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Here is my question, what is folks real experience with rapid vs. regular charging and time? I see folks at charging stations for a whole lot longer than I thi

Here is my question, what is folks real experience with rapid vs. regular charging and time? I see folks at charging stations for a whole lot longer than I think I would be willing to wait. Seems to me you have to be ok with sitting in your car for 90 mins of time in my observation. That would likely drive me crazy. Where I live its a tropical climate and in the summer months sitting around in a car while it charged would be unpleasant if I couldn’t run the AC (or if running the AC slowed that charging process down even further).

kcplate 4y ago
I appreciate all the info. It’s nice to get real world opinion rather than published tech specs. I was considering replacing one of our vehicles with a Tesla pre-Covid, but Covid changed the equation due to both my wife and I being WFH permanently now. We ended up selling one car and just keeping a single vehicle. We take a fair amount of longer road trips and EVs to me just are not up to that task as time efficiently as I need them to be. If we ever go back to a commute—we will revisit the EV option.
MauroIksem 4y ago
It takes about 25-30 min to get to 90% on a long range model 3. You can run ac and watch YouTube. It's not as bad as you think.
deleted 4y ago
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kmeisthax 4y ago
I have no experience with EVs, but everything I've heard from people who own them is that they slow-charge them at home. You only need to use a rapid charger if you're driving very long distances or all day long. The newest cars combined with the best DC fast charge you can buy will fill the car up in about 10-20 minutes. The next tier down of charger and car battery is more like 30 minutes. This is from this video on the subject of EV roadtripping: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZOuz_laH9I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZOuz_laH9I
dangrossman 4y ago
I drive a VW ID.4. When I take a road trip, e.g. when I visit family several states away, that's the only time I use those rapid chargers. I stop at them for 15-20 minutes on average. 2-3 stops gets me from North Carolina to Pennsylvania or back. The trip doesn't take any longer than when I did it in a gas car, as we're taking breaks to use the bathroom and walk our dog either way. They're just at charging stations instead of rest stops. Electrify America charging stations are usually in the parking lot of a mall, or a Wal-Mart or a Target or something like that, so there's food and bathrooms available. Outside of those road trips, the car gets plugged in once a week at home to charge overnight.
gaganyaan 4y ago
The Leaf can run AC and charge, and the amount of charge time increase is negligible. To be honest though, I rarely charge anywhere other than my garage. If I do charge elsewhere, I just leave my car at the charger and go do other things, like get coffee or something. I've also never charged for 90 minutes. The Leaf doesn't take that long for a full charge with rapid charging, not sure about other cars.

kcplate 4y ago

I appreciate all the info. It’s nice to get real world opinion rather than published tech specs. I was considering replacing one of our vehicles with a Tesla pre-Covid, but Covid changed the equation due to both my wife and I being WFH permanently now. We ended up selling one car and just keeping a single vehicle. We take a fair amount of longer road trips and EVs to me just are not up to that task as time efficiently as I need them to be. If we ever go back to a commute—we will revisit the EV option.

MauroIksem 4y ago

It takes about 25-30 min to get to 90% on a long range model 3. You can run ac and watch YouTube. It's not as bad as you think.

deleted 4y ago

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kmeisthax 4y ago

I have no experience with EVs, but everything I've heard from people who own them is that they slow-charge them at home. You only need to use a rapid charger if you're driving very long distances or all day long. The newest cars combined with the best DC fast charge you can buy will fill the car up in about 10-20 minutes. The next tier down of charger and car battery is more like 30 minutes. This is from this video on the subject of EV roadtripping: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZOuz_laH9I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZOuz_laH9I

dangrossman 4y ago

I drive a VW ID.4. When I take a road trip, e.g. when I visit family several states away, that's the only time I use those rapid chargers. I stop at them for 15-20 minutes on average. 2-3 stops gets me from North Carolina to Pennsylvania or back. The trip doesn't take any longer than when I did it in a gas car, as we're taking breaks to use the bathroom and walk our dog either way. They're just at charging stations instead of rest stops. Electrify America charging stations are usually in the parking lot of a mall, or a Wal-Mart or a Target or something like that, so there's food and bathrooms available. Outside of those road trips, the car gets plugged in once a week at home to charge overnight.

gaganyaan 4y ago

The Leaf can run AC and charge, and the amount of charge time increase is negligible. To be honest though, I rarely charge anywhere other than my garage. If I do charge elsewhere, I just leave my car at the charger and go do other things, like get coffee or something. I've also never charged for 90 minutes. The Leaf doesn't take that long for a full charge with rapid charging, not sure about other cars.