Ford exec says most drivers don't realize the major perks of EVs like charging at home
Ford exec says most drivers don't realize the major perks of EVs like charging at home
Ford’s Marin Gjaja explained that most drivers don’t realize the major perks of driving an EV. Not only is it...
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Ford exec is somehow ignorant of how many people live in apartments or rented homes where they can't install car charging circuits.
He did say "most". But even if you live in an apartment you may not know it's possible to charge at a home, just not necessarily your home. So it's still valid even if apartment dwellers don't benefit. I think it is true that "most" people think you have to find a charger and then sit there for an hour everytime you need to charge when in fact you rarely need to do a full charge from 0, and if you have a home charger, rarely need to find a charger. Charging stations are only needed when you are travelling long distance and not many people are doing that routinely. If you are then buy an ICE or plan longer journeys.
I think the biggest benefits though are much cheaper driving and instant, consistent power: no turbo lag, no gear changes, much quieter inside. I do occasionally have range anxiety, but then I've almost run out of fuel in an ICE before due to bad planning and closed service stations, so it is what you make of it.
There isn't a good solution right now for apartments, but in Norway they had the idea to make street lights dual purpose with charging points inside. I think that could make life easier for everyone. They wouldn't be fast chargers, but it would replicate the home charger capability for those who can't have them. Infrastructure needs to catch up but I don't miss queuing for fuel.
That's a city/building code issue though, they can force them to install charger even for rental units.
Also if you rent a home you've got outdoors plugs for sure, I tested on a leaf and it charged 25% overnight, enough to drive ~50km at highway speeds.
My daily commute is 75 miles (120 km) round trip. I could drive to work every other day or so.
Ok, so worst case you would have to use an actual charging station for 30 minutes every now and then or maybe never by just leaving the car plugged in all weekend (depending on which car you would get, the Leaf had a "short" range all things considered) IF you were commuting every day. If it's every other day then you can do it out of a 120v plug.
I lived on the third floor of a multi family house and it sucked, but I was able to successfully charge my leaf 2-3 times with a heavy duty extension cord. I wouldn’t recommend it for daily charging, but even without a home charger, it was not out of commission because I couldn’t charge elsewhere in an emergency.