California to ban selling new gas-powered cars by 2035

[JSH]

Originally Posted by freebeard

The California Independent System Operator, which monitors power lines across the state, initially said Wednesday that the grid was stable and that the state would have enough electricity to meet demand. Just hours later, however, the agency issued a Flex Alert for Thursday from 5 to 10 p.m. to encourage reduced energy usage because of the strain on the state’s grid.

Residents are advised to avoid lowering the thermostat during those hours and to complete tasks involving high amounts of energy beforehand, such as using major appliances and charging devices and electric cars.

Why would an EV owner charge from 5 to 10 pm and pay peak electricity rates?

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by JSH

Why would an EV owner charge from 5 to 10 pm and pay peak electricity rates?

As far as I can tell around half of EV owners charge with 120v power and they need to charge at least 12 hours a day. So they don't have a choice.

[Piotrsko]

Maybe because they don't get a discount for off peak charging? To get different rates here in Reno, I have to adhere to rules that aren't optimum to get after midnight rates of 10¢ kwh which is only down 3¢.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Maybe because they don't get a discount for off peak charging? To get different rates here in Reno, I have to adhere to rules that aren't optimum to get after midnight rates of 10¢ kwh which is only down 3¢.

10¢ per kWh is still cheap. It's 30¢ per kWh and up that it starts to get expensive IMO. At that price it starts to cost about the same as a gasoline car to drive an EV, depending on the price of fuel of course.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

As far as I can tell around half of EV owners charge with 120v power and they need to charge at least 12 hours a day. So they don't have a choice.

That is a choice that some people that drive low miles make. Also people that lease an EV and aren't quite willing to commit to spending $600 for a Level 2 charger. Expect Level 2 chargers to become more popular as EVs become more popular. Level 1 makes for a pretty poor EV ownership experience unless someone drive VERY low miles per day.

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Maybe because they don't get a discount for off peak charging? To get different rates here in Reno, I have to adhere to rules that aren't optimum to get after midnight rates of 10¢ kwh which is only down 3¢.

This thread is talking about widespread EV adoption. As EVs become more popular you can expect time of use pricing to become mandatory. My parent's utility just moved everyone to time of use with a 50% increase from 2 pm to 7 pm.

[oil pan 4]

No, you can get a level 2 charger for as little as $160.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

No, you can get a level 2 charger for as little as $160.

Yeah, but most don't have a place to plug it in. The $160 EVSEs tend to still be low powered L2

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

No, you can get a level 2 charger for as little as $160.

I haven't been looking recently but it always seemed that the cheaper ones were marked as indoor use only.

So the $160 ones are ok if they have enough power for what you need, you own a garage and you have a place to plug it into.

Otherwise you're looking at an installment by an electrician, which isn't cheap, especially if he deems your house as booty having a high enough amperage service to cover the EVSE.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

No, you can get a level 2 charger for as little as $160.

Sure you can get a 220V / 16 amp EVSE that is technically a Level 2 for less than $200. Why would you? Why run a dedicated circuit for a charger and only then make it 20 amp?

Level 2 is 3 kW to 19 kW. That 220V / 16 amp is the bare minimum to be called Level 2. The most common type Level 2 EVES I know of are 240V / 32 amp / 7.6 kWh. That matches well with the 6.6 kWh chargers found in most current EVs. Even then we are rapidly moving on. Tesla internal chargers are 11.5 kW. The Ford F-150 internal charger is 15 kW.


A quick look at my panel and the 240V circuits are:
30 amp - Water Heater
40 amp - Stove
40 amp - Dryer
50 amp - Heat Pump

[oil pan 4]

Not very many people need 6.6kw. I do most of my charging with a 2.4kw evse.