New Owner Help

[ash32]

Hello,

Bay area resident. I just bough sould EV yesterday. This is my first EV experience. I would appreciate if you an help answer questions

1. Dealership said they will apply for Greenlots card which I will receive in 2 weeks. Is this normal?
2. Do I also need to get Chargepoint card? I saw nearby targets have chargpoint stations. Or the greenlots card will work on Chargepoint card as well?
3. Is there any other charging card I should carry along with greenlots and possibly Chargepoint?
4. I have 240 volt Dryer outlet in garrage. Is it possible to use that to charge the car at 220v using supplied cord? Is there any such accessaries available? Or this is not recommended.
5. Any pointers on apps I should have on the phone which will help me find chargers around bay area.

Thank you in advance.

 

[mtndrew1]

Hello,

Bay area resident. I just bough sould EV yesterday. This is my first EV experience. I would appreciate if you an help answer questions

1. Dealership said they will apply for Greenlots card which I will receive in 2 weeks. Is this normal?
2. Do I also need to get Chargepoint card? I saw nearby targets have chargpoint stations. Or the greenlots card will work on Chargepoint card as well?
3. Is there any other charging card I should carry along with greenlots and possibly Chargepoint?
4. I have 240 volt Dryer outlet in garrage. Is it possible to use that to charge the car at 220v using supplied cord? Is there any such accessaries available? Or this is not recommended.
5. Any pointers on apps I should have on the phone which will help me find chargers around bay area.

Thank you in advance.

1) My dealer didn't and I had to order mine myself. No idea here.

2) I've never tried to use my greenlots fob anywhere but at their branded stations. I have a key ring of greenlots, chargepoint, blink, sema, EVgo, etc. Plan on ordering them all. Public charging is sometimes frustrating in this regard.

3) See above.

4) Your included charge cord can only charge at 120V/12A unless modified by a company like EVSEUpgrade.com (no affiliation). Alternately you can buy 240V EVSEs with plugs on them for 240V outlets (verify your outlet and the plug are the same!) from Aerovironment, Clipper Creek, etc. Amazon also has a number of EVSEs for sale.

If that existing outlet in your garage (either 120 or 240) hasn't been used for continuous load before I'd hire an electrician to make sure everything is kosher. Pulling 6.6 kW for five hours is very different than running a clothes dryer for 45 minutes. (PS, EVSE is the name of the thing on the wall. The charger is on board the car itself. This can be confusing for a new EV driver.) When using the 120V check the outlet after a few hours to make sure it isn't overheating. The car should be the only thing using that circuit and the outlet should be modern and in good working order. You'll be maxing out its capability for 10+ hours straight.

5) Plugshare.com or the Plugshare app if you have android or iOS.

 

[StaceyBahr]

I have had mine a month and haven't needed to charge anywhere except for home, but I only use around 30 miles a day. At this rate, I haven't even needed to upgrade my regular 110 charging system and probably won't.

Make sure to check with your power company and see what kinds of rate discounts they offer. My power company (SMUD) offers a whole house reduced rate plan for owning an EV. They estimate my power bill will actually be reduced by $40 a month with my current usage. I think all of the power companies in CA have similar plans.

I'm curious- which dealership did you buy through and what was your deal? I think I paid too much for mine at Kia Concord

 

[jysl]

You won't be able to plug the charger that come with it to 240.

If you do think about upgrade to 240 charger check the breaker to see is it 30amp or 40 amp
If 40 then you are most likely good for a 6.6 kwatt (30amp + 25% overhead)
If 30 then you option is
a: Have someone change to 40 amp, make sure the wire is good for 40 amp. At the same time have him hard wire your EVSE (if your is hardwire) or change the plug to the same as your EVSE
b: Get a 3.3 kwatt EVSE (sent your to upgrade I think that is 3.3 too) or get a JuiceBox lower it to 5 kwatt or so.

I got mine base model back in Nov in BayArea just below true car invoice price (just a bit higher then dealer stated invoice price, not sure why there is different on that)

 

[ash32]

thanks all for your reply.

I got mine from dublin. 2500 total down, 250+tax (271.xx) per month for + mode, 3yr, 36K

 

[KumarP]

I still need to get my greenlots card 2 weeks after purchase. Looking forward to receiving my 240v charger as well

 

[jsongster]

You'll be maxing out its capability for 10+ hours straight.

Great post except for this point... Kia Soul EV on a 30A circuit will only be drawing charging current for 5 to 6 hours if totally drained to near zero on battery.

Another point is that the cars only draw maximum current during the initial charging... it slowly tapers off as the battery is refilled until past about 90% the cars are usually only asking for a couple amps until the car is at 100%. Even on a DCQC like our marvelous CHAdeMO systems this is true. This is why the 83% to 90% on DCQC is usually all that is recommended and effective. After the cars get to 90+ you might as well use a slower charge facility since it will be more than adequate.

Also... In addition I would get set up with every company that has chargers in my area. Just makes the cars more useful and I have never been stuck yet... er, where is some wood to knock on?

 

[NateCrawford]

You'll be maxing out its capability for 10+ hours straight.

Great post except for this point... Kia Soul EV on a 30A circuit will only be drawing charging current for 5 to 6 hours if totally drained to near zero on battery.

Another point is that the cars only draw maximum current during the initial charging... it slowly tapers off as the battery is refilled until past about 90% the cars are usually only asking for a couple amps until the car is at 100%. Even on a DCQC like our marvelous CHAdeMO systems this is true. This is why the 83% to 90% on DCQC is usually all that is recommended and effective. After the cars get to 90+ you might as well use a slower charge facility since it will be more than adequate.

Also... In addition I would get set up with every company that has chargers in my area. Just makes the cars more useful and I have never been stuck yet... er, where is some wood to knock on?

I have a Leaf and a Soul EV, and switch off with my wife to average out miles. I use a 208V 30A Chargepoint system at work, so usually see it max out at 6kW from the EVSE for both. The Leaf will start tapering when getting close to done, often going to zero followed with a few 2kW peaks (cell balancing?). The Soul stays pegged at 6kW until done, then immediately flatlines. The Chargepoint website only gives a reading every 5 minutes, so if the Soul tapers, it's pretty quick.

Also, for the same commute (48 miles one way @ 70mi/h, LA to Irvine), the Leaf takes several kWh MORE to recharge to 100%. This is probably due to all the tapering/re-balancing, and if it were not free to charge at work, I would cut it off before tapering started.

[Also Also, this forum keeps converting "L eaf" (no space) to "LEAF" and the tilde to "-". What's the way to avoid this?]

-Nate

 

[GizmoEV]

I have a Leaf and a Soul EV, and switch off with my wife to average out miles. I use a 208V 30A Chargepoint system at work, so usually see it max out at 6kW from the EVSE for both. The Leaf will start tapering when getting close to done, often going to zero followed with a few 2kW peaks (cell balancing?). The Soul stays pegged at 6kW until done, then immediately flatlines. The Chargepoint website only gives a reading every 5 minutes, so if the Soul tapers, it's pretty quick.

Also, for the same commute (48 miles one way @ 70mi/h, LA to Irvine), the Leaf takes several kWh MORE to recharge to 100%. This is probably due to all the tapering/re-balancing, and if it were not free to charge at work, I would cut it off before tapering started.

[Also Also, this forum keeps converting "L eaf" (no space) to "LEAF" and the tilde to "-". What's the way to avoid this?]

-Nate

Interesting info. I wonder if the Kia stays away from max full and/or uses a bottom balanced pack like some converters do with LiFePO4 cells. I'm coming up on 4 years without any cells drifting from the others so maybe Kia discovered that their cells don't drift either.

As for Leaf being converted to LEAF, that is a function of your browser and/or computer not the forum.

EDIT: I stand corrected! The forum did change it! What if I said I picked up a leaf in my yard the other day? That is all lowercase leaf.

 

[hybridbear]

[Also Also, this forum keeps converting "L eaf" (no space) to "LEAF" and the tilde to "-". What's the way to avoid this?]

-Nate

As for Leaf being converted to LEAF, that is a function of your browser and/or computer not the forum.

EDIT: I stand corrected! The forum did change it! What if I said I picked up a leaf in my yard the other day? That is all lowercase leaf.

I don't think you can avoid it. It seems that this entire collection of forums behaves this way.