Charging times reducing significantly

[Lasairfion]

Do ICE cars still have a fill-up time advantage? Yes, of course.
But EVs are catching up fast.

Previous year's trip: charge times were on average between 35-50 minutes
This year's trip: charge times were on average between 15 and 30 minutes

Total trip charge time this year :
according to A Better Route Planner : 4h43
according to real life (photos taken at start and end of each charge) 5h50

Questionnaires for ICE owners:
Fair estimation for average fuel up time at the station (including possible toilet stops, drinks/snack purchase)
across 2 different surveys
15 minutes was the clear winner
with 10 minutes second

ICE car maths:
ICE car over 2100 mile fuel trip using an average fuel efficiency of 450 miles per tank
5 fuel stops @ 10 minutes = 50 mins, 5 fuel stops @15 minutes = 75 mins - average = 1 hour fuelling time

2.5 day journey also requires meal / toilet stops, so 5 meal stops @30 minutes = 2h30

TOTAL ICE stops = 3h30
TOTAL Tesla stops = 5h50

Need ICE vehicle stops to be well documented for more accurate figures. Preferably the same road trip with an EV and an ICE car. But as a rough guide this is handy for road trips.

Next video will be a fuel stop price comparison between EV and ICE cars.

 

[Silicon Desert]

An interesting video. My big take-away is his comment about it all comes down to driving dynamics. (how people take breaks, how long, who's in the car, etc.)

He didn't mention one thing I do which takes away one long charge each day; I charge at the hotel at night which doesn't waste any of my time.
I noted in my last 2400 mile trip from Nevada to Tennessee that my time was not much reduced due to "significantly better" recent charge improvements. I think most of us know why.

Clearly, there are two camps of people and I've been in both camps. When a LOT younger, I wanted to get from A to B as fast as absolutely possible with as short of breaks as possible (which I admit isn't very smart for several reasons).
Now that I am a LOT older, I am in the camp that an ICE car would take me almost the same amount of time as my Tesla because I take many long breaks and do a fair amount of walking (at least 20 minutes) on each stop after I eat, and go to the restroom. Bottom line for me, I don't care if stop time is improving or not on a very long trip. Now having said that, if I am going from Sparks to Fremont (about 240 miles) where I won't be in the car all day and I need a charge along the way; then I might care if it is a little faster.

 

[cpa]

However, for those of us who own older Model S, charge times are getting slower. I know the battery chemistry is different. But I just Supercharged earlier today, and to go from 13% to 80% took nearly one hour. The peak rate on an unpaired stall jumped to 104kW for an instant before settling down to 88kW. By 20%, the rate had dropped to around 75. In contrast on a road trip two months ago, I would see 100kW+ through 22-24%, slowly tapering down to 60-65kW at 50%. Today, at 50% the rate was around 48kW. Two months ago, a charge from the mid-teens to around 80% took about 40-45 minutes.

There is another thread started by David where he has documented the dramatic change in Supercharging speeds for older model S.

 

[Brando]

commuter fuel up time comparison:

charge at home = plug & up-plug - time too small to matter

ICE go to gas station, fill up go on to ... home or work
15 min. for once a week - 30 min. for twice per week
12 to 25 hours per year

Long Distance travel - depends on .... destination charging too small to matter ... good planning or luck may well not matter

just my biased perspective - your view may differ

note: small island, retired, 22 miles to go get gas, with traffic & stop lights 30 - 45 min. once per month - now I mostly bike & walk. So 1.5 years now down to zero re-fueling]

side note: EV drivers I ask are just very happy to never visit a gas station again.