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Do you have an EV? I’ve had one for a year and I’m at the point where I don’t think 2 minute fill-ups matter at all. As long as you have reasonable range (~20

by MBCook 4y ago

Do you have an EV? I’ve had one for a year and I’m at the point where I don’t think 2 minute fill-ups matter at all. As long as you have reasonable range (~200mi) most people will never drive it in a day. All you have to do is charge it while you’re sleeping* and you’re golden. That leaves road trips. A 45 minute charge gets kind of annoying. But vehicles/chargers are getting better. I’m pretty sure there are 20 minute or less vehicles. That’s a fine number, but every bit helps. Unless you’re driving a long distance every day without stopping much home charging is 98% of your “fill-ups”. And as long as you have a Level 2 charger speed doesn’t matter too much. * Can’t charge at home? Don’t buy an EV. Until we have apartment/street charging worked out so everyone can charge overnight EVs won’t be ready for everyone.

bdcravens 4y ago
Drove from Houston to San Diego, using Electrify America chargers. My EV6 supports the fastest charging speeds, so most stops were less than 20 minutes.
- MBCook 4y ago
  There you go. I knew they Cayenne was fast, but it’s not exactly affordable. I know my car, the Mach E, is one of the slowest. And it’s not terrible. So it goes. The bigger problem right now seems to be charger maintenance/reliability. But as more people use them and more stations get installed I’m hoping it will improve.
  - bdcravens 4y ago
    Yes, at almost every single stop there was at least one charging stall out of service. Many stations were small, in the little tiny towns along the freeway, with only 4 stalls. I did speak to an EA contractor at one - he said that EA will consider it an emergency, with a technician sent out immediately, only if every stall is out of service.
- kylehotchkiss 4y ago
  How was climbing into the mountains? Did the range start to dip suddenly?
  - bdcravens 4y ago
    There was a drop, but it wasn't any worse that open freeways at full speed. Higher speeds mean more air resistance, and the mountains tended to be slower speeds. When I hit the steep declines, regen counteracted a lot of the lost efficiency from climbing. I was probably seeing 2.0-2.3M/KWh both on the freeway and the mountains (I get around 3.8-4.0 in typical Houston driving)
illiac786 4y ago
You're forgetting about people who do not live in a house. Quite a large chunk of population.
- throw0101c 4y ago
  Or if you're in an older urban area, even if you live in a house, you may not have a garage or driveway, and generally park on the street.
kelnos 4y ago
(Not the person you're replying to, but...) I don't yet have an EV, and I'll admit part of the reason is my expectation of charging anxiety. For short-ish local trips, I agree that you just don't need to care, because you charge overnight, so pretty much any new day when you need the car, it's fully charged. My concern has always been for longer trips. Part just the fear that I'd fail to plan properly and end up stranded somewhere without a charge (assuming the current world where charging is a lot harder to come by than gasoline refueling). But even in the case where I plan properly, the idea of having to sit for 45 minutes -- or even 20 -- while waiting for the car to charge seemed super annoying. But maybe it isn't so bad, considering that on a longer car trip it's often nice (and just a good idea in general) to take breaks every now and then. At a half-hour stop to charge, I could use the restroom, perhaps get a light snack to eat, or even just catch up on whatever dumb things had shown up on my phone while I'd been driving.

by MBCook 4y ago

bdcravens 4y ago

Drove from Houston to San Diego, using Electrify America chargers. My EV6 supports the fastest charging speeds, so most stops were less than 20 minutes.

MBCook 4y ago
There you go. I knew they Cayenne was fast, but it’s not exactly affordable. I know my car, the Mach E, is one of the slowest. And it’s not terrible. So it goes. The bigger problem right now seems to be charger maintenance/reliability. But as more people use them and more stations get installed I’m hoping it will improve.
- bdcravens 4y ago
  Yes, at almost every single stop there was at least one charging stall out of service. Many stations were small, in the little tiny towns along the freeway, with only 4 stalls. I did speak to an EA contractor at one - he said that EA will consider it an emergency, with a technician sent out immediately, only if every stall is out of service.
kylehotchkiss 4y ago
How was climbing into the mountains? Did the range start to dip suddenly?
- bdcravens 4y ago
  There was a drop, but it wasn't any worse that open freeways at full speed. Higher speeds mean more air resistance, and the mountains tended to be slower speeds. When I hit the steep declines, regen counteracted a lot of the lost efficiency from climbing. I was probably seeing 2.0-2.3M/KWh both on the freeway and the mountains (I get around 3.8-4.0 in typical Houston driving)

illiac786 4y ago

You're forgetting about people who do not live in a house. Quite a large chunk of population.

throw0101c 4y ago
Or if you're in an older urban area, even if you live in a house, you may not have a garage or driveway, and generally park on the street.

kelnos 4y ago

(Not the person you're replying to, but...) I don't yet have an EV, and I'll admit part of the reason is my expectation of charging anxiety. For short-ish local trips, I agree that you just don't need to care, because you charge overnight, so pretty much any new day when you need the car, it's fully charged. My concern has always been for longer trips. Part just the fear that I'd fail to plan properly and end up stranded somewhere without a charge (assuming the current world where charging is a lot harder to come by than gasoline refueling). But even in the case where I plan properly, the idea of having to sit for 45 minutes -- or even 20 -- while waiting for the car to charge seemed super annoying. But maybe it isn't so bad, considering that on a longer car trip it's often nice (and just a good idea in general) to take breaks every now and then. At a half-hour stop to charge, I could use the restroom, perhaps get a light snack to eat, or even just catch up on whatever dumb things had shown up on my phone while I'd been driving.