I’m going to try to pass on some things I’ve learned from driving four different electric vehicles over seven years and some 70,000 miles.
Since my current car is a Tesla Model 3 with over 50,000 miles on it, my brother and our best friends have Model S Teslas, and my daughter has a Tesla Model X, I am most knowledgeable about Teslas, but much guidance is across the industry.
My Tesla Model 3 and granddaughter at pioneer dugout homes – past vs. future.
First, let’s cover some reasons why you shouldn’t be worried about buying an electric vehicle.
What About Charging? How Long Does It Take To Charge?
Most people assume that electric cars are much more inconvenient than gas cars. After all, there is a gas station on every corner and it only takes 5 minutes to fill up, whereas electric charging stations are rare and it takes at least an hour to charge. Right?
Wrong. If you have access to 220 volt electricity or a L2 charger at home or work, an electric vehicle is much more convenient than a gas car for 250+ miles per day of local driving.
In principal: In the evening, you drive into your garage, carport, or driveway, take 10 seconds to plug in, and the next morning, you have a full charge and it takes 5 seconds to unplug.
Compare that with a gas car. You probably have to make a couple of special trips per week to the gas station, put in your credit card, grab the smelly nozzle, put it in your car, and wait five minutes to fill up. Then you return the smelly nozzle to the pump and have to get back into the car and leave the gas station.
Every 3,000 miles, you need to go to a Jiffy Lube and sit in its smelly waiting room for an hour while the mechanics change your oil.
In many states, every year, you need to go to an inspection station and wait an hour in their smelly waiting room while they do an emissions check.
These three tasks are all eliminated with an electric vehicle, which makes it much more convenient.
Myth: Everyone knows that long-distance trips in an electric car are inconvenient or even impossible because there aren’t enough charging stations and it takes an hour if you can find one.
Reality: Every 100 miles along all the major Interstate highways, Tesla has built Superchargers with 8 to 32 charging stations. By the time you have gone to the bathroom, walked the dog, and chatted with a fellow Tesla owner for a few minutes, you probably have more than enough charge to continue your journey. Usually, charging takes about 20 min. If you need a longer charge, you may need to watch a bit of Octopus Teacher or Back to the Future II on the big screen in the car for another 10 minutes.
My wife and I have done cross-country trips from Utah to Wisconsin on to North Carolina and back to Utah at the same 500 miles per day rate that we used to do with our gas cars … and with no worries.
How do you charge at home? All Teslas come with an EVSE (Electric Vehicle Service Equipment). On one end of the cable is the plug that goes into your car, and on the other end is an interchangeable plug. The one that comes with the car is a standard 110V plug, which is fine for many drivers, but for $40 you can buy a 220V NEMA 14-50 plug (or an adapter for a different type of outlet if you have a less common one — scroll down to the “NEMA Adapters” section). Almost all RV parks have NEMA 14-50 sockets. If you have 220V service in your garage, you can have one installed for about $200. Northern Lights Electric installed one in my garage in Three Lakes, Wisconsin, for $130. An electrician in St George, Utah, installed one in our garage there for $250. It cost about $500 to have 220V service run to my garage in Lindon, Utah. I had a L2 charger installed there for another $700, which I needed for my first Nissan Leaf. The L2 charger is not necessary if you have an EVSE, though — you only need a Nema 14-50 outlet, and some EV owners only need a normal 110V outlet.
L2 charging gives you about 28 miles of range in one hour. My car has 310 miles of range, so, in principal, it would charge from dead empty to full in ~11 hours. However, I am rarely at dead empty and I normally only charge to 80%, so usually I am only charging from one to 5 hours. (Note: If you want your battery to last as long as possible, don’t charge over 80% and don’t let the charge go below 20%. This is easier to do if you have a bigger battery. It’s also not a huge deal, but it makes some difference in the long term.)
L1 charging only gives you about 4 miles of range per hour. If you drive fewer than 100 miles/day, this works. We have friends who would need to upgrade the electrical service to the whole house to get 220V service to the garage, and they have gotten along fine with L1 charging. This works especially well since they have a second car. They also have a clothes dryer near the garage. They are able to use its 220V service or nearby Superchargers in special cases.
What if you live in a condo or other place where you can’t install your own charger? We expect governments to pass regulations soon to make it easier to get charging stations installed at your parking place. With considerable effort, by brother was able to get 220V service for L2 charging in the garage of his condo. If you have a L2 charger at work, that solves the problem. Also, there are many Superchargers in cities, and if you live near one, you can fill up there just as you would at a gas station.
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