So there has been a lot of talk about how long it takes for EV's to charge, like in the recent Lexus add. But those of us who own and drive them know that we rarely, if ever sit around waiting for our cars to charge. We simply plug in, then go off to work, go shop, or into the house, sleep etc... Then as if magic EV elves showed up while we were gone, we come back and "Hey look at that! My EV is full." But there is rarely ever rebuttal to this about how much time is spent actually waiting to fill up a gas tank (just saying "gas" feels dirty now) at a gas (*ick again) station. I decided to throw together a little spreadsheet that could figure out for me just how much time I have wasted over the years literally waiting to fill up my ICE cars I have driven, and to compare that to how much time I've actually waited to charge my Spark.
First. I used to stop twice a week to fill up my old ICE at about 10 minutes a stop. (5 minutes actually waiting at the pump and another 5 pulling off, paying etc...)
I have spent 5.5 hours actually waiting to charge my spark.
a 3 hour stint in Belmont at the Library in the middle of the night, because I planned poorly and the SAE Combo charger around the corner wasn't working.
1 hour in Lodi just to check a charging station there, where I decided to hang out and watch the latest episode of "Arrow" while I charged up a little bit.
2 30 minute stints at the SAE Combo charger at SMUD in Sacramento. (once just to try it out, the other in an emergency because I had to get home, so I couldn't wait to charge at work)
and a 30 minute stop outside Elk Grove to check a charger there.
Here are how the numbers break down.
At the rate I figured filling up my ICE, I would spend about 4 hours in 3 months literally waiting at the pump.
In the three months I've owned my Spark, I've spent 5.5 hours waiting, most of which was unnecessary or could have been avoided. (but screw it, I'll throw ICE a bone for now)
The spread sheet has all kinds of nifty breakdowns like minutes per stop (for instance I add about 2 minutes for every time plug in/unplug my EV) but put simply, in the 3 months I've owned my Spark, I've waited about an hour more than I would have in my ICE.
HOWEVER...
in the 26 years I've been driving, at the rate I set for ICE waiting, I have spent 400 hours literally standing there waiting for gas and money to poor into my gas tanks over the years.
I have no idea how to figure how much time I will spend waiting to charge up my Spark if I could own it for 26 years, but if I were to wait at a quick charger, once a month for 26 years, that would be 156 hours. If I use a quick charger every other weekend, for 26 years straight, that would still be only 312 hours waiting.
But I would guess, that I might use a quick charger maybe 2 or 3 times a year. That would come out to 7.5 hours of waiting for my EV to charge over 5 years, compared to 80 hours over 5 years waiting for gas if I was still driving an ICE.
So now who's standing there waiting for their car to fill up?
First. I used to stop twice a week to fill up my old ICE at about 10 minutes a stop. (5 minutes actually waiting at the pump and another 5 pulling off, paying etc...)
I have spent 5.5 hours actually waiting to charge my spark.
a 3 hour stint in Belmont at the Library in the middle of the night, because I planned poorly and the SAE Combo charger around the corner wasn't working.
1 hour in Lodi just to check a charging station there, where I decided to hang out and watch the latest episode of "Arrow" while I charged up a little bit.
2 30 minute stints at the SAE Combo charger at SMUD in Sacramento. (once just to try it out, the other in an emergency because I had to get home, so I couldn't wait to charge at work)
and a 30 minute stop outside Elk Grove to check a charger there.
Here are how the numbers break down.
At the rate I figured filling up my ICE, I would spend about 4 hours in 3 months literally waiting at the pump.
In the three months I've owned my Spark, I've spent 5.5 hours waiting, most of which was unnecessary or could have been avoided. (but screw it, I'll throw ICE a bone for now)
The spread sheet has all kinds of nifty breakdowns like minutes per stop (for instance I add about 2 minutes for every time plug in/unplug my EV) but put simply, in the 3 months I've owned my Spark, I've waited about an hour more than I would have in my ICE.
HOWEVER...
in the 26 years I've been driving, at the rate I set for ICE waiting, I have spent 400 hours literally standing there waiting for gas and money to poor into my gas tanks over the years.
I have no idea how to figure how much time I will spend waiting to charge up my Spark if I could own it for 26 years, but if I were to wait at a quick charger, once a month for 26 years, that would be 156 hours. If I use a quick charger every other weekend, for 26 years straight, that would still be only 312 hours waiting.
But I would guess, that I might use a quick charger maybe 2 or 3 times a year. That would come out to 7.5 hours of waiting for my EV to charge over 5 years, compared to 80 hours over 5 years waiting for gas if I was still driving an ICE.
So now who's standing there waiting for their car to fill up?