EV Info & Questions to Ask
The intent for this Part is both to inform and to offer questions you may want to ask dealers when you’re EV shopping. It’s broken into four topics: 1) Port and charger standards, 2) Charging, 3) Batteries, and 4) Software. In truth, these topics are so intertwined that where a particular issue is discussed is a bit arbitrary. This is why the four topics should be read together.
1 PORT & CHARGER STANDARDS
This topic was pretty well covered in the Intro, but being critical, a quick review can’t hurt: Tesla, created the NACS standard for their vehicle charging ports and chargers, and it has now become the North American standard. Why? Because their Supercharger network is the largest in North America, and it’s the most reliable and easiest to use. Thus, every car company selling in North America wants in, and will be building their cars with NACS ports in the coming years. Hyundai has already begun doing so with the release of their Ioniq 5 in the Fall of 2024, and Rivian has stated they’ll be switching over starting in 2025. The CCS standard is quickly becoming a historical footnote.
In the interim, Tesla is integrating CCS port vehicles into their Supercharger network via the use of adapters, one car company at a time. It’s a slow process because it entails a lot of software integration as well as manufacturing the adapters. But already Ford, Rivian, and GM have gained access, with everyone else to follow.
Port Standard questions to ask dealers:
1) Does the vehicle have a CCS or a NACS port? If the answer is “NACS”, you can skip the remainder of these questions.
2) Has (name the car company you’re talking to) been given access to Tesla’s Superchargers yet?
3) If “yes”, Can I get an adapter now, and is it free or how much will it cost?
4) If “no”, When is it expected that (name of the car company you’re talking to) will be integrated into the Tesla Supercharger network, and will the adapter be free?
2 CHARGING
As shown above, whether your vehicle has a CCS or a NACS port can have a huge impact on your charging experience when taking long trips. But that’s only part of the “charging” story. Here are a few others issues which will help give you a more realistic expectation of your likely charging experiences.
Charging at home. Being able to charge at home is a great convenience because you won’t have to regularly visit charging stations, and you’ll save money since it’s the cheapest way to charge short of using free destination chargers. A regular 120v outlet is all you need, although some have upgraded to 240v and installed an L2 charger for a faster charge. For more info on the different charger speeds, please refer to “Destination Chargers” and “Levels 1, 2, 3” in the EV Glossary.
Preconditioning A second issues is whether your vehicle can precondition the battery. A battery at its optimal temperature will drive more efficiently and charge faster. In fact, a really cold battery may first have to slowly draw energy from the charger just to warm up before it can actually begin charging at a slower rate! Some vehicles will precondition automatically when a destination is plugged in, or when told to head to a particular charging station. And some companies have phone apps that allow preconditioning so the battery can reach its desired temperature before driving away.
Maximum charging rate Each EV model has a maximum charging speed, currently ranging from 55kWs – 350kWs[1]. Better and newer EV models charge at least as fast as 250kW. Meanwhile each L3 (Fast) charging station has a peak speed ranging from as low as 15kW to the more current ones charging at 150kW, 250kW or 350kW, depending on the model. But the maximum rate an EV can charge is determined by the slower charging speed between the battery and the charger being used. For example, a car battery that can charge at 350kW but plugged into a 25kW charger, will only have a max charging speed of 25kW. Conversely, a car with a max charging rate of 50kW, can’t charge any faster even if connected to a 250kW charger.
Charging Curve EVs don’t continuously charge at the maximum speed allowed by the interaction of the battery and charger because the fuller a battery gets, the harder it is to stuff more electrons in. Batteries may start charging at their maximum rate, but at some point the rate will become progressively slower. How much slower, and at what percent State of Charge (SoC) they begin to do so, depends on the EV. These slowdowns will dictate how long you’ll need to charge. Above 80% SoC, charging speeds are so slow regardless of the EV or battery type, that it’s rarely worth waiting around for when you’re on the road.
Bidirectionality And for the last technical issue, we have the opposite of charging, i.e., whether the vehicle can charge external devises, including buildings. For details on this, please refer to “bidirectional” and “V2L” in the EV Glossary.
Charging Etiquette And as a final note, there’re two important issues regarding Charging Etiquette. First, if you find yourself at a charging station with a queue, help everyone out by only charging as long as is necessary to comfortably get to your next charging location. In these situations, be mindful of how quickly your EV is charging as it’s easy to lose track of time, especially if you wander off to stores, restaurants, or involved with your cellphone. Second, because Tesla has opened up their Superchargers to non-Teslas, which they were not designed to handle, vehicles whose charging ports are not located either on the back driver-side (as Teslas’ are) or the front passenger-side, should use the right-most chargers. And Tesla owners should use the left-most chargers. This will minimize the number of two charging spaces taken up by a single vehicle.
Charging questions to ask dealers:
1) What’s the battery’s max charging speed?
2) Can the vehicle precondition the battery?
3) If “yes”, Does it happen automatically when I plug in the charging station address, or must I do it myself?
4) Can I precondition the car from its app? and
5) Is the EV capable of charging outside devices, and if so, at what voltage level?
[1] CATL, a Chinese battery company, just released a new battery that not only charges at a blazing 550kWs, it even charges at 300kWs when the battery is above 80% full, and it also works well in freezing temps. Wow! If, and when, it’ll come to the U.S. is anyone’s guess.
3 BATTERIES
Batteries make up 35% or more of an EV’s cost, and are arguably the most important component. In the end, we all want a battery that charges fast, easily, and takes us a far distance, but given the current state of batteries, tradeoffs must be made. Here are some of the important battery features to be aware of:
Size (kWh) The larger the battery, the more energy, and hence, the longer the EV’s range. However, since batteries are expensive, the larger they are, the more costly the EV. And the larger they are, the greater their weight, which increases the energy needed to move the EVs.
Chemistry Currently there are two general types of battery chemistries, each with pros and cons. Which one your EV comes with will affect your functional range, charging habits, and driving experience:
LFP batteries These batteries contain Lithium, Iron (Ferrous) and Phosphate. Pros: · Can be charged to 100% without battery degradation, giving a functional range of 90% of the EPA stated range. Cons: · They don’t offer as much oomph as Ternary batteries, · They must be charged to 100% once a week so the battery management system (BMS) can calculate the on-going States of Charge, allowing you to know your remaining range, and · Except for a new version hopefully starting to roll out later in 2024 or early 2025, they don’t function as well in cold weather.
Ternary batteries Pros: · With metals such as nickel, manganese, and cobalt added to LFP batteries, Ternary batteries offer extra oomph, and · They’re better in cold weather than LFPs. Cons: · Charging them above 80% may quicken their degradation, and thus, their functional range is reduced to 70% of the EPA stated range.
Range EVs comes with a stated EPA maximum range, but unlike gas cars which can run out of gas without damaging the car, an EV battery can be damaged with repeated 0% States of Charge. Plus, who wants to get stuck on the side of the road waiting to get towed? This is why most people don’t like the battery getting below 10% State of Charge, especially on long drives when charging stations may be intermittent.
And because charging batteries above 80% takes a ridiculously long time, the functional portion of a battery may only range from 80% down to 10%, or 70% of its capacity.
Battery Warranty Since batteries degrade over time, it’s important to ask about the warranty! These days, most (all?) warranties are for at least 100,000 miles, more than the typical auto warranty of three years/36,000 miles, more than Toyota’s RAV4 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty, and as much as Hyundai’s industry-leading gas car powertrain limited warranty of 10-year/100,000-miles. But both battery lab tests and road experiences have shown batteries last for 300,000 miles and more. And should you ever need a replacement, know that battery prices are continually falling, as are their replacements.
The Charging Speed As discussed in the Charging section above, your vehicle can’t charge any faster than your battery’s max charging speed, no matter how much faster the charger you’re hooked up to can charge.
Voltage architecture EVs can only charge at their max rate when their battery’s voltage is less than or equal to the charger’s voltage. Tesla’s Superchargers currently have the highest voltage of all significant fast-charging companies in the U.S.−400V-500V−perfect for the majority of EVs which have 400v charging architectures. So for most of us, this is a non-issue.
But for car manufacturers using an 800v-900v charging architecture (so that one day when there are 800V-1,000V chargers they’ll charge super-fast), it is an issue. These include Porsche, Audi, Hyundai /Kia /Genesis, Lucid, and large EVs like pickup trucks. Since this issue is above my pay-grade, I highly recommend watching Out of Spec’s YouTube discussing this at: tinyurl.com/400v-800v (posted 10/23/23). (Owners of vehicles with an 800v-900v charging architecture should keep their fingers crossed that Tesla’s new V4 Superchargers will soon offer 800V or 1,000V charging.)
Battery questions to ask dealers:
1)What’s the battery size in kWh?
2) What’s the battery chemistry, LFP or Ternary?
3) What’s the battery warranty? and 4) What’s the voltage architecture: 400v or 800v-900v?
4 SOFTWARE
Well-developed EVs are more than just converted gas cars run by electricity, they’re software-defined and -run vehicles. And how well their software functions can make a huge difference to one’s ease of use and overall driving enjoyment. It therefore behooves shoppers to spend some time looking into the software differences among their EV choices. Here are a few things to look for:
OTA (Over-the-Air) updates Teslas are renowned for continually making their cars safer and more functional with over the air updates. In fact, 99% of Tesla’s government-mandated “recalls” were resolved this way.[1] But not all manufacturers are able to update much, if any, of their software this way, in which case owners must visit a dealership, sometimes for hours.
Trip planning & charging location finder If your vehicle enables you to enter where you want to go, some can then tell you when and where you’ll need to stop for charging. For those that can’t, you’ll need to calculate/guestimate how far your battery will take you, and then use an app, such as PlugShare (which is excellent), to find charging stations along the way. Also, check out Google Maps and Apple Maps for their customizability for this type of function. But the difference between a vehicle doing it for you, and you having to do it yourself, is huge when taking long trips, especially if you’re traveling in unfamiliar areas where the charger locations are unknown.
Non-car-company software Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto are two of the most often desired EV apps since their seamless integration puts your phone’s functionality on the car’s computer screen and audio system. Some manufacturers include both, some only one or the other. Still others allow you to add them on. Tesla has an excellent, but closed software system, and therefore doesn’t allow either (although there are workarounds for the DIYers).
ADAS (Advanced Driver Assist Systems) You’re probably familiar with ADAS features such as cruise control and perhaps “lane monitoring” or “lane centering”. Not all ADAS systems are created equally−they don’t necessarily do the same thing or do them equally well. Besides how naturally and human-like they behave, and how comfortable and safe you feel using them, some have restrictions based on types of roads, location, weather, and speeds.
If ADAS features are important to you, you must test-drive them. And just as all ADAS systems don’t offer the same capabilities, they also don’t cost the same. Some ADAS systems are free for part of, or all, their offerings. Others offer monthly subscriptions or charge by the year.
Autonomous Driving Despite scaring the pants off a lot of people, some EVs are increasingly capable of driving themselves. Already robotaxis by Waymo, Cruze[2] and others serve several U.S. cities, and the technology is constantly improving. While the hopes and dreams of autonomy evangelists may never be realized, autonomous EVs promise a future of safer transit while giving “drivers” the freedom to work, sleep, talk or watch videos in lieu of driving. Who knows what the future holds, but it’s exciting! (To see a description of the five different autonomous levels, please refer to “Autonomous driving” in the EV Guide.)
As more car manufacturers come out with more functional autonomous systems, beware of misleading claims and advertising. Less capable systems may state they’re Level 2 or 3, but have significant restrictions regarding allowable roads, allowable speeds, weather conditions, or other requirements such as needing a car in front to guide the car. And just as all autonomous systems don’t have the same capabilities, companies selling them certainly don’t charge the same, so ask.
Software questions to ask dealers:
1) To what extent, if any, can their software be updated OTA; and how often, and why, have they recently done so. Conversely, ask what, if anything, can’t be updated OTA.
2) Will I be able to plug in my destination and have the vehicle let me know when and where to stop for charging?
3) Does the EV come with Apple CarPlay and Google Android Auto, or can I add them?
4) What, if any ADAS capabilities are there?
5) Are there any ADAS restrictions, for example: types of roads, specific locations, weather, or speed?
6) Who is legally responsibility should the ADAS malfunction – you or them?
7) Are all the ADAS features free, and if not, how much do they cost?
8) Are there any autonomous capabilities, and if so, what Level is it (1-5)?
9) Are there any autonomous restrictions, for example: types of roads, specific locations, weather, speed, or requiring a car in front to follow?
10) Who is legally responsibility should the autonomous software malfunction – you or them?
11) Are all the autonomous features free, and if not, how much do the cost?
[1] tinyurl.com/23p3m5sa Watch from minute 13:00 through 14:30. (released 12/24).
[2] As of November 2023, Cruze has removed all their cars from service as they deal with software, legal and PR issues stemming from an incident in San Francisco.
POST SCRIPT
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