Anothe solar powered EV. This one is more conventional but if you keep it parked outside and you do typical commuter short trips, the solar could provide all the power.

 

 

Since it will two or three years before we get electric cars in the dealerships where I live I can still find a used one at Carvana.  My question is mileage on a used one.  is 30,000 to 50,000 miles a concern?  What is the typical battery life of an electric car?

Noel

Edited March 26, 20224 yr by birdguy

I read an article yesterday that said the Tesla replacement battery is $21,000.

3 hours ago, birdguy said:

What is the typical battery life of an electric car?

 

Its not an issue. They rarely need changing. Tesla batteries have a battery life between 300,000 and 500,000 miles. Tesla batteries are covered by an 8 year warranty. No ICE engine I know of lasts for 500,000 miles. Nissan warranty the Leaf battery for 100,000 miles.

 

Robert has very strong opinions on this...

 

 

Edited March 26, 20224 yr by martin-w

Here's an article and the shortage of electric cars in the US.

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/25/1088287767/fuel-efficient-cars-hybrid-electric-gas-prices-surge

The greenies keep exhorting us to go to electric cars.  OK!  Where are they?

Noel

6 hours ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

Martin ... my local Target parking lot has many charge stations (not just Tesla).  Oregon ALONE has over 1,600 public charging stations so not sure where you got your data from?  

 

Per capita Rob, per capita. The US is a big country. You might have plenty of chargers but plenty of places in the US don't. We have 67 million people you have 329 million.

From what I understand most US charging stations are along major highways and densely populated areas. A large part of the US, geographically, isn't so well served. 

 

Quote

The European Union currently has nearly 275,000 EV charging ports, according to data by the European Alternative Fuels Observatory, or around 62 charging points per 100,000 inhabitants. The United States has roughly 37 ports on the same per-capita basis.

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/five-facts-state-us-electric-vehicle-charging-network-2021-09-01/#:~:text=The United States has roughly,the same per-capita basis.&text=There are more than 300,more than 10 years old.

 

Per capita the UK has 102 chargers per 100,000

 

 

Edited March 27, 20224 yr by martin-w

A new McDonald's about a mile from me has a charging station. 😁

Color me surprised, but there are five EV charging stations here in Hot Springs, Arkansas!  😀

I really don't see this issue with charging stations.  It was not possible to have a gasoline station at your house but not only can you have an EV charging station, you can make it a solar powered one if you desired and had the money and space.

and if you have an aptera or similar you may not need charging (from the grid) at all.

7 hours ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

Fair enough, but what percentage of US EV owners have their on in-home/apt/condo chargers?  The place we moved into June 2019 had EV charge ports are standard for the condo.  

Cheers, Rob.

 

 

Don't know about the US but the majority of EV owners in the UK opt for chargers. There are some great makes. Electricians here are going on courses to fit them. You have to really, to enable a full charge overnight. Chargers included in a new build happens here too. In fact its now law in the UK that all new homes must have an EV charger. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59369715

 

Quote

In the US I think the per capita will vary considerably by State ... some states are far more progressive than others.

 

It does vary dependant on state. That's the point. Thus, Europe and the UK are doing better re charging stations per capita. 

8 hours ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

The place we moved into June 2019 had EV charge ports are standard for the condo.

 

Between 400 and 800 quid to fit in the UK. How much do you guys pay in the US? 

 

You might find this interesting. Some great chargers available here.

 

 

 

Edited March 28, 20224 yr by martin-w

15 hours ago, 188AHC said:

A new McDonald's about a mile from me has a charging station. 😁

I will say McDonald's dont charge too much.

 😁

 

Edited March 28, 20224 yr by icewater5

8 hours ago, martin-w said:

Between 400 and 800 quid to fit in the UK. How much do you guys pay in the US? 

I had a local electrician install a NEMA 14-50 receptacle in my garage next to my main panel for 350.00 USD.  Using the Tesla Mobile Connector that comes with the vehicle I can charge at 32A and 240V which equates to 7.7 kw.  Our battery pack is gross 82 kwh with usable of 77 kwh and therefore can charge from 0% to 100% in  about 10 hours.  We can charge my wife's daily driving (school run, after school activities, groceries, etc.) in about 1 to 3 hours depending on where she has to go that day.  We typically charge to 80% for daily use (Tesla recommends 70% to 90% for daily use) and it's back up to 80% before we even go to bed.

I typically talk in terms of battery percentage as opposed to range because of the different ways manufacturers do their EPA ratings but the car is telling me we are charging at a rate of about 31-33 miles per hour of range.  The EPA rating of our Model Y is 326 miles.

I've hit 250 kw charge speeds at Version 3 Superchargers on road trips which is over 1,000 miles per hour of range added to the vehicle.  It's pretty impressive.

Some more EV math for anyone interested: Our vehicles lifetime efficiency with over 8k miles on the clock is 275 wh/mile which is very good considering the percent of those miles spent on road tripping.  This equates to 3.6 mile/kwh.  3.6 mile/kwh x 77 kwh usable capacity equals a real world 100%-0% range of 280 miles.  

77 kwh is equivalent energy to about 2.3 US gallons of gasoline.  So 280 miles on the equivalent of 2.3 US gallons of gasoline.  It's really amazing how efficient EVs are (or really how inefficient ICE vehicles are).

That 77 kwh or 280 real word range costs me 9.24 USD with home charging.

4 hours ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

In CA I did the install myself (very simple), charger unit cost $500 (got tax credit end of year).  In OR, I haven't needed one yet.

Cheers, Rob.

 

You couldn't do that in the UK. Or rather, in theory you could, but you would have to pay a qualified electrician/installer to check all of your work and provide the necessary certificates. If you don't have those certificates then when you come to sell your house you're in trouble, because the buyers solicitor will want copies. And if your house burnt down and your DIY electrical work was to blame you'd get no insurance.

 

We can do some electrical work without it being notifiable, as I have many times, like spurs from sockets, some lighting work etc. Anything in an area where's there's water, outside or in a bathroom for example requires notification and the proper certificates.

In theory, you could rewire an entire house, but again, you would need it checked and tested by an electrician to obtain the certificates.

We have ring final circuits here, which necessitate additional testing that doesn't apply to radials.

In terms of car chargers the regs are even more strict, with lots of things to consider.  You need to know your main fuse size, the size of your meter tails, if you are on a looped service, your MPAN number to register it with your power provider. Whether you have main bonding  to gas and water pipes, if there's enough space in the consumer unit, whether you have surge protection, cable routes to charge point, type of RCD.

 

Edited March 28, 20224 yr by martin-w