In building my garage, I took a look at putting in a power plug for future electric vehicles, since it is easier to do it before the walls are closed up. A standard plug will get you under 10km/hour of charge, so not all that useful. The next upgrade is a 50A circuit, which is good for about 32km/hour, so a full night will get you near a full charge. This looks like the most reasonable option. A high amp charger will do about 50km/hour, requiring a 100A breaker.
Now, I just upgraded my service to 200A, with 100A for the house, leaving 100A for the garage. Most info I read when building the garage was that typically people run 40A or 60A panels. I've got to wonder how many people will be equipped to handle electric cars when they become more common? Adding a 50A circuit isn't necessarily a cheap easy upgrade, and anything less than that isn't going to be very useful.
I don't think you'd need much more than 10km/hour of charge at home.
It just seems like you'd almost always be net positive even if you're plugged in around 8 hours a day during sleep.
Assuming a ~300-400km total range, I would think the vast majority of use cases would make it so that you would be net positive over a week. I can't imagine too many people driving 100km a day every day.
I don't think you'd need much more than 10km/hour of charge at home.
It just seems like you'd almost always be net positive even if you're plugged in around 8 hours a day during sleep.
Assuming a ~300-400km total range, I would think the vast majority of use cases would make it so that you would be net positive over a week. I can't imagine too many people driving 100km a day every day.
For sure, as far as daily goes. But if you want to do a weekend trip or something? Especially if you work Friday then want to take off after a few hours. I think for most people the 50A charger would be the minimum without getting into inconveniences at some point. I'll be running one 50A on the wall by the panel, so it will only be about 20 feet of wire.
Why even bother going to production with a truck that has a 100 mile range. Who is going to seriously consider buying this?
Drayage sector is the target market for this.
Tough to make it work though most drayage operators are hand to mouth sole proprietors. The drayage fleet is majority second hand with some operators buying tractors for as low as $5000 per.
These trucks will cost over $300,000 at least early on in their adoption.
But it's not surprise this is being rolled out now. Ports of San Pedro bay (the largest port in North America) set a target this summer for 50% of trucks accessing the port to be low or no emissions by 2030.
Drayage trucks are notoriously dirty from a local air pollution perspective. Cleaning that fleet should be a priority.
In building my garage, I took a look at putting in a power plug for future electric vehicles, since it is easier to do it before the walls are closed up. A standard plug will get you under 10km/hour of charge, so not all that useful. The next upgrade is a 50A circuit, which is good for about 32km/hour, so a full night will get you near a full charge. This looks like the most reasonable option. A high amp charger will do about 50km/hour, requiring a 100A breaker.
Now, I just upgraded my service to 200A, with 100A for the house, leaving 100A for the garage. Most info I read when building the garage was that typically people run 40A or 60A panels. I've got to wonder how many people will be equipped to handle electric cars when they become more common? Adding a 50A circuit isn't necessarily a cheap easy upgrade, and anything less than that isn't going to be very useful.
I think we over estimate how often people are going to be charging at home. It's more likely that there will be a big mix of how people charge. At work, at a charging station or through inductive chargers at a red light for example.
If your car's range is 400 km then most urban commuters would only need to charge once a week. The focus on charging is overblown in my mind.
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Maybe this belongs in random thought thread, but I've always wondered why engine stop-start technology wasn't made mandatory years ago (my 2005 has it). Not too late I suppose. It would be a reasonable stop gap to decrease emissions while electrics work their way into the 'common man' market.
I think we over estimate how often people are going to be charging at home. It's more likely that there will be a big mix of how people charge. At work, at a charging station or through inductive chargers at a red light for example.
If your car's range is 400 km then most urban commuters would only need to charge once a week. The focus on charging is overblown in my mind.
But is everyone's place of work going to have a charger that employees can use? Who pays for things like inductive red light charging? We aren't going to get free electricity to charge all the time.
But is everyone's place of work going to have a charger that employees can use? Who pays for things like inductive red light charging? We aren't going to get free electricity to charge all the time.
My workplace has multiple charging stations that are charge as you go. Drive up, plug-in, waive your credit card, then you are charged until the car is fully-charged or the plug is pulled (circuit broken). Easy, simple, and cost pennies to plug in your EV or plug-in hybrid. There are multiple in public parades around our city as well. Its a good system.
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But is everyone's place of work going to have a charger that employees can use? Who pays for things like inductive red light charging? We aren't going to get free electricity to charge all the time.
Not sure if you're familiar with the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for buildings? It works on a point system. If you want your building LEED gold, you need a certain amount of points. Silver is less, platinum is more, etc. Anyway, low hanging fruit points are promoting energy efficient transportation to your building. This typically means bike storage/racks and plug-ins (or accomodation for future plug ins) for electric vehicles. And these plug-ins will be located in premium spots. So, if you see a building LEED certified, it likely has plug ins.
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I think we over estimate how often people are going to be charging at home. It's more likely that there will be a big mix of how people charge. At work, at a charging station or through inductive chargers at a red light for example.
If your car's range is 400 km then most urban commuters would only need to charge once a week. The focus on charging is overblown in my mind.
Do you think most people will be perfectly satsifeid with a standard 15A circuit then? I think a 50A is still kind of the minimum I'd want.
My workplace has multiple charging stations that are charge as you go. Drive up, plug-in, waive your credit card, then you are charged until the car is fully-charged or the plug is pulled (circuit broken). Easy, simple, and cost pennies to plug in your EV or plug-in hybrid. There are multiple in public parades around our city as well. Its a good system.
I must say I am surprised. Although I live in rural Alberta so we don't see that kind of thing. I think the Peavey Mart has a charging station, never seen it used.
But is everyone's place of work going to have a charger that employees can use? Who pays for things like inductive red light charging? We aren't going to get free electricity to charge all the time.
Business models are already emerging. Austin energy, the municipal utility currently offers a subscription to pay $4.17 a month for unlimited charging at any of their utility owned charging stations.
Where there is demand for a good (vehicle charging) there will be people trying to make money off of it.
Re: who will pay for inductive charging...by the time that comes there will be wireless communications and blockchain-ish solutions that will automatically charge you for the energy you take. No hassle.
I must say I am surprised. Although I live in rural Alberta so we don't see that kind of thing. I think the Peavey Mart has a charging station, never seen it used.
You mean Alberta, one of the beds of O&G production, is not seeing a lot of EV activity? That's like saying Detroit, and surrounding areas, don't have a over abundance of charging stations. I'm shocked! Since we are the center of NA solar energy production, I suspect we might be a little ahead of the curve.
So I don't usually post but I work for an electrical company in Ottawa for new home builder's. As far as the car chargers go we offer our customers 40amp and 60amp services in the garage. Right now the 40amp is for all the mid range vehicles like BMW, Nissan, Ford, etc. While the 60amp is for the Tesla. Are homes come with 100amp panels and we always suggest 200amp if customers are getting a 60amp car rough in. By 2020 all the new homes in Ottawa will come with 200amp panels and the underground pipes to run a car charger to the garage.
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