Driving electric is addictive...

[mikesus]

So, the electrician is here to install our 3rd level 2 EVSE.

 

[TimLee]

Do you have three electric vehicles :?:

 

[Slow1]

Wow - I think I'd have to get my service upgraded at the house to handle 3 L2's.... I guess that depends on how many amps each is rated for....

I agree it is addictive to drive, not sure I'm addicted to the cost to acquire

 

[mikesus]

Do you have three electric vehicles :?:

Leaf

Cmax Energi

Volt


So, YES!



I also have 12kw of solar on the roof

 

[mikesus]

Wow - I think I'd have to get my service upgraded at the house to handle 3 L2's.... I guess that depends on how many amps each is rated for....

I agree it is addictive to drive, not sure I'm addicted to the cost to acquire

Because we already switched all lights to cfl or led, our house load is not more than 700w or so. The biggest draws are the ac units, the pool heat pump (when we use it), the microwave and then the chargers.

 

[mbender]

Wow - I think I'd have to get my service upgraded at the house to handle 3 L2's.... I guess that depends on how many amps each is rated for....

I agree it is addictive to drive, not sure I'm addicted to the cost to acquire

Because we already switched all lights to cfl or led, our house load is not more than 700w or so. The biggest draws are the ac units, the pool heat pump (when we use it), the microwave and then the chargers.

All gas for laundry, water and interior heat?? That would be impressive! (Phoenix residents do use some heat in the winter, no?)

As for EV-driving being addictive, I'm tempted to put 50,000 miles on my 2015 during the first two years... partly because of the (free) EZ-charging program but also because it is such a nice ride. Problem is it would commit me to buying it, and no doubt there'll be an EVen better ride in 2017!!

 

[mikesus]

Wow - I think I'd have to get my service upgraded at the house to handle 3 L2's.... I guess that depends on how many amps each is rated for....

I agree it is addictive to drive, not sure I'm addicted to the cost to acquire

Because we already switched all lights to cfl or led, our house load is not more than 700w or so. The biggest draws are the ac units, the pool heat pump (when we use it), the microwave and then the chargers.

All gas for laundry, water and interior heat?? That would be impressive! (Phoenix residents do use some heat in the winter, no?)

As for EV-driving being addictive, I'm tempted to put 50,000 miles on my 2015 during the first two years... partly because of the (free) EZ-charging program but also because it is such a nice ride. Problem is it would commit me to buying it, and no doubt there'll be an EVen better ride in 2017!!

Heat is gas, water tank is gas. We do use oil filled heaters to take the chill off.

The leaf doesn't even have permanent plates on it and has almost 1500 miles on it.

 

[mbender]

Do you have three electric vehicles :?:

LEAF
Cmax Energi
Volt

I'd think that with the Volt and the Energi you could manage with just two level 2s, but perhaps it would cause logistical complications and it is worth it to avoid them.

 

[kubel]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but with your personal experience owning the Volt and the LEAF, how do you think the C-Max Energi stacks up against the other two more electrically dominant cars?

 

[mikesus]

Do you have three electric vehicles :?:

LEAF
Cmax Energi
Volt

I'd think that with the Volt and the Energi you could manage with just two level 2s, but perhaps it would cause logistical complications and it is worth it to avoid them.

Bingo...

EVSE Upgrade its more often than not going to be used on the Volt and the Cmax. (they don't need the higher charging from the Chargepoint or the GE)

The Chargepoint was mounted outside and is to help the EV community if someone needs a place to charge. (there is a ford dealer, a nissan dealer that are both nearby (ford actually has 8 chargers!) So not sure how often that will be used, but the price for it was right, and giving us the ability to charge all 3 if need be will be convenient.

Didn't hurt the charge point was around the price of an EVSE Upgrade so....

 

[mikesus]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but with your personal experience owning the Volt and the LEAF, how do you think the C-Max Energi stacks up against the other two more electrically dominant cars?

Ok brief history

Lots of hybrids (I know they don't count, but I have a letter from VA DMV that started the "whole HOV thing" addressed to me and other honda insight owners. But that is a story for another time...)

For a few years I owned a Solectria. It was very cool to drive electric but it didn't come easy on that vehicle. 40 miles was REALLY pushing it, and with lead acid, you didn't really want to do that...

The Leaf when you don't drive it like you stole it obviously has more range, but can get very spirited if you take eco off.

Volt - In general, driving is very enjoyable. Keep it under 40 miles and you are on battery. In the summer make that 35 miles. Put it in sport mode and you have a very fun car, but not a lot of range

C-Max - We used to have a Fusion Hybrid so its very familiar. It is quite zippy off the line, but the hydraulic brakes are a bit grabby, will have to see if that smooths out (we JUST got it, so the jury is still out) With up to 26 or so miles range EV, its great for running the kids around and can stay on electric, but if we need more, its quite capable of doing well over 500 miles on a tank. I wouldn't consider the other cars more "electrically dominant" They just go a bit further between charges.
(remember that Solectria? I put 10k miles on it, 30 miles at a time, all electric...) Will it do what we need it to do? Yup. Will we end up using some gas in it? No doubt, but it won't be that much...