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EV charging surprise?

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NutmegCT

NutmegCT

Great Pumpkin
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Let's say you have a Tesla 3 (250 mile range), and charge it overnight at your home's 220V. OK, no problem. Daily commuting back/forth to work with an EV might make sense.

But if you're traveling for a day or two, you'd have to find a charging point to "fill 'r up" at the most every 250 miles. OK - doable. But ...

Even at 440V, it would take about 1.5 hours to recharge. So you're going to park and wait 1.5 hours, to enable continuing to your next charging point?

Who would ever want to do that, unless the charging points are at a "tourist destination"?
 
And an awful lot of cash for a grocery-getter.
 
Teslas are insanely popular around here. I see more of them than Mustangs. My guess, if someone goes on a road trip, they rent a car. I rented a car for a coastal trip years ago before electrics gained popularity. We wanted a bigger car that had a convertible.
 
Greg - are there charging stations at supermarket parking lots, office complexes, etc.?

I can't see how they could handle dozens (100s?) of EVs unless the charger only runs for 30 minutes or so on a car.

And I'm assuming the user inserts or swipes a charge card or apple phone, etc., to use them?
 
Haven't seen them at supermarkets, but yes to office buildings and parking structures. There are even 2 charging spots on a road about six blocks from me. Just like metered parking, but your charging. I have to shake my head because all the cars I see get plugged in on the driver's side. That means the cord has to stretch across the paint to plug in. Over the hood, down the doors.
 
Thanks Greg. Would be interesting to know if the credit rate per kWh is the same rate as the residential kWh.
 
There are two charging stations in the parking lot of the local Whole Food here where I live.
 
There are a few stations at rest stops along the Florida Turnpike here. Have yet to see them along the west coast Interstate though. I would imagine there are some in the Naples area.
 
Doc - do you ever see vehicles hooked up to those stations?

I've read in many sources that "short quick charging" in parking lots, etc., lowers battery life.
 
Here's a solution to the problem, photo cells, a new definition of the sunroof! :jester:
solar-car.jpg
 
NutmegCT said:
Doc - do you ever see vehicles hooked up to those stations?

I've read in many sources that "short quick charging" in parking lots, etc., lowers battery life.
Click to expand...
I've not seen one yet. On one trip to Miami we took the Pike after a big storm, the charging station at a rest stop we used had about six inches of standing water at the two units! You'd think the engineers would have elevated the things... or accounted for better drainage.
 
I pretty much ASSUME that coast to coast charging will be part of the big infrastructure bill being pushed by the administration. That doesn’t mean it’ll make any sense. I believe the majority of people that want these things don’t care about cars or the joy of driving they just want people movers that don’t use carbon. Their going to spend a lot of money to dictate how and where you drive. As an example you might say , ‘well I can rent another type of car when I want to travel long distance’, but what are you spending for your daily driver that can’t make it more than a few hundred miles without a lengthy charge? And one of the joys of travel for some of us is that trip in the car you personally love not some rented egg. I might believe that the ev could make sense in an urban environment... so keep it there.
 
I've wondered too, are the charging ports and the plugins the same from manufacturer to manufacturer?? I've never paid attention but if you have an EV, would be a pain to have to drive around to find the "chevy" or "ford" or whatever style that fit.
 
mikephillips said:
I've wondered too, are the charging ports and the plugins the same from manufacturer to manufacturer?? I've never paid attention but if you have an EV, would be a pain to have to drive around to find the "chevy" or "ford" or whatever style that fit.
Click to expand...
Same here. The ones we've seen are clearly in Tesla trade dress.
 
Well, if they intend and government pushes some way, to go primarily towards EVs in the next 10-20 years things like that they'll have to settle on common standards. Imagine if for your household bulbs each manufacturer had a different size screw in portion with different thread counts.
 
I gather it is not just charging ports it is also payment apps.

I think this is the article I read about a road trip in the UK and the trials of EV driving.

David
www.independent.co.uk

I tried to drive 300 miles in an electric car for 11 hours and here's what happened

For the journey down, the intention was to stop twice. That quickly went out the window for Tom Richell because he started without a full battery: rookie mistake.
www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk
 
Doesn't do much toward making me want one.
 
EVs will be like a lot of things when it comes to longevity.

I have my Fathers watch that he got as an engagement present from my Mother. They were married in 1946 and the watch still works. Several new leather bands later and a few cleanings.
My wife has an apple watch and we think it is about to go to the electronic pasture in the sky. 3 years old.
How many EV will still be on the road working in 50 years like our LBCs?
Unless they are like this.
David
 
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