this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2024
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Electric Vehicles
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While it is true cars are parked the vast majority of any typical day, the lack of charging infrastructure is the actual hurdle.
Many people with homes do not have garages or other locations with accessible outlets. Parking on the street is extremely common in dense neighborhoods.
Many people live in apartment complexes with either open parking lots or with sheltered spaces that don't have electricity.
Both can be solved with more infrastructure for charging and more EVs that can plug into regular outlets for slow charging.
Level 1 charging (regular 120v house outlet) is underappreciated. Even for drivers that can only get 10%-25% charge added per day during parked times, that can be a game changer which would otherwise have them chasing Level 3 (DC fast chargers) at times when they'd really just like to be at home.
The most underappreciated charging in my opinion is Level 2 is NEMA 6-15. These are 240v lines with 15A. These use the exact same wire as the 120v 15A wall outlet. This means that if you only have your garage outlet for charging, you can simply swap a breaker on one end and the outlet on the other and make no changes to the wiring connecting them. While you may only get 3 miles per hour charging on a 120v 15A outlet, that same wire can give you 11 miles per hour just by switching it to 240v. Thats almost triple the charging speed and for many would mean all of their charging needs are met at home without any new wiring being run!
240V lines have two legs running through the breaker. So unfortunately it isn't just as easy as swapping at both ends, you have to pull another wire for the 2nd leg.
Edit: I was curious and looked it up - it is two hot without a neutral, so the OP comment is actually correct! TIL