Owning an EV without a spot to plug in at home or work is doable, it just won't be fun.
By Mack Hogan, Feb 1, 2022
The dream of an electric vehicle is compelling. Forget the questions about where the chargers are. The real story is that you set off every day with a full tank, with a few hundred miles in reserve for the day's errands. The weekly fill-up falls away, with range not factoring into the day-to-day. Sure, you need to plan road trips, but the rest falls into place. Assuming, of course, you have access to private charging.
This is, I've found, the key delineation between whether an EV will be a credit or a detriment to the way you live. It's one that's easy to miss in the marketing, too, as EV ads picture young urban socialites trundling around Brooklyn in quiet bliss, with on-screen bragging about charging network. Never mind that no young person in Brooklyn has a dedicated parking spot, or that the public fast chargers are thin on the ground anywhere outside of California, this is what the automakers push.
The reality is that, save for California and many European countries, the non-Tesla charging network is too patchwork and unreliable to be dependable. Teslas do fare better, although at peak times you may have to wait for a supercharger, and when you factor in charging fees at Electrify America, ChargePoint, or Tesla's own stations you find the savings over gas not as spectacular as imagined. In fact, pick an efficient enough gas car, and it might be cheaper than doing all of your charging on the road.
Of course, it is possible to live a nomadic life charging your EV when possible and trusting public chargers, people have proven so. But if that's your life, you may be better served by a plug-in hybrid. What you really need to make the whole transition the dream it's sold as is a home charger. Or, failing that, charging at the workplace or school you commute to daily.
If you read that and think your 110-volt outlet has you covered, I regret to tell you those days are long behind us. Almost every EV today has a battery so big that trying to charge it on a standard socket is like filling a swimming pool with a kitchen faucet. You'll need a 240-volt outlet, the type used by dryers and other appliances, and a Level 2 home charger. The good news is that 240-volt outlets are simple enough that any electrician can rig one up to your garage, and chargers now go for under $1000. A U.S. federal tax credit can cut that price by 30 percent, with state and local incentives taking an even bigger bite out.
For a few hundred bucks, that means you could have reliable home charging that saves you from ever worrying about fuel around town. Smart charging schedules can also ensure that you're only taking power from the grid when it's cheapest, like at night, maximizing your cost savings. A new EV still costs noticeably more than a comparable internal combustion or hybrid car, but for some people the math is going to work out. And for all that saved time and money, the only real lifestyle concession they make is that a 500 mile road trip may take an extra hour.
It's up to you whether that's worth it, though I'd bet it is for many who need a new car anyway. The only thing that's unavoidable, really, is that you need a home charger to make it work. The EV life is possible without one but, after having lived it, I can tell you it's more frustration than it's worth.
Original article appears at roadandtrack.com.