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[–] 1 pt

You're referring to fast chargers in public places? Those are mostly Level 2 and Level 3.

So the car comes with a Level 1 charger which plugs into a regular 110V plug at home. It's slow. With a 62kWh battery, it takes 36 hours to charge from 0 to 100%.

You can upgrade to a 220V Level 2 charger at home. It uses the same plug as an electric clothes dryer. It will charge in 14 hours. You also have the option to use these in public places, such as in shopping centers and in front of our electric power company, lol.

Level 3 chargers are super fast. They use 480V industrial power supplies and charge at hundreds of amps. It will charge in 20 minutes. This is one of those that you would only find in a public place. Normal houses do not have this kind of power available.

The chargers you see in public are going to have a brand name. You subscribe to the brand name, give them your credit card info, and they set up an account for you. You might see a brand name such as Blink. So you need a Blink account. Then you just drive right up to the charger, plug in, and give it your login credentials (or insert your card into a slot) and it will start to charge. You can go for a walk for 20 minutes, or go shopping or get something to eat. Some of these will send you a text or whatever when you're car is full.

You need a separate account for each name brand. For instance, if you are at a Tesla charger, you need a Tesla account. It's like a gas station credit card: Chevron will not work at an Arco station.

There are some community based charger chains, that might be set up by your local power company or your state or municipality. They also have a separate account.

So depending on how much long distance driving you do, you might have 2-3 different accounts. They auto-debit from your debit account or credit card once a month.

It should be noted that there are 3 different standards for the type of charger plug. So a Level 1 / Level 2 cannot use a Level 3 cord. My car has both a Level 1 / Level 2 socket and a Level 3. Tesla's chargers are proprietary (and FAST) but they are incompatible with other types of cars. Adapters to go between these types are just coming on the market, so I could plug my non-Tesla car into a Tesla charger if I made an account. It got a little complicated and now it is getting easier with the advent of the adapters.

The pricing varies widely. I can pay $5.00 at home to plug in to the grid, or I can go to a fast charger and pay twice that much. Convenience costs money.

[–] 0 pt

Thanks