The electrical upgrade for a super duper charger is really misrepresented and over hyped by the anti EV folks. The reality is that a majority of EV users *do not need* a fast charger
The rate of charge is based on charger input, which is based on KW available from the source (the house usually). Rate of charge is expressed in the increase of available driving range per hour of charging. RPH. Range per hour.
So, on one of the EV's I'm dealing with, the RPH (amount of miles of range per hour of charge) is approx 1.2. 1.2 miles per hour of charging with your standard 110v charge input (normal 15A house receptacle). Note that they're all different, so do your research! And do not trust the manfuacturers, or the media because they are giving you inflated numbers that may or may not be truth-like always.
That means if you drive 20 miles it should take a little over 16 hours to replenish that 20 mile range.
If one were to install a L2 charge (which is 220/240v 50A, aka NEMA 650 as I remember), that rate drops in about 70% faster charge rate, so about 7 hours to replenish 20 miles' charge.
People who don't know ev, think of it this way. You drive a truck that gets 10mpg. You can typically go 200 miles on a tank of fuel if your vehicle holds 20 gallons. You run low on fuel and stop somewhere to get fuel (note I didn't say gas, because some of us drive oil burners). It takes, 10 minutes to put 20 gal of fuel into the tank. Then you can drive another 200 miles. Numbers used for examples only.
Now compare that to EV charge rates. Every EV has a different rate of miles per hour of charge. If you're shopping, you better research that. That rate is dependent on the KWh input (standard 110v is low KWh), the size of the battery pack, and the ambient temperature.
ambient temps play a big role as well. I have a chart that I use for work, was supplied by manufacturer but I am not sure I can share it publicly. Basically your driving range drops off significantly below 30 deg F. At 0-20 deg F, the "power" is significantly reduced. From -20-0, it will not go until the batteries warm up, which takes battery power. From -30 to -10 as I remember, charging time is drastically extended, because the charger is also powering the battery heaters. LUCKILY in this area we don't have temps like that, so most of our customers don't have to worry about it. However for all you yankees, y'all might have some considerations for EV's and extremely cold temps. I'd hate for you to buy one and then in the dead of winter (like right now), go out to your brand new EV and it won't go anywhere for hours until the batteries is warmed up enough for it to pull itself. No, I mean that the machine will stop you from going, the pedal does nothing but make the dash light up with all kinds of lights. So then you can be late for work, soccer practice, baseball practice, basketball games, late to school, late getting the kids to school 1 block away, etc.
So if you pull more out of the battery than you can put back in before you go to work the next day, which is certainly possible if you are on a 110v charge, then in a few days you'll be "out of gas". This is where range anxiety sets in. OMG my SOC "gauge" (SOC=state of charge) says I have 4 miles left and I need to get to work which is 35 miles away. Or, like this time of year, you might get into a traffic jam and SIT in your car for a few hours, then the battery is already low because your 110v charger won't recharge fast enough, you your car goes dead. Then what? You're not gonna run down to the corner store and buy a bucket of electricity to put back in your dead car. So EV owners, and potential owners will need to do a lot more planning.
that's where you really need a level 2 charger. It charges a lot faster, fast enough to replenish your lost charge for the most part, with today's battery tech. It'll get better with time but if they're gonna force it on us, it better get better sooner than later. This includes the reduction of power and charging with low temps--as said you'ns in the north is gonna hate these EV's if you don't already, unless things change. Soon.
Neighbor's got some kind of tesla, says "my range is 500 miles". LOL. No it's not. That 500 miles is under ideal conditions that really do not exist but maybe in mexifornia. Note that every day when he gets home, he plugs it in before he goes in the house to get dinner, then 30 minutes later he leaves in his gas powered pickup truck with the kids, to take em to soccer practice and whatever else they're into. He is usually back in 10 minutes, without the kids. Couple hours later goes & picks em up in the truck. Go to bed, get up eat breakfast, drop em off at school with the truck, come home get in tesla after unplugging and go to work. Repeat 5 days a week.
You see, I think your leaders are genius. They know that current ev technology can't totally replace gas burners. But they're gonna force it on everyone anyway. In doing so, (A) they're forcing people to spend money on another car, which carries sales taxes, registrations, fuel taxes, etc.....and (B) they're lining the pockets of stockholders and big corporations that make cars. That's a win-win situation for.....the government; while WE, the taxpayers and consumers, get duped. My apologies for getting political but that's my view.
