Funnily enough my Wife and I were discussing the viability of EVs as we briefly queued at a petrol pump on Sunday. If we refill (almost empty) petrol tank in under 5 minutes (pay at pump with card), how long for EV? It would appear a Tesla can do 50% in about 15 minutes, but most cars even partial 'fill' can take up to an hour. Will this get quicker? Only by putting a lot more energy through the charging cable. Being generous, if we say 30 minutes to refill completely (as per our petrol), that's 6x! The land required (filling stations?) or more likely car parks in supermarkets will need 6 times the capacity to keep up with 'the normal' filling of vehicles, along with the great number of cables and a VERY BIG mains cable - has this really been given enough thought by the government?
There are so many points to cover. First, you understand the electrical principle of step up, step down transformers for power distribution?
Most EVs can go from 20-80 % in less than 30 mins of charging.
The routine of travelling is slightly different from internal combustion refuelling. You plug in first, then visit service station for snack, loo whatever.
We have 3 EVs in our family and the vast majority of charging is done at home . The charging away from home accounts for 3% of total charge time here is a screen shot of yearly usage of my wife's model 3
If you are a local commuter driver you will likely only charge once maybe twice a week.
It is different to 'traditional' refuelling but only takes a small adjustment.
A side note our relatives from Australia came over, never been in an EV. They were interested in probably getting one for their next car.
We took them out in my model S, they loved the smooth effortless drive, the driver safety aids. What they didn't know was how good regen braking was and how you almost never use the brakes.
Oh and the supercar acceleration
They have solar at home, so I think they will be ordering much sooner
