Driving an EV pickup

[sly_karma]

-5°C and a good hard frost here this morning. I hit the max defrost button as soon as I started the truck. Took 2 minutes for it to clear the windshield, albeit with the help of a couple of squirts of windshield juice toward the end. But for the record, EV defroster/heater produces heat way faster than waiting for a V8 to warm up.

I think with judicious use of remote start and/or programmed departure times, I may not have to scrape windshield on frosty days. Snow removal seems like a manual task still though. We'll see, watch this space.

 

[onefish]

What does your owners manual say about charging in sub zero temps?

 

[sly_karma]

Nothing really. Notes that some range loss will occur when it's cold (or hot). I'm about to move the charging target down to 80% and plug in every night, as recommended. This power for warmup and preconditioning come from the grid, not the battery. And a preconditioned battery gives better range.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Parkland strikes electric vehicle station funding deal with Infrastructure Bank

TORONTO — More electric vehicle charging stations are on the way as the Canada Infrastructure Bank says it has signed a second funding deal to expand fast-charging options. The federal Crown corporation says it will provide up to $210 million in loans to help Parkland Corp. expand its charging...

toronto.citynews.ca

 

[turbomack]

I haven't heard any talk about construction of any new reactors yet but with all the "free" heat pumps the grid will be keeping pretty warm. I see uranium prices are starting to climb and Nuclear will be the obvious choice to keep us on this path of electric dependence. There are at least 6 mineable size deposits in the Athabasca Basin poised to supply the fuel.

 

[sly_karma]

Parkland strikes electric vehicle station funding deal with Infrastructure Bank

TORONTO — More electric vehicle charging stations are on the way as the Canada Infrastructure Bank says it has signed a second funding deal to expand fast-charging options. The federal Crown corporation says it will provide up to $210 million in loans to help Parkland Corp. expand its charging...

toronto.citynews.ca

Parkland has dipped its toe in EV charging with free (for now) installations at 25 BC locations. Apparently they like what they see and are going bigger.

 

[sly_karma]

Today I had to go to City Hall for a building permit. The council has two Level 2 chargers there which are free for the first hour; ie, free parking downtown where everything else is metered. But to my horror, other EVs were already using them so I had to park elsewhere (I had plenty of charge).

This is the first time I've shown up at a public charger to find all plugs in use. Four months of ownership.

 

[wildmanyeah]

On the radio they said there can be waits for chargers in the morning in the lowermainland.

As people forget to plug them in or don’t have acess to chargers at home

 

[Aquaholic]

On the radio they said there can be waits for chargers in the morning in the lowermainland.

As people forget to plug them in or don’t have acess to chargers at home

The folks that I know who use them say it is because they only have the 110 volt at home.

 

[sly_karma]

On the radio they said there can be waits for chargers in the morning in the lowermainland.

As people forget to plug them in or don’t have acess to chargers at home

You'd be brave to buy an EV without access to home charging, that is the cheapest fuel going. Or is it? Some of the luxury brands like Audi and Benz throw in a couple years of "free" charging with their 150K cars, so some of these guys won't bother plugging in at home because hydro costs something.

Anyway we've probably all waited for gas pumps on busy summer weekends, this isn't solely an EV thing. Today I didn't need to charge anyway so not really an issue. Had to pay a buck to park.

 

[terrin]

You'd be brave to buy an EV without access to home charging, that is the cheapest fuel going. Or is it? Some of the luxury brands like Audi and Benz throw in a couple years of "free" charging with their 150K cars, so some of these guys won't bother plugging in at home because hydro costs something.

Anyway we've probably all waited for gas pumps on busy summer weekends, this isn't solely an EV thing. Today I didn't need to charge anyway so not really an issue. Had to pay a buck to park.

A Buck to Park? That won’t even move the needle in Vancouver. Lol

 

[sly_karma]

Yebbut I got used to FREE

 

[2xeagle16]

Did you use the defroster/heater while you were driving? (off the charger) how much did it affect you're range?

-5°C and a good hard frost here this morning. I hit the max defrost button as soon as I started the truck. Took 2 minutes for it to clear the windshield, albeit with the help of a couple of squirts of windshield juice toward the end. But for the record, EV defroster/heater produces heat way faster than waiting for a V8 to warm up.

I think with judicious use of remote start and/or programmed departure times, I may not have to scrape windshield on frosty days. Snow removal seems like a manual task still though. We'll see, watch this space.

 

[sly_karma]

Did you use the defroster/heater while you were driving? (off the charger) how much did it affect you're range?

Haven't taken a longer trip since the colder weather arrived, but drives of up to 80 km show 6-7% of energy attributed to "Climate Use", and between 5 and 10% to outside temperature; these will both vary as air temps fluctuate. Regionally, the distances driven aren't long enough for the truck to show actual range vs theoretical. A rough rule of thumb I've read is to expect 1% range loss for every degree C below 20. Seems reasonable so far; will track as best I can.

On a longer trip where range could be of concern, one option is to use the heated seats and steering wheel to keep the driver warm rather than the climate control. Less energy is needed to heat the body directly rather than heat all the air in the cabin. Another good move is to set a departure time on the Ford app so the battery and motors are preheated while still plugged in. For day to day driving I can plug in every night, so I just the heat however I feel.

 

[Thunder21]

BC Hydro is close to offering a 320 amp single phase service. It’s going to be a good option for those that want an EV charger at home but currently don’t have panel space. It’ll be a good way to add a larger service without the large expense of going with a 400 amp service.

 

[Rain City]

BC Hydro is close to offering a 320 amp single phase service. It’s going to be a good option for those that want an EV charger at home but currently don’t have panel space. It’ll be a good way to add a larger service without the large expense of going with a 400 amp service.

That would solve so many issues with service builds.

 

[sly_karma]

Jeez I'm making it work with a 100A service. 240V 40A is plenty for the EV. Planning to replace old AC next year with a heat pump on the same 30A breaker, keep gas furnace as a backup. Give it another couple years and heat pump HWT will be down in my price range, put it on a load sharing switch with the dryer.

It's possible to put a 2500 sq ft 80s home onto all electric and just have gas for cooking, BBQ and emergency heat. On a 100A panel.

 

[kaelc]

Jeez I'm making it work with a 100A service. 240V 40A is plenty for the EV. Planning to replace old AC next year with a heat pump on the same 30A breaker, keep gas furnace as a backup. Give it another couple years and heat pump HWT will be down in my price range, put it on a load sharing switch with the dryer.

It's possible to put a 2500 sq ft 80s home onto all electric and just have gas for cooking, BBQ and emergency heat. On a 100A panel.

No hot tub though . Out-laws are on the bottom floor and we heat primarily with gas.

I think we'd have to add another service or upgrade our service for an EV charger, and or a heat pump (multiple I'd guess since we don't have central).

With tiered pricing would a second service be cheaper in the long run?

I'm assuming upgrading a service would cost similar to adding a second? @Thunder21

 

[sly_karma]

No hot tub though . Out-laws are on the bottom floor and we heat primarily with gas.

I think we'd have to add another service or upgrade our service for an EV charger, and or a heat pump (multiple I'd guess since we don't have central).

With tiered pricing would a second service be cheaper in the long run?

I'm assuming upgrading a service would cost similar to adding a second? @Thunder21

We had a hot tub for years but eventually got tired of the maintenance and repairs. Obvs lots of people love theirs and this would be a deal breaker. For periodic use items like a tub, there are load sharing devices that control both circuits, only one at a time can have power. A popular combo is clothes dryer and EV charger.

Tiered pricing as Hydro is proposing is aimed squarely at incentivizing EV owners to charge late night/early morning. 5 cent/kWh lower than normal rate is near half price. No need for second service.

Reading my post I see I should have toned it down a bit instead of being all "look at how clever I am with my 100 A service." I've looked over a lot of homes in my renovation business and electrical service is always examined. Rarely are they cheap to upgrade. The easiest are mostly overhead wire services. Underground ones almost always have too small a conduit to accept larger conductors, so things get expensive quickly. That is deal breaker for upgrading my place as it would involve cutting through (and repairing/replacing) a double driveway, two retaining walls and a sidewalk.

So we make renovation work without service upgrade if possible. Put the EV charger on a load share device if that works. 30 or 40 amps is still a lot of power and will charge most EVs overnight easily.

 

[Thunder21]

No hot tub though . Out-laws are on the bottom floor and we heat primarily with gas.

I think we'd have to add another service or upgrade our service for an EV charger, and or a heat pump (multiple I'd guess since we don't have central).

With tiered pricing would a second service be cheaper in the long run?

I'm assuming upgrading a service would cost similar to adding a second? @Thunder21

It depends but assuming it’s just a typical overhead service, the cost paid to Hydro is probably similar for a new vs upgrading the existing as long as the transformer is large enough to accommodate. If not, you may be on the hook for some of the cost to upgrade it as well. I think the larger cost will be the new meter base and the electrical work inside the house.

If you are talking about basically making your house a duplex with a meter for upstairs and one for downstairs, there are duplex meter bases available. You’d probably just go with two parallel 200 amp services. I’m not a residential electrician but splitting the house into two different panels like that sounds like it would be a pretty big job.