Refueling our EV

So we got ourselves a electric vehicle, the smart fortwo coupe with electric drive, or the Smart ED.  Tiny, and powered by plugging into our outdoor outlet, which we’re led to believe, is supplied by mainly by Pennsylvania wind farms.

Refueling our EV has been an education about the car’s battery capacity, the charger and the charging rate.

The Smart ED has a battery capacity of 17.6 kW,

It also comes with an EVSE charger that you can plug into any 110V outlet. A button on this charger allows you to select between 8A and 12A based on the circuit.

The maximum charging rate for the Smart ED is 3.3 kW per hour. Most other cars, such as the Nissan Leaf, are designed to charge at a faster rate (6.6 kW per hour), while the Tesla charges at 19.2 kW per hour, almost 6 times faster.

Therefore, the theoretically fastest this car can charge is 5.3 hours on a 220V outlet or 10.6 hours on a 110V outlet.

capacity / rate = 17.6 kW / 3.3 kWh = 5.3 hours

If we’re to use a standard 110V outlet and the given charger, it would take between 13 and 20 hours to fully charge our car based on the amps selected.

110V x 8A = 0.88 kW per hour
17.6 kW / 0.88 kWh = 20 hours

110V x 12A = 1.32 kW per hour
17.6 kW / 1.32 kWh = 13 hours

If we installed a 220V outlet, and purchased a 220V charger, our refueling rate would go down to 6.6 hours.

220V x 12A = 2.64 kW per hour
17.6 kW / 2.64 kWh = 6.6 hours

For now, the 13-hour refueling rate seems adequate.

In the few days we’ve used this car, people have asked us another question. About the cost to refuel our EV. Our PECO bill (with electricity generation from The Energy Co-op’s EcoChoice 100 program) shows us paying about 18 cents per kWh. A full recharge (17.6 kW x 0.18 per kWh) would be $3.17 and take you 75 miles. That’s 4 cents per mile.

Not a bad price for declaring independence from the gas pump. Half the length, just as much fun. #fossilfuelfreefun, powered by the wind and the sun.