A 120v outlet will do more than the average Canadian commutes daily.
It could still be an issue with winter charging for places that don’t have a garage when it hits -10c or so.
For colder places with no garage, I think a nema 5-20 outlet would be enough to overcome that, and most houses will have the wiring for that already in place. You might just need to upgrade the breaker in the box which would be cheap. You’d need an electrician to be sure, but if the house already has the wiring and box supports a 20amp vs 15amp breaker it it’d be under $100 vs getting a 50amp service set up for L2 charging.
We really don’t need L2 chargers at every home to make this work.
On an average day, I probably drive less than 20km. However, I’m frequently making trips about 300km out of the city with family. When I’m staying out that way I don’t have a garage to park in. There is zero public transit and I don’t think I’ve seen a single EV out that way.
I think it’s worth another reply to mention, while I think you’d be fine on 120v and most people could probably cheaply upgrade to a nema 5-20 outlet and 20amp breaker switch if they needed a bit more daily charge, neither of those are as efficient as charging at 240v.
I charge my car on 120v and it’s about 80% efficient and drops off as it getd really cold. I think 240v is 90-95% efficient.
If we have millions of people charging their cars on 120v as that’s all they need and it’s the cheapest option for them, that’s a lot of wasted electricity.
So really long term we probably do want people to make the upgrades to their boxes and wire in a new outlet as it’ll help us reduce our power consumption. Hopefully they’ll be a lot of incentives available for people to make the upgrade.
It would be like the big push from incandescent to fluorescent or led house lighting. Semi low hanging fruit to reduce power consumption by upgrading to something more efficient.
How many km do you drive a day?
A 120v outlet will do more than the average Canadian commutes daily.
It could still be an issue with winter charging for places that don’t have a garage when it hits -10c or so.
For colder places with no garage, I think a nema 5-20 outlet would be enough to overcome that, and most houses will have the wiring for that already in place. You might just need to upgrade the breaker in the box which would be cheap. You’d need an electrician to be sure, but if the house already has the wiring and box supports a 20amp vs 15amp breaker it it’d be under $100 vs getting a 50amp service set up for L2 charging.
We really don’t need L2 chargers at every home to make this work.
On an average day, I probably drive less than 20km. However, I’m frequently making trips about 300km out of the city with family. When I’m staying out that way I don’t have a garage to park in. There is zero public transit and I don’t think I’ve seen a single EV out that way.
That’s what fast chargers are for though.
That has nothing to do with if your home needs a L2 charger and the expensive upgrade to do it.
That’s a different problem. (Edit we need more fast chargers for trips)
I think it’s worth another reply to mention, while I think you’d be fine on 120v and most people could probably cheaply upgrade to a nema 5-20 outlet and 20amp breaker switch if they needed a bit more daily charge, neither of those are as efficient as charging at 240v.
I charge my car on 120v and it’s about 80% efficient and drops off as it getd really cold. I think 240v is 90-95% efficient.
If we have millions of people charging their cars on 120v as that’s all they need and it’s the cheapest option for them, that’s a lot of wasted electricity.
So really long term we probably do want people to make the upgrades to their boxes and wire in a new outlet as it’ll help us reduce our power consumption. Hopefully they’ll be a lot of incentives available for people to make the upgrade.
It would be like the big push from incandescent to fluorescent or led house lighting. Semi low hanging fruit to reduce power consumption by upgrading to something more efficient.