The Power of Electric Vehicles: Understanding Charging Speed and Infrastructure

As the world shifts towards a more sustainable future, electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly popular. However, one of the biggest challenges facing EV owners is understanding how to charge their vehicle efficiently and safely. The charging speed of an EV depends on several factors, including the size of the battery, the battery's charge level, the maximum charging rate of the vehicle, the maximum charging rate of the charging port, and the weather.

The size of the battery plays a significant role in determining the charging speed of an EV. Larger batteries take longer to charge than smaller ones. For example, if you have an empty battery, it will take much longer to charge than if it's already half full. This is why EV manufacturers often recommend keeping the battery at least 20% charged before charging to prevent damage. The maximum charging rate of the vehicle also limits the charging speed. Each electric vehicle has a maximum charging rate set by the manufacturer, which determines how fast the battery can be charged.

The maximum charging rate of the charging port is another crucial factor in determining the charging speed. Charging ports come in different sizes and types, and not all of them are compatible with every EV model. It's generally recommended to charge at a station with a higher charging rate than your vehicle's maximum capacity to prevent overheating or damage to the battery. The weather also affects the charging speed of an EV. Lower temperatures slow down the charging process, making it take longer to fully charge the battery.

One of the most powerful public chargers in the US is 350 kilowatts, which means that theoretically, you could charge an Audi Etron SUV with a 95-kilowatt-hour battery in about 16 minutes. However, due to safety concerns, charging speeds are typically lower, around 40-50 minutes. The manufacturer has implemented this slow-down as a precautionary measure to prevent battery fires or explosions.

The EV industry is still in its early stages, and the lack of standardization in charging infrastructure can make it challenging for drivers to find suitable charging stations. As of now, there are approximately 113,600 plug-in EV charging outlets available across the US. However, these outlets are not evenly distributed, with some states having more than others. California, for example, has over 931,000 EVs and 34,000 charging ports, making it the state with the highest number of EVs in the country.

On the other hand, some states have very few charging stations. North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, and even Florida have fewer than 700 EVs combined, with only a handful of charging ports available. This lack of infrastructure makes it difficult for people to consider purchasing an EV, as they may not be able to find suitable charging stations.

Recently, Vice President Kamala Harris announced the government's $7.5 billion plan to help expand EV charging infrastructure. The model is based on the gasoline station network, but there are several concerns about its feasibility. First, EV charging pricing is not like gas prices; it varies depending on the state, electric utility service area, and charging provider's business model. Additionally, there is no standard payment unit for EV charging stations, making it difficult to compare prices.

Another major problem with public charging stations is their reliability. A recent survey by Plug-in America found that 54% of drivers experienced problems at public chargers, including broken chargers. Many charging stations do not accept credit cards, and when they do, the payment process can be cumbersome, requiring users to call an 800 number or read the card's data over the phone.

Currently, many charging stations are operated by electric utility companies or automakers, but there is also a growing number of third-party charging station network operators that are independent of these entities. Despite this, there is still much work to be done to develop a comprehensive and standardized EV charging infrastructure.

As the world shifts towards a more sustainable future, it's essential to address the challenges facing EV adoption, particularly in terms of charging infrastructure. With the government's plan to expand EV charging infrastructure, it's crucial to prioritize the development of reliable, efficient, and user-friendly charging stations that meet the needs of all EV owners.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: endid you know that 32 percent of americans say they'll never drive an electric car top reasons include range anxiety and how long it takes to charge an electric vehicle that's what we're talking about today the problem with plug-in ev charging will see all sides of ev charging including the three main charging levels available today their limits and what causes ev batteries to catch on fire we'll also look at wireless charging which many consumers haven't heard of yet so hop in and let's get going so you're on a road trip you're driving down a highway with your family and your brand new ev the sun's shining life is great well until your ev runs out of electricity believe it or not this is a real phenomena called range anxiety now cue the hours as you wait for your ev to recharge at the nearest charging station and you have to ask yourself why can't ev charging be quick like pumping gasoline into a combustion engine car what if the roads you drive on every day could recharge your car while you drive last summer the indiana department of transportation and partnership with purdue university shared plans to develop the world's first wireless charging concrete paved highway so imagine you have to take this highway any way you commute from home to work every day this means your daily commute is no longer a waste of time since you're charging your car while you're driving it to and from work it's brilliant in a way it's almost analogous to vintage trolleys in san francisco except it's all wireless and it's for your personal car a few months ago michigan announced they'll construct the nation's first wireless ev charging road it'll be a one mile stretch in metro detroit so the race is on here's how it works while your ev is driving on a charging road the battery gets charged through magnetic induction by pads or coils that lie beneath the street surface now it may not give you a full charge but it would help add extra mileage to your ev to hold on to it until its next complete charge but some engineers are skeptical they say this might work for a one mile demonstration but it's not otherwise feasible economically viable or scalable you can just imagine the high cost of overhauling all major roads in america if they were electrified plus you'd have to retrofit existing evs with an aftermarket wireless receiver which they do not presently have and then we have weather is another key hurdle for example michigan's winters are no joke just imagine how many potholes they get every year so any wireless system under the roads will get damaged more often than not engineers believe this technology still requires some five or ten more years of development but actually the idea isn't new in europe the uk has been testing how charging roads work like phone chargers in south korea the city of gummi has shuttle buses that get their energy from underground power cables now there's also an israeli startup that has lines and roads in israel and sweden to demonstrate the viability of the concept and they have plans to embed highways in germany and italy with magnetic induction technology at president of the us most ev charging that's available involves plugging in or connecting a charger to your car but did you know there's several startups that are developing stationary wireless charging units imagine just parking at an underground garage worker at a mall you pull up to a parking stall that has a wireless charger as long as your car has a wireless receiver you don't need to physically connect to a charger you just click a button on your mobile app and the charging starts so the idea is you'll be even easier than pumping gas at a station but for now we have public plug-in charging stations and your own home so exactly how long does it take to charge an ev well it depends on the type of ev charger you use keep in mind that each charger type has an associated set of connectors these are designed for low or high power use for either ac or dc charging first up is level one charging this is when you plug directly into a standard 120 volt outlet at home this supplies power at 1.3 kilowatts to 2.4 kilowatts and the energy output equates to about four to six miles of range per hour so wait time here can be forever an overnight charge could add 50 to 60 miles but if your ev with 250 miles of range has an empty battery a full charge can take two full days at 120 volts this is why level one charging is best if you already know you don't need your car for a while and you're okay with the car being parked for several hours or days it's also practical if you like to charge your ev at home overnight otherwise you're better off choosing a faster charging level like level two level two charging can be at home work or public places and it's up to six times faster than level one level two charging uses a 240 volt outlet and produces four to 18 kilowatts of power this means it can give you 12 to 54 miles of range per hour of charge but it all depends on the type of ev you have and it's on board charger level two chargers tend to be found at public places like car parks supermarkets or leisure centers we're likely parked for an hour or more anyway but if you want to fully charge your ev a level two charging can take three and a half hours for an 80 mile battery in eight hours for a 200 mile battery so it's obviously fast in level one but still not as fast as pumping gas in your combustion car both level one and level two charging use alternating current or ac which gets converted to direct current this conversion is what makes level one and level two time consuming if you want to charge faster then the fastest charging level available right now is level three charge also known as dc fast charging if you're the type of person who's always on the go with lots of places to visit and people to see dc fast charging can deliver 100 rph or more it outputs between 50 to 350 kilowatts of power depending on the type of ev you have and your car's voltage capacity dc fast charging can charge your car up to 80 in about 20 to 30 minutes which isn't too bad there are three different types of dc fast chargers there's combined charging system or ccs this is the most common one there's also shed emo which some car makers use and then there's the tesla supercharger which will only work with tesla charges although teslas can use ccs or chadimos if they have the adapter but before you show up at a dc fast charging station you should check to see if your car is a dc fast charging port in the first place that's because not all plug-in evs on the road today have a dc fast charging port and many in plug-in hybrids can only charge at level one or two now here's the thing everyone wants to charge their vehicle quickly but do you know what happens if a battery charges too fast but simply the battery will overheat and this will degrade the battery unit over time making it wear out faster the best case scenario is reduced battery capacity but the worst case scenario is that it could catch fire or even explode this is because lithium can start building up on the surface of the anode this phenomenon is known as lithium plating once this starts to happen the lithium deposits will form filament-like structures called dendrites they can grow across the electrolyte touch the cathode lead to a short circuit this is typically what happens when a battery catches fire or explodes but this doesn't mean you should avoid fast charging completely all ev batteries have built-in charging speed limits set by the car's onboard charging ports this is to ensure these problems never happen the most powerful public charger in the us right now is 350 kilowatts that means you could technically charge an audi etron suv 95 kilowatt hour battery in about 16 minutes but the reason you can't do that now is because the battery itself can only accept at most 150 kilowatts of power that's why the charging speed is closer to 40 minutes to lower the risk of battery fire and explosion in general once your battery is 80 full charging speed slows down to prevent the battery from being damaged did you know that the ev's charging speed depends on five factors first is the size of the battery the larger the battery capacity the longer it will take to charge second is the battery charge level if you got an empty battery it'll take much longer to charge than if it been half full that's a no-brainer too the third factor is the maximum charging rate of the vehicle each electric vehicle has a maximum charging rate set by the manufacturer this limits the charging speed even if you went out of your way to go to a charging point with a higher charging rate your ev's maximum charging rate would not change the fourth factor is the maximum charging rate of the charging port it's generally recommended not to charge at a charging point with a charging rate lower than that of your vehicles the last factor believe it or not is the weather the lower the temperature the longer it takes to charge your vehicle this is especially true when it comes to using a rapid charger so too the lower the temperature outside the less efficient your ev will operate ever wonder how many commercial charging stations there are right now in the us there are almost 113 600 plug-in ev charging outlets another problem is public charging stations aren't equally distributed throughout the united states if you're thinking of getting an ev and you live in california i got some news for you so last september california had more than 931 000 evs and 34 000 plugging charging ports that's more than any other state by a huge margin next up is florida they have 109 000 evs and less than 6 000 charging ports then we have new york washington state and texas let's say you live in north dakota unfortunately i got bad news for you right now there are less than 700 evs in the entire state of north dakota and only 134 charging ports in fact it's the least ev-friendly state who wants to buy an ev when there are so few public charging stations it's not just that consider this among the bottom of eva barrel at wyoming south dakota and alaska one thing all these three states share as cold winners vice president kamala harris recently announced the government's 7.5 billion payout vision to help expand ev charging infrastructure their model is based on the gasoline station network but is it realistic well the thing you have to understand is that an ev charger is basically nothing like a gas station here's a few problems with this plan first up ev charging pricing is nothing like you're finding a gas station sure gas prices fluctuate pricing at charging stations can be summed up as a mystery that's because charging prices depend on the state the electric utility service area and the charging provider's business model plus the ev charging industry hasn't even completely agreed on their payment units many stations assess the fees by the kilowatt hour some charge a flat rate and others charged by the minutes each utility establish its own rates so it's not as simple as gas prices current charging stations have another major problem reliability early last year plug-in america surveyed over 3 500 ev drivers they found that 54 of the drivers had problems at public chargers the most common problem broken chargers think that's bad well if you usually pay for your guests with a swipe of a credit card i've got even more bad news currently many charging stations do not accept credit cards and even if you're at a station that does the process isn't user friendly instead of inserting your car you have to call an 800 number read the card's data over the phone california started requiring charging stations to accept credit card payments but we'll have to see how long it takes for other states to follow suit many people believe that ev charging stations operate on a grid or by electrical or utility companies but that's a myth yes it's possible for a greater utility company to operate charging stations but some automakers actually operate their own network of charging stations there's also a number of third-party charging station network operators that are independent of electric utility companies or even ev original equipment manufacturers but now you tell me have you ever had bad experience with ev charging do you think charging stations will ever be like gas stations please share by commenting below if you liked the episode please like and subscribe thanks for your support youdid you know that 32 percent of americans say they'll never drive an electric car top reasons include range anxiety and how long it takes to charge an electric vehicle that's what we're talking about today the problem with plug-in ev charging will see all sides of ev charging including the three main charging levels available today their limits and what causes ev batteries to catch on fire we'll also look at wireless charging which many consumers haven't heard of yet so hop in and let's get going so you're on a road trip you're driving down a highway with your family and your brand new ev the sun's shining life is great well until your ev runs out of electricity believe it or not this is a real phenomena called range anxiety now cue the hours as you wait for your ev to recharge at the nearest charging station and you have to ask yourself why can't ev charging be quick like pumping gasoline into a combustion engine car what if the roads you drive on every day could recharge your car while you drive last summer the indiana department of transportation and partnership with purdue university shared plans to develop the world's first wireless charging concrete paved highway so imagine you have to take this highway any way you commute from home to work every day this means your daily commute is no longer a waste of time since you're charging your car while you're driving it to and from work it's brilliant in a way it's almost analogous to vintage trolleys in san francisco except it's all wireless and it's for your personal car a few months ago michigan announced they'll construct the nation's first wireless ev charging road it'll be a one mile stretch in metro detroit so the race is on here's how it works while your ev is driving on a charging road the battery gets charged through magnetic induction by pads or coils that lie beneath the street surface now it may not give you a full charge but it would help add extra mileage to your ev to hold on to it until its next complete charge but some engineers are skeptical they say this might work for a one mile demonstration but it's not otherwise feasible economically viable or scalable you can just imagine the high cost of overhauling all major roads in america if they were electrified plus you'd have to retrofit existing evs with an aftermarket wireless receiver which they do not presently have and then we have weather is another key hurdle for example michigan's winters are no joke just imagine how many potholes they get every year so any wireless system under the roads will get damaged more often than not engineers believe this technology still requires some five or ten more years of development but actually the idea isn't new in europe the uk has been testing how charging roads work like phone chargers in south korea the city of gummi has shuttle buses that get their energy from underground power cables now there's also an israeli startup that has lines and roads in israel and sweden to demonstrate the viability of the concept and they have plans to embed highways in germany and italy with magnetic induction technology at president of the us most ev charging that's available involves plugging in or connecting a charger to your car but did you know there's several startups that are developing stationary wireless charging units imagine just parking at an underground garage worker at a mall you pull up to a parking stall that has a wireless charger as long as your car has a wireless receiver you don't need to physically connect to a charger you just click a button on your mobile app and the charging starts so the idea is you'll be even easier than pumping gas at a station but for now we have public plug-in charging stations and your own home so exactly how long does it take to charge an ev well it depends on the type of ev charger you use keep in mind that each charger type has an associated set of connectors these are designed for low or high power use for either ac or dc charging first up is level one charging this is when you plug directly into a standard 120 volt outlet at home this supplies power at 1.3 kilowatts to 2.4 kilowatts and the energy output equates to about four to six miles of range per hour so wait time here can be forever an overnight charge could add 50 to 60 miles but if your ev with 250 miles of range has an empty battery a full charge can take two full days at 120 volts this is why level one charging is best if you already know you don't need your car for a while and you're okay with the car being parked for several hours or days it's also practical if you like to charge your ev at home overnight otherwise you're better off choosing a faster charging level like level two level two charging can be at home work or public places and it's up to six times faster than level one level two charging uses a 240 volt outlet and produces four to 18 kilowatts of power this means it can give you 12 to 54 miles of range per hour of charge but it all depends on the type of ev you have and it's on board charger level two chargers tend to be found at public places like car parks supermarkets or leisure centers we're likely parked for an hour or more anyway but if you want to fully charge your ev a level two charging can take three and a half hours for an 80 mile battery in eight hours for a 200 mile battery so it's obviously fast in level one but still not as fast as pumping gas in your combustion car both level one and level two charging use alternating current or ac which gets converted to direct current this conversion is what makes level one and level two time consuming if you want to charge faster then the fastest charging level available right now is level three charge also known as dc fast charging if you're the type of person who's always on the go with lots of places to visit and people to see dc fast charging can deliver 100 rph or more it outputs between 50 to 350 kilowatts of power depending on the type of ev you have and your car's voltage capacity dc fast charging can charge your car up to 80 in about 20 to 30 minutes which isn't too bad there are three different types of dc fast chargers there's combined charging system or ccs this is the most common one there's also shed emo which some car makers use and then there's the tesla supercharger which will only work with tesla charges although teslas can use ccs or chadimos if they have the adapter but before you show up at a dc fast charging station you should check to see if your car is a dc fast charging port in the first place that's because not all plug-in evs on the road today have a dc fast charging port and many in plug-in hybrids can only charge at level one or two now here's the thing everyone wants to charge their vehicle quickly but do you know what happens if a battery charges too fast but simply the battery will overheat and this will degrade the battery unit over time making it wear out faster the best case scenario is reduced battery capacity but the worst case scenario is that it could catch fire or even explode this is because lithium can start building up on the surface of the anode this phenomenon is known as lithium plating once this starts to happen the lithium deposits will form filament-like structures called dendrites they can grow across the electrolyte touch the cathode lead to a short circuit this is typically what happens when a battery catches fire or explodes but this doesn't mean you should avoid fast charging completely all ev batteries have built-in charging speed limits set by the car's onboard charging ports this is to ensure these problems never happen the most powerful public charger in the us right now is 350 kilowatts that means you could technically charge an audi etron suv 95 kilowatt hour battery in about 16 minutes but the reason you can't do that now is because the battery itself can only accept at most 150 kilowatts of power that's why the charging speed is closer to 40 minutes to lower the risk of battery fire and explosion in general once your battery is 80 full charging speed slows down to prevent the battery from being damaged did you know that the ev's charging speed depends on five factors first is the size of the battery the larger the battery capacity the longer it will take to charge second is the battery charge level if you got an empty battery it'll take much longer to charge than if it been half full that's a no-brainer too the third factor is the maximum charging rate of the vehicle each electric vehicle has a maximum charging rate set by the manufacturer this limits the charging speed even if you went out of your way to go to a charging point with a higher charging rate your ev's maximum charging rate would not change the fourth factor is the maximum charging rate of the charging port it's generally recommended not to charge at a charging point with a charging rate lower than that of your vehicles the last factor believe it or not is the weather the lower the temperature the longer it takes to charge your vehicle this is especially true when it comes to using a rapid charger so too the lower the temperature outside the less efficient your ev will operate ever wonder how many commercial charging stations there are right now in the us there are almost 113 600 plug-in ev charging outlets another problem is public charging stations aren't equally distributed throughout the united states if you're thinking of getting an ev and you live in california i got some news for you so last september california had more than 931 000 evs and 34 000 plugging charging ports that's more than any other state by a huge margin next up is florida they have 109 000 evs and less than 6 000 charging ports then we have new york washington state and texas let's say you live in north dakota unfortunately i got bad news for you right now there are less than 700 evs in the entire state of north dakota and only 134 charging ports in fact it's the least ev-friendly state who wants to buy an ev when there are so few public charging stations it's not just that consider this among the bottom of eva barrel at wyoming south dakota and alaska one thing all these three states share as cold winners vice president kamala harris recently announced the government's 7.5 billion payout vision to help expand ev charging infrastructure their model is based on the gasoline station network but is it realistic well the thing you have to understand is that an ev charger is basically nothing like a gas station here's a few problems with this plan first up ev charging pricing is nothing like you're finding a gas station sure gas prices fluctuate pricing at charging stations can be summed up as a mystery that's because charging prices depend on the state the electric utility service area and the charging provider's business model plus the ev charging industry hasn't even completely agreed on their payment units many stations assess the fees by the kilowatt hour some charge a flat rate and others charged by the minutes each utility establish its own rates so it's not as simple as gas prices current charging stations have another major problem reliability early last year plug-in america surveyed over 3 500 ev drivers they found that 54 of the drivers had problems at public chargers the most common problem broken chargers think that's bad well if you usually pay for your guests with a swipe of a credit card i've got even more bad news currently many charging stations do not accept credit cards and even if you're at a station that does the process isn't user friendly instead of inserting your car you have to call an 800 number read the card's data over the phone california started requiring charging stations to accept credit card payments but we'll have to see how long it takes for other states to follow suit many people believe that ev charging stations operate on a grid or by electrical or utility companies but that's a myth yes it's possible for a greater utility company to operate charging stations but some automakers actually operate their own network of charging stations there's also a number of third-party charging station network operators that are independent of electric utility companies or even ev original equipment manufacturers but now you tell me have you ever had bad experience with ev charging do you think charging stations will ever be like gas stations please share by commenting below if you liked the episode please like and subscribe thanks for your support you\n"