Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Electric vehicle charging?

Want opinions on electric vehicle charging in an attempt to research whether to sell current sedan, very low mileage 2017 Nissan Maxima Platinum model, verses buying new electric vehicle. Our Maxima is nearly 5 model years old with 17, 500 plus miles on the odometer.
My thoughts are to build a solar charging station on the roof of the house. Any sedan vehicle does not get used in bad weather or for long trips. My truck is our go to long haul vehicle.
What is this basic charge time, amp requirement for say a Tesla. How many volt/amp hours are we talking.
I am a retired power plant, large electric plant electrician that could do all work. Would only need materials. Our house is situated with good sunlight and could erect medium to large solar array.
Opinions, information, yours thoughts. Thanks for the help. MTG

The pay out on saved money from using an all Electric Vehicle is not worth the costThis gas thing will change next election.I believe hydrogen powered cars will be more of a viable option in the next 10 years.With only 17,000 miles on a car that is probably payed off and you use so little even $5.00 a gallon gas will not hurt you much until we get rid of the idiot in The Whitehouse.

You're better fixed than most people as far as the cost of setting up your charging station. It sounds as though your usage is very similar to ours: my wife's car is pretty much short runs around town and the boys use it when they are home from school. My truck is our usual long-haul vehilc. An EV would probably be a great replacement for my wife's car, except.... her BMW is in a very similar circumstance as your car: it's a '17 with quite low mileage and paid for. In today's market, especially, it makes more sense for us to continue to drive our 5 year old vehicles.

Easily found, thinking it may take one hell of a solar array.

The recommended home charging installation for Tesla vehicles is a 240 volt NEMA 14- 50 outlet. This outlet is commonly used for electric ranges and large recreational vehicles. Installed with a 50-amp circuit breaker, this outlet enables a recharge rate of about 25 miles per hour.
Consult a licensed electrician to review the electrical load of your home prior to installation. They will design your charging system and obtain a permit for a general purpose NEMA 14-50 outlet from your local building department. After installation, the electrician will schedule an inspection to approve the new electrical circuit and design.
This guide provides reference for specifications to install this outlet. Since each installation is custom to the home, all hardware for the NEMA 14-50 outlet will be provided by your electrician.
 Voltage: Single phase, 208-250 volt AC supply, 60 hertz 

 Circuit Breaker: 50 amp (125% overcurrent protection)
 Operating Current: 40 amp (maximum continuous current)
 Conductors: 6 AWG, Copper Wire Only. Upsize wiring for installations over 150 feet
 Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter: Not required 

 Service Disconnect: Not required 

 Receptacle Recommendation: High quality, industrial grade receptacle

 Examples: Hubbell part # HBL9450A, Cooper part #5754N
 Ventilation: Not required
 Outdoors: Install with NEMA 3R rainproof enclosure

25 miles per hour? So to get a 400 mile range that is 16 hours to charge?

If your battery were stone cold dead, yes, 16 hours.

Super Chargers are pretty quick.

That chart Jeff posted is accurate. I wired up a charger for my brother in his garage. I used clothes drier receptacle from Lowes, cost $17. I used solid copper wire, according to Tesla specs, I think it was 10 gauge, this was a year ago I don't remember exactly. It is 220 with a 40 amp breaker. Brother gets 23 miles of travel for one hour of charging.

Your idea is great, if you could charge your Tesla up with solar cells you would really have something. How big of a solar panel would you need to deliver that much juice?

By the way my brother loves his Tesla. He has a real nice Nissan Frontier, he hardly drives the pickup any more. As you said, great for the 120 mile day trip, not good for a long trip. He drove the Tesla to Atlanta for Christmas, 220 miles, had to stop on the way down for a 20 minute charge, stopped on the way back for a 30 minute charge.

I am happy I was not stuck in Virginia last wk& this wknd.

The problem is still the cost of battery replacement. Plus disposal. Hasbeen

Not only that, but cold climates zap the batteries capacities as well. I worked with a lady that had a Chevy Volt. She could make it the 38 miles to work in the summer all on battery. Winter, she got nine miles before battery was dead and switched over to gas.

By doing it yourself you might actually be able to make it work economically but your car will have sit there charging while the sun is out. Also, if you're not charging your car you'll want to use the power generated for other purposes.

Problem with super chargers as you call them is that probably 90-95% of the power companies have put 480V off limits for residential use. Industrial or agricultural, yes. We just called them fast chargers, one problem was they tended to puke batteries quicker in industrial uses.

Tesla car batteries are said to be designed to last 300,000-500,000 miles or about 21-35 years, based on the average amount of miles driven by Americans in one year, which is typically around 14,263

As long as they keep making gasoline, they can stick electric vehicles up their azz! But then I’m too old to worry about it anyway.

Super Charger were not intended for home use.
They are more likely to be found at service stations and hotels and the like.
Fast Chargers are not the same as Super Chargers.

MTGunner: I am NOT smart enough to advise you on your trade and/or the electric vehicles but I want to relay this
At about milepost 15 on Interstate 15 here in SW Montana, in the town of Lima (population 325) they just installed a "FREE" electronic car charging station.
Its been there half a year or more and as you may know Interstate 15 is the "main" highway" from Canada to Los Angeles, kalifornicationkopia!
It also goes through Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Butt, Montana.
I have NEVER seen a car hooked up to any of the several electric outlet stantions there (your tax dollars at work!)!
Anyway if you gets yourself an electric car you can charge it for free while you eat breakfast, lunch or dinner at Jan's Cafe, right next door (sensational homemade pies!).
Good luck what ever you decide to do.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I have a colony of sheep (sleeping liberals) who I use to as a power source.

Their brains put out significantly less power than I had hoped...

It probably will not be the lack of petroleum products that causes you to buy a electric car.
It'll more likely be your insurance company.

Over 70? DUI? Too many wrecks or tickets?
Fully autonomous car for you, your azz will be restricted the back seat.

Yo, if you are going to quote me, quote the whole thing. By your specs, or super charger 480V 3 phase 100 amps per leg. Ran the same damn specs for electric forklifts. Fast charging which you deleted tended to puke the batteries quicker.