Survey finds EV drivers will prefer to charge their vehicles at home
21 September 2011
An overwhelming number of drivers envision they will charge their EVs at home, new Chartwell research shows.
Coinciding with the launch of its EV Customer Strategy Research Council and Electric Vehicle Programs Summit, Chartwell has conducted a study that reveals 89% of consumers would be “likely” or “extremely likely” to charge their plug-in EVs at home.
The recent survey of 1,500 North American consumers shows that 81% of that group would fall into the extremely-likely category. This was a far greater percentage than consumers who foresee external charging stations as the primary means for fuel.
You have the vast majority of consumers believing their home will be the primary charging site, and most of those respondents say they will plug in during off-peak, overnight hours, which would be preferable for most utilities. Still, we did find a notable percentage of consumers who say they will plug-in during on-peak times, which could potentially stress the distribution system.
—Stacey Bailey, a Sr. Research Analyst with Chartwell
Based in Atlanta, Chartwell Inc. is a specialized information provider that helps utilities improve their customer satisfaction. Chartwell publishes case studies, quantitative research and industry data, and hosts conferences and other events for utility professionals.
I would imagine many people would like to be able to charge at work as well as at home.
(But it sounds like I am wrong).
Charging during the day needs at least 2 modes:
"Get me 8 KWH by 5pm" and "Get me 8 KwH as soon as possible".
Obviously, the first mode would be cheaper, the second could be very expensive if it hit a peak time.
People who could just charge at home might still like to top up a little during the day to reduce the depth of discharge of their batteries. (Once they learned about it).
Posted by: mahonj | 22 September 2011 at 12:21 AM
Duh. No surprise here. Charging at home at night (for people who sleep at night and have a garage/carport) is not ever having to refuel again -- never having to go to a gas station. What a joy! At the end of your driving day, close the garage door and plug in; in the morning plug out and open the garage door. Fully fueled. The studies from BMW's Mini-E trials showed many owners did not even charge every night as range anxiety quickly waned.
I think there is a mindset learned over lifetimes of driving ICE cars that cars have to be refueled at filling stations, and with that comes the feeling that BEVs need to have the same range as ICE cars between refuelings. Our nice Federal government is now making rules that will mandate that BEVs have speakers that will play ICE engine sounds at low speeds (why not the Beach Boys or Led Zeppelin or howler monkey sounds?). Maintenance will also be different--less, with BEVs. BEVs are different animals, requiring a profound attitude readjustment.
Obviously home charging will not work for all--people who live in the city and park on the street, etc. BEV adoption by this demographic will come later, as infrastructure evolves, or they will transition to different technologies.
And I suspect more than a few new owners of BEVs will be cleaning the junk out of their garages and actually using them to park their cars for the first time.
Posted by: ChrisL | 22 September 2011 at 08:15 AM
Spot on Chris. And I REALLY like howler monkey sounds for EVs! What all the huff and puff is about is the CHANGE that the oil business will have to make. They're still hoping people will stop at their aging gas stations to fill up on something - fuel of some kind, Big Gulps, electricity, a car wash.
Energy Independence means just that. We will be generating our own electricity at home via CHP or charging overnight via grid. WE DON'T NEED NO GAS STATIONS anymore! Aww. Too bad. They had a nice run. Now we're going to get our urban corners back for something more useful than dispensing combustive fuels.
You are also correct about street parkers. That is where the infrastructure will get used. And cleaning out garages is a great way to get rid of the old rake and bags of fertilizer.
Posted by: Reel$$ | 24 September 2011 at 03:34 PM