When we talk to people about our trip across Canada there are lots of questions about doing it in an Electric Vehicle (EV) I will try to answer some of them for you.
Driving in an EV across Canada reminds me of the planning that goes into a boat trip up the coast. How much fuel do we have, what is the rate of consumption, can we get to our destination, or is there a fuel dock on the way?
Part of our trip is finding and using Charging Stations and there is an app for that, actually a bunch of them, some used for route planning, and some for accessing a charging network. In BC we mostly use the BC Hydro charging stations, in Alberta we mostly used the Flo charging stations and in Saskatchewan we are mostly using the Co-op Connect charging stations.
Long Story: There are 3 types of charging stations:
Level 1 (120-volt AC) delivering 1.3 to 2,4 kW or about 6 – 8 km an hour,
Level 2 (240-volt AC) 7.4 kW or about 30 km an hour,
Level 3 DC 50 kW to 150 kW at 50 kW about 278 km an hour.
The problem with the above information is that the distance you can go will also depend on the weather, your driving habits, the speed you are travelling, how much you use the air conditioning or heater, if you are going uphill. Also, the rate of power an EV gets when charging depends on how full the battery is. If you start with a near empty battery it will charge near the maximum rate that the car will accept, as it fills up the charge rate slows down to a trickle when the battery is almost full. Our Kona starts lowering the rate of charge at approximately 73%.
Short Story: Where’s the next charging station?
Janet and I talk about where we would like to go and plan a route based on where the charging stations are, what type of station Level 1,2, or 3 and the distance between them using either PlugShare or ABRP route planning apps. Then we’re on our way!
No comments:
Post a Comment