How do you charge an electric car in rural area

[RunningBum]

Usually it's a EV owner who tells me what my long trip habits are, incorrectly.

[MrsHaloFIRE]

Having a garage vice having a garage that can hold a car are 2 entirely different things. Walking my neighborhood that requires a min of a 2 car garage i would bet 50pct are full of stuff not cars. Cars are in the driveway or street

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready According to https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles...age-or-carport, 63% of all households have a garage or carport. I would not refer to 63% of the population as a “niche” market.

[Texas Proud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready According to https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles...age-or-carport, 63% of all households have a garage or carport. I would not refer to 63% of the population as a “niche” market.

Do you own a house?


I can say with 90% certainty that nobody on our street parks a car in the garage...


We have 3 cars... the neighbor across the street has 6... very few have just 2..


So how do you play musical chairs with the charger?

[ls99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texas Proud Do you own a house? So how do you play musical chairs with the charger?

No need to play musical chairs. A tall pole with several drop cords to reach each one
Note: I do not own EV, nor do I have have any plans for them..... Ever!

[RobLJ]

We put most of our daily miles on the Bolt and use the Silverado for long trips/remote hiking. We do a lot of long hiking trips on dirt/gravel roads like the trip in early summer to Berlin ghost town in Eastern Nevada. So, like many, I would be reluctant to own only the Bolt but with another ICE (or hybrid), it works out very well. Many here have only 1 vehicle although if you live in an urban area and don't make long drives (or are willing to rent for long drives once or twice a year,) an EV would work out fine.

With dry lithium cells approaching over the next 5 years (VW signed a big contract with the leader) the charging stop soon will resemble a gas stop; potentially dry cells will recharge in 5-10 minutes. We'll see if VW's partner gets to mass production but it already has working pouch cells with a ceramic separator and no anode, which is a breakthrough.
We're not there yet, but I think we will be within 5-7 years. I suspect ICE will not dominate the market in 10 years; battery tech is improving about 10% per year and the charging superstructure is getting built out. In spring, I'll take the Bolt to visit the winemaker in the Central Valley, which for comfort will require about a 30 minute charge stop since they live 210 miles away. Most of the time in the Silverado we stop 15-20 minutes at a Starbucks in Roseville anyway or for lunch. Going back since it's a big climb over Donner, I for sure would do a recharge stop, probably in Colfax.

[Amethyst]

We've gotten by with one car for many years now.

One concern we have would be keeping an EV charged during a long, forced evacuation drive, where electric power is out. We are about 2/3 down the Florida peninsula; closest relatives are in Georgia. Extra gasoline can be carried in the vehicle; extra charge cannot.

[Ready]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texas Proud Do you own a house? I can say with 90% certainty that nobody on our street parks a car in the garage... We have 3 cars... the neighbor across the street has 6... very few have just 2.. So how do you play musical chairs with the charger?

Yes, we own a house and have two Tesla Model 3’s, both parked in our garage. We do not use our garage for storage. If we don’t need something any more we throw it away or give it to Goodwill.

We have one Tesla wall charger which easily reaches both cars. We generally alternate charging each one at night.

I am aware that we have some neighbors who have so much “stuff” that they need their entire garage to store that stuff and keep their cars in the driveway. Even so there is no problem charging their cars as the charging cord is quite long and can easily reach to the driveway if you install the charger toward the front of the garage.

[TriumphTR3fan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texas Proud Do you own a house? I can say with 90% certainty that nobody on our street parks a car in the garage... We have 3 cars... the neighbor across the street has 6... very few have just 2.. So how do you play musical chairs with the charger?

Most EV’s have an self contained “charger”. What is needed is an electric connection. You can use 120 volt cord but it’s slow, around 3-5 miles per hour. That is still enough for the average commuter who drives 40 miles per day. Using a 240 volt connection is much faster, about 28-30 miles per hour. They will fully charge our car overnight but that’s never been needed even after a long trip.
Some electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) devices which are optional for EV home charging can go as high as 44 miles charged per hour. Those devices are often configurable for more than one vehicle.

We have four cars & a two car garage. Two of those cars are 60’s Triumphs. We have to keep them in the garage because of insurance. The other cars are a Volvo wagon & the Tesla. Those are in our driveway. We added 240 outlets in the garage and outside. Each is a dedicated circuit. We were fortunate that our electric service is in our garage so the cost was low. Our EV is usually charged outside although we can use the internal garage circuit outside if we want as it’s close to the garage door.

You asked about how to play musical chairs with charging. At this point we don’t need to but when we replace the wagon we will be set up to charge both even if we don’t get another Tesla. There are EVSE’s that handle different charging systems.

[Animorph]

We use two "chargers" that share the same 100A circuit to charge our two Teslas. We can both charge overnight as needed.

Many people have been able to charge at work. Slow charging works well anytime you are parked for a few hours. A few condo owners have installed a charging circuit near their parking spot. Many live close enough to a Supercharger to use it like a gas station, usually while grocery shopping or dining. Those who drive only short distances can make do with simple 120V 15 A charging. We've done that at DS's house with the mobile "charger" that came with the car. Without a way to easily charge I wouldn't recommend an electric car. But as more people demand charging, more charging locations will be installed. Same thing with fast charging locations. We're still early adopters.

We love taking road trips with the Model X. It's certainly possible, and not as big a deal as when we started almost four years ago. You can just enter your final destination into the Nav and let the car plan the drive and charge stops for you. We've been coast to coast several times without a problem. I don't think a long trip or two per year should scare anyone away from a Tesla at least.

[Music Lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunningBum Usually it's a EV owner who tells me what my long trip habits are, incorrectly.

We visit family 850 kms away (527 miles) a few times a year, sometimes when it's -30. It's a little over 8 hours and we usually stop around the midpoint for a bathroom break and to top up the tank.

I don't know what the range is at -30 with the heat on, but I'm guessing it's not great. Having to stop twice to re-charge for a couple hours at a time turning it into a 12+ hour trip is a deal breaker.

[Ready]

I own a Tesla because I want to own a Tesla. If I didn’t want one I wouldn’t buy one. But I find some of the objections in this thread to be downright silly. Let’s see...

Problem: I can’t drive a Tesla because I have two much junk in my garage.

Solution: Get rid of all your junk.

Problem: I can’t drive a Tesla because I make one trip a year where I would have to stop for 20 minutes to charge the battery rather than stopping for five minutes to fill up a gas tank.

Solution: Find something to do with those fifteen minutes like go to the bathroom or have a snack. Seriously folks, we are talking about minutes here. Or maybe just drive the other car you own, which is an ICE vehicle anyway. Or rent a car for that one long trip you take each year.

I have no desire to convince anyone to purchase a car they don’t want. If you just don’t want an EV that’s perfectly fine. But this stuff that keeps coming up as a justification for not owning one is just utterly ridiculous. Why don’t you just simply say it’s not for me and be done with it?

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Animorph But as more people demand charging, more charging locations will be installed.

This is key.

I'm only peripherally involved, as my car is a PHEV. I have a Level 2 charger at home but limited range on even a full charge.

I'm absolutely delighted when I find a Level 2 charger near my destination. Sometimes it's a hotel, sometimes a restaurant or supermarket. Whenever I find something like that I make a note of it so it will be a preferred stop the next time I travel in that area.

Smart restaurant and hotel owners make those chargers free to customers and I'm sure it gets them extra business.

[rayvt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mountainsoft That said, even with a 9+ hour road trip, you probably make stops for food or bathroom breaks. At least here in SW Washington, most of the rest areas have chargers (you could charge while the family takes a bathroom break), and chargers are available within walking distance of most restaurants (where you'll be sitting 30+ minutes anyway).

That works if you are the only one that wants to charge. Not so great if there are 3 or 4 people ahead of you.
30 minutes for the first car,
30 minutes for the 2nd car,
30 minutes for the 3rd car,
30 minutes for the 4th car, ...
and finally it's your turn.
30 minutes for your charge, and it's now a 2 1/2 hour food/potty break.

Better hope nobody cut in line ahead of you while you are sitting in the restaurant out of sight of the charger.

Meanwhile the gas powered driver fills up, goes potty, and is back on the road in 15 minutes.

Electric cars only work for road trips if they are a huge minority of the cars on the road.

[Ready]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayvt That works if you are the only one that wants to charge. Not so great if there are 3 or 4 people ahead of you. 30 minutes for the first car, 30 minutes for the 2nd car, 30 minutes for the 3rd car, 30 minutes for the 4th car, ... and finally it's your turn. 30 minutes for your charge, and it's now a 2 1/2 hour food/potty break. Better hope nobody cut in line ahead of you while you are sitting in the restaurant out of sight of the charger. Meanwhile the gas powered driver fills up, goes potty, and is back on the road in 15 minutes. Electric cars only work for road trips if they are a huge minority of the cars on the road.

Um, no. That’s not how it works. At least not for a Tesla. Most of the Superchargers I have visited have anywhere from 12-30 charging stations. The average charge time is 20 minutes. I can only think of one time in the last two years where I had to wait for a charger. The average wait time for the “next” charger to open is about 3 minutes, which is less time than you have to wait in line for the car in front of you to get gas. And once you plug in and head out to use the bathroom or get a bite to eat, your car is locked in place and nobody can interrupt your charge. If the charge is complete you do have to move your car or pay idle fees, which keeps everybody moving.

What I really don’t get about these comments though is why do people who don’t own EVs insist on telling the rest of us how they work? Wouldn’t it be more useful to simply ask people who own them what their actual experience with road trips and supercharging is, rather than spreading incorrect information about EVs to people who genuinely have an interest in learning more about them?

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready .........Why don’t you just simply say it’s not for me and be done with it?

Don't be so logical. Everyone knows the world consists of 7 billion people with identical needs and tastes.

[Mr. Tightwad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayvt That works if you are the only one that wants to charge. Not so great if there are 3 or 4 people ahead of you. 30 minutes for the first car, 30 minutes for the 2nd car, 30 minutes for the 3rd car, 30 minutes for the 4th car, ... and finally it's your turn. 30 minutes for your charge, and it's now a 2 1/2 hour food/potty break. Better hope nobody cut in line ahead of you while you are sitting in the restaurant out of sight of the charger. Meanwhile the gas powered driver fills up, goes potty, and is back on the road in 15 minutes. Electric cars only work for road trips if they are a huge minority of the cars on the road.

Always interesting what people want to believe.

[Ronstar]

I don't know anything about electric cars, but we live in somewhat of a rural area and my friend around the corner charges his car in his garage

[explanade]

How often do people make impromptu 9-hour road trips?

It's one thing if it's a forced evacuation because there's a big hurricane coming.

But say you want to drive to the mountains?

Most people are going to be able to plan ahead and charge fully, though maybe not without a 240 V 50 amp charger.

[Ready]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover Don't be so logical. Everyone knows the world consists of 7 billion people with identical needs and tastes.

Yes, I seem to remember someone telling me not to use logic when having a conversation that is almost entirely emotionally based. My bad.

But it’s hard to listen to the stuff people come up with about EVs when they have taken virtually no time to actually learn anything about them. I’d rather someone just tell me they don’t want an EV because they like the smell of gasoline than to come up with these silly comments about why they can’t own one.

[Out-to-Lunch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready Yes, I seem to remember someone telling me not to use logic when having a conversation that is almost entirely emotionally based. My bad. But it’s hard to listen to the stuff people come up with about EVs when they have taken virtually no time to actually learn anything about them. I’d rather someone just tell me they don’t want an EV because they like the smell of gasoline than to come up with these silly comments about why they can’t own one.

To be fair, people are working through their biases. Change does not come easily or quickly. And there ARE aspects for which, at present, an ICE vehicle holds an advantage over an EV.

I don't own an EV, but I imagine that day is not so far off. I had a bit of a revelation last year. I am sort of a car nut, and last summer I performed an engine swap: I put a Chevy LS1 V8 into an older BMW, more or less for fun. At the same time, I was interested in EVs. I look forward to the day when I have 100% torque at 0 RPM!

Anyway, while mucking about making the mechanics of the engine swap work, it struck me forcefully how much PLUMBING there is in an ICE. I had to hook up innumerable tubes! Okay, ICE and EV will both have AC and hydraulic brake lines. But, for the ICE, I also had to route plumbing for: gasoline, oil, engine coolant, clutch fluid, exhaust pipes, air intake, and power steering fluid. (I probably forgot some.) That is a lot of fluids and plumbing!