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LINK How Long Does It Take To Charge An Electric Car? : NPR

I need a new car eventually, I will consider electric.

How long does it take to charge an electric vehicle? The question is more complicated than it seems. How long does it take to charge an electric vehicle? The question is more complicated than it seems, and that's a challenge for the auto industry.

Vehicles have different battery sizes, and charge at different speeds. The same vehicle at different chargers will experience wildly varying charge times.

And no matter what charger a driver uses, an electric vehicle requires a change in habits. That may be an obstacle for automakers who need to persuade sometimes skeptical car buyers to try their first electric vehicle.

Most owners charge at home or at work. The process takes hours, which might sound like an unbearable hassle to owners of gas-powered cars. But for current owners it feels much more convenient than a gas station trip because they're doing other things — in many cases, sleeping — while the battery recharges.

The slowest way to charge is on a standard 120-volt outlet, which adds just a few miles of range per hour.

"I don't have a driveway or a garage so I have to run an extension cord," says Andy Fraser, who parks his Volkswagen e-Golf on the street and plugs it in to a normal household outlet. It takes him 12 full hours to add 50 miles of range.

But 50 miles is all Fraser usually needs. And his car would be parked overnight anyway, when he usually does his charging.

"No big deal," he says.

The next step up is a 240-volt level 2 charger. The speed varies, but 15-25 miles added per hour spent charging is typical.

David Cooper, who drives a Nissan Leaf, used to charge on a standard outlet at work, but persuaded his condo building to add two public level 2 chargers.

"The vast majority of the charging I do now is at home," he says. He plugs his Leaf in overnight, and schedules it to charge between 2 and 6 a.m. In those four hours, it adds around 100 miles of range.

Many shared chargers at workplaces, restaurants and other public locations are level 2 chargers, but they can also be installed at private homes; the cost can range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

Clemens Mendell is a realtor and puts a lot of miles on his Tesla Model X. But no matter how much he drives in a day, his car is ready for him the next morning.

He plugs into the level 2 charger in his garage when he gets home, and the car waits to charge until his electricity rates drop to their lowest levels overnight. The vehicle only spends about three hours actually charging.

He usually sets it to stop charging at 70%, which is better for the battery and provides more than enough range for his daily use.

"Every day I'm leaving the house with a full tank of gas, so to speak," he says. "I certainly don't miss the dirty handles at the gas station and the smell and all of that."

That's a common sentiment from current electric vehicle owners, who describe home charging as a perk — and that's before you consider that home charging is considerably cheaper than paying for gasoline. But for would-be buyers, those lengthy charge times can sound alarming.

And convincing car shoppers that they'll learn to love the charging cable is absolutely essential for the auto industry at a time when mainstream automakers — not just Tesla — are betting big on electric vehicles. General Motors now says the future will be "all-electric," and it's not alone.

"[Over] this next five year period, automakers are investing $234 billion into electric vehicle platforms and parts and plants," says Mark Wakefield, managing director at the consulting firm AlixPartners. "One-fifth of their investment budget is going towards electric vehicles at the moment, and growing over time."

For that bet to pay off, a lot of mainstream car buyers, including people who don't have a strong preference for an electric vehicle, will need to be convinced to plunk down money for a battery-powered car.

Governments have a vested interest in pushing this change to reduce carbon emissions and fight global warming. But buyer preferences are crucial, too. To win over skeptics, automakers have aggressively increased vehicle ranges — the average is now 250 miles, Wakefield says, and rising rapidly — and they're working to bring vehicle prices down to be competitive with gas-powered cars.

But charging times are another potential roadblock. And it's not just home charging. Two words loom large in would-be buyers' minds: road trips.

For trips that involve hundreds of miles in a single day, drivers typically rely on DC fast chargers. These chargers — which are much more expensive to install, and thus rarer — use direct current, rather than alternating current, to charge much more quickly.

Confusingly, not all DC fast chargers are equally fast. A 50kw charger is on the slow end of the scale, while next-generation chargers boast 250kw or 350kw capabilities — well beyond what most vehicles are currently capable of accepting.

And comparing speeds is difficult because chargers work very quickly on a depleted battery, but slow down as the battery approaches full.

But generally speaking, a fast charger can fill most batteries to 80% in less than an hour, and sometimes in less than half an hour. It's harder on a battery and more expensive than charging more slowly, so most drivers typically only use them when they're on lengthy trips.

Joyce Breiner recently visited a Tesla Supercharger at a Sheetz in Gettysburg, Pa., to add more juice to her Tesla Model 3. Tesla has been upgrading its proprietary charging network, and this brand new supercharger was able to add around 160 miles of range in 25 minutes, for about $11.

"I'm going to probably go into the Sheetz ... and get a drink and maybe a snack," Breiner said.

That kind of charge speed is exceptionally fast for most vehicles on the road right now.

Whether it will be fast enough to convince electric vehicle skeptics to make the switch remains in doubt.

"Until you reach parity with what everyone is used to ... call it five minutes to fill up your gasoline vehicle, you're still now basically bringing something that's less attractive to people," says Mike Dovorany, a vice president at the market research firm Escalent.

Companies are working to install more super-fast chargers and to build vehicles that are capable of handling that type of charging to help assuage those concerns.

It's an uphill battle, Dovorany says, because people tend to overweigh the potential negatives when they think about making a change to their habits — even if fast charging could be a relatively small part of their life as an electric vehicle owner.

Dovorany says once people own an electric vehicle, they find a lot to love: electric cars are powerful, quiet and cheaper to maintain. And owners quickly adapt to the new charging routine once they take the car home — Dovorany says most people end up really appreciating that they can charge at home and never visit a gas station.

"But it's super hard to convince people before they've owned an [electric vehicle] how much they're going to like that," he says. "And so we can't really sell it per se."s, and that's a challenge for the auto industry.

Vehicles have different battery sizes, and charge at different speeds. The same vehicle at different chargers will experience wildly varying charge times.

And no matter what charger a driver uses, an electric vehicle requires a change in habits. That may be an obstacle for automakers who need to persuade sometimes skeptical car buyers to try their first electric vehicle.

Most owners charge at home or at work. The process takes hours, which might sound like an unbearable hassle to owners of gas-powered cars. But for current owners it feels much more convenient than a gas station trip because they're doing other things — in many cases, sleeping — while the battery recharges.

The slowest way to charge is on a standard 120-volt outlet, which adds just a few miles of range per hour.

"I don't have a driveway or a garage so I have to run an extension cord," says Andy Fraser, who parks his Volkswagen e-Golf on the street and plugs it in to a normal household outlet. It takes him 12 full hours to add 50 miles of range.

But 50 miles is all Fraser usually needs. And his car would be parked overnight anyway, when he usually does his charging.

"No big deal," he says.

The next step up is a 240-volt level 2 charger. The speed varies, but 15-25 miles added per hour spent charging is typical.

David Cooper, who drives a Nissan Leaf, used to charge on a standard outlet at work, but persuaded his condo building to add two public level 2 chargers.

"The vast majority of the charging I do now is at home," he says. He plugs his Leaf in overnight, and schedules it to charge between 2 and 6 a.m. In those four hours, it adds around 100 miles of range.

Many shared chargers at workplaces, restaurants and other public locations are level 2 chargers, but they can also be installed at private homes; the cost can range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

Clemens Mendell is a realtor and puts a lot of miles on his Tesla Model X. But no matter how much he drives in a day, his car is ready for him the next morning.

He plugs into the level 2 charger in his garage when he gets home, and the car waits to charge until his electricity rates drop to their lowest levels overnight. The vehicle only spends about three hours actually charging.

He usually sets it to stop charging at 70%, which is better for the battery and provides more than enough range for his daily use.

"Every day I'm leaving the house with a full tank of gas, so to speak," he says. "I certainly don't miss the dirty handles at the gas station and the smell and all of that."

That's a common sentiment from current electric vehicle owners, who describe home charging as a perk — and that's before you consider that home charging is considerably cheaper than paying for gasoline. But for would-be buyers, those lengthy charge times can sound alarming.

And convincing car shoppers that they'll learn to love the charging cable is absolutely essential for the auto industry at a time when mainstream automakers — not just Tesla — are betting big on electric vehicles. General Motors now says the future will be "all-electric," and it's not alone.

"[Over] this next five year period, automakers are investing $234 billion into electric vehicle platforms and parts and plants," says Mark Wakefield, managing director at the consulting firm AlixPartners. "One-fifth of their investment budget is going towards electric vehicles at the moment, and growing over time."

For that bet to pay off, a lot of mainstream car buyers, including people who don't have a strong preference for an electric vehicle, will need to be convinced to plunk down money for a battery-powered car.

Governments have a vested interest in pushing this change to reduce carbon emissions and fight global warming. But buyer preferences are crucial, too. To win over skeptics, automakers have aggressively increased vehicle ranges — the average is now 250 miles, Wakefield says, and rising rapidly — and they're working to bring vehicle prices down to be competitive with gas-powered cars.

But charging times are another potential roadblock. And it's not just home charging. Two words loom large in would-be buyers' minds: road trips.

For trips that involve hundreds of miles in a single day, drivers typically rely on DC fast chargers. These chargers — which are much more expensive to install, and thus rarer — use direct current, rather than alternating current, to charge much more quickly.

Confusingly, not all DC fast chargers are equally fast. A 50kw charger is on the slow end of the scale, while next-generation chargers boast 250kw or 350kw capabilities — well beyond what most vehicles are currently capable of accepting.

And comparing speeds is difficult because chargers work very quickly on a depleted battery, but slow down as the battery approaches full.

But generally speaking, a fast charger can fill most batteries to 80% in less than an hour, and sometimes in less than half an hour. It's harder on a battery and more expensive than charging more slowly, so most drivers typically only use them when they're on lengthy trips.

Joyce Breiner recently visited a Tesla Supercharger at a Sheetz in Gettysburg, Pa., to add more juice to her Tesla Model 3. Tesla has been upgrading its proprietary charging network, and this brand new supercharger was able to add around 160 miles of range in 25 minutes, for about $11.

"I'm going to probably go into the Sheetz ... and get a drink and maybe a snack," Breiner said.

That kind of charge speed is exceptionally fast for most vehicles on the road right now.

Whether it will be fast enough to convince electric vehicle skeptics to make the switch remains in doubt.

"Until you reach parity with what everyone is used to ... call it five minutes to fill up your gasoline vehicle, you're still now basically bringing something that's less attractive to people," says Mike Dovorany, a vice president at the market research firm Escalent.

Companies are working to install more super-fast chargers and to build vehicles that are capable of handling that type of charging to help assuage those concerns.

It's an uphill battle, Dovorany says, because people tend to overweigh the potential negatives when they think about making a change to their habits — even if fast charging could be a relatively small part of their life as an electric vehicle owner.

Dovorany says once people own an electric vehicle, they find a lot to love: electric cars are powerful, quiet and cheaper to maintain. And owners quickly adapt to the new charging routine once they take the car home — Dovorany says most people end up really appreciating that they can charge at home and never visit a gas station.

"But it's super hard to convince people before they've owned an [electric vehicle] how much they're going to like that," he says. "And so we can't really sell it per se."

HippieChick58 9 Nov 15
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3 comments

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2

Sadly the shift away from fossil fuels has taken a long time but it must happen and many will go kicking, screaming and complaining along the way.

When people see the price of gas there will be a lot of kicking and screaming.

3

I think this was written 20 years ago...my friends new Kia EV charges in about 20 minutes & has a range of 300+ miles

1

We're shopping for a plugin hybrid now and I recently loaned my wife's brother money to facilitate his buy of a new RAV4.

We live in a mostly rural place and the convenience of a plugin is enough to color our decision. My wife drove his Prius until two weeks ago and she misses it muchly.

RAV4 is a great car because they run forever. EVs and hybrids batteries have shelf life and need to at least have cells replaced 10 years 100K miles, that's the cheap way to do it. Brand new battery for a Prius runs $7-10K, that comes close to totalling a 10 year old car. Welcome to disposable cars. How's that for having a low carbon footprint?

@RichCC @barjoe Have I mentioned that I drive a 15 year old Rav4? It is still going strong, but it makes me nervous as well. I have never kept a car for so long. My ex liked to get rid of them as soon as they got over 7 or so years old. I drove 3 Chrysler minivans in 19 years. He was almost frothing at the mouth to get rid of the last minivan when we got the Rav. I like NOT having a car payment. I know I have to get a newer car one day, but I'm putting it off as long as I can.

@HippieChick58
That's part of what we're thinking too.
We're getting older and can afford pretty much whatever we want but we're thinking our next vehicle should last (with a rational bit of care).

The wife's brother I mentioned is a retired truck driver and owner. I trust his judgement especially about practical matters like vehicles. We want our next to be practical, (mostly at least) EV, but we don't want to have to bother any more times from now on than we have to.🙂

@RichCC I once told my kids I'd stop driving the Rav when they pry my car keys out of my cold dead hands. I have come to the conclusion that I may last longer than the Rav, or the Rav will become too expensive to keep roadworthy, and then I may have to replace it. For now, I'm WFH, my mileage is way down and I'm saving where I can for that future car and retirement.

@HippieChick58 If you change oil regularly and change trans fluid (don't flush} every 60-80K miles, have under 200K miles on your Rav4, you've got a lot of life left in it. If your under 100K miles, your car's barely broken in. As a car ages, some seals dry up, CV boots crack with age, but Toyotas run forever. 2006 Rav4 is still worth a lot. It's worth fixing minor stuff. Just don't let a mechanic nickel and dime you, if someone tells you you need struts and it's driving okay, get a new mechanic. If you have no trouble with your car and it hasn't been in a major accident, keep good tires and brakes and drive it forever.

@barjoe Way cool!! Thanks for that info. Never been in a major accident. Seriously, it is RED and big, and I was rear ended on my way to work once. How can you NOT see me? It has about 145K miles on it. I usually keep up with the Toyota recommended service. I just had all the sensors replaced in the tires, that was shocking. Eventually I will get a smaller, more fuel efficient car, but for now, I really love that RAV. His name is Elmo.

@HippieChick58 I had my sensors go out, I didn't replace them until I got new tires. I got then from tire rack $25 each. Had them installed with the tires it was cheaper. One thing that sucks with Toyotas, they aren't self programming. What did it cost you for sensors? $300? If you traded that in on a new Corolla, you might get a lot for that car. So that's a consideration. Used RAV4 is worth a lot in trade.

@barjoe By the time it was all done, replacing those sensors was about $250 per tire, and I have the spare on the rear. Thankfully that happened after I started current job and had steady income. I plan to drive Elmo for at least another year, maybe longer. I like being up a bit higher, it is easy for me to get in and out of, it's paid for, and I'm used to it.

@HippieChick58 I don't want to be a prick but, they robbed you. Did they tell you that is how much it would be? Always get an estimated price.

@barjoe I have come to the conclusion that getting my car serviced at a dealership is not cost effective. I have thought this for a long time, and I'm looking into other options.

@HippieChick58 Yeah the dealer robbed you. Never go to the dealer unless it's warranty or a recall. Ever. Find a local mechanic. Ask around. Post something in neighborhood Facebook group maybe. Find a good local guy. That shouldn't have been more than $500. And you don't need a TPMS for your spare, that's crazy. Did they suggest that? SMGDMFH. Sorry that happened to you.

@barjoe The theory being I might NEED the spare, though in 15 years I've never had to put the spare on. It does have a sensor in it, and if that sensor is not working the light comes on. The dealer is convenient, and ex always took our cars there. Money was not a concern for him/his family. They are convenient, the waiting areas are clean and comfortable, and I'm kinda intimidated about finding a new auto service place. I did decide that next car I will find a cheaper place to get the cars fixed. And my neighborhood FB group is a joke. I'm in a small lower priced neighborhood. The surrounding neighborhoods are houses about double the cost of mine. Yeah, I don't talk to those people. My street had all lives matter signs in the yards. The next street over had blue lives matter and trump signs. There's way too many Karens and Billy Bobs on the neighborhood group. I am a liberal atheist in a sea of OMG I don't know what those people are thinking.

@HippieChick58 My neighborhood Facebook group are mostly progressives. I'll say this, the Billy Bobs of the world are the people you want to ask about auto repair places. Your spare doesn't need a TPMS. You would either repair or replace the flat. $250 each for sensors is a gross overcharge. The fact they talk you into 5, proves how predatory they are. I get screwed all the time by health insurance companies, banks and others I don't even like to talk about it. If my TPMS went out, I'd just live with it. My advice to you. If you have a problem with your radiator, go to a reputable radiator place. If you need an alignment, go to an alignment place. Your good for 5-10 years with the sensors. If you or your family ever have to replace sensors again, go to a discount tire place. I didn't mean to make you feel bad, it just gets me mad how dealers are pretty much thieves. Toyota is an excellent manufacturer, the best. Their dealerships not so much, especially service dept.

@barjoe I have stuck with Toyota dealer because of the perks. They make it easy for me to get my car in and out around my work schedules. I worked some weird schedules for a few years. Current job will likely stay largely WFH and 8 to 5, so I won't need as much flexibility, and I hope to DAWG I stay in this job until I can retire! I will look around for a non dealer repair when the time comes. Thanks for taking the time to send me all the good advice. My next car may well be a Toyota, I'm very pleased with mine. But I'm hoping to keep it for at least another year, or until the current car crisis resolves. I service auto loans in my jobs, and the numbers of people who have arranged to buy a car to have it sold to someone else is staggering. I hear from about one person a day, and there are over 150 of us in the same job who hear the same stories. It is crazy out there.

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