A new electric vehicle owner faced the harsh reality of charging at home with a standard wall outlet. TikToker @everythingsux._ relayed her shock and dismay with her car’s charging time.
Her video begins showing off her red 2022 Kia Niro charging in a driveway. The brand’s standard J1722 adapter can be seen plugged into the front of the car. Then, she begins to narrate her gripe in the clip.
“So I got a new car. Electric. I’m charging it at my house right now,” she explains. “It’s the first time I’m charging it, the battery was at like 30%. Do you know how long it’s going to take for it to be fully charged?”
The TikToker then enters her vehicle and shows off the dashboard information. According to the Kia Niro’s system, the driver is 73 hours and 30 minutes away from her vehicle’s battery being fully charged. Additional information indicates the car is only receiving 0.9 kilowatts per hour.
“73 hours!” she screams into the camera as she shows the display. “73 hours! Gonna be here forever,” she says in what sounds like a defeated tone.
What to consider before buying an electric car
Take it from me, a former electric car owner—there are a lot of things to consider before transitioning to the #electrified life.
You’ll need to be realistic with your daily mileage and travel goals. If you don’t have a place to reliably charge at home, then you may want to stay away from getting one. Sure, there are fast charging options out there, but that can quickly cost more than filling up with gas.
If you’re planning to go on road trips, then make sure there are plenty of charging options on whatever route you’re taking. And make sure you set aside an extra 25% of time to tack onto your journey to factor in for charging times.
Electric vehicles’ charging levels
Next, you’re going to want to know the difference between level 1, level 2, and level 3 charging. Level 3 is what’s going to cost you. These puts a lot of juice in your whip in a relatively short amount of time. Many vehicles in about 45 minutes can go from 0 to 80% charge.
Level 2 chargers use NEMA-1450 plugs. You know, the ones you see massive washers and dryers plug into? This’ll fully top off your car from 0 to 100% anywhere from 3-5 hours, depending on the size of your battery, that is. You’ve probably seen these J1772 chargers on a variety of electric vehicles. Companies like Chargepoint, Blink, Volta, and others offer level 2 chargers.
Level 1 charging
And then, there’s level 1, which uses standard 12-volt wall outlets.
These are the same ports that require a couple of hours to fill a small cell phone battery. Unsurprisingly, these take forever to top off your whip.
It’s fine if you want to add a few miles and you know you’re going to be somewhere for a whole day. Or maybe your car is parked on a long trip and you’re out and about for an entire day. Over a 24-hour period, you could add some serious mileage to your whip, but it’s not ideal for daily driving.
@everythingsux._’s video is a clear example of this.
@everythingsux._ 50% charge is perfectly fine right? Right? #evcar #kianiro2022 ♬ original sound – Everything Sucks
So what should she do?
Depending on what her living situation is, she should look into installing a NEMA 14-50 outlet. This will allow her to charge at a higher capacity.
However, this isn’t as simple as just installing a different outlet. She needs to ensure the circuitry in her home has enough amp hours to handle high capacity charging. Newer houses shouldn’t have this problem. But houses with older circuit boards are a different story.
Consulting with an electrician to get this installed will ultimately help you in your battle with range anxiety. And if you do get a NEMA 14-50 outlet placed in your home, getting a charger that works with it is next. Thankfully, there are plenty of solutions that won’t break the bank you can find online.
Commenters criticize an all-electric Kia
There were throngs of users who made quips about how fast it is to fill their cars up with gasoline.
“Takes me about 73 seconds to fill my car with fuel,” one wrote.
Another penned, “takes about 10 mins to fill mine up with gas.”
Others ridiculed @everythingsux._ lack of knowledge when it comes to EV charging speeds. “Did you plug it into one of those little white blocks that came with the iPhone?” one person joked.
Another replied, “Girl you’re charging at .9kw!!! An iPhone charger would work better.”
“Use TYPE C CHARGER for Samsung,” someone else said.
However, others offered pragmatic solutions to her issue. “Go to a public charger girl and use the home charger at night to save,” someone else said.
While the aforementioned solution is one that’ll help her in the short term, it’s not ideal. The real goal is to have a reliable home Level 2 charger, as echoed by this TikTok user. “Before buying an EV (which I do recommend), you need to do some research. Getting a level 2 charger is step one,” they said.
Someone else penned, “You need to get a level 2 charger installed.”
For another user though, she just made a mistake buying the car: “First mistake , buying a Kia . 2nd mistake, buying an electric Kia.”
One TikToker thinks that pure EV technology pales in comparison to other car tech. “EVs are such an inconvenience. Even with a level 2 charger. Hybrid is the way to go!” they said.
Some hybrid cars may be more environmentally friendly
And the aforementioned TikToker may have a point.
The greenest car of 2024 is a hybrid model that’s been around for a long time: the 2024 Toyota Prius Prime, which blends pure EV driving with gasoline. This is due to it requiring less lithium-ion mining to produce massive batteries. Combine this with its legendarily efficient hybrid drivetrain, and you get serious MPGs. Add in a home-charging solution and you could go for a very long time without ever having to top off with gasoline.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Kia and @everythingsux._ via email for further comment.
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