The surprising data behind Level 1 charging
Electric vehicle's only have to recharge what they have used during the day, not the entire battery.
It's the gas mentality to empty the tank and then get to a gas station to fill it up, electric vehicles go from charger to charger always topping up, so it's never 0% to 100%, it's more like 70% to 100% (or 60% to 80% if you care about the health of your batteries like we do).
Study shows for electric vehicles more than 80% of charging happens at home or at work where they spend majority of their day parked.
Let's calculate how much power your vehicle needs to be fully charged every day.
Data Point #1: Let's assume you drive 18,000 miles per year (1,500 miles/month = ~50 miles/day) which puts you in the high end of the spectrum compared to the national average which is 14,263 per year (~40 miles per day).
Data Point #2: A Tesla Model 3 uses between 3.33 and 4.17 miles per kWh, let's take the highest number, 4.17 miles/kWh, for our calculations.
Data Point #3:
Based on #1 and #2 your vehicle would require 359.71 kWh of power per month to recharge the amount of battery that was used to drive 1,500 miles per month.
Data Point #4: Let's assume you charge your electric vehicle only for 25 days in a month for 10 hours per day/night. This can either happen at home overnight or at work daily ( read ). That's 250 hours of charging time per month.
Based on #3 and #4, the sufficient power that your electric vehicle charger must be able to deliver is 1.43 kW.
359.71 kWh / 250 h = 1.43884 kW
Here the surprising fact, a regular 120V 20A outlet that you can find in your kitchen can deliver 1.92 kW of power.
120V * 16A (continuous load) = 1.920 kVA = 1.920 kW
This means a regular outlet can supply enough power to your electric vehicle to allow you to conveniently drive for 1,500 miles per month without having any range anxiety.
PCE in California did a study that shows Level 1 charging (120V) satisfies the daily needs of 94% of drivers.
PDF document 647KB
Electric vehicle charging is an amenity in your property just like the gym. Assuming your property's gym has enough equipment to satisfy the needs of 94% of residents (extremely rare case) if the remaining 6% request more equipment at gym, they will usually be directed to a "public gym". Same goes with electric vehicle charging, an Uber driver can always use a public charger to satisfy their charging needs rather than increasing the cost of EV charging for everyone at the property.
What If I want to go on a trip one day? Would a Level 1 charger be enough if I have an adventurous lifestyle?
You can go as far as your battery allows.
The size of your battery determines your range , not your charger's speed
Let's compare the range of your electric vehicle based on the speed/type of electric vehicle charger it's plugged in.
Blue is Level 1 (120V 16A) charging
Orange is Level 2 (240V 32A) charging
Chart assumptions:
150
Average weekend travel in miles
50
Average distance travel daily in miles
250
Vehicle's battery range in miles
10
Average hours parked/charging nightly
15
Average hours parked daily over weekend
As you can see from the chart, up to Saturday, the vehicle is fully charged (maximum range) every day. The only difference between the two charging speeds happens on Sunday when the vehicle can travel 250 miles on a Level 2 fast charger v.s. 200 miles on a Level 1 slower charger. The next day (Monday) both chargers get the vehicle back to 100% range.
You can play around with the assumptions in this excel calculator:
Charging speed comparison calculator.xlsx
34KB, Uploaded Mar 16, 2023 at 12:33 AM
The chart assumes the electric vehicle was not supercharged anywhere along the trip. On the contrary, it is an electric vehicle ownership habit to supercharge as they stop to have some food along the trip.