Q: How far can an EV go on a full charge?
EV range depends on driving conditions, just like gasoline powered vehicles. Highway vs city driving, hills, and weather conditions can all affect the range. Although the Nissan Leaf has a maximum range of 160 km, the US DOE rating which accounts for typical driving conditions is only 117 km. Similarly, the Volt has a maximum range of 80 km but a rated range of only 56 km. But the Volt is capable of switching over to gasoline when the batteries are empty, and therefore has a total range of 580 km.
Q: How long does it take to charge an EV?
To fully charge the Nissan Leaf takes 7 – 8 hours, while a full charge on the Chevy Volt takes 4 – 5 hours. However, most people will only be partially charging the batteries each time. Available charging stations can actually charge faster than this, but are currently limited by the vehicle.
Q: How much does it cost to charge an electric car?
The cost of charging will depend on the type of car as well as the rate you pay for electricity. The Nissan Leaf has a battery capacity of 24 kWh. At current BC Hydro rates (small business or residential second tier) that will cost about $2.40 to fully charge. The Chevy Volt, on the other hand, only has a 16 kWh battery, so it would cost about $1.60 to fully charge. However, both vehicles limit how much the batteries can be discharged, so in practise the cost to fully charge will be somewhat lower. Both the Leaf and the Volt charge at a rate of about 3 kWh per hour, or $0.30 per hour.
Q: How does the cost of operating an electric car compare to a comparable gasoline powered car?
An EV driving 17,000 km a year (BC average) would use about 3,400 kWh of electricity at a cost of $340. A similar gasoline powered car would use about 1,250 litres of gasoline at a cost of $1,625 (at $1.30/L).
Q: How long will the batteries last?
These cars are too new to know exactly how long the batteries will last, but the Leaf and Volt both have an 8 year / 160,000 km warranty on the batteries.
Q: Can I charge an EV from a standard wall plug?
Yes, all of the EVs available can be charged from a standard 120V outlet. However, charging at 120V takes much longer (up to 22 hours). Therefore most people will want to install a 240V charger in their homes and public chargers will be 240V.
Q: Won’t EV increase BC’s electricity consumption?
Yes, EV’s will increase consumption electricity. An EV driving 17,000 km a year (BC average) will use about 3,400 kWh a year. This is 30% of the consumption of an average BC home. While not insignificant, if every BC home owned an electric car it would only account for 10% of provincial electricity consumption. Meanwhile, a gasoline car driving the same 17,000 km would consume 1,250 litres of gasoline, equivalent to 12,150 kWh.
Q: Will electric cars actually reduce greenhouse gases?
Electric motors are significantly more efficient than internal combustion engines. So EVs use much less energy, as well as using electricity instead of fossil fuels. In BC, where our electricity comes mostly from hydro power, GHG reductions will be about 97%. Even if electricity was generated using natural gas, there would still be a 40% reduction. If all personal vehicles on the Sunshine Coast were converted to electric, we would see a GHG reduction of 98,000 tonnes CO2e, or about 30% of the Sunshine Coast’s emissions.
Sunshine Coast Electric Vehicle Charging Plan 