A study of 4,160 Electric Vehicle [EV] owners in California, showed that about 20% plan to switch back to a petrol engine car, and not buy another EV in the future.
California is one of the most EV-friendly regions on the planet.
One in five electric car owners intend to return to petrol engine vehicles.
The reasons for this included the distance they can travel without charging, time to charge and the inability to find charging stations.
But the most common reasons appears to relate to the inability to charge their EV suitably at home.
There are two main reasons given for this:
- Not having a garage, and therefore parking on the street means being unable to plug the car in to charge it.
- Not having Level 2 [240-volt] charging ability at home.
I wasn’t sure what they meant by Level 2 [240-volt], but I did see this:
This led me to look into the different Electric Vehicle [EV] charging options.
Level 1 – 240v trickle charge.
This is the slowest method of charging, giving about 2.0kW of charging power through a normal 240 volt 10-amp socket.
Level 1 Battery charging time:
- A 2.0kW Level 1 charger will give you about 12km of driving, for one hour of charging time.
Level 2 – 240 volt fast charging.
A Level 2 charger, when plugged into the normal 240-volt AC 10-amp socket, gives about 7.2kW of charging power.
Level 2 Battery charging time:
- A 7.2kW Level 2 charger will give you about 43km of driving, for one hour of charging time.
Level 2 with 415-volt Fast Charging.
A Level 2 charger, when plugged into a non-standard 415-volt three phase socket, gives about 22kW of charging power.
Level 2 415v three-phase Battery charging time:
- A 22kW Level 2 charger will give you about 130km of driving, for one hour of charging time. (This might not be suitable for some cars)
We often hear that in the USA many houses only have 110/120 volt electricity…
If correct, that means none of the above figures would be reached, with much slower charging.
I once plugged a 240v kettle into a 120v socket. After 30 minutes the water was just warm enough for coffee, but not Tea. !!!
That could explain the need for some to revert back to a petrol engine, in the United States.
However, the study did find that about 80% of current EV owners will buy another EV when next upgrading. Presumably they have garages and 240 volt power.