Level 3 charging: Is it even practical?

[TomEV]

When buying my 2016 FFE I had a few naysayers tell me to wait. The 2017 FFE would have L3 DC charging so I should wait. My question is...Is L3 charging even practical most of the time? I have an L2 charger but I don't think my home would even support an L3 and I don't think it's even offered as a home charger. In Southern California all I ever see are L2 stations. The only L3 I ever saw was at a Nissan dealership. Since charging is mostly done at home, does it even make any sense to have L3 charging?

 

[WattsUp]

Since charging is mostly done at home, does it even make any sense to have L3 charging?

Now you're getting it. You're probably right that, with a 100-mile EV, you will mostly be charging at home (or work).

Sure, fast-charging would be "nice", but with so few stations around, and low likelihood that will be taking many road trips where fast-charging would be required (and, really, a road trip in 100-mile spurts, 30 minutes apart?), it really isn't practical, nor maybe even worthwhile paying for.

Tesla currently has the right formula for fast-charging... 250-mile capacity and super-fast charging. This makes road trips practical and enjoyable.

For other EVs, fast charging really doesn't give you much... especially with only a 100-mile or so capacity. Overnight charging (or "work-time" charging during the day) is the sweet spot for such EVs.

This is the way I use my FFE and, most of the time, I never "wait" to charge. (I'm sleeping or working.)

 

[michael]

I agree. In my opinion is much more important to carry enough energy with you than to be able to refill quickly. The problem with most public charging is that it is not dependable as a place to charge up...it may be out of service, occupied, whatever.

One benefit of fast charging is if you need to fill up quickly, for something unexpected, but I haven't missed it at all. At my office, there are two dozen 3 kW L2 charging stations and a Chademo DCFC unit. I'm sure people have used the DCFC, but it's so infrequent I've never actually seen anyone using it. On the other hand, the L2 units are in use all day long. In an 8 hour workday, they can replace about 24 kWh, way more than almost anyone is likely to use on their morning commute into work.

In principal, I might arrive at work and need to leave a few hours later. In such a case, I would have wished to have been able to use the DCFC. In reality, I've managed fine for almost three years. We do have a half dozen 6 kW stations as well, and if necessary I can use one of those for a quicker fill.

Similarly, I don't think having access to a supercharger network like Tesla's is that important. It is really impressive to see the network maps, to know that it's possible to drive coast-to-coast, but in reality the one and only time I took a car coast-to-coast was when I was one year old and my parent moved from New York to California. Every other time, it's been by air.

If I ever had to drive a long distance, my Volt would be just fine. Or rent whatever works best and save the miles on my personal car.

Many people are saying the Bolt will be a failure because GM isn't building a DCFC network like Tesla's. I don't think it's a big deal.

 

[WyrTwister]

From what little I have been able to find out , a DCFC station is 480 VAC , probably 3 phase . If I am wrong about that , it probably requires an electrical service equal or greater than your house .

Where I live , there are 2 or 3 , Level 2 public charging stations . No DCFC stations in hundreds of miles .

God bless
Wyr

 

[awefulspeller]

Imagine if your charge stop was only 15 minutes rather than 1 hour…

I currently need to stop when I use my Focus to drive to a family member's house about an hour away. I usually stop of about an hour. If I had DC fast charge, that stop would only be 15 minutes and I could probably drive less conservatively :twisted:

...But that is just my situation.

 

[michael]

Imagine if the battery were just 6 kWh larger. You wouldn't need to recharge at all.

 

[awefulspeller]

Imagine if the battery were just 6 kWh larger. You wouldn't need to recharge at all.

Yes! I'm banging my head against the wall trying to figure out how to do this! Here's a couple courses of action:

1) Create a battery bank out of 18650 batteries and try to somehow wire it in with the existing FFE battery bank
2) Create a battery bank that can be put in the trunk and used to charge from, enabling CHAdeMO, allowing me to charge wherever/whenever I please
3) Sell the FFE for a new Tesla, Leaf, newer FFE with more range, or beater car (100% will not happen because I purchased the FFE and would take too much of a hit financially and I enjoying driving electric)

 

[michael]

A Bolt will be a good solution of course. But another option would be a Rav 4. They are coming off lease with reasonable residuals and people turning them in are sometimes willing to transfer them at that price

 

[awefulspeller]

A Bolt will be a good solution of course. But another option would be a Rav 4. They are coming off lease with reasonable residuals and people turning them in are sometimes willing to transfer them at that price

Might be a good solution, but not a fun solution. Part of the reason why I purchased the FFE was because I was interested in the technology and hoped to be able to understand it better. Just seems like its a bit more difficult than I imagined! :shock: