompany EVs because their personal utility function has "being green" as a major driver, or they share your preferences that you highlighted. That's perfectly fine...I'm all for consumer choice. Indeed, I prefer buying my meat direct from the farmer...it's a hassle and costs me more, but it is MY utility function and - wait for it - I'm not forcing anyone to subsidize my increased utility.
So I don't agree that this inevitable, but I also wouldn't want to force anyone to drive a gas-guzzler. Or, to paraphrase a great saying, I don't share your preference for EVs but I'd fight for your choice.
Make sure your head is resting against the head rest!
Correct. 400 amp services requires 600kcm wire. The demand would never exceed that. So why shell out the $? Answer: You don’t. The higher the volts the lesser gauge wire is required.
Ex 220v at 30amps requires 10awg. 120v a 30amps would require 6awg.
“The transformer feeding my has 12.5 KVA stenciled on it but I supposedly have 200 amp “service”. I smell BS....”
You have a 200 Amp panel. The utility doesn’t spec your panel.
“Until some bright bulb can convince a large swath of Americans that EVs will enhance their net utility, this transition either won’t happen or it’ll require force.”
The ‘bright bulb’ for lighting was LEDs.
LOL. Do you know basic math? Solve for X.
What size transformer would be necessary to supply 200amps AC current at 220volts?
X = 200 x 220; X = 44Kva.
So I ask how in the hell is a 12.5Kva transformer ever going get close to 200amps? Answer IT CAN'T. The 12.5 Kva transformer can only supply 1/3 of that amount of current.
The utility doesn’t know you have a 200 Amp panel. You keep posting your nonsense. Why?
Why does anyone need 200A service? It’s a joke. The most I am going to get out of that pathetic 12.5 Kva transformer is 66A.
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