For Non-EV Drivers Who Think You Can't Charge Enough at Home.....

[gavine]

I noticed the other day in my ICE vehicle that the lifetime average speed of the vehicle is 20MPH. I live in the suburbs and do a good mix of highway and around-town driving. This got me thinking......assuming the typical driver averages around the same (20mph) and drives 15,000 miles per year, that's a total of 750 hours of driving per year. Add 8 hours per day at work for five days per week so the car sits at work for a total of about 2,000 hours per year. So that's 2,750 hours that the car is "out of the house" or "away from the home charger".

There are 8,760 hours in a year so that means the car has the opportunity to charge at home for around 6,000 hours. Give or take the the few hours the car might sit at the mall or at a relative's house, but stay with me on this.....With a standard NEMA 14-50 outlet, the car charges at 29mph so that means you can charge a total of 174,000 miles per year at home which is 159,000 more than the average driver needs.

If the charger is slower than 29mph, just multiply whatever the charge speed is by 6,000 and that's the total number of miles you can charge at home. Even on a standard 120V at 4mph, that's still 24,000 miles per year.

I'm sure there are other flaws in the math, but you get the gist of it.

 

[gavine]

In the Title, you mean "can't" charge enough?

Right....I don't know how to change it......Mods?

 

[dsm363]

Right....I don't know how to change it......Mods?

Mod note: fixed it. It's helpful you report your own post or maybe the first post if there is a request like this otherwise we may not see it. Thanks.

 

[mmccord]

I noticed the other day in my ICE vehicle that the lifetime average speed of the vehicle is 20MPH. I live in the suburbs and do a good mix of highway and around-town driving. This got me thinking......assuming the typical driver averages around the same (20mph) and drives 15,000 miles per year, that's a total of 750 hours of driving per year. Add 8 hours per day at work for five days per week so the car sits at work for a total of about 2,000 hours per year. So that's 2,750 hours that the car is "out of the house" or "away from the home charger".

There are 8,760 hours in a year so that means the car has the opportunity to charge at home for around 6,000 hours. Give or take the the few hours the car might sit at the mall or at a relative's house, but stay with me on this.....With a standard NEMA 14-50 outlet, the car charges at 29mph so that means you can charge a total of 174,000 miles per year at home which is 159,000 more than the average driver needs.

If the charger is slower than 29mph, just multiply whatever the charge speed is by 6,000 and that's the total number of miles you can charge at home. Even on a standard 120V at 4mph, that's still 24,000 miles per year.

I'm sure there are other flaws in the math, but you get the gist of it.

Ahh yes, but those charging minutes aren't always at the right time. Based on your math I could easily charge on only 120v, but I drive >150 miles/day 3 days a week, with <12 hours in the garage in between. The other 4 days/week I drive < 100 miles, but average about 750 miles/week.

220v@40a is plenty for me though. Occasionally 80a charging would be nice. Like today where I drove from NYC to NW NJ, then up to my house in NY state (about 120 miles), then after about 30 minutes, back out for another 50 mile drive. I charged to 90% in the city (parked @ a garage with a wall charger), and picked up 15 miles while I was @ home, so was able to make it with about 50 miles to spare.

Edit: oops, your math puts it @ 24k miles on 120v, and I do 39k miles. That said, just my 3 days/week of heavy driving would be 23,400 miles/yr, and couldn't be done on 120 either. The point is, driving isn't always spread out equally throughout the week.

 

[Khatsalano]

There is a difference between arranging your life around charging schedules, or, just having the equipment to charge and go. The 40A HPWC option solves almost all at-home charging needs. The 80A/dual charger setup solves all of it ... but there are countless threads on whether that is worth it. The message actually doesn't need complex math.

Non-EV owners: charging with a Tesla is a non-issue.

- K

 

[David99]

Non-EV owners: charging with a Tesla is a non-issue.

agreed. Even busy drivers like me (50k a year) never have charging issues. And that's on a single charger.

But it's important to be able to explain it to no EV drivers. One of the most asked question I get is, how long it takes to charge. I never say, it takes 7-8 hours as people assume you have to wait for it to charge. I always explain that, no matter how busy my day is, I never have to worry about range on my Tesla. And then I just plug it in at the end of the day and it's full again the next morning. And then I point out how awesome it is to always have a full tank in the morning without doing anything.

People think in ICE concepts, and ask questions from that perspective. We have to show them how EVs are different and why we almost never have to wait for the car to charge.

 

[TexasEV]

I say it takes 30 seconds to charge, just like your iPhone. 15 seconds to plug in when you get home in the evening and 15 seconds to unplug when you leave in the morning.

 

[Brass Guy]

30 whole seconds? Maybe if you wrap the cord every day!

 

[dhrivnak]

I have been very surprised to find with my wife's Volt the have been only 3 times in the past 9 months that a higher charge rate above the default 120V 8 amp would have made a difference. And those 3 times cost us less than .5 gal. Nthe learning is even slow charging works 99% of the time.