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.
It will always be the Tappan Zee to me!
For me this is the money line:
“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.”
EV’s are not much more than scaled up retirement community golf carts. Bigger, more capable, more expensive and the community or range they work in scales up about proportionally.
Consider the “charge hours” necessary for these vehicles compared to pumping fuel. You pump fuel in 10 minutes or less. At best you charge in 40 minutes. For comparable load and availability to service as compared to IC it would take at least 4 times as many charge locations as fuel pumps we have now so that everyone could charge without waiting an obscene amount of time for access to a charge station.
OK, I’ll give you that the commuter will probably charge at home but still:
No sale.
Doesn’t matter to me....I can’t afford an electric car. GMs truck comes in at $70,000....I assume the cars will start at 40-50 thou!!!!
Wonder how many charging units are in down town New York city Chicago Los Angeles......
All what people that work at gas stations? I know 4 gas stations in town that are 100% automated, pay at the pump with card or cash, somebody comes in every week or so to take the tills. Meanwhile I know 1 full service station that actually employs more that 1 person at a time.
If they don’t need gas then they will not go there
Totally agreed.
> We all hated hybrids, but there are some out there, and many here even support them now.
To paraphrase you, "hybrids are appropriate for some, not everyone."
I have a pickup with a 5.7L V8 and an 8-ft bed that'll take a 4x8 sheet flat. It's also my snowplow vehicle that can clear my half-mile gravel driveway on a wooded hill in Upstate NY. It spends most of the winter with heavy chains on the rear wheels.
I also have a hybrid passenger car. It can't carry plywood or plow snow. But it gets nearly 4x the gas mileage as the pickup. Guess which one I use to drive to the grocery store. "Appropriate" is the keyword.
All-electric vehicles have a good way to go in their development before I'll consider one. Right now, it's not appropriate.
A 15kw system is 15,000 watts worth of panels it makes 15kWh per hour of sunlight and in North Texas is ten hours in the shortest day of the year. Mine are two axis tracking panels. So they reach full power as soon as the sun is up.
I leased a tesla for a year loved it, in City driving I got 4 miles to the kWh on the regular over my ten mile commute each way. On the motorway it’s 3 to 2.5 at 100not with the cruise set at that speed.
I’m so pale I burn in moonlight as to my race proud of it. I say I can out pink
red headed Irishman.
You don’t own solar it’s obvious you don’t. Nor have you ever owned a Tesla so let the men talk now
“I take it every employer will have a charging station for each employee or will allow time during the day to go charge your vehicle?”
At my local libraries, there are a few charging stations.
People park their electric cars by the chargers and stick in the cable upon arrival. When they come out, they walk to the charge cable and remove it and place it back on the charger, then drive off.
By 2030, 10% of employer parking spaces might be reserved for vehicle recharging and have charge cables.
By 2040, 40% of employer parking spaces might be reserved for vehicle recharging and have charge cables.
By 2050, 60% of employer parking spaces might be reserved for vehicle recharging and have charge cables.
Here in Florida, the parking of vehicles by recharging posts is regulated by law already.
Electric cars will be used mainly by the well-paid at first, simply because low-cost used gasoline-powered cars are far more plentiful and will long remain the only practical choice of the lower-paid.
Every parking spot may have eventually have a charging cable, much like parking spots in downtowns have parking meters, but one charger might serve several charging cables.
Cool story, bro.
Now do Buffalo, New York.
Or is everyone in the country going to move to Dallas, Phoenix and Miami?
disclaimer: I have a university minor in Mathematics, and have worked in the trades with electricity
Those car manufactureer provided level 1 chargers can only safely pull 20 amps of 120 ac from a residential wall socket.( Many older homes have only 15 amp rated socket and wiring.
So at best power INPUT to the charger 2.5 kw and no charger is 100% efficient.
A full charge to the modest 39kwh pack will take at least 18 ours.
Much better battery life results if battery is not discharged more than 50 % .
So two scenarios are workable: drive to work using half the capacity and the car recharges during your 8 hour shift plus lunch, then drive home and plug it in again.
Or drive to work using 25% or charge, park car , drive home arriving with half discharged battery and plug in.
BIG question is how many charge discharge cycles? If 1000 expect battery replacement in 3 years or less. And there is a small but measurable loss in capacity each cycle.
Ive used LOTS of rechargeable batteries in last 45 years and the ones that had longest useful life were charged at low rates . 10 years life for batteries charged at slow rate daily versus 1 year forthose fast charged. The slow charged batteries barely warm the fast charged HOT.
THAT'S gonna leave a mark!
What happens when electric rates skyrocket? I guess uncle Joe will just hand out more government subsidies or price controls. So, the whole country can end up can sitting in the dark.
Well chucky wants ICE vehicles banned by 2040 so we’ll have to do better than 40%.
How many feet of snow will a fully-charged "lectric" truck be able to plow before dying?
You may have invented a new EV term: "plow feet".
Reality is a bitter draught to the Eloi, apparently...
Sounds to me like you nailed it.
“Inevitably, an EV will take much longer to charge that it would to fill your car with gas, and often the wait will exceed one-half an hour. At some point, someone is going to realize the commercial opportunity that exists when motorists are both captive and bored at the same spot. EV charging stations will merge with some other form of diversion, but of what type I cannot imagine.”
There are millions out there that really don’t need a full refill in ten minutes. My wife’s 2015 SUV has less than 40k. My 2019 is less than five thousand. If we had electric we would very rarely have to charge away from home.
Present technology is about 15 miles per minute.
Many that do long trips with stops at rest stations to relax and fiddle on wifi.
Most travelers hit the wifi when stopping to eat.
For those like you , with plenty of money and sunshine solar and electric cars are fine.
For those in much of the nation solar is a expensive joke.
These EV’s are one of the biggest scams forced upon us by benevolent dictators around the world.
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