Stupid questions from EV newbie

DaveRuns

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I have a few dumb questions that I haven't seen elsewhere (mostly because other threads are for intelligent questions). I swear in real life I'm an intelligent adult, but need to hear others confirm what I'm thinking for me to gain the confidence:

1. Do EV's need to "warm up" like an ICE? I'm in Chicago, so it's frequently 20-30 degrees F in the winter, but maybe 40 degrees in my garage. If I'm plugged in for the night, can I have the car preset to begin warming up at a certain time so it's ready, even though I'm still plugged in charging? My guess is the car can be on but, only being an ICE owner, you obviously shouldn't start your car while fueling.

2. Similarly, if you're out shopping (think, gone for an hour or two), should you plan to have the car begin warming back up so you don't have to sit in the parking lot for a few minutes?

3. I told my wife we can start the EV even while our garage doors are closed because there are no emissions. She said it isn't worth the risk of dying. Is there a good way of explaining this concept to her? Maybe a YouTube link or some other method? It sounds so dumb, but when you've been trained to do something your whole life, it's difficult to change. However i don't want to have to run to the garage if my car is preset to warm up at a certain time.

4. I'm getting a dedicated line from my circuit breaker and my electrician has told me I need to decide where in the garage i want this to be. Does anyone have suggestions for where I should put this? I back into my garage and I think I'll park on the left of a two car port, since I believe the plug is on the front left of the car. Just put it on the wall right there? Should I put it high up so people can walk under it or low so it's easy to step over? Should I put it on the 10 foot feeling and just have it dangle down?

5. Is there any logic to NOT plugging your car in every time you are home? I'm thinking of articles about phone batteries where you are better off letting a phone run to low vs topping off 1-2% after a short trip.

Thanks to anybody who invests time in answering my questions and feel free to post your own questions. Just make sure they are dumb! No intelligent questions please.
For the record, these aren’t dumb questions at all.
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trutolife27

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So for experienced EV owners, what kind of percent increase can i expect my monthly electric bill to increase by? I didn't think it would be quite that high.
Like many others have said. depending on where you live and if you charge peak or off-peak prices. 30% to 50% cheaper.
 

GoGoGadgetMachE

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A word of caution regarding #3. EV has no emission so it is safe to have it running in a closed garage. The concern I have is that if you have another ICE car in your garage. You might be careful at the beginning, but you might loosen up mentally at time goes by, and start your ICE in a close Garage.

Personally, I will just stick with the simple rule of not have any vehicle "running" in an enclosed space.
while I understand where you're coming from, a lot of cars with remote start will turn themselves off after a certain period of time, like 10 or 15 minutes, which limits the risk here.
 

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So for experienced EV owners, what kind of percent increase can i expect my monthly electric bill to increase by? I didn't think it would be quite that high.
Lots of good answers but here is another way to think of it: if you plan to drive the same as you drove your ICE vehicle, plan to spend on electric to charge your car at home about 1/3 what you spent on gas to drive the ICE vehicle. That will vary, of course, based on your local cost of electricity and local weather but 1/3 is a good rule of thumb (at least it was for me with both my Bolt and my Leaf).
 

JamieGeek

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So for experienced EV owners, what kind of percent increase can i expect my monthly electric bill to increase by? I didn't think it would be quite that high.
Also to note on this: keep in mind that you won't be driving your ICE around whenever you drive your Mach-E. This means your net cost will likely be 50% of what you were paying for gas.

You'll save money (neglecting the monthly payment and insurance of the Mach-E of course).
 


theblueone

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People are explaining #3 in a lot of ways, but I'd like to throw my own angle in.

- If you plug electric tools into a gas generator, you can run them outside. The exhaust is where the generator is.
- If you take the tools and the generator into the garage, you're in trouble, because the exhaust is where the generator is.
- If you leave the generator outside and run an extension cord into the garage, you'll be fine because the exhaust is where the generator is. Alternatively, you can charge your electric batteries outside, take them inside, and use them safely.

The question about automotive safety becomes: where is the generator? On your ICE car it's onboard, so when the car is in the garage, so is the exhaust. On your Mach E, the generator is your local power plant. (As others have said, it's the same generator that runs your TV, vacuum, and fridge.)

Like these appliances the Mach E is not a magic physics-defying device, there are emissions generated somewhere to power it (unless your area is on 100% renewables). However, these emissions are created at a different time and place than your garage, so they won't impact the air quality in your garage or the safety of being there with the Mach E running.
 
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NotSoJon

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I did the same and had the electrician install an outlet on each side of my 2 car garage while here. Although I'm not replacing my second ICE car now, it was still cheaper to run two lines together than a second one later on. I had an outlet installed instead of being hard-wired and had it placed about 4 feet from the ground. Regardless of how I park (pull in / back in) the charge cable will reach as I bought the Grizzl-e with a 24 foot cable. And when not in use it's coiled on the wall out of the way. I do like the options installed on the ceiling, but that's more expensive.
HUGE help everyone! Thank you so much. It's great knowing you've got a community behind you. I look forward to hearing everyone's stories about receiving their car and hopefully people will take a minute to post something even after they've graduated from "mach-e forum" to "mach-e owner"!

My electrician stopped by today and i told him to price me out for two charging ports based on this feedback. My garage is as far from the circuit breaker as possible and this will be much cheaper to do at once. Plus, I'm thinking this might help the resale value in the house.

Also, not sure who mentioned it, but the comment about my car or my wife.... I'm ashamed to say I thought about this for much too long! I've been waiting almost a year for this car and I'm driving a CRV.....

But for real, thanks again for the feedback.
 

All Hat No Cattle

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I was reluctant to ask this question but, hey, someone was nice enough to start a "Dumb Question" thread, so here is mine. :)

On page 151 of the Owners Manual, there is a video that says this about the stock Ford charger.

At 120V it charges at 3 miles/hour.

At 240 V it charges at 21 miles/hour, which would be my preferred. I have a dedicated plug in my garage already.

And the Ford aftermarket 48 Amp charger charges at 30 miles/hour.

Question: If your Mach E is an in town grocery-getter, going out to dinner car, and max 200 mile road trip car on weekends, what is the particular advantage of a super-duper aftermarket charger if you have all night to charge your Mach E?
 

Ciero

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Question: If your Mach E is an in town grocery-getter, going out to dinner car, and max 200 mile road trip car on weekends, what is the particular advantage of a super-duper aftermarket charger if you have all night to charge your Mach E?
You can carry the supplied cables with you without needing to unplug them every time you leave. Some may want a slightly faster charging experience with Ford's charger as well.
 

ChasingCoral

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I was reluctant to ask this question but, hey, someone was nice enough to start a "Dumb Question" thread, so here is mine. :)

On page 151 of the Owners Manual, there is a video that says this about the stock Ford charger.

At 120V it charges at 3 miles/hour.

At 240 V it charges at 21 miles/hour, which would be my preferred. I have a dedicated plug in my garage already.

And the Ford aftermarket 48 Amp charger charges at 30 miles/hour.

Question: If your Mach E is an in town grocery-getter, going out to dinner car, and max 200 mile road trip car on weekends, what is the particular advantage of a super-duper aftermarket charger if you have all night to charge your Mach E?
Good question.

Since you already have a dedicated 14-50 outlet in your garage, try using the included charger first. After a month or two, weigh your options. You can stick with what you have, buy a less expensive dedicated charger to either use the 14-50 or have new wiring put in, or you can go to the maximum-rate fancy charger.

There's another thread (or a few) on choosing chargers, so we don't need to start that again here.
 

UW2

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I was reluctant to ask this question but, hey, someone was nice enough to start a "Dumb Question" thread, so here is mine. :)

On page 151 of the Owners Manual, there is a video that says this about the stock Ford charger.

At 120V it charges at 3 miles/hour.

At 240 V it charges at 21 miles/hour, which would be my preferred. I have a dedicated plug in my garage already.

And the Ford aftermarket 48 Amp charger charges at 30 miles/hour.

Question: If your Mach E is an in town grocery-getter, going out to dinner car, and max 200 mile road trip car on weekends, what is the particular advantage of a super-duper aftermarket charger if you have all night to charge your Mach E?
I personally don't have a big commute. So I did a lot of research and finally settled on the stock (included) charger at 240/50. I suspect that is all that is needed by most people.
 

All Hat No Cattle

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Since you already have a dedicated 14-50 outlet in your garage, try using the included charger first. After a month or two, weigh your options. You can stick with what you have, buy a less expensive dedicated charger to either use the 14-50 or have new wiring put in, or you can go to the maximum-rate fancy charger.

There's another thread (or a few) on choosing chargers, so we don't need to start that again here.
Thanks guys, good advice. I would try it and see. Then I'll worry about aftermarket.

I just did not see that big a difference between 21 and 30 miles/hr in an overnight charge.

And I'm not sure why I would take the Ford charger around on a road trip, with no place to plug in. You can go 25 miles out of Vegas, and you are in the middle of nowhere, LOL.
 

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So for experienced EV owners, what kind of percent increase can i expect my monthly electric bill to increase by? I didn't think it would be quite that high.
My electric bill went down with the EV. That is because with the purchase of an EV I qualified for special rates that makes it VERY attractive to charge off peak.
With the cost of electricity with that plan, my Focus Electric costs almost 2 cents per mile in fuel costs. A comparable Focus with gasoline engine would cost about 8 cents per mile with current price of gasoline (last time I checked anyway....)

So, all else being equal....the cost to fuel an EV could be about 1/4 the cost for gasoline if you can get a decent time of use plan from your utility company.
 

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Thanks guys, good advice. I would try it and see. Then I'll worry about aftermarket.

I just did not see that big a difference between 21 and 30 miles/hr in an overnight charge.

And I'm not sure why I would take the Ford charger around on a road trip, with no place to plug in. You can go 25 miles out of Vegas, and you are in the middle of nowhere, LOL.
The mobile charger might be nice to take along with you if you are visiting friends or relatives and they have a garage with a suitable receptacle to plug into overnight. Could save you from having to hunt down a DCFC station and free up some time to visit. ?
 

s7davis

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Back to OP question on the garage receptical. Maybe if your main breaker is too far maybe be more cost efficient to just add a new breaker box and meter for chargers alone or at least a new panel for the garage to help with costs of running the wires a long distance which can be done but can be a hazard I am assuming. I do not know prices for a new box or adding a 2nd meter but maybe an idea to cut the costs of running the wires too far.
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