Leading EV Blogger Says Level 1 Home Charging is Sufficient – I Disagree
By Edward A. Sanchez – May 24, 2021
There are nearly as many different opinions about EVs as there are people, even among their advocates. Among very well-informed electric vehicle advocates and “experts” there are many different perspectives and prescriptions for how to accelerate the adoption of EVs on a large scale. One of the hottest issues of the moment in the EV community is the subject of charging.
Even among those who say EV chargers don’t necessarily have to be as ubiquitous as gasoline pumps to encourage adoption and ease public concerns about charging availability, there is a general consensus that the current state of the publicly accessible charging network is insufficient.
When it comes to home charging, people seem to be split into two camps: Those who say “Level 1” home charging is sufficient for most owners’ use cases, despite its limitations, and those who say a 240V “Level 2” home charger should be considered practically mandatory (myself included).
Zachary Shahan, a well-known and followed blogger in the EV community on the site CleanTechnica, recently wrote a post entitled, “Can You Charge an Electric Car with a Regular Outlet? Hell Yes!” In the post, Shahan attempts to make the case that a standard North American 110/120V household outlet is perfectly sufficient to statistically meet most driver’s needs.
First of all, some of the examples Shahan uses are not exactly “apples-to-apples.” In the post, he says,
“Volvo Cars might have helped quite a bit to dispel this myth. It has run a few electric vehicle ads either far more than any other electric vehicle ads or its ads have just been highly tailored to me and/or the platform I mostly use for watching or listening to stuff (YouTube). I think I’ve seen these Volvo ads more than all other electric vehicle ads combined, and the ads have basically just been Volvo electric vehicles plugging into the wall with a cord that looks like the cord of an Apple MacBook Pro.”
The reason this is not an accurate analogy is that Europe (including Sweden) uses a 230V/250V electrical system, making household outlets essentially “Level 2,” although the amperage is still only in the 16A range for standard household outlets. So just plugging into a standard “wall plug” in Sweden would give you more than twice the charging rate of a U.S. household plug. It appears most of Volvo’s marketing and creative content is still produced in Europe. Shahan says he believes this presentation and positioning is deliberate on Volvo’s part to “Show how easy EV charging is,” and “That you can charge with a normal plug in a normal outlet.” Maybe in Europe, but in the U.S. and Canada? Not so much.
In the somewhat tortured (in my opinion) argument he makes to justify Level 1 home charging, Shahan himself admits he no longer charges above 71% for most day-to-day driving in his Tesla Model 3 SR+. He makes the case that the statistical daily mileage of the average U.S. driver of 40 miles per day is easily covered with Level 1 charging, which in his experience nets him a charging rate of 4 miles per hour. He concludes the post by saying, “However, I think that assuming there isn’t a gigantic chunk of the market that can easily live with 110V charging on a regular outlet is a bad assumption.”
Sorry, Zachary. I have to disagree with you there. Can some EV owners make Level 1 charging work? Yes. I will give you that. Is it ideal, and does it give confidence and peace of mind to have an ample state-of-charge in a reasonable amount of time? No. I don’t think anyone can make that rational argument.
Charging an EV using a Level 1 charger can lead to charge-time shock.
I consider myself a fairly level-headed, reasonable, rational individual, but indulge me for a moment as I put on my stars-and-stripes bandana and let my inner “’Murican” show. The U.S. has rarely been a nation characterized by willing, collectivist sacrifice. Yes, World War II proved how the country could rally around a common cause and make sacrifices for a once-in-a-generation anomaly in the name of preserving freedom and ensuring a longer-term stability and global world order. However, in the decades since, most politicians or other leaders that have tried to pitch “hair shirt” austerity have not lasted long. Jimmy Carter was a one-term president for a reason. I don’t want to get overly partisan here, but his call for Americans to happily turn down their thermostats and wear their sweaters in the midst of the energy crisis and economic downturn of the late 1970s did not exactly inspire national confidence and pride.
“Topping up” an EV on a Level 1 charger can sometimes be frustrating if you’ve got somewhere to go.
Americans like to have their cake and eat it too, demand the ultimate in convenience, and look for products that improve flexibility, freedom, autonomy, and self-determination in their lives. Trying to convince people that leaving their cars plugged in for two days straight is not an inconvenience compared to five minutes at a gas pump is not a winning argument.
(I’m not exaggerating. Using Shahan’s math, it would take nearly 50 hours to get 200 miles of charge on a Model 3 SR+)
As I have stated here on The Watt Car several times, EVs, and the EV ownership experience needs to be seen by the majority of drivers as an improvement in convenience, economy, and driving experience before you will see mass adoption. If it’s seen as a solemn, sacrificial, confining, limiting experience, EVs will remain a niche segment. While I appreciate many of the posts CleanTechnica and Shahan write, this is one where I have to take exception.
(Images by Phil Royle)
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