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Real Member Experiences

Where and When Do You Charge?

JV

Jon V.
24 Year Member
2020
Chevy Bolt

I drive a Chevy Bolt and my wife drives the Volvo XC60 Recharge plug-in hybrid. We have two level 2 chargers in our garage, and we both do most of our charging at home. Refueling in an EV is a different mindset. When you have a gas engine, you only fill up when it’s low. With an EV, I plug in every night when I come home. When I come back in the morning, it’s fully charged. I can also tell the car my desired charging level and when to start and stop charging.

 

I occasionally use public charging. There are two level 2 public chargers my town that I’ll use, for example, when I’m at my kid’s games. I use DC fast charging on occasion when traveling longer distances.

TW

Todd w.
14 Year Member
2019
tesla model 3
Before retiring, I had free charging at work. This was convenient and saved me money. Because most of my charging was done at work, I only needed level 1 charging at home. Last year, after retiring, I installed a level 2 charger in my garage, and that’s where I do most of my charging now. There are public chargers close to my house that I have used, but I tend to only use public chargers during road trips. Unless I’m going on a long trip, I tend to only charge my EV up to 80%, and I set it up so it is done charging by 7AM.

EC

Eileen C.
32 Year Member
2017
Nissan Leaf
I bought a Siemen (level 2) charging station and had it installed in my garage. I plug my vehicle in when it gets down to about 20 or 30 miles left on the gauge. This is generally all I need because I don’t do a lot of driving. I do occasionally use public charging when traveling for work. For these times, I check where charging stations are located in advance.
How Long does It Take To Charge?

JV

Jon V.
24 Year Member
2020
Chevy Bolt
A common misconception is that you have to have a 40A or 50A breaker. I have a 20A breaker which doesn’t charge quite as fast, but I can still charge my bolt 75% in 13 hours.

TW

Todd w.
14 Year Member
2019
tesla model 3
Charging at home, before installing my level 2 charger, I would only get about 3 miles of range per hour, but charging overnight this means you get 30 to 36 miles which is adequate. With my new level 2 charger, I can add about 29 to 30 miles of range in an hour. I can go from about 20% to 80% charge in under four hours. Using public superchargers, I only need to charge for 15 minutes before getting another 2 or 3 hours of range.

EC

Eileen C.
32 Year Member
2017
Nissan Leaf

It takes several hours to charge the car using level 2 charging, which isn’t great for long trips, but I don’t use my EV to drive long distances.

how much do you save in fuel costs?

JV

Jon V.
24 Year Member
2020
Chevy Bolt
Paying $0.185 / kWh, my average cost per mile is about $0.05. This is half as much as a gas-powered car that gets 30 miles per gallon at $3 per gallon of gas. Driving an average of 1,000 miles a month means the cost to power my EV is only $50.

TW

Todd w.
14 Year Member
2019
tesla model 3
Charging at home I pay home electric rates, which are pretty reasonable. While these rates have gone up like all fuel and utilities, they haven’t gone up nearly as much as gas. I would estimate that my fuel cost is one-third of what it would be compared to gasoline. The rates for fast charging depends on location, but I would say it is typically half the cost of gas. For fast charging, you are paying a bit more for the convenience, but it is still a good deal compared to gas.

EC

Eileen C.
32 Year Member
2017
Nissan Leaf
Using my charging station in my garage costs me about $12 to $15 a month on my electric bill.
How far can you go?

JV

Jon V.
24 Year Member
2020
Chevy Bolt
Paying $0.185 / kWh, my average cost per mile is about $0.05. This is half as much as a gas-powered car that gets 30 miles per gallon at $3 per gallon of gas. Driving an average of 1,000 miles a month means the cost to power my EV is only $50.

TW

Todd w.
14 Year Member
2019
tesla model 3
Charging at home I pay home electric rates, which are pretty reasonable. While these rates have gone up like all fuel and utilities, they haven’t gone up nearly as much as gas. I would estimate that my fuel cost is one-third of what it would be compared to gasoline. The rates for fast charging depends on location, but I would say it is typically half the cost of gas. For fast charging, you are paying a bit more for the convenience, but it is still a good deal compared to gas.

EC

Eileen C.
32 Year Member
2017
Nissan Leaf
Using my charging station in my garage costs me about $12 to $15 a month on my electric bill.
HOW HAS HOT/COLD TEMPERATURES AFFECTED YOUR RANGE?

JV

Jon V.
24 Year Member
2020
Chevy Bolt
Paying $0.185 / kWh, my average cost per mile is about $0.05. This is half as much as a gas-powered car that gets 30 miles per gallon at $3 per gallon of gas. Driving an average of 1,000 miles a month means the cost to power my EV is only $50.

TW

Todd w.
14 Year Member
2019
tesla model 3
Charging at home I pay home electric rates, which are pretty reasonable. While these rates have gone up like all fuel and utilities, they haven’t gone up nearly as much as gas. I would estimate that my fuel cost is one-third of what it would be compared to gasoline. The rates for fast charging depends on location, but I would say it is typically half the cost of gas. For fast charging, you are paying a bit more for the convenience, but it is still a good deal compared to gas.

EC

Eileen C.
32 Year Member
2017
Nissan Leaf
Using my charging station in my garage costs me about $12 to $15 a month on my electric bill.
What Do You Do For Long Road Trips?

JV

Jon V.
24 Year Member
2020
Chevy Bolt
Paying $0.185 / kWh, my average cost per mile is about $0.05. This is half as much as a gas-powered car that gets 30 miles per gallon at $3 per gallon of gas. Driving an average of 1,000 miles a month means the cost to power my EV is only $50.

TW

Todd w.
14 Year Member
2019
tesla model 3
Charging at home I pay home electric rates, which are pretty reasonable. While these rates have gone up like all fuel and utilities, they haven’t gone up nearly as much as gas. I would estimate that my fuel cost is one-third of what it would be compared to gasoline. The rates for fast charging depends on location, but I would say it is typically half the cost of gas. For fast charging, you are paying a bit more for the convenience, but it is still a good deal compared to gas.

EC

Eileen C.
32 Year Member
2017
Nissan Leaf
Using my charging station in my garage costs me about $12 to $15 a month on my electric bill.
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