[gorkish]

Siemens has a new product that basically bypasses this entire problem by installing as a mezzanine connector into the power meter. Called the ConnectDER https://connectder.com/

Regardless of what people will continue to claim, a 110V 15A outlet is really not enough. It's possible if you live your life on a strict schedule, drive very little, are very diligent about keeping your car plugged in, and don't mind having to go to a public charger routinely to sit for half an hour because you couldn't be bothered to hire an electrician one time to make the situation better for you in any possible way.

[Karrot_Kream]

Now obviously driving mileage is normally distributed. But that said, the average American drives ~ 12,785 mi / year [1]. This means, on average, 35.03 mi / day. If a 110V/15A outlet can offer 1.65 kW, and we assume a conservative 3 mi / kW, then you only need to charge for 7.08 hrs to offset your daily driving. Assuming 8 hours a day for charging, as long as you drive less than 40 mi / day you should charge your whole day of driving up, and even if you can't you're only going to use a bit more of the battery.

This doesn't seem to be particularly strict or diligent and it's based around average driving mileage. Our house came with an L2 charger box, but we drive much less than average in the US and it feels wasted on us. I run the charger once every 2-3 weeks or so and I'm fine.

[1]: https://smartfinancial.com/average-miles-driven-per-year

[Kirby64]

Averages don't really work when most folks driving tends to be pretty lumpy. An example I've experienced personally:

* Take a trip ~150mi round trip to a nearby town.

* Return home with car at relatively low state of charge (since, I started with ~80% SOC).

* Immediately next morning, I need to take a trip ~200mi

Couldn't do it if I was charging using 120V. I could do it even with relatively wimpy 240V (20A), though.

[Karrot_Kream]

It would be interesting to do look at broader survey data (maybe I'll do that this weekend) and see how driving mileage is distributed. Nobody in my circles ever drives longer than 20 mi. one way regularly, and even then most never more than 10 mi. one way regularly. Of course I live in a somewhat-walkable metro area adjacent to suburbia.

Sure if you have the need for bursty travel (emergency helping a relative in another part of the state maybe, picking up friends from a regional airport, etc) a 240V/20A charger would work much better. But as long as you can find a fast charger along your route this shouldn't be a huge factor. The argument is that most average travel needs can be taken care of by L1 chargers and L2s and L3s can help usecases further out of the average. But I admit, my assumption of normality on driving mileage is just an assumption and it may just be more pareto distributed.

[mbushey]

Really? I have a Nissan Leaf and a Tesla Model Y. I alternate using the same outlet to keep both of them fully charged. The Leaf only charges at home, and I only use Superchargers for the Y when I'm on road trips. I already have 220V in the garage, it's just not worth spending a few hundred on a 220v charger as 110v meets my needs completely. The only reason that I might go 220v would be if I install solar panels and want to dump more power into the cars during daylight hours.

[turtlebits]

It all depends on your use case. EV's aren't for everyone.

I charge at work, and L1 charging was fine for me when I was WFH during covid. I don't bother using outside chargers because L2 is too slow for short trips and fast charging is expensive.

[aeternum]

110V 15A is plenty for many users. Like anything else, driving range needed is a bell-curve. You can make the situation much better for many with just access to 110V.