Electric Cars have arrived and may be in your future!
/My blog is not specific to Apple products, although there is plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise. It is titled “Tech Blog” so it can encompass the entirety of tech. One new and important technology is the most fundamental shift in the automotive industry in over 100 years: electric cars (or electric vehicles or EVs).
Most major car manufacturers have recently announced or introduced their first EVs. Many have announced their intention to go all-electric across their entire product line in the future. Some newer manufacturers have ONLY ever produced EVs (Tesla, Rivian, Fisker, Lucid, and more).
So it looks like EVs can or will be in your future. If you don’t know much about the technology, this blog is intended to give you the very basics.
My wife has daily driven an EV for 5 years now. Her car is also our family car (used when we go out together or take road trips). She currently drives a Tesla Model Y (a small SUV). Because we have had an EV in our garage for 5 years, we have learned a great deal about them. We will never go back to a gas car.
Why would you want an EV?
Low cost of operation - EVs cost about 15-20% of the cost of gas cars to operate. This includes fuel and maintenance costs. This cost savings can be very significant depending on what and how much you drive and it can offset the higher price of an EV over time. “Filling” an EV at home is on the order of $5 (from an empty battery). Monthly fuel bills are on the order of $25 if you drive an average of 1000 miles/month. There is almost no maintenance, and what there is, consists mainly of tires (rotation and replacement). There is no oil, transmission, filters, fluids, belts, or other things to maintain or fail. EV brakes are generally not used in everyday driving. Lifting your foot off the accelerator turns the motors into generators that put electricity back into the battery. This makes the car come to a complete stop without using the brakes. You can indeed drive an EV with only one pedal! Yes, they have brakes just like gas cars, you just don’t regularly use them so they last for years with virtually no maintenance.
Quiet and powerful - electric motors are practically silent and most EVs outperform their gas equivalents in terms of acceleration, both from a stop and passing. EVs do not have transmissions. They have one fixed gear so there is no shifting felt while accelerating. It is just a smooth, uninterrupted pull during acceleration. Electric motors are superior in every way to a gas engine.
More environmentally friendly - Yes, EVs have more of an environmental impact during their manufacture than gas cars (mainly due to chemicals in the batteries). However, it is a fact that the overall environmental impact is exceeded by a gas car by the time the cars are 6-9 months from new. The grid that powers the EV certainly has an impact - running your EV on electricity from coal, natural gas, or oil has an impact. For example, running an EV on electricity generated purely by coal has a similar environmental impact to a gas car that gets 35 mpg. Most important here is that the electric grid is getting much cleaner every year. Coal, natural gas, and oil power plants are being replaced by solar & wind because those renewable sources are cheaper to install than the replacement of the power plants when they wear out. So, your EV will get cleaner over time. Gas cars do not get cleaner over time.
FAQ - Because we are quite experienced with EVs my wife and I know what questions are most asked. Luckily, we know some answers. Here are the questions you will likely have:
What is the range? - EVs that I would recommend are in the 250 to 350-mile range per charge. Below 250 miles are not really good for road tripping but are fine for around town. My wife’s Tesla has a range of 325 miles. EVs are very efficient; about 85% of energy used goes toward propelling the car. The best gas cars are 20% efficient (most of the energy is lost to heat).
What about charging? 90+ percent of your charging will be in your garage or driveway. With most EVs having a battery range of 250+ miles there will be no reason to ever charge around town. Every EV comes with a portable charger. Using it you can plug into a standard 120V outlet in your garage, at a friend’s house, an AirBnB, hotel, or… Charge speed with a regular household outlet is slow. A home charging setup (240V) that charges 10 times faster is around $1000, including the charger, installed by an electrician. That cost can vary based on where your electrical panel is compared to where you want your home charging unit to be. Once installed you can charge any EV you own now or in the future. Imagine never having to go to a gas station again!
How long does charging take? The charging rate of EVs is measured in miles per hour - the number of miles of driving range added per hour of charging. Using the portable charger that comes with your EV it will charge at 4 mph. With an electrician-installed unit, the charge rate is about 40 miles per hour. So, if you go out and drive around town 40 miles one day, come home and plug it in, your battery will be “full” again in an hour. Drive further and the charging time will increase accordingly. You will start every day with a full battery because overnight is always more than enough time to fill the battery, at least with a 240V charger.
What about road trips? Charging on road trips requires much faster charging than at home. The US’s “fast charging” infrastructure is growing at a frantic pace. Fast charging rates during your road trips will be on the order of 250 to 1000 miles per hour depending on the car and the station you are using. So, most charging stops are 15 to 30 minutes every 2 ½ to 3 hours (about the time your bladder needs a break :)).
There are several companies that have established fast charging infrastructures in the US. The two main ones are Tesla and Electrify America, the latter of which is largely financed by Volkswagen as a penalty for their diesel-gate fiasco in 2016. There are other companies involved, but these are the two main players.
Tesla Superchargers - Tesla started building this infrastructure back in 2012 and is by far the largest and most reliable fast-charging network. This network is only for use by Tesla vehicles. It is financed entirely by Tesla and the sale of its vehicles. In the US, there are about 1500 Supercharger locations with an average of 8 stalls per location; about 12,000 total. The cost of Supercharging is higher than home charging - you are paying for the convenience and charge speed. A “fill up” is on the order of $15-20 depending on location and how empty your battery is.
Tesla Superchargers have no interface like a gas pump or other fast charging systems. Plug your car in and the station reads your car’s info and charges your credit card on file with Tesla. As fast and as simple as it gets.
Here is a current map of Tesla’s Supercharger network. Click here for a fancier view.
Electrify America - this infrastructure has just begun to grow. There are now about 700 stations with about 3 stalls per location (2400 total) in the US right now. The charge speed is as fast as Tesla’s Superchargers, but the price is about double. Also, there is an interface much like a gas pump where you enter a credit card and interact with a screen before charging. This is the biggest fast charging infrastructure for non-Tesla EVs. Teslas cannot use this or other non-Tesla fast charging networks yet. An adapter from Tesla will enable this later in 2022.
Here is a current map of the Electrify America network. Click here for a fancier view.
Finally, with regard to road tripping an EV, many hotels are starting to offer overnight charging in their parking lots and they are usually free. These chargers have similar charge speed to a home charger (40 mph) so you will leave the hotel the next morning with a full charge.
How long does the battery last? - The simple answer here is: longer than a gas engine. If the battery is actively heated and cooled (like most modern EVs), it will last on the order of 300,000 to 500,000 miles. If is not actively heated or cooled it will last about half that. Most, but not all, EVs have actively heated and cooled batteries - Tesla, GM, Ford, Rivian. Nissan does not.
How long do the motors last? - About a million miles with zero maintenance required.
What if your battery runs out of juice? - Just like a gas car, it stops going. That said, there are way, way more electrical outlets than gas pumps in this world. Virtually every building you see has electrical outlets that will charge your car, although maybe slowly.
There are so many other EV topics that I did not discuss here in an effort to keep it simple and short. Here are a few that may interest you enough to do your own research after reading my simple answer:
What are plug-in hybrids (PHEV)? These are cars with both a gas system and an electric system. They can be plugged in in your garage and get 25-50 miles driving range on a single charge. Once the battery is empty they shift over to the gas system automatically. Most of your in-town driving will be pure electric. You still have the cost of maintenance and fuel cost of a gas car, however.
What are hybrids? - These are the same as plug-in hybrids only you can’t plug them in. The gas engine runs a generator that charges the battery. It is in some ways a gas-charged EV.
Why are EVs so expensive? Batteries are expensive. What is a 5-year cost of ownership comparison with a gas car (the answer is surprising)? Most EVs still have the federal $7500 tax credit available (not Tesla nor GM).
Gary, if they are so great, why don’t you also have an EV? Well, I did for 2 years and then the pandemic hit. I stopped home visits, moving my business to pure remote work, so I basically stopped driving. I could not justify having an expensive EV sitting in my garage sometimes for weeks on end. I sold it.
What happens to the battery when an EV battery finally gives up? Batteries are fully reusable as home batteries or for industrial use. They are also 100% recyclable.
How will the electric grid support vastly more EVs? If all cars were EVs we would need about 25% more electricity from the grid. However, getting all cars as EVs will take decades. Also, most EVs charge overnight when the grid load is lowest.
Why do many EVs have both front and rear trunks? Electric motors are about the size of a watermelon, a fraction of the size of a gas engine and transmission. This extras space is offered as both front and larger rear trunks to the customer in most EVs.
Are EVs safe? EVs are safer than gas cars, mainly due to not having a heavy engine that can intrude into the passenger compartment, but also because of their lower center of gravity. The batteries are beneath the floor of the interior.
Does it take long to get used to owning and driving an EV? No, you will get the hang of it in a day or two.
What about EV fires? EVs have been known to catch on fire, but at a rate of about 10% of gas cars.
How does an EV hold up in an extended traffic jam? Better than an equivalent gas car because the motors require no power while “idling”. The huge battery merely has to run the heat or AC, which it can easily do for days (depending on battery charge level, of course).
What is the real world range while road tripping? Because EVs are much more efficient they are more affected by cold temperatures, speed and headwinds. You get less than the rated range in those conditions. Also, fast charging slows down greatly above 80% charged.
Contact me via email if you have more questions. I’d be glad to chat about it. I am really passionate about EVs. gary@inhometechservices.com