-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 I have a "low range" S-10 pickup conversion with lead acid batteries. (I limit it to 20 miles a charge with new batteries, and after a year or two the usable range is closer to 15 miles.) It's also relatively inefficient, especially for the stop and go driving I do, plus some hills (500-700 watt/hours a mile depending upon how you measure).
Level 1 charging works fine for my short commute (5 miles round trip daily), and I used level 1 for a year almost exclusively until I had a 240 volt outlet installed in the appropriate location. However, if I want to make two trips in a day (Saturdays, to the hardware store and then somewhere else, or going out after work) L1 won't cut it. Level 2 (relatively low 240 volts @ 18 amps or 4.3kWatts) charging makes the truck much more usable, as I can do two trips per day, and I wouldn't go back to L1 except for opportunity charging where a 240 volt outlet isn't available. That being said, if my truck had a 200 mile range, L1 charging WOULD be fine for me, as I never really go more than 10-15 miles on any of my trips. Jay On 05/14/2015 05:07 AM, Jamie K via EV wrote: > > All I can tell you is that from our experience, L2 is not rapid > charging, it's normal charging. Whereas when you have somewhere to > go soon, L1 is punishment charging. > > There are places where L1 works well, for example at an airport > where the car is going to sit for days. And no doubt there are > folks who don't need much spontaneity and have consistent daily > needs (or another vehicle available) so that L1 would suffice. > > But while L1 can work for some cases, and it's nice to have in a > pinch, it clearly limits what can be done with an EV. > > I wouldn't try to speak for most people, but I do think that > flexible (home and away) charging options are big part of the > equation for growing the EV market. > > L2 controllers do not cost thousands, ours was around $1k with > professional installation and construction permit. Faster home > charging adds flexibility and makes the car investment worth much > more. > > When 200 mile ranges become the norm, it will be even more useful > to charge at home at L2 6.6kW (or more) at around 25 miles per hour > (or more) instead of trickling in at 5 miles/hour or so - except > for those who don't mind parking their car much of the time and > limiting their EV options. > > The potential pricing of L3 charging is an interesting topic. Right > now it's free or not much $$ around here. BTW, Nissan removed their > earlier warning about L3 charging after monitoring the performance > of the packs for several years, and perhaps after changing the > battery chemistry. > > Cheers, -Jamie > > > > On 5/13/15 7:19 PM, Ben Goren wrote: >> On May 13, 2015, at 5:57 PM, Jamie K via EV <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> It's the outliers that you have to accommodate. >> >> Yes, but not necessarily with rapid charging. When 200-mile >> ranges become the norm, as is promised soon -- say, a 40 kWh >> (usable) battery in a (conservative) 200 Wh / mile car -- the >> situation becomes moot. Put 150 miles on the car in an unusual >> day. Put "only" 70 miles back in the car in a shortened overnight >> charge. The battery isn't full, but you've still got 120 miles of >> range. Do your normal (but still more than average) 40 miles the >> next day; down to 80. Put another 70 in overnight and it's back >> to full. At no time did you have less than 50 miles of range, and >> all your charging was at L1 rates only while you were in bed. >> >> Will that handle cross-country road trips? No. Can you drive to >> Grandma 200 miles away at the end of the day after a 40-mile >> round trip commute? No. If you need to do that sort of thing >> often or without warning, you'll need something more. >> >> But most people will look at that and decide they can pay >> exorbitant rates at somebody else's rapid charger the once or >> twice a year that sort of thing happens, or rent a car, or >> otherwise manage, rather than spend thousands on a dedicated >> charger. >> >> Of course, if your car can only go ~60 miles on a charge and >> takes a lot of Wh to do so, range anxiety starts to set in and >> rapid charging is a real way to assuage it. But if you can be >> confident that you'll wake up every morning with more miles in >> the "tank" than you'll need to drive, range anxiety vanishes. >> >> ...not to mention that rapid charging tends to shorten battery >> life.... >> >> b& >> > > _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: > http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing > discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1 iEYEARECAAYFAlVUTmgACgkQSWJjSgPNbM8jOgCfbV3MQ+1DtjeHCCpaUpq0Z0NF XcAAni7od5DFScCZs30vSJAOJQd31zE/ =JBvt -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
