Green Energy Alternative Transport: Electric Cars

When buying an electric vehicle, you're likely to have many, many questions. That's understandable and that's because it has just recently become famous because of President Biden's plans. In this blog entry, we will try to separate facts against fiction and answer some of your burning questions, which you might not want to go out and simply ask.

Let's take a famous Electric vehicle as an example: The Chevrolet Bolt 2022.

The Bolt is a subcompact, vehicle produced by General Motors (GM) under the Chevrolet name. It was developed and manufactured together with LG Corporation.

The vehicle boasts a 250-mile average range on a full charge. (This is the distance that it can reach in a 100% battery charge). It comprises a Lithium-ion battery with 288 cells and a 65 kWh power rating that supports the range. It is a 200-horsepower vehicle that is nearly comparable to the older generation, gas-powered cars. Its interior dimensions are close to a standard sedan, which means it could comfortably seat four people.

Now, of course, there is a different way of "topping up" on an electric vehicle. Here is the million-dollar question:

What are the different options for charging the Chevrolet Bold and how long does it take to reach a full charge?

There are three types of charging:

The first and the fastest one is DC charging. This is directly plugging your car from the outlet with a DC (Direct Current Converter). it's a 150 km charge in 30 minutes and so you can grab a quick cup of coffee or a full meal while your vehicle is charging. I know some people spend a full hour just eating and taking a break from work. The standard charging speed is 1% per minute and so using this method, you go as high as 60% in one hour. A full charge from zero to 100% in its standard charging cycle will most likely be by 1 hour and a half. The biggest disadvantage of doing a DC charge is that it's not something you can easily set up from your home. You will need to have an industrial license and you would need special types of connections to set it up for your home. This would most likely be available as a charging station along your interstate roads.

The second option is to get a wall box, which is available for home use. Charging your vehicle using this contraption is slower as it charges a car from zero to 100% in 9.5 hours. This is an overnight charge. Again, since we are not in the business of draining the battery to reach zero, it is more of a top-up. This means the charging time is lesser since you need lesser percentage charges as you go about partially draining your battery throughout the day. Since this is the most home accessible, it is recommended that you always top up to 100% if you are a heavy user of electric vehicles and you go down to less than 50% levels. Unfortunately, installing a wall box is not something somebody can do on the fly, but at the very least, it doesn't need an engineer or expert technician to sign off.

The third and slowest mode of charging your EV (electric vehicle) is by using direct emergency socket charging. This is a direct plugin to your home's outlets which would have been rather convenient if not for the limitation of charging time. Charging from zero to 100% using this method would take 30 hours!

So you see, the very simple action of topping up your electric vehicle requires careful preparation and planning. Purchasing an electric vehicle means installing these charging receptacles in your home. Purchasing and using an electric vehicle means charging apparatuses should be available on your pathways to work and leisure travel.

The Biden administration may provide savings and advantages to owning an electric-powered vehicle as opposed to a gas-powered one. But you, as a consumer, should be able to weigh the benefits of acquiring future state technology against the expectations or demands of your daily life. My sincere suggestion is that you give it a second (third thought), to know if shifting to the newer, greener technology is better for you.

Good luck and happy hunting!