Home » Articles posted by runningonsouler@gmail.com (Page 4)
Author Archives: runningonsouler@gmail.com
1. Shenandoah, April 8-9
After months of planning our road trip to all 51 National Parks in an electric car, we launched our adventure from our home in Alexandria on the morning of April 8th.
We packed our Tesla Model Y, Elliot, with six months of equipment for our electric road trip to all 51 National Parks in the Lower 48 States.
We packed our Tesla Model Y, Elliot, with six months of clothes and supplies, hiking and camping gear, and snorkeling equipment, leaving some room to transport our sons when each one joins us at a park later in the year.
Shenandoah, established in 1935, with about 1.4 million annual visitors, features Skyline Drive.
Our first stop was Virginia’s own park, Shenandoah. Established in 1935, with about 1.4 million visitors each year, the park features the 105-mile Skyline Drive along the Blue Ridge Mountains, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
As our “home” park, one we have visited many times, Shenandoah needed only a brief visit for this trip to get in a hike and a stamp in our National Parks Passport booklet.
Our hike to Little Stony Man Mountain featured some sun, some graupel, and great views of the Shenandoah Valley below.
Arriving in the mid-afternoon, we had just the right amount of time for a 4-mile hike up Little Stony Man Mountain. Our hike featured the full range of mountain weather, from sun to clouds to graupel, and some great views of the Shenandoah Valley below.
Lodging
We spent our one night in Shenandoah at the Skyland Lodge at milepost 42 on Skyline Drive. This is the place to stay in the north end of the park, with beautiful views of the valley below. Our visit was on opening day of the lodge, a date that determined the start of our entire trip schedule.
Skyland Lodge features rustic but pleasant cabins with great views, a convenient location, and electric vehicle chargers.
Skyland rooms are in cabins that look rustic on the outside but are quite pleasant on the inside, though the bathrooms could use renovation. Our cabin was about a five-minute walk from the main lodge. After a hearty dinner in the restaurant, we awoke the next morning to a pleasant surprise: a beautiful dusting of snow.
Charging
A major plus for Skyland as a place to stay is its Tesla Destination Charger in the parking lot at the main lodge. It also has a second standard (J1772) Level 2 charger for other electric cars, which our Tesla could have used with its adaptor plug if the Destination Charger had been used by another Tesla vehicle. Like most Destination Chargers, Skyland provides a charge at no cost.
We plugged into the Destination Charger after unloading overnight luggage at our cabin, and Elliot greeted us in the morning with a full “tank,” ready to start the next leg of our trip.
Hiking Trails and Other Activities in the Park
Little Stony Man Loop 4.0 miles
Total Hiking Miles 4.0 miles
Impressions
Although Shenandoah’s highlights usually come during the fall foliage season, we enjoyed a beautiful dusting of snow on the trees during our 23-mile drive south on Skyline Drive to our I-81 exit. As an added bonus, the drive down from the mountain ridge allowed Elliot to regain some range through the use of regenerative braking, which recaptures energy to the battery, rather than wasting it as heat. As an additional advantage of electric vehicles, regenerative braking also minimizes the use of brakes, extending their life and reducing the need for replacement.
Following our descent from Skyline Drive, we headed southwest via I-81 and I-64 for our journey to the next National Park, New River Gorge in West Virginia.
Are Electric Vehicles Really Zero Emissions?
For many of us who were early adopters of electric vehicles, protecting the environment is an important motivation—to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels that cause climate change and other air pollutants that foul the air. If we’re concerned about global warming, we should all do our part in cutting emissions, and switching to an electric car seems like an obvious way to be part of the solution. My first electric car, a 2014 Nissan Leaf, even has a “Zero Emission” emblem on the back.
But is it really zero emissions? The electricity to charge the battery has to come from somewhere, and isn’t most electricity in the U.S. produced by burning coal? So when we drive electric cars, are we just moving the emissions from the tailpipe to the smokestack?
Electric cars reduce emissions—and to zero under the right circumstances.
While there is a small element of truth in the skepticism about zero emissions from electric cars, the answer is basically that they do reduce emissions—and to zero under the right circumstances.
Even in the worst case where electricity is generated from polluting sources like coal and natural gas, electric vehicles serve a valuable function in removing the local pollution, moving it to locations where there are fewer people. If you’ve spent time in an urban area near polluting cars, trucks, and buses, you know how important that is for human health.
Electric cars use energy much more efficiently.
But the benefits in reducing pollution go much further. Electric vehicles are far more energy efficient than ones powered by internal combustion engines—electric motors are roughly 90 percent efficient compared to about 25 percent for gas-powered internal combustion engines. Greater efficiency means less use of energy, which translates to less pollution.
One of the best sources of electricity for charging EVs is “negawatts”—energy saved through improved efficiency.
The energy efficiency advantage of electric motors is related to the best source of non-polluting electricity for charging electric vehicle batteries—negawatts. Negawatts is a term coined by Amory Lovins, founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute. It represents a watt of energy that you have not used through energy conservation or the use of energy-efficient products. Instead of kilowatts and megawatts—measures of electricity generation from sources of energy like coal, natural gas, nuclear power, wind, and solar—negawatts are electric power freed up for other uses by more efficient use of existing sources.
Individuals can produce “negawatts” at home by replacing lighting with LED bulbs and getting rid of old, inefficient appliances.
In our case, when we got our Nissan Leaf EV in 2014, we offset the electricity needed to charge the battery every night by reducing other uses. By replacing all our lighting with LED bulbs (especially the large number of 60-watt indoor floodlights that are on all the time) and eliminating inefficient appliances like an old refrigerator in the garage, we were able to charge the Leaf without increasing our overall electricity use. So the Leaf is powered by non-polluting, zero-emissions negawatts.
But even without increasing the need for electricity, the juice going into an electric car still has to come from somewhere. Doesn’t generating that power still generate emissions?
The electric grid is getting steadily cleaner, making an EV bought today greener every year.
This is really the best part of the zero emissions story. Our sources of electricity are getting cleaner every year. The Leaf EV we bought in 2014 has gotten greener every year as the electricity grid has gotten steadily cleaner—something a car powered by an internal combustion engine can never do.
Many EV owners also have solar panels on their homes—giving them a clean power source on the roof.
Many electric vehicle owners also have solar panels on their homes—about one-third according to a 2019 report by CleanTechnica. So if the vehicle is charging while the sun is shining—no emissions.
Renewable sources like wind and solar now account for almost all the new electrical generating capacity every year, making the grid cleaner each year.
The same thing is true on a larger scale as the electric grid becomes increasingly powered by non-emitting renewable sources. The use of dirty coal has declined dramatically since the early 2000s, when it accounted for about half of US electrical generating capacity. It is now down to less than 20 percent and is the fourth largest source—after natural gas (40 percent), nuclear (20 percent), and renewables (20 percent). And renewables now account for almost all the new generating capacity every year, making the grid cleaner each year.
The future is now in some areas of the country that already have high proportions of renewable or other non-emitting sources of electricity.
The future is now in some areas of the country that already have high proportions of renewable or other non-emitting sources of electricity.
Vermont currently leads the nation, at nearly 100 percent renewable sources—almost 60 percent hydroelectric, 16 percent wind, and most of the rest from biomass and solar. So if you’re charging an electric car in Vermont, you’re pretty much zero emissions.
Washington State also generates about 85 percent of its electricity from renewable sources—about 60 percent from hydroelectric. Neighboring Idaho is at 80 percent with less hydro and more wind.
Iowa gets almost 60 percent of its electricity from wind, and Kansas is nearing half.
New Hampshire and Illinois get about 60 percent of their electricity from nuclear power. Nuclear provides almost a third of the electricity for my own state of Virginia, so there’s a good chance that my electric cars are being charged from that non-emitting power source at night.
There are exceptions to this pattern, such as West Virginia, which still gets 80 percent of its electricity from coal.
But overall, the electric grid is getting cleaner every year, driven by a combination of government mandates and powerful economic forces. Initially, the transition was from dirty coal to cleaner natural gas, a result of the increased production and lower costs of natural gas from advanced drilling methods.
In recent years, the energy transition has shifted principally toward renewable sources, which now dominate new capacity, a result of the dramatic decline in the costs of renewable sources like wind and solar.
In more recent years, the energy transition has shifted principally toward renewable sources, which now dominate new capacity, a result of the dramatic decline in the costs of renewable sources like wind and solar.
These trends will continue during the 2020s—during the lifetime of an electric car purchased today. Costs of wind, solar, and other renewable sources will continue to decline as more solar panels and wind turbines are produced and as new technologies are developed.
And states are imposing renewable energy mandates on their utilities. So far, ten states, including the entire West Coast, have enacted mandates for 100 percent renewable and zero-emissions electricity sources between 2040 and 2050.* And it possible that a Federal mandate of some form will be enacted before the middle of the century.
If electric vehicles and their sources of electricity avoid emissions, what about the manufacturing of the vehicles and their batteries? And what about the production of the solar panels and wind turbines?
The solution to the climate crisis is to shift away from fossil fuels by converting our machines to electric motors and producing all our electricity from non-carbon sources.
The answer to that question is the same as the general solution to climate crisis. The way to eliminate CO2 and other emissions is to transition away from burning fossil fuels by converting our machines to electric motors and producing all our electricity from non-carbon sources. And that includes not just cars, trucks, and buses, but also the mining vehicles and processing plants and the factories that produce vehicles and batteries.
In sum, electric vehicles can operate with zero emissions today and will move increasingly in that direction as the grid and the overall energy system transitions to efficient electric motors and renewable sources of electricity.
* By 2040, New York and Oregon; by 2045, California, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Washington; by 2050, Colorado, Maine, Nevada, and Virginia.
How Long Do Electric Vehicle Batteries Last?
Most of us have grown up with cars powered by internal combustion engines. They are remarkable feats of engineering, derived from decades of automotive experience and advancement. Modern cars are extremely reliable and need only minimal maintenance. We expect them to get us to work or our travel destinations without incident, and we expect them to last for a decade or more.
Electric vehicles, on the other hand, are unfamiliar to most of us. We have lots of other machines powered by electric motors, like our refrigerators, washing machines, and ceiling fans, and we generally assume they are reliable and free of maintenance. But our experience with the electric machines powered by rechargeable batteries is more limited, and different. For example, we expect we might need to replace the batteries in our cordless electric drills every few years.
Most of us equate lithium-ion batteries—the miracles of modern chemistry powering our cordless electric devices, including EVs—to the ones in our iPhones.
Most of us equate lithium-ion batteries—the miracles of modern chemistry powering our cordless electric devices, including EVs—to the ones in our iPhones. Many people experience significant loss of battery capacity in their cell phones after two or three years. Time to buy a new iPhone! Not so bad because that new iPhone is better anyway—faster and with a sharper display and a better camera. And it’s not that expensive to buy a new phone every few years.
But an electric car with rechargeable lithium-ion batteries? Many people think they’ll have to replace the battery after a few years—at a cost of thousands of dollars. No thanks! They’ll stick with their gas car, which they know will last for many years.
So how long do batteries in electric cars last?
If you’re considering joining the transition to electric vehicles, should you really be worried about a big bill a few years down the road to replace the car’s battery pack? And with EVs so new on the scene, isn’t this a risky proposition?
Electric vehicles have been on the roads for about a decade now, and there are lots of them at this point, many with more than 100,000 miles. So we have some real-world data on EV battery degradation. And it looks pretty good.
Actually, electric vehicles have been on the roads for about a decade now, and there are lots of them at this point, many with lots of miles. So we have some real-world data on EV battery degradation. And it looks pretty good.
The first point to understand is that battery chemistry is a complicated engineering problem, with tradeoffs between power, energy density, and longevity, as well as other factors like safety. So the design tradeoffs in your iPhone battery are different than those for an EV battery pack, resulting in different chemistries. An electric car battery is not like the one in your iPhone.
The battery in an electric car is not like the one in your iPhone.
Also, good engineering matters for batteries, just like everything else. The batteries in early-model Nissan Leafs had serious problems in extreme heat—like parking lots in Arizona—and Nissan had to replace a bunch of them. But that was a result of design decisions Nissan had made, both in the battery chemistry and the battery pack cooling system. Other automakers, like Tesla, made different—better—decisions on those important engineering details.
What Do the Data Say?
At this point, we probably have the best data on Tesla Model S and Model X batteries. Many of those vehicles have been on the road for almost a decade, and there are lots of them. And because they are long-range vehicles, they have accumulated lots of driving miles.
Data on battery gradation show that capacity drops by single digits in the first years and then levels off.
Data on battery gradation show that capacity drops by single digits in the first years and then levels off. More specifically, battery capacity can be expected to drop by as much as 5 percent initially, with capacity remaining at 90 percent after 150,000 miles and 85 percent after 200,000 miles. Those kinds of numbers result in a useful vehicle with longevity on par with a gasoline-powered car. And over a similar period, that gas car is going to need a lot more major maintenance on its power train.
This picture is basically the same for both data released by Tesla (first chart) and wiki data collected from Tesla Model S and X owners (second chart).
Warranties cover the most serious degradation cases.
Of course, there are outliers in the data, with some vehicles experiencing somewhat more degradation. Tesla’s warranty covers the most serious degradation cases. For example, my Model Y is warrantied for 70 percent retention of battery capacity for eight years or 120,000 miles. Other EV makers offer similar warranty protection.
Battery longevity is expected to continue to improve in the coming years as chemistries advance. Tesla has talked about eventually achieving what it calls a “million mile” battery pack to go with the million miles it estimates that its electric drive trains will last.
How You Charge Can Affect Battery Longevity
Owners have some control over the longevity of the batteries in their vehicles, as charging practices have an impact over time.
To improve battery longevity, the basic idea is to refrain from fully charging the battery unless needed for a trip and to avoid fully draining the battery. The rule of thumb is to keep the battery between about 20-80 percent most of the time.
To improve battery longevity, the basic idea is to refrain from fully charging the battery unless needed for a trip and to avoid fully draining the battery. Tesla advises its customers to charge to only 80-90 percent of battery capacity in regular daily driving—more than enough range for those trips—and to charge to 100 percent only when needed for a long road trip. It also advises owners to avoid draining the battery below 10-20 percent of capacity—another reason why longer range is useful for road trips.
And coming back to our first electric car—our trusty eight-year-old Nissan Leaf with 57,000 miles—it still shows all its battery capacity bars on the dashboard display and an estimated range nearly the same as when it was new. A robust sample size of one, admittedly, but some additional reassurance that electric car batteries are not like iPhones.
In short, batteries in electric vehicles can be expected to deliver longevity on par with the lifetime of gasoline-powered cars.
In short, although there have been some exceptions—typically addressed under warranty—batteries in electric vehicles can be expected to deliver longevity on par with the lifetime of gasoline-powered cars. There is little or no risk that the cost of transitioning to an electric car will include the need for a battery pack replacement during the life of the vehicle.
How Much Range Is Enough for Electric Vehicles?
The median range of gasoline-fueled cars in the United States is about 400 miles, and many of us expect our vehicles to drive most of the day without having to refuel.
Can electric vehicles live up to that range standard? Do they need to?
How much range is enough depends on your needs.
It depends on your needs and what you want your vehicle to do. For some purposes, range of 100 miles is enough. For road trips, 300-400 miles is probably enough for most people.
We got our first electric car in 2014—a Nissan Leaf. The first time we took a test drive, we loved the acceleration you get from even a modestly powered electric car. But the range on the window sticker was listed as 84 miles. That’s like buying a car with a 2-gallon tank, we thought. That’s crazy. So we passed at the time.
Range for Local Driving
But then we started doing some research on charging and thought about it some more. This would be our second car, and 84 miles is more than enough for daily commuting. And unlike a gasoline-powered car, our electric car would greet us every morning with a full tank because we would have our own “gas pump” in the garage: an EV charger. For long trips, we’d just take the other car.
The Leaf’s 84-mile range has been more than enough for eight years of mostly local driving, especially with a “full tank” every morning.
As it turns out, that 84-mile range has been more than enough for eight years of mostly local driving in our reliable, economical, fun-to-drive Leaf. With a round-trip commute of 30 miles—about the same as the average daily driving distance in the United States—the Leaf’s range has been more than enough. We can even take trips downtown after work or skip a night of charging and still have plenty of range.
Traveling to one of the outer suburbs on the other side of the city is as stretch. For that, we would have to put the Leaf in Eco mode and get home with single-digit percentages on the battery indicator. But we could always make it.
And in all those years, we have had to use a fast charger away from home exactly twice, and both times charging stations were available where we needed them and took only about 20 minutes to replenish the battery.
Would we have been happier with 100 miles of range? Yes. Did we really need it? No.
Today, with several years of advances and cost reductions in lithium-ion batteries, it’s hard to find a new electric car with range of less than 200 miles. Plenty of range for daily driving in a metropolitan area.
Range for Road Trips
Range for road trips is a different matter. If you have only one car, it has to be able to do both commuting and road trip duties—unless you plan to rent a car every time you want to head out of town. For road trips, you want more than 200 miles of range.
For road trips, you want more than 200 miles of range.
As of 2022, there are an increasing number of electric cars with 250-300 miles or more of range. For example, our Tesla Model Y, Long Range version, is rated at 326-mile range. With that kind of range, you can start a long road trip with a full charge, drive for half a day, charge while stopping for a meal, and reach destinations 400-500 miles away. So isn’t that “enough” range?
How Much Range Is Enough?
Electric vehicle range is like most things in life: more is better. But there are always tradeoffs—in the case of EV battery capacity, cost and weight. Unlike a gasoline-powered car, increasing the size of the “tank” is an expensive proposition in an electric vehicle. Even as battery costs approach the long-sought goal of $100 per Kilowatt-hour of capacity, increasing range by 50 percent can add several thousand dollars to the cost of an EV.
So what’s an “optimal” range?
There are some real-world considerations that argue for somewhat more range than 250-300 miles—speed, cold, and charging limitations.
There are some real-world considerations that argue for somewhat more range than 250-300 miles. Like any car, those EPA mileage ratings “may vary” under certain conditions.
Driving fast will reduce highway range, just as it will in a gas-powered car. For example, a Tesla Model 3 with a range of 325 miles at 65 mph would get only about 275 miles at 75 mph, a reduction of 15 percent. Traveling at 80 mph would reduce range to nearly 250 miles.
Cold weather also reduces range in an EV.
And you don’t want to drain the battery too low, both to allow a margin to reach a charging station and to maintain battery health over its life.
In addition, a charging session at a fast charging station will probably recover only 80 percent of range because charging rates slow significantly as the battery reaches full capacity.
Range of 350-400 miles is probably optimal for road trips.
For these reasons, range of 350-400 miles is probably optimal for road trips. That allows a half day of driving and extra margin for factors that reduce range. Tesla’s more expensive Model S and Model X already have ranges of that magnitude, and we can expect ranges of less expensive EVs to reach those numbers in coming years as battery technologies improve.
Is range of 350-400 miles “enough?” Probably for a large majority of people and uses. But there are some cases where range of 500 miles would be useful, or even necessary. For example, towing a trailer reduces range significantly. And for people who drive long distances at high speeds on a regular basis and want to stop only for short rest breaks, longer ranges would be useful. As battery technologies improve, we can expect automakers will offer tiers of range, including extended ranges of 500 miles or more.
In the end, how much range is “enough” is relative to individual needs and preferences.
In the end, “enough” is, of course, a relative term—relative to needs and individual circumstances and preferences.
Range of 100-200 miles is enough for a second car intended only for daily commuting.
For a multi-purpose car that includes long road trips, 250-300 miles is practical, as long as you don’t mind a recharging stop or two along the way.
Getting to 350-400 miles will make range a non-issue for most people.
And some people will want the capability offered by 500-mile range. But ranges on those higher ends will come with a premium price, because making a larger “tank” in an electric vehicle doesn’t come cheap in either weight or price.
How much range is comfortable for people will also depend on the availability and speed of charging stations.
How much range is comfortable for people will also depend on the availability and speed of charging stations. With today’s gas-powered cars, we don’t think much about range because we know gas stations are ubiquitous and filling the tank is fast. As people gain confidence in the availability of fast charging stations for EVs, and as their charging rates continue to increase, range will become less important. (See articles on How Easy is it to Find Charging Stations? and How Long Does It Take to Charge an Electric Vehicle?)
How Long Does It Take to Charge an Electric Vehicle?
People who haven’t yet made the transition to electric vehicles typically cite three challenges that cause them to hold onto their gasoline-powered cars: range, availability of chargers, and the time it takes to charge an electric car. On the issue of charging time, people hear estimates of several hours to charge an EV on household electrical current and think, “no thanks, that’s a deal breaker.”
But how long does it really take to charge an electric car in real-world conditions, and how do charging times compare to time spent pumping gasoline in a car powered by an internal combustion engine?
For most electric car owners, we spend less time charging our cars than other people spend pumping gas.
For most electric car owners, we spend less time charging our cars than other people spend pumping gas. To repeat, less time charging, not more. And it’s much more convenient to charge than to pump. That’s especially true for EV owners who have a charger in their garage or another dedicated parking space.
“Fueling” an EV uses a paradigm that is entirely different than putting gasoline in the car. When you “fuel” an EV, the car does that while you’re parked to do something else.
What most people don’t understand is that “fueling” an EV uses a paradigm that is entirely different than pumping gasoline in a car. The simple version is this: when you fuel your gasoline-powered car, you go to the gas station and spend time to do that. When you “fuel” an EV, the car does that while you’re parked to do something else. Yes, it takes longer to pump the electrons into a battery than it takes to pump gasoline into a tank. But that’s irrelevant if the charging takes place while you’re doing something else. (See the end of this article for the details on charging times.)
Charging at Home
Most of the time, the something else an EV owner is doing while the car is charging is sleeping. At home, our electric car takes a couple of hours to charge after daily driving. But it doesn’t really matter whether it’s two hours or ten hours. All we care is that we have a “full tank” every morning. Do you know how long it takes your cell phone to charge at night? Probably not, because all you really care is that it’s fully charged in the morning.
For local driving, EV owners spend essentially zero time charging.
In fact, for local driving, EV owners spend essentially zero time charging. Our EV charges while we’re sleeping, and we never go to the equivalent of a gas station. No stops at gas stations in the rain and the cold, or when we’re in a hurry to get home. Instead, there’s a gas station in our garage. So unless you count the few seconds it takes to plug in the charger when we get home and unplug it in the morning, our charging time is essentially zero. And the convenience of charging at home rather than at a gas station is actually a major advantage of an electric vehicle.
With a charger in the garage, charging time is essentially zero, and the convenience of charging at home rather than at a gas station is actually a major advantage of an electric vehicle.
For people without access to chargers at their home, another good option is charging at work during the day, especially as businesses offer chargers to attract and retain employees. And in the future, daytime charging will be the least expensive way to charge an EV as electricity generated from solar power becomes abundant and cheap. In fact, in some locations like California and Hawaii where substantial amounts of solar power have been deployed, peak electricity generation during the afternoon hours can exceed demand, creating the so-called “Duck Curve”—a condition where daytime power is abundant and close to free. (For more information, look up the Duck Curve on Wikipedia.)
Charging on the Road
Now, you’re probably asking, what about road trips? Doesn’t it take forever to charge on the road, when you can’t charge overnight at home?
The latest version of Tesla’s Supercharger pumps electrons at a 250 kilowatt pace, fast enough to charge EVs with 80-100 kilowatt-hour batteries in about 15-20 minutes.
Charging on the road relies on fast chargers that operate at 480 volts—much faster than home chargers that use 240-volt electric circuits. And the rate they pump electrons into EV batteries is constantly increasing. For example, the latest version of Tesla’s Supercharger, Version 3, pumps electrons at a 250 kilowatt pace, fast enough to charge EVs with 80-100 kilowatt-hour batteries in about 15-20 minutes. Some Electrify America fast chargers operate at 350 kilowatt-hours. (For more information on types of fast chargers, see article on Types of Electric Vehicle Chargers.)
Even the fastest chargers will probably never match the speed of a gasoline pump, because hydrocarbons can’t be beat for their speed in pumping energy-dense fuels into a vehicle. But like the time to charge my car overnight at home, the time required to charge with a fast charger on the road becomes unimportant if it’s less than the time to stop for a meal or a rest break.
The key point is that you don’t stop to charge like you stop to fill your tank at a gas station. You stop for a meal or a rest break and charge while you’re parked to do those other activities.
The key point is that you don’t stop to charge like you stop to fill your tank at a gas station. You stop for a meal or a rest break and charge while you’re parked to do those other activities. So unless the charging takes longer than the main activity, you’re not spending any time charging—just as we don’t spend time charging at home.
We’ve used Supercharger Version 3 stations a couple of times—the ones that pump electrons at 250 kilowatts—and their speed is impressive. As an example, we stopped at a Supercharger V3 in Connecticut on the way to Cape Cod in 2020. We plugged in—the charging starts immediately and the cost is automatically charged to your Tesla account—and then went into the rest station to use the restroom and order Chipotle takeout. By the time we got back to the car, it was almost ready to go.
As more people make the transition to electric vehicles, more restaurants will offer chargers in their parking lots as a way to attract customers.
Tesla locates their Superchargers along highways and near restaurants. As more people make the transition to electric vehicles, more restaurants will offer fast chargers in their parking lots as a way to attract customers. And they can use the space in their parking lots for solar canopies—solar panels mounted above parking spaces—so that their customers can use inexpensive solar power to charge, especially for the lunch crowd stopping at mid-day.
Charging time during road trips starts to fade as a concern as EVs approach 300-mile range as a standard.
Charging time during road trips starts to fade as a concern as EVs approach 300-mile range as a standard. With ranges in the 300s, even a full day of driving will generally require only one charging stop. And that will probably be for lunch—enough time for an EV battery to recharge with enough juice to power the second half of a driving day.
The other key to charging on the road is staying at hotels that offer chargers.
The other key to charging on the road is staying at hotels that offer chargers. Starting a road trip from home, you always have a “full tank” in the morning, so you should need to stop only once, at lunchtime, to charge along the way. Similarly, if you stay at hotels that offer chargers, you always start the next leg of your trip with a “full tank.”
Tesla has a coherent strategy for building an EV charging network—Superchargers that they build and operate along the highways, and what they call Destination Chargers at hotels and other establishments. They offer Destination Chargers to hotels, typically for free. These are 240-volt (“Level 2”) chargers that will charge an EV overnight, just like our charger at home. It’s a smart strategy for Tesla because it encourages the building of the charging network. And it’s good business for the hotels because they appear on the network map, and the availability of chargers attracts customers. Of course it’s good for the EV owners because they can start the next day with a full charge and usually get the overnight charging for free.
Other EV companies are starting to follow similar strategies, especially Rivian, which is a new company making electric pick-up trucks and SUVs. In addition to its “Adventure” fast chargers, it is building a network of “Waypoint” chargers, Level 2 chargers at hotels and restaurants. Installing chargers is good business for hotels. Like restaurants that offer chargers in their parking lots to attract customers, hotels that offer chargers attract the growing numbers of EV owners to seek lodging at their establishments.
We will soon see the availability of chargers as a desired filter on travel websites so EV users can easily find hotels with chargers. In the meantime, there is PlugShare, an incredibly useful wiki-based app that lists just about every charging station in the country. (See article on How Easy is it to Find Charging Stations?).
Summary
If you’re interested in an electric vehicle but have been hesitating because of concerns about charging times, get to a Tesla, VW, Ford, or other EV showroom or website as soon as possible to order your next car. Because while charging times are overstated by people who do not understand electric vehicles, delays in getting EVs are a real issue as their popularity grows and manufacturing companies experience delays in ramping up production of batteries and vehicles.
For local driving with an EV, you will spend essentially zero time charging—and certainly far less than you would spend stopping at gas stations. And electric vehicles offer a major advantage in convenience by eliminating trips to the gas station. For road trips, a growing network of fast chargers will allow you to charge while stopping to eat or rest. And unless you regularly drive more than 500 miles a day, eat while driving, and have an iron bladder, road trips won’t be meaningfully longer than they would be in a gasoline-powered car. Moreover, time is on the side of electric vehicles as charging stations become faster and more numerous.
You may also be waiting to make the transition to an electric car because of concerns about the life of the battery pack in an EV. Will the battery start to lose capacity after a few years like my iPhone, and will I get stuck having to spend several thousand dollars on a new battery? For information on battery longevity, see the article on How Long Do Electric Vehicle Batteries Last?
Charging Time Details
Now, here are the details on charging times.
To over-simplify a little, EV charging can be thought about in two types: regular charging at home or hotels with charging times measured in hours, and fast charging at stations along the highway with times measured in tens of minutes.
Charging at Home
Charging at home or a hotel is done with Level 2 chargers that operate at 240 volts. Depending on the amps provided by the electric circuit and the charging device, a Level 2 charger will provide roughly 20-30 miles of range per hour. For example, a Level 2 charger operating on a 240-volt circuit at 32-amps can add about 30 miles of range per hour (7.7 Kilowatt-hours of energy x 4 miles of range per Kilowatt-hour). A 40-amp charger can add about 37 miles per hour (9.6 KWs).
At those rates, an average day of driving—about 30 miles per day—can be recovered in about an hour of charging—longer as the battery reaches full capacity and the rate of charging slows. For most local driving, it would be rare to drain a battery to near empty. But with a 300-mile EV, even a battery near empty can be charged in about 10 hours—basically overnight.
Using the same charger, it’s also possible to charge an EV on a standard 120-volt electrical circuit—known as Level 1 charging—but at only about 2-3 miles per hour. That’s enough to recover an average day’s driving of 30 miles in an overnight charging session. But it’s not enough to recover from a long trip and a nearly depleted battery. For that reason, most EV owners invest in a dedicated 240-volt electrical circuit for their charger.
Charging on Road Trips
Charging on the road is done with fast chargers, also known as Level 3 or DC (Direct Current) fast chargers. Fast chargers operate at 480 volts and can pump electrons into an EV battery at rates of 150-350 Kilowatts. For example, the latest version of Tesla’s Superchargers, Version 3, can charge at 250 Kilowatts. In theory, a charger that fast could fill the 75 Kilowatt-hour battery in our Tesla Model Y in 18 minutes (75/250). However, that is not possible because charging rates slow as the battery fills.
For example, with a Supercharger V3, charging at 250KWs lasts only for the first few minutes and then tapers down. For this reason, it usually does not make sense to charge beyond about 80 percent of the battery capacity because the last 20 percent of charge would take an extended amount of time. The end result is that a Supercharger can provide about 200 miles of additional range in 15-20 minutes, but additional range beyond that is better achieved by a later stop at another charging station.
Charging rates can also vary by location, depending on the electrical service for the substation. Tesla Supercharger locations typically have eight to a dozen individual charging stations. If they are all being used at the same time, the rate of charging can drop significantly in some locations.
Currently, a complication associated with fast charging is that there are two main standards in the United States—basically two types of plugs. Tesla’s Supercharger network is the most numerous now, but CCS (Combined Charging System) charging stations are being built rapidly by companies like Electrify America, ChargePoint, and EVGO, as well as EV manufacturers like Rivian, which is building an “Adventure network” of DC fast chargers.
The problem of dual standards is starting to be addressed with adaptors, but not all fast chargers are currently available to all types of electric vehicles. (See article on Types of Electric Vehicle Chargers.)
How Easy is it to Find Charging Stations?
We’re all accustomed to the ubiquitous nature of gasoline stations. They’re all around town, and we expect to find them at every highway exit.
But most people have little or no awareness of the availability of electric vehicle charging stations. Some might have seen Tesla Superchargers at highway rest stops, or chargers from other companies in parking lots. But they still have no idea how much the charging infrastructure has already been built out and how rapidly it is growing. And some people who might otherwise be interested in joining the transition to electric vehicles are hesitating due to concerns about the availability of chargers.
Some people who might otherwise be interested in joining the transition to electric vehicles are hesitating due to concerns about the availability of chargers.
It’s hard to get exact statistics, but as of January 2022, the United States had about 46,000 charging stations with about 113,500 charging units. Those are a mix of fast chargers—called Level 3 chargers—and slower Level 2 chargers that can replenish an EV battery in a few hours.
The total includes more than 1,200 Tesla Supercharger stations with more than 10,000 fast chargers, plus an even larger number of Level 2 Destination Chargers at hotels and other places where people spend a few hours.
Electrify America has built more than 700 stations with more than 3,000 fast chargers, and its network is growing fast. EVGO has more than 800 fast charging stations. And ChargePoint maintains more than 18,000 charging locations, mostly Level 2 chargers.
It won’t be too many years before charging stations surpass the number of gasoline stations.
With continued rapid growth, stimulated by Federal infrastructure funding, it won’t be too many years before charging stations surpass the number of gasoline stations, estimated to be 100,000-150,000 today.
A “Gas Station” in Your Garage
But those numbers tell only part of the story. For electric vehicles, most “gas stations” are located in people’s garages, where they charge most of the time.
For local driving, the only gas station you’ll need to visit is in your garage.
For the eight years we have owned two electric cars, 90 percent of the charging has been done at home, with the charger in our garage. For local driving, EVs don’t need many “gas stations” around town. Instead, with a “gas station” in the garage, EV owners are greeted each morning with a “full tank.” (See article on How Long Does it Take to Charge an EV?)
For people who don’t have garages or other dedicated parking spots, we will need more chargers in condo and apartment parking lots for nighttime charging and chargers in business parking lots for daytime charging. These EV owners also have the option of charging once every week or two at a commercial charging station—just as they do now when they fill up a gasoline-powered car.
Fast Chargers for Highway Travel
For road trips, we need a network of fast chargers along highways throughout the country and the continent. Over the last several years, Tesla has built such a network that now allows travel virtually anywhere in the country, with only a small number of charging “dead zones” that are being gradually filled in.
For road trips, we need a network of fast chargers along highways throughout the country and the continent.
Electrify America and other companies are building similar fast charging networks using the Combined Charging System (CCS), which is the second fast charging standard used in North America. But they are a few years behind Tesla’s network. (For information on different EV chargers, see article on Types of Electric Vehicle Chargers.)
But numbers are only part of the story. The real question is whether you can find a charging station where you want to go. Today, charging stations are concentrated in areas with the most electric vehicles, such as California. But they are continually expanding to the entire country.
Finding Charging Stations
How do you find charging stations? And how do you know if there are chargers where you want to go?
Fortunately, this is an area where electric vehicles are more advanced than traditional cars dependent on gasoline stations. EV owners get information on the locations of charging stations both on the car screen and on charging network websites and apps.
EV owners get information on the locations of charging stations both on the car screen and on charging network websites and apps.
EVs typically display the locations of charging stations on their screens. For example, my Tesla Model Y shows all the nearby Superchargers on the car display, and it even calculates where I should stop to charge based on my navigation route. It also shows the availability of charging units at each station.
Charging networks also show stations on their websites and apps. Tesla, Electrify America, EVGO, ChargePoint, and other charging companies show the locations of stations, as well as other useful information. In fact, if you are considering an electric vehicle and wonder about the availability of charging stations, one of the best ways to reassure yourself is to check out some of these websites and see how many chargers are available in most locations.
Here’s a map of the Tesla Supercharger network as of March 2022 from Tesla’s website.
Here’s a map of the Electrify America charging network as of March 2022.
One of the best sources for information on charging stations is a free website and app called PlugShare.
One of the best sources for information on charging stations is a free website and app called PlugShare. It uses wiki-based sources to show the locations of almost every charger in the United States.
PlugShare shows fast chargers, including Tesla Superchargers and CCS fast chargers from Electrify America and other companies. It also shows slower Level 2 (240-volt) chargers at places like hotels and other businesses, including Tesla Destination Chargers and standard J1772 chargers operated by charging companies and other businesses.
PlugShare even shows the chargers of private individuals who have offered their home chargers to fellow EV owners who need a charge.
PlugShare even shows the chargers of private individuals who have offered their home chargers to fellow EV owners who need a charge.
In addition to showing location and type of chargers, PlugShare also displays photos of the chargers and their surroundings and a map with the station’s location. It even includes “wiki-based” comments on the experiences of users, and a reliability rating.
Perusing PlugShare is a great way to get a feel for the availability of charging stations in a particular area, and it shows that chargers are more ubiquitous than you might think.
Perusing PlugShare is a great way to get a feel for the availability of charging stations in a particular area, and it shows that chargers are more ubiquitous than you might think. My favorite example is Boulder, Utah—that’s Boulder, Utah, not Boulder, Colorado. As of 2019, Boulder has a population of 270 people, and it’s one of the most out-of-the-way places in the country. How far out of the way? It’s 28 miles from Escalante and 36 miles from Torrey. But if you look on PlugShare, you will see that there are three Tesla Destination Chargers and one J1772 Level 2 charger installed by the lodge in the area.
Despite the widespread availability of EV charging stations, there are still some areas in need of chargers—charging “dead zones”—especially for fast chargers.
Despite the widespread availability of EV charging stations, there are still some areas in need of chargers—charging “dead zones”—especially for fast chargers. Currently, Tesla has the best nationwide fast charging network, and it has steadily filled in gaps over the years. But there are still gaps in isolated areas. Examples include southern Colorado, west-central Nevada, northern Minnesota, and the Big Bend area of Texas.
Other fast charging networks are a few years behind Tesla’s Supercharger network, but they are growing fast.
Other fast charging networks are a few years behind Tesla’s Supercharger network, but they are growing fast. One of the best CCS fast charging networks, Electrify America, has cross-country charging routes in the middle and southern states. But it has not yet completed a northern route through the Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana. The number of charging units at each station is also much smaller than the number of Superchargers at Tesla’s stations.
One obstacle to the availability of charging stations is the lack of a common standard for fast chargers. Tesla’s Superchargers use a different type of plug than the Combined Charging System (CCS) fast chargers. In the absence of convergence on a common fast charging standard, a partial solution is starting to emerge through the development of adaptor plugs. (See article on Types of Electric Vehicle Chargers.)