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Friday, August 11, 2023

EV 101 -- August 10, 2023

Locator: 45415B. 

 Updates

December 10, 2023: nice update.

August 27, 2023: tech writer for The WSJ buys an EV for the family. The "buying experience" here at "YouTube." Exactly why EVs will not catch on for a long, long time.

Original Post

I know very little about car engines, but when shopping for a new car, all I need to know is mpg. One number. Okay, two: city / highway.
  • I never ask about range
  • I never ask about the kind of pump I need to use
I know nothing about electricity and nothing about EVs, but when shopping for a new car, I need to know:
  • type of connector
  • type of charging station
  • the size of the tire which affects range
  • range on a fully charged battery (see below)
    • a very cold day
    • a “normal” day
    • a very hot day
  • level charging station: level 1, 2, or 3
  • how long does it take to fully charge the vehicle
  • how do I know when it is optimally charged? What is the optimal charging range?
  • advertised range vs actual range (this is more relevant than you will ever realize until after you’ve bought the car);
This is how I understand it (right, wrong, or indifferent) now. This is how I would explain it to Sophia, subject to editing, correcting, and adding more information as I get a better understanding and as technology, batteries, charging stations evolve over time.

The links:
This is the most important graphic. It doesn't require any understanding of anything; just keep the graphic in you mind. 


What to note in the graph:
  • the left side of the graph/chart: 
  • the charging stations you see in parking lots around town
  • measured in kW (you don't even have to know what a kW is -- just know that's how EV charging station ports are "rated;
  • in the example: one charging port is rated at 7.5 kW; the other charting port is rated at 60 kW
  • some existing ports are now rated higher than 60 kW
  • as time goes on, the ratings will increase in size (power)the right side of the chart:
    • this is your car, your EV
    • when you talk to your dealer or to you friend, you will ask about / talk about the "size of the battery" or the "battery's energy" -- or whatever the phrase is
    • if you don't have much money, the EV you buy will have a battery with a lower energy rating, such as 15 kWh in this example;
    • if you are rich, you will be able to afford an EV with a "bigger battery" -- such as 120 kWh in this example
    • like most things in life (but not golf scores), bigger is better
    • buy the "biggest" EV you can afford
Charging: in the graph above -- 
  • when you pull into a charging station, the greater the rating of the charging station, in this case 7.5 vs 56, the faster you can charge your EV
  • so, why doesn't everyone just plug into the the charging port / station with the higher / highest rating, 56 in this case
  • you can't plug your cheap little EV into a charging station that has too much power for your little pathetic EV
  • so, in the example above, if your pathetic little EV is rated at 15 kWh, it cannot plug into a charging unit with a higher rating. 
  • so, in the example above, you can only plug your 15-kWh-rated pathetic little EV into the 7.5-kW-rated charging port / station
And that's all you need to know.

Except for this, in the graph above: the small print.
In the graphic above, the bigger car rated at 120kWh pulls up to the charging unit rated at 60kW. The car takes a charge for two hours. Two (2) hrs x 60 kW = 120 kWh which is what the bigger car in the graph above is rated. 
So, a "big" car with a rating of 120 kWh can be fully charged in two hours if plugged into a charger rated at 60 kW.

If that "big" car with a rating of 120 kWh pulls into a charging station rated at 7.5 kW, it will take .... 120 / 7.5  = 16 hours to fully charge.

Okay, so that's all you need to know.

But there's a lot more one can know if one is interested.

We shouldn't have to say this but an EV rated at 120 kWH can "last longer" (longer range, all things being equal) than a pathetic little EV rated at 15 kWh.
 
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Charging Stations
Level 1 vs level 2 vs level 3 charging stations
 
Level 1
  • 120 volts — AC
  • your garage
  • absolutely worthless
Level 2
  • 240 volts — AC
  • can be installed in your garage
  • In the Target parking lot
  • at 60 kW, two hours to “achieve” 120 kWh, so four hours to fully charge a soccer mom’s SUV
Level 3
  • 480 volts — DC
  • not at your house, ever

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Connectors
 
Connector type: non-Tesla
  • J1772: level 1 and level 2
  • CCS1: level 3
NCAS for all Tesla models: link here.

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Miscellaneous

Other facts / factoids / opinions / comments:
  • hybrids are fake EVs -- they are the worst thing one can buy in the "EV family" but Ford is now transitioning to hybrids ... more on that later. Ford will sell a lot of hybrids, as well as Toyota will. That's good for the car companies but bad for you; really bad for the roads (but you won't care about that); and really, really, bad for the environment (again, something you won't care about. You will be happy just knowing that you are part of the EV community.
  • Ford is "going all out" with hybrids. Link here.
  • charging stations prone to “breaking down”; generally, outside of big cities, if the charging station you visit is “out of order,” you are really “out of luck.” If you thought running out of gas is bad, you haven’t experienced the seventh level of hell until you experience a dead battery and a broken charging unit.
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