Living with an EV Car, anyone else try one or have one at home?

[Tazmool]

Hello Everyone, 

 

For a long while I have had a passing interest in Electric (battery only) vehicles. 
One of the first I've ever tried, was a Zero SR & FX, but that is a different story (for another post)

I have test driven several EVs in the past, a Tesla Model 3, Nissan Leaf, Hundai Ioniq, Chevrolet Bolt, an a Ford Focus Electric
All have been "test drives" and most had either a sticker price too high, or range too low, or to be honest, I'm just not ready to buy.

Plus you know, what is it like to live with one of these really? 

 

I will also add a little bit of unpleasantness that I've found, and that is nearly 100% of all dealers are willfully ignorant, hostile, un-informed or are just plain (I suspect fully on purpose) spreading misinformation regarding EVs.  I've had one chevrolet dealer spend a full 20 minutes explaining to me why their EV is no good, and I should *wait* for the future ones, then blatantly deny me my test-drive that I pre-arranged ahead of time.  Only when pressured, did the promised EV suddenly become *available* and I drove it (and recommended it to family to buy, but not from this sorry excuse of a dealer) 

 

So, DO NOT, under any circumstances, rely on a dealer to give you any real, honest, EV info you can trust. 

Everything else normal to dealers applies too. 

For real info, look to EV owners, forums, and the like.

This is also why I'm making this post, for the benefit of others who may be curious about EVs.
 

Ok, with that aside, 

Through a cross-canada move (family changing provinces) a 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV has come to live in my house for the last 3 months, and will be here for another month.  This gave me the opportunity to use the vehicle long enough to get past the initial WoW factor, and really get to know what EV ownership is like. 

 

My current vehicles:  2006 Jeep Liberty Diesel 4x4, 2015 Buick Encore awd.   

Past vehicles, 2001 Chevrolet S10 V6 (rwd pickup truck). 

I have been a professional driver in the past, and have driven cars/trucks and ridden motorcycles across Canada and USA.

 

Quick summary:
I now see what the fuss is all about, and why once people buy an EV, over time, they get rid of all of their ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles.  EVs are the future of personal transport.  My next 4 wheel vehicle will be an EV, which one, I'm not sure, so many are coming out, pricing on the current crops is just going to be better and better... plus there is no rush as my ice has not melted yet.

 

The Long Version:
 

EVs, are they "Normal Cars"?
Yes, yes they are.  
You get in, they are comfy, 4 doors, 5 doors, hatch-back, power windows, stereo etc. 
They have heat, cooling, horns, speedo etc.  
They feel like (and really are) a normal car that you're probably used to and have driven for a long time.  

 

How is the maintenance?
It cannot be understated that EVs have very, very little maintenance. 

No oil to change, no spark plugs, air filters, oil filters, ignition coils, no whack loads of sensors, no belts, no differential fluid, no power steering fluid, no catalytic converters, no exhausts, no O2 sensors, etc etc...
All accessories are directly driven off their respective electric motors (no clutches, belts, pullies etc)

The brakes last a very, very long as time as all EVs (like hybrids) do "regenerative braking"  meaning the drive motor(s) instantly and seamlessly turns into a generator and you are effectively "engine braking" so the actual mechanical brakes (pads, calipers, rotors) do very little work.

 

There is still coolant (the battery has heating and cooling circuits) and because they are very low load applications, the change interval is 8 years.  
There is still brake fluid to be changed (just like ice cars) 
Tires need to be rotated and replaced when worn.  
Cabin air filter should be changed once a year, windshield wipers.... etc.

 

What is it like working on a EV car?

Performing regular mainteance on these cars is very much like a ice car, just much less to do.

Picking up the vehicle for maintenance is a little bit more tricky as you really do not want to pick it up by the battery tray (just like you would not want to put a jack through the floor of your ice car) but there are plenty of lift points, and battery mounts are pretty beefy.

The Bolt is a few hundred pounds heavier than my similarly sized Encore, and much ligther than my diesel Jeep.

So far I have lifted and inspected the Bolt, rotated the tires, and got a spare set of winter rims and tires for the up-coming winter.  This was no different than any other vehicle I've ever worked on.
The suspension is conventional, will probably need shocks at 150,000 miles or something.

 

Charging the car

This is one of the areas an EV has a massive advantage over ice cars, and a mystery to non EV owners.

Like a cell phone that you use every day, you just plug it in when you get home.  You can also plug it in at work, at the shopping mall, and other areas.  

At least in Ontario Canada, most dealers that sell EVs have level 2 or level 3 (or both) charging that is 100% free.  There are plenty of other spots that offer free charging.  In 3 months, and thousands of km driven, I have yet to pay for charging outside my home. 
I don't have a gasoline fill station at home, so unless you have storage cans for fuel, you can't refuel your ice car at home either, but your EV is fully charged and waiting for you when you need it. 
 

Charging at home as an advantage does take a bit to wrap your head around, but it really is convenient.

 

Level 1 charging:  120V home plug, 8-12 amps... slow.  After a long trip the Bolt needed days of charging to get to 100%

 

Level 2 charging:  240V 16-80+ amps.   This is very vehicle dependent, as the actual charger is a feature of the car, the car has a AC charger onboard, and is rated for a maximum charge current.  For example, the Bolt can charge at a max of 32Amps.   A Tesla normally can go up to 48Amps, but optional dual onboard high speed chargers can do 80 amps on some Teslas.

 
The Bolt can charge from a low charge in 4-8hrs at 240v 32amps.

Level 3 charging:  This is not really a standard, its usually a combination of level 2 + fast DC charge.  The plug is a combination of a level 2 ac and DC plug. 
The Bolt can charge in an hour, a Tesla (Superchargers) in 35mins or less, lots of variables. 

DC Charging (sometimes called Level 3), the car does not have an onboard DC charger.  DC charging is done by an external charger (like a Tesla supercharger, or "Level 3" fast chargers) 
The car does limit how much power it can accept (dependent on its battery design, cooling capacity), the Bolt is limited to 50 Amps.  Teslas can do 250+amps.
 

Home charging:
At home, you can get by with just level 1 charging.  Thats 120V 8-12 amps. 

For the past 3 months, thats how the Bolt here has been charging.  It has taken as long as 2+ days to get a full charge (you don't need a full charge to drive, its a big battery). 

Despite being slow, its still convenient, but I am planning on getting a good level 2 charging setup in my house.

At work, we have a free 50amp 240v plug available, which is shared among 3 employee owned EVs. 

No fights have happened as all 3 can easily charge in a shift.

 

I would highly recommend Level 2 charging at home. 
This would mean a cooking range, electric dryer, RV, or welding plug in your garage.   

If you don't have one, get one installed, if little else to improve the value of your house. 
In Ontario, in 2018 it became Building Code, and a requirement, that ALL new houses built after 2018 MUST have a 30amp 240V plug in the garage (at minimum), and 200Amp service panels.   

 

Home Chargers, Wall Chargers, Portable Chargers
This is a bit of a misnomer, they are not "chargers"  they are "Smart Plugs" referred to as EVSE (Electic Vehicle Service Equipment) and what they do is communicate with the vehicle onboard charger and tell it what is the maximum current and voltage that the charger can pull from the plug its attached to. 
So a Level 1 "charger", plugged into a normal 120V wall socket, knows it can go up to 12amps (80% of a 15amp wall circuit as per code) so the car can't try to draw more and overheat the circuit and pop the breaker. 
A Level 2 "charger" is usually set to whatever plug rating its plugged into, 30-50 amps. 

Plugs are usually limited to 50amps max, so for more power, you would hard-wire a "charger"  (EVSE) to the dedicated circuit in your home. 

 

These Chargers/EVSE have outdoor rated versions, that can be installed externally on your house and withstand all kinds of weather, and all EV plugs are safe to use outside in all kinds of weather. 

The Bolt here stands outside 100% of the time, the charger is plugged in, in the garage and the cable slips under the garage door and plugs into the car.  

 

To be Continued in Part2!

Tazmool

 

PS: 
On the left is the Bolt I drive, and found its twin while on a road trip!