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Re:What Needs to Happen Before Electric Cars Take Over the W... by vvanders on Tuesday December 19, 2017 @12:03PM (#15961632)
I think 4 hours is on the long end, at least from my usage. For our car 20 miles of highway travel(most taxing for EV) is about 1 hour of charging.

With off-peak rates and people having different schedules(I'm home at 4pm for instance) I don't see why everyone would be hammering the grid at 5pm.

Re:What Needs to Happen Before Electric Cars Take Over the W... by bluGill on Wednesday December 20, 2017 @09:53AM (#15969987)
Most people get off work between 4 and 6pm. (this is not 50% of the population, but it is still a large number). They all go home and plug their car in then take a shower. Many days the peak electric use for the day is at 6pm when all those people start cooking dinner (electric stove) or jump in the shower (electric water heater). When a significant number of people start plugging their car in when they get home the peak will go up much more.

Of course as has been pointed out repeatedly a smart charger can manage exactly when the battery starts to charge. However it isn't quite that simple: many of those people will go out again for their bowling league or whatever, and need enough charge in their car.