Utility of the silly 110V charger

Charging an I-Pace on a plain socket can have some damaging effects if done often and long enough at the same socket. There has been some issues with people simply using wall outlets to charge their EVs (any EV, not specifically the I-Pace) which has resulted in fires, etc so I do not charge in my garage until I get a proper charger setup which of couse is also a big investment. And obvously its incredibly slow as well so really not worth the cost of power for such little mile gainage, especially when the battery is below 80%.

In addition do remember that if fast charging a battery (any EV battery) the charge speed generally starts dropping once the battery gets around 80% charge. At this point its pointless to do fast charging as the speed can drop to a very slow speed, similar to what your normal socket will give you at certain points. That is of course if you are paying for charge by the minute like we do here on public stations in Norway. I have managed my I-Pace with just public charging until now and it is the only car we have for the family. We do not drive that much daily however but since the battery does hold a lot of charge we can manage at least for now. Tesla of course also is in this battery range, with the major advantage being the Tesla Supercharger network that they have. But in Europe we have a new Ionity network with 350kwh chargers being built in many countries which will also be like the Tesla Supercharger network but just not for Tesla but for all of the others with a CCS charger.

I personally think that Tesla will eventually open up their super chargers for other EVs as well, at least in certain countries. I cannot see Tesla being sustainable with their current business model in the long run and may use their supercharger stations to make extra profit from non-Tesla EVs as well. Just my personal opinion based on where I live (Norway) and what I hear about Tesla.

So to answer the original question that the main advantage Tesla has is their superchargers I would say yes, but at least in Europe that advantage is already being offset by a similar setup. Unfortunately im not to up to date with the state of the charging infrastructure in North America but am simply thinking that something like Ionity will also be happening there throughout many states sometime.

Electrify America is one of the major fast charger (100-350kwH) networks already live in the U.S. It's worth checking out their map of existing and planned U.S. charging stations. While there is not one coming near my home (yet), I see one in each of the more distant Florida cities I visit (Tampa, Orlando, and Daytona) where access to a "fast fill-up" would be useful on an extended day trip. And we're only 1/2 month into 2019! I'm confident that with the growth of EVs, and the corresponding growth of charging stations (like those of Electrify America and others), in the future most of us will be laughing off the range/charging concerns we had when ordering our I-Pace. I, too, have speculated that Tesla may begin 'sharing' their supercharger network with other EVs for additional revenue, or eventually it may be overtaken by companies like Electrify America serving the entire EV population. It will be fun over the next quarter century to watch gas stations dry up (literally) while the charging network (and its myriad of vendors) slowly replaces it.

sciencegeek said:

Pennies

Most charging will still happen during cheap times if you plug it into the 110V after dinner or when you go to bed

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You are located in a somewhat unique area for California, a subsidized non-TOU, non-EV region. The rest of this post is for people who live in EV Time-Of-Use (TOU) regions where they exist, both in the US and abroad.

Let's look at San Francisco. Charging at 2pm-9pm is .48-.33/kWh (summer/winter, PG&E, EV-A) and 11pm-7am is .12/kWh. This can mean a savings of about $500/yr for the average commuter to stay out of the high TOU times.


Sidebar -

The EV TOU Bonus!

There is an added bonus, which you can get as an EV owner. Switch to the EV TOU plan. Now, program everything you can (pool pump, washer, drier, dishwasher, etc) into the Super Off Peak late night window. For many people, this change will charge your car for free, an $1,100 a year savings.

Free money once you figure out how to access 240v power. It can be as simple as creating a 10 ga extension cord that feeds off two circuit breakers on opposite sides of the panel, or as expensive as heck. I do my own wiring (shock therapy), so it doesn't cost me much to rig 240v. I have four 240v outlets for EV/RV charging at home.

If you are worried about doing your own electrical work, some California utilities (SCE is one) are paying the costs of a professional L2 installation. But it must be a licensed contractor and have a permit pulled.