Sounds like an EV would be perfect for you. No need to stop at a gas station - just head home, plug in over the course of 20 seconds, go inside, kick off your boots, and relax....
What would be an acceptable charge time at a fast charger for you?
- Thread starter ZZman
- Start date
That the ideal use case really. There's a lot of stuff my dad doesn't get about his new Model 3, but charging at home is probably the thing he appreciates the most.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
You plug it in, not like you have to stand there holding the cord while the electrons flow in....
If you can't charge at home an EV probably isn't a good choice.
My point is, people have little or no 1st hand knowledge of EV use. But they make up all these scenarios.
I met a guy driving a Model S who ran out of juice twice. He admitted the problem was that he wasn't paying attention and both times ran out near home. In both cases the automobile association pulled him onto a flatbed and took him home.
I had the impression he had put on a lot of miles. It was one of the early models with free Supercharging - but he still charged it at home. Convenience is a powerful thing.
I too forgot to plug in one day. And nothing happened to me either. I'd only have to plug in once a week or so but I do it every day because it's so easy.
Certainly one of the issues around California is the possibility of needing to evacuate due to wildfires. Our areas have wildfire potential signs. But obviously there are people who wait until a ICE vehicle is near empty before going to a gas station to fill up. At least with an EV with home charging it's practical to have it charged up to whatever set limit every night.
Tesla had some interesting use cases when it comes to disaster preparations - primarily for oncoming tropical storms. They will remotely extend range in some cases. Some are where the battery itself is software controlled to restrict range that another model (costing more) can use. And some of the performance is software restricted. There have been people trying to hack into the software to extend range and/or boost performance.
But Tesla has enabled longer range in Australia or California when there were wildfires.
https://thedriven.io/2019/11/13/wit...capacity-to-help-ev-owners-escape-bush-fires/
https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-range-upgrade-ca-wildfires-elon-musk/
Wait, I don’t understand.
I get home, plug in the car, taking 15 seconds, not minutes, and I am done.
I don’t sit and watch it charge any more than I sit and watch a Makita battery get charged.
Plug it in, leave it, done.
Pull the plug in the morning.
Still less time spent than filling up an ICE at a gas station, and in this case, the station is in your garage.
What could be more convenient?
Charging time is a very realistic concern with these things. 20 minutes is ridiculous when in reality we are talking hours. In frigid weather even longer. People have better things to do.
I looked into getting a Bolt. I have a Kindle. I wouldn't care how long charging took although I'd do 99% of it at home. But with a Kindle longer charging time may be better.
JHZR2
Staff member
You’re just making yourself a slave to pacific rim supply chains, limited availability parts, and the power company.
You said you don't know anyone with an EV; how do you know about charging? I have been on a Supercharger 1 time in a month, for 10 minutes maybe. And I could have charged my car higher at home and not used a Supercharger.
Yea, I'd be flipping CA the bird and leaving the state. For that and a hundred other reasons.
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You could say that about most things nowadays.
Personally the only issue I had with my EV in 5 years is a damaged Continental tire. When the 12v battery started to croak last year, Tesla came out the next day and installed a new one.
My other vehicles have been worse, even if you just include the oil changes. Batteries, spark plugs, filters, trans services and the worst of all, gas prices.
The first two could be said of any vehicle - the third, well, I fixed that problem.
I net exported 3MW last year back to the grid. Enough to take me anywhere from about 5 to 12K miles in an EV depending on its efficiency.
What? You mean I don't have to stand in that cold garage, hold the handle and keep an eye on the journey of electrons flowing?
At least the cord gets warm, so there's that....
Wow! You made my day and gave me back so much time! Gonna hafta try it real soon!
Sorry, Astro, I couldn't help poking a little fun at myself. I hope everyone gets a little laugh... It's just a car.
Repeat; no offense to anyone.
The scenario is that those who can charge at home should do so. Maybe this is an off assumption, but I would think most people don't drive their cars in the wee morning hours. The idea is to take advantage of the time when most people are sleeping. If you can't do that, then it takes a fair deal of planning to charge an EV in cold temperature.
Level 2 charging isn't really affected by temperature, preconditioning, etc. Pretty much any EV will fully accept whatever Level 2 source is available. It's only fast charging that's affected by cold temperatures.
Last I checked, coal used in power plants was mined here in America. Tesla is also the #1 most American car by parts content. So....
