The Truth about Recharging Electric Vehicles
You'll be able to plug in anywhere, but without a special connector, you'll wait forever to recharge.
Kevin Bullis 07/13/2010
- 32 Comments
One of the key selling points used by supporters of battery-powered electric vehicles, as opposed to say, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, is that the infrastructure for delivering electricity already exists. This argument is a little misleading, though. Sure, there are outlets all over the place (although not along the street for apartment dwellers--but let's leave that aside for now). But if you want to use the full range of your electric car, it could take over a day to recharge using a standard 110-volt power outlet.
The point was driven home Monday in an article in The Wall Street Journal, which described Nissan's efforts to break through bureaucracy to make it easier for homeowners to get special electric vehicle charging stations installed. Nissan, which is coming out with an electric vehicle this year called the Leaf, is concerned that customers will be put off from buying the car by the 20 hours required to recharge it from a standard outlet to get its full 100-mile range. Currently, it can take weeks for cities to issue the necessary permits for a fast charger that can cut recharging time to eight hours, the article said, and the price for the special charger, including installation, will range from about $1,200 (with a tax credit) to several thousand dollars if a electric panel upgrade is needed.
Tesla Motors, the small automaker that went public last month to much fanfare, advertises a less than four-hour charging time for its Roadster, even though the car has a much longer range than the Leaf--245 miles per charge. But that's with a special "Home Connector" that costs about $2,000. Also, depending on the amperage of the circuit, charging could take up to six hours. Using a standard outlet for a full charge will require 37 to 48 hours, depending on whether it's connected to a 15 or 20 amp circuit. The good news is Tesla will sell a kit ($1,500) with a wide variety of adapters that will allow enterprising car owners to plug into a motel's air conditioner outlet (14.5 hours for a full charge), a dryer outlet (10 hours) or, if one is handy, an outlet for an electrical welder or RV (six hours).
The Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid coming out this year, only takes 10 hours to fully recharge with a standard outlet, but that's because it only has an electric range of 40 miles.
Most people actually won't need to use more than 40 miles of electric range in a day--that's less than the average daily drive in the United States. But potential electric car buyers may flinch knowing that they'll have to keep their car plugged in every moment it's not being driven in order to access the full range--or go through the hassle and expense of installing a special charger. This won't stop early adopters, but it could put off mainstream acceptance. So it could take even longer for them to catch on than hybrid vehicles, which after a decade still account for less than 3 percent of new car sales in the United States. Cities that want to promote electric vehicles should work with dealers to make installing fast-chargers both fast and cheap.
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lfisher
1 Comment
It's not just a special connector
What you're talking about without getting too technical are Level 2 charging stations, which will be connected to the 220-V lines already in place in many homes and facilities.
Also, you fail to consider out-of-home charge points, like those that will be installed at malls and other places of business, as well as, eventually, recharging stations that will be much like gas stations are now, which should address electric vehicle owners' "range anxiety." The growth of charging stations is documented and forecast in ABI Research's study of the Plug-In Vehicle Infrastructure (http://bit.ly/aROxAc)
And if you want to talk about "special connectors," you should talk to Tesla, since they launched their vehicle in advance of the rest of the industry setting a standard for charging connections. Some, if not all, Tesla vehicles will require "special connectors" to plug into non-Tesla charge points.
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liveoilfree
2 Comments
Bad article, bad comments
(sigh). MIT has fallen from its previous tech level, it seems.
Let's look at the numbers (which Mr. Bullis didn't):
A 30-amp 120v circuit delivers 3.6 kW, or 3.6 kWh per hour.
Charging for 10 hours gives 36 kWh, or enough to go up to 216 miles in an EV1 or Tesla (up to 6 miles per kWh, the VOLT-hoax only has 8 kWh useable, at 5 miles per kWh).
That's why most Tesla owners find themselves using the 120 charger, and eschewing the 240v 70A fast charger (17 kW).
But don't confine yourself to these facts!
ALL homes now have 3 wires -- wired for 240 volts.
All you need is a plug to access up to 12 kW at 50 Amps, at any home that has a drier outlet; if you bother to install a $5 14/50, it's even easier. I submit to you the FACTS: 12 kW for 2 hours gives over 20 kWh, enough for average day driving of 80 miles. For 4 hours of charging, gives enough for 160 miles of driving.
But more facts: why fast-charge your car and then let it sit???
This is the common illusion of the ignoratti. The average auto sits around, unused, for 23 hours per day, most of those are 12 hours at night. Why not charge slowly at night?? This helps the utilities, which have to shut down generators as demand falls at night.
Electric cars, if you had bothered to ASK folks who actually drive them, are best charged up overnight, at slow charge rate, to help the utilities; it's paid for by excess daytime production from the rooftop solar system (that's paid for by money NOT spent on gasoline).
Now think about it. 40 kWh means you can drive even the heavy, 5-passenger SUV RAV4-EV 160 miles on a charge; I suppose if you need to drive more than 160 miles per day in L.A., you probably should get another job.
For commuting, 120 miles range is MORE than enough, and it's no mystery, those driving RAV4-EV (or EV1, before GM crushed them, or HOndaEV, before Honda crushed them) could have told you.
If you had bothered to investigate.
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