Who has or is planning to get an electric car / EV Talk

[BigMcGuire]

Yep, y'all said it. I took my 2024 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD from California to Iowa late last year. It was an almost 4000 mile round trip. (My first cross-state trip in an EV). Best road trip we've ever done.

I had planned on making 8 stops to utilize my range. However, we ended up stopping every few hours (2-3) because it was FAR more comfortable, bladders necessitated it, and in the end it made the trip rather enjoyable.

Most of my youth, I've done the same trip every year in a gas car (both sides of the family in the midwest) - and we'd always try to drive straight through. Now that I'm old(er) ... and a little bit smarter, this is the only way to travel .

Like JohnnyGo and Apple fanboy said --- we plugged in and charged for ~20 mins and that was more than enough to get going. Just about enough time to stretch legs, empty tanks, grab a quick bite, then hop back in the car.


On another note... it was amazing how empty the superchargers were on the 80 freeway. It was rare to see another person charging...

 

[BigMcGuire]

I think destination charging is a great idea to be honest. When I am out of town and we are going out to eat or run errands I would be more likely to patronage establishments that have L2 charging (even if it is for a modest fee) as that helps me not have to worry about fast charging nearly as much.

Without a doubt. I am FAR more likely to go to a place with level 2 charging. Any place we're going to move and live at in the future MUST have Level 2 charging (and not insanely expensive either). Wish more places would do this.

California has a LONG LONG way to go before it can even think about encouraging (forcing) everyone to go EV ...

 

[wonderings]

Without a doubt. I am FAR more likely to go to a place with level 2 charging. Any place we're going to move and live at in the future MUST have Level 2 charging (and not insanely expensive either). Wish more places would do this.

California has a LONG LONG way to go before it can even think about encouraging (forcing) everyone to go EV ...

From what I have read the grid could not handle everyone having an EV. Same in Canada, where we are now we could not support the power requirements if everyone was charging every single day.

 

[JohnnyGo]

Without a doubt. I am FAR more likely to go to a place with level 2 charging. Any place we're going to move and live at in the future MUST have Level 2 charging (and not insanely expensive either). Wish more places would do this.

California has a LONG LONG way to go before it can even think about encouraging (forcing) everyone to go EV ...

I love that Target has charges in most of its stores. It seems Walmart is doing the same (finally!). In Florida, all service stops in the turnpike have multiple chargers (from different charging networks) and FPL is doing a great job expanding its charger network.

Have no problem recommending ICE vehicles for everyone. You want to have a "classic" car for the sound / nostalgia ? Me too. But driving everyday and long distance ? Go with ICE. Better for your pockets and for the environment. Our sons/daughters will thank us later.

And we get to drive in cars with MUCH more torque. Torque IS power. Not "horsepower" which is only used to have more speed. Acceleration is the fun part (for classic combustion cars, like Porsche and others it is the same).

 

[Apple fanboy]

From what I have read the grid could not handle everyone having an EV. Same in Canada, where we are now we could not support the power requirements if everyone was charging every single day.

This will vary depending on where you live, but I think there is a lot of propaganda generated by those who are threatened by EV’s.
Home charging where the power is taken when there is less demand is the future. Smart charging basically. Here there are cost incentives for charging off peak.

 

[jz0309]

From what I have read the grid could not handle everyone having an EV. Same in Canada, where we are now we could not support the power requirements if everyone was charging every single day.

Source for that?
The grid in CA can handle cooling buildings in 100F weather at 3pm in the afternoon, most EV charging happens at different times.

 

[wonderings]

This will vary depending on where you live, but I think there is a lot of propaganda generated by those who are threatened by EV’s.
Home charging where the power is taken when there is less demand is the future. Smart charging basically. Here there are cost incentives for charging off peak.

Could be, though places get brown outs without EV's on the real hot days. How many people do you think can smart charge? Or would the majority who just work a normal 9 to 5 plug in their cars when they get home and forget about it till the next morning when they leave? I guess if pricing changes then it would force some people to think differently on that. Something to build and plan for for sure to be able to support the power needs with so many things going electric.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Could be, though places get brown outs without EV's on the real hot days. How many people do you think can smart charge? Or would the majority who just work a normal 9 to 5 plug in their cars when they get home and forget about it till the next morning when they leave? I guess if pricing changes then it would force some people to think differently on that. Something to build and plan for for sure to be able to support the power needs with so many things going electric.

Almost no one in the UK would charge when they get home at peak time. Nearly every car and every home charger sold for a few years has the ability to charge at a set time (not when you plug in).
Many chargers (including mine) have the ability for the electricity company to determine when you charge. You have to sign up to a specific (cheaper) tariff for that though.

 

[jz0309]

Without a doubt. I am FAR more likely to go to a place with level 2 charging. Any place we're going to move and live at in the future MUST have Level 2 charging (and not insanely expensive either). Wish more places would do this.

California has a LONG LONG way to go before it can even think about encouraging (forcing) everyone to go EV ...

Sure we have ways to go, but we also need to be getting smarter.
There are building codes in place (I think since 2022 or even earlier) that all new apartment/single family homes must have 240V as well as solar, not sure about commercial buildings like retail/ restaurants etc.
And existing/older apartment/condo places need to be retrofitted.
Charging in public places should never be free, only attracts "hoggers".
Charging cost like at your place ($.85?h should be prohibited, at apartments/condos it should be the same as the residential electricity cost.
And I could go on..

 

[Michael Scrip]

I would imagine that people slow/smart charging at home overnight would put less strain on the grid than if everyone was fast-charging at big commercial chargers.

We don't need these at our homes 👇

 

[BigMcGuire]

Agreed, pulling 6kw at home at a level 2 vs 160kw at a supercharger is a huge difference.

I know SCE recently switched most people to the TOU (time of use) electric plans to encourage non peak usage. (SoCal Edison) and PG&E has them up here.

Last few years we’ve (California) been pretty good about keeping power on in the summer. But I attribute a lot of that to our massive battery backup infrastructure now (10 GW at peak output) if I’m reading CAISO right.

 

[jz0309]

Agreed, pulling 6kw at home at a level 2 vs 160kw at a supercharger is a huge difference.

I know SCE recently switched most people to the TOU (time of use) electric plans to encourage non peak usage. (SoCal Edison) and PG&E has them up here.

Last few years we’ve (California) been pretty good about keeping power on in the summer. But I attribute a lot of that to our massive battery backup infrastructure now (10 GW at peak output) if I’m reading CAISO right.

Re not having had blackouts, I think that has more to do with the reservoirs being full the last couple or so years, batteries help of course too

 

[BigMcGuire]

Re not having had blackouts, I think that has more to do with the reservoirs being full the last couple or so years, batteries help of course too

I bet - it's amazing how much hydro puts out...

This is just from yesterday - that's double the nuclear plant. And I'm pretty sure I've seen it north of 6 GW before.

Source: https://www.caiso.com/todays-outlook/supply

 

[Apple fanboy]

I bet - it's amazing how much hydro puts out...

This is just from yesterday - that's double the nuclear plant. And I'm pretty sure I've seen it north of 6 GW before.

View attachment 2525392

Source: https://www.caiso.com/todays-outlook/supply

Here’s the UK for today.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Maybe it's just me but I love staring at these live stats all day long lol. Got a bookmark for CA ISO and the app on my phone. I could talk about this stuff all day.

CA right now:

 

[Apple fanboy]

Maybe it's just me but I love staring at these live stats all day long lol. Got a bookmark for CA ISO and the app on my phone. I could talk about this stuff all day.

CA right now:

View attachment 2525400

No not just you.

 

[jz0309]

I would imagine that people slow/smart charging at home overnight would put less strain on the grid than if everyone was fast-charging at big commercial chargers.

We don't need these at our homes 👇

View attachment 2525352

we sure do not need those at our homes, and they would be very unaffordable

But, for those who have solar, they should take advantage of that vs overnight charging (in CA apps 20% of single family homes do have solar)

 

[Apple fanboy]

we sure do not need those at our homes, and they would be very unaffordable

But, for those who have solar, they should take advantage of that vs overnight charging (in CA apps 20% of single family homes do have solar)

5.5% in The UK have Solar. Less than 5% have AC. 3% of cars are EV. 8% hybrid. (Although 19% of all new car sales are EV).

 

[jz0309]

5.5% in The UK have Solar. Less than 5% have AC. 3% of cars are EV. 8% hybrid. (Although 19% of all new car sales are EV).

well, we do get a little more sun here compared to you
But then from your chart above, I think you have us beat with wind

If I believe google, 87% of homes in CA have solar. We lived for a couple years on the CA central coast, there was no need for AC ...

 

[Apple fanboy]

well, we do get a little more sun here compared to you
But then from your chart above, I think you have us beat with wind

If I believe google, 87% of homes in CA have solar. We lived for a couple years on the CA central coast, there was no need for AC ...

The need for AC and Solar here is getting more and more viable. Longer hotter summers and massive electricity bills. Of course affording both is no joke!

 

[jz0309]

The need for AC and Solar here is getting more and more viable. Longer hotter summers and massive electricity bills. Of course affording both is no joke!

I know what you mean, have been in the UK and Europe during the summer (35+C) and not having AC sucks ...
AC costs way more per day than charging my car, but I'm sure glad I have it

 

[Eric5h5]

From what I have read the grid could not handle everyone having an EV. Same in Canada, where we are now we could not support the power requirements if everyone was charging every single day.

Norway is nearly 100% EV now, as far as new car sales go. Obviously all the old cars haven't magically vanished, but I suspect "the grid can't handle it!!!!!!!!" is a tad overstated; clearly an entire country wouldn't go EV if they thought the grid was going to collapse as the ICEVs are phased out.

 

[BigMcGuire]

OK ok - now we're having fun. So there's what, 30 million registered vehicles in California. Of those, 1.5 million (estimated) are to be Electric.

I've read that CA's grid could probably handle a few more million EVs but north of 5 million EVs it would have problems. (don't ask me to cite this, I probably couldn't find it if I tried and I'm sure it's speculative).

I've only had an EV since 2022, and I remember some summers Tesla had big massive screens begging us not to charge our car during peak times to help keep the grid up (not recently).

But say you snapped your fingers and we had 15 million EVs needing to charge tonight, I bet that would overwhelm the grid. According to what I've seen on CA ISO - once we start hitting the high 40,000 MWs - CA starts having problems supplying power. I believe CA's highest peak power was just over 50,000 MW.

So say it's a hot August afternoon and we're already north of 40,000 MW, it would take just what, 1.5 million additional EVs to add 10,000 MW load? 10,000,000 kW ÷ 6.6 kW per EV ≈ 1,515,152 EVs - and probably crash the grid.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

My car can drive for 2-3 hours depending on time of year and traffic. At that point I’m always ready for a stop (if not before). By the time you have had a comfort break, stretched your legs and and bought a coffee the car is most likely done. And that’s on a relatively slow charging car.

All this in the future it will be better I think is BS. For most people (especially those with home charging) EV’s are already more convenient that ICE.

Agree.

I just drove 2500 miles in four days. Having to stop for 15-20 minutes every 90-120 minutes was *GOOD* for me.

Here was the route:
Day 1, started at noon:



Day 2, shortish drive because I stopped at a family member's house for the night, so didn't want to arrive super late:


Day 3:


Day 4:


I've done ridiculous road trips before. My wife and I used to drive nonstop from Portland to middle of Nebraska (no sleep stops unlike this last trip, JUST stopping for food/bathroom/gas,) every year or two. Many of those in a Prius. Plenty of nonstop drives to Tucson (the location I stayed overnight day two of this last drive.) A few years ago, I bought a (gas) car on the East Coast, and drove it home to the West Coast in four days.

I *GREATLY* prefer stopping more often. Even in the Prius with its 500 mile range and 5 minute refill time, we'd often stop more frequently than 500 miles, and stop longer than the absolute minimum required to refill the tank. And when we didn't, we'd always feel bad. Sore, tired, cranky. The "forced longer more frequent stops" of EVs has helped our road tripping. We don't want to kill each other at the end of the drive any more.

 

[I7guy]

Agree.

I just drove 2500 miles in four days. Having to stop for 15-20 minutes every 90-120 minutes was *GOOD* for me.

Here was the route:
Day 1, started at noon:
View attachment 2525424


Day 2, shortish drive because I stopped at a family member's house for the night, so didn't want to arrive super late:
View attachment 2525426

Day 3:
View attachment 2525427

Day 4:
View attachment 2525428

I've done ridiculous road trips before. My wife and I used to drive nonstop from Portland to middle of Nebraska (no sleep stops unlike this last trip, JUST stopping for food/bathroom/gas,) every year or two. Many of those in a Prius. Plenty of nonstop drives to Tucson (the location I stayed overnight day two of this last drive.) A few years ago, I bought a (gas) car on the East Coast, and drove it home to the West Coast in four days.

I *GREATLY* prefer stopping more often. Even in the Prius with its 500 mile range and 5 minute refill time, we'd often stop more frequently than 500 miles, and stop longer than the absolute minimum required to refill the tank. And when we didn't, we'd always feel bad. Sore, tired, cranky. The "forced longer more frequent stops" of EVs has helped our road tripping. We don't want to kill each other at the end of the drive any more.

There is a term I came across that describes the human condition of stopping every so often. Bladder range vs battery range.