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Transportation
Price and Carbon
The age of the fossil-fuelled vehicle is coming to an end. As with VHS vs. Betamax for videotapes, rightly or wrongly, the lithium-ion powered electric car looks to be the forward path.
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What does it mean for you, your money and your carbon footprint? That depends on how much your electricity costs you and how it is generated.
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The environmental benefits of driving an EV are complex. Clearly, reducing local pollution (particulates, nitrous oxides, noise) from internal combustion are significant, although already governed by stringent laws.
The broader carbon benefits will only be accrued if the electricity you consume is generated from clean sources. Driving an EV with power generated from coal burning won't save any carbon at all. Secondarily, the timing of various power generation matters. Charge at peak times when those peaking coal/gas plants are used makes the power dirty from a carbon (and other emissions ) perspective, as compared to - for example - off peak nuclear or wind/storage operating as base load.
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As for price, it depends on your region. I am connected to the Toronto Hydro grid who offer significantly varying rates depending on the time of day, season and year-to-year. Ultra Low for is less than 15% the price of peak for Hydro One.
Hyundai's Ioniq 5
From gas to gas-hybrid to plug-in-hybrid to electric. That's been a 4-step, 17 year transition. Each step brings a new understanding and also some adaptation. What's the opposite of cutting the cord? Relying in one. Enter the Ioniq 5.
Read below for experiences related to lower speed chargers, but now we're into DC/Level 3/high speed charging. You can't be sitting around for 6 hours for a L2 station to fill you up.
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Range? Thus far the summer range quoted is working out over longer distances. Driving shorter (slower) trips around town is extending the range by 50km (12%) or so. As with gas, the rules of physics dictate that the faster to go the quicker the energy drains away. If is an issue, leave 10 minutes earlier and go 10 kph slower. For winter heating, this vehicle has a heat pump (yes, the same thing) that upgrades waste heat/ambient heat and delivers to the car.
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Batteries need to be kept within a certain temperature range and so either too hot or too cold will require intervention that reduces range. It's not been through a Canadian winter yet, but a drop of 15-25% should be expected based on other information sources. The same is true of a gas vehicle....the air is denser, tires have more rolling resistance.
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But what's the human experience? Guilt free driving (unless you're contributing to traffic jams - take the bus). Crazily-fast acceleration. Regenerative braking. Quiet. Bye bye gas station madness. 20% of the operating costs. Higher purchase price = higher insurance costs. Low maintenance (no 'come back in 500km/5,000km/10,000km'). We will see how this one plays out. But make no mistake, once factories are completely retooled for EVs, there's no going back.
Much can be written - and is being learned - about high speed L3 charging stations. Here's a few I've picked up so far:
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A 50kW station doesn't just give 50kW. If a bank of 4 is empty then at Ivy you can find yourself well over double this charging rate at an ONRoute. Nice.
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The reverse however is true - 39kW was seen when all were full despite the Ioniq5 being capable of 350kW changing (which apparently doesn't exist despite claims of station owners). This is about limited capacity from the grid connection to the charger. This makes trip planning tricky.
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Keep an eye on the charging. You can find yourself disconnected soon after plugging in. (heat?)
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Apps.....too many Apps. A single point of connection for all stations is desperately needed to improve the customer experience, as is reliability.
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Apps while driving. This is not intuitive despite Car Play etc. It's a Work In Progess.
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Then there's battery conditioning. Come winter, the ability to pre-heat the battery will increase charging speeds when you do arrive (nothing likes working from cold). This is the next experience to come. How to engage this and select a charging station to aim for on the fly?
Driving and Owning an Electric Vehicle: Evolution
Why so? Because the electric motor will run with an efficiency in the 90's %, while the charge/discharge cycle of the battery is in the 80's %. Compare that to a vehicle struggling to give 40% conversion efficiency of fuel to movement.
The experience is also 'cool'. Acceleration decoupled from noise or gear shifts is the main experience. Silence at low speed (turning into a parking spot or crawling down a road) is also a little uncanny. Your driving experience also changes - this is different in ways that are hard to describe. Regenerative braking makes a big change too.
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My first experience was with a Hyundai Ioniq PHEV. That means plug in hybrid. That means it's a regular car that runs on gas (ok a very efficient one with a hybrid powertrain), but that has an all-electric option. You can plug it in and drive around 50 km without using gas, providing you don't floor the gas pedal all the way. That was chosen as it takes regular trips to a place where you could not recharge a fully electric vehicle and get home again.MAybe in the future.
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Experience? The 50km is pretty reliable. With a Level 2 charger (see below) this will recharge in about 2 1/2 hours. Cost to operate? With Toronto Hydro off-peak rates, about 25% of the cost per km as compared to gasoline in the region of C$1.10 per litre. Or a 75% saving.
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Given typical household trips are well below 50 km, you can go months without running out of gas and the dash will show 2.1 litres per 100 km as average consumption.......that's good.
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Charging
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This has been and is confusing. Let's try and fix that.
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Charging Rate
The terms Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 all relate to the rate at which electricity is added to your battery. This is dependent on the voltage that you're hooked up to (Volts) and the current that is carried at that voltage (Amps).
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Level 1
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First of all, my own vehicle (the Ioniq) came with a Level 1 charger in a case. It has a 3-pin plug and goes into a regular (that is, 120V) socket or plug at home. You can (but shouldn't) run it from an extension cord running through your kitchen window. However that low voltage translates to a slow charging time - in my case 9 hours to fill the 9 kWh battery and drive 50 km. A trickle charge. Want to get home and leave later and not have gas-burn-guilt? You require....
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Level 2
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Your home is equipped (in North America) with 240V power - this ranges from 220 to 240V around the world. Your electric stove or dryer run at this level. The plug is different from your kettle or toaster. Greater voltage means greater current carrying capacity for a given size of wire. So what? A Level 2 charger will take that 9 hour charge time down to about 2.5 hours. And at this point you are looking at smarter technology - apps, web sites, remote operation.
Mine is a ChargePoint Home. Most draw electric current at between 20 and 40 Amps; a home electric panel will likely be either 100A or 200A. If you only have a 100A service (the number of amps that your electric panel can handle) and already have an electric stove and dryer, chances are you'll need to upgrade your panel. You will need an electrician to install the charger in any case and have it inspected, so let them figure that out. Newer homes may well ave 200A and you will likely be fine with that. I run an air source heat pump and EV charger on 100A. ​Never tripped yet.
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Level 3
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Superchargers, fast charging, DC charging ... .these are what will ultimately charge your 100% battery powered vehicle in the future when you're on the road. 480V or 600V ensures massive charging capacity (DC charging saves conversion of the power within the vehicle's own system) and cuts charging down by hours. Think: highway break, 15-30 minutes, 80% recharge 3-400 more km. You won't do this at home as your home doesn't have this level of electrical supply (technically known as 3-phase) and it is only available right from the grid or from a major building. That and the fact that they are priced in the 10's of thousands....
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Useful Links
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Here are some of the major manufacturers and associated resources. Try Plug'n Drive for general resources in Canada.
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1. EV Charging Networks
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You'll need to plug it in!
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2. EV Manufacturers
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There are too many and in all likelihood you know them by name. However here are a few of the more popular ones with a sedan focus.
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