Intended as a fun thread.
I simply don't spend any time "waiting" while my car charges, as I'm always doing something else. The last time I recall cooling my heels while public charging was my 200-mile (one way) trip on Christmas Day a year ago - and even then it was a few 20-minute DCQC stints during which I caught up on emails or had a snack, and one three-hour L2 session in the Sierra foothills during which I went out to dinner and caught up on a whole bunch of deferred administrative stuff on my computer.
So, this got me wondering how much time I spend 'fueling' my i-MiEV compared to having to put fuel into an ICE vehicle.
First, some ground rules.
I ignore the times that I would have made a special ICE trip to the gas station (eight mile round trip) to fill up the tank before taking off on a longer trip; instead, let's just say we pull into the gas station to add gas along our normal route. Thus, zero time or mileage spent specially to go tank up.
I'll also ignore waiting in line to fill up with gas and simply assume the pump is available, although I still remember waiting for hours for gas in the 70's.
I also ignore fuel costs, as that's covered in separate threads.
For an ICE vehicle -
Pull up to the pump, select the payment, pump the gas, replace the nozzle and be on the way. I'm one of those who pays cash, so there's the extra step of going up to and waiting for the cashier a couple of times. All told, this process takes, what, 5 minutes? I haven't done it in so long that I don't remember...
For a small car with a 12-gallon gas tank, that usually means putting in 10 gallons which, at 25mpg yields 250 miles/fillup. At an average of 1000miles/month, this means four fillups/month or 48 fillups/year.
48*5min = 240 minutes/year = 4 hours per year spent just going to filthy smelly carcinogenic gas stations. :roll:
For an EV -
Charging in my nice clean fresh-smelling garage, I have a very short (4') charging cord; thus, say, ten seconds to open the flap and plug in and another ten seconds to unplug, close the flap, and put the cord away, for a total of 20 seconds per charging session. Let's say I charge every night but on average do a second charge during the day every other day. Thus, 20 seconds/day * 365 days/year + 20sec * 365/2 = 10950 seconds/year = 3 hours/year. Wow, the seconds do add up, but the environment is much more pleasant and convenient.
If I charged twice every day, then the total time consumed would be four hours, identical to an ICE vehicle.
Conclusion: we spend about the same amount of time fueling an i-MiEV as we do fueling an ICE vehicle.
Open to differing opinions...
Perhaps someone wants to start a thread entitled "Maintenance Time and Cost - BEV vs. ICE"? - I'll let someone else comment on this, as I've never yet had 'maintenance' performed by 'professionals' on any of my cars.
I simply don't spend any time "waiting" while my car charges, as I'm always doing something else. The last time I recall cooling my heels while public charging was my 200-mile (one way) trip on Christmas Day a year ago - and even then it was a few 20-minute DCQC stints during which I caught up on emails or had a snack, and one three-hour L2 session in the Sierra foothills during which I went out to dinner and caught up on a whole bunch of deferred administrative stuff on my computer.
So, this got me wondering how much time I spend 'fueling' my i-MiEV compared to having to put fuel into an ICE vehicle.
First, some ground rules.
I ignore the times that I would have made a special ICE trip to the gas station (eight mile round trip) to fill up the tank before taking off on a longer trip; instead, let's just say we pull into the gas station to add gas along our normal route. Thus, zero time or mileage spent specially to go tank up.
I'll also ignore waiting in line to fill up with gas and simply assume the pump is available, although I still remember waiting for hours for gas in the 70's.
I also ignore fuel costs, as that's covered in separate threads.
For an ICE vehicle -
Pull up to the pump, select the payment, pump the gas, replace the nozzle and be on the way. I'm one of those who pays cash, so there's the extra step of going up to and waiting for the cashier a couple of times. All told, this process takes, what, 5 minutes? I haven't done it in so long that I don't remember...
For a small car with a 12-gallon gas tank, that usually means putting in 10 gallons which, at 25mpg yields 250 miles/fillup. At an average of 1000miles/month, this means four fillups/month or 48 fillups/year.
48*5min = 240 minutes/year = 4 hours per year spent just going to filthy smelly carcinogenic gas stations. :roll:
For an EV -
Charging in my nice clean fresh-smelling garage, I have a very short (4') charging cord; thus, say, ten seconds to open the flap and plug in and another ten seconds to unplug, close the flap, and put the cord away, for a total of 20 seconds per charging session. Let's say I charge every night but on average do a second charge during the day every other day. Thus, 20 seconds/day * 365 days/year + 20sec * 365/2 = 10950 seconds/year = 3 hours/year. Wow, the seconds do add up, but the environment is much more pleasant and convenient.
If I charged twice every day, then the total time consumed would be four hours, identical to an ICE vehicle.
Conclusion: we spend about the same amount of time fueling an i-MiEV as we do fueling an ICE vehicle.
Open to differing opinions...
Perhaps someone wants to start a thread entitled "Maintenance Time and Cost - BEV vs. ICE"? - I'll let someone else comment on this, as I've never yet had 'maintenance' performed by 'professionals' on any of my cars.