I chose to buy an electric car (not a hybrid) because I have an off-grid solar setup for my house, and I wanted to have an alternative to a gas-only-vehicle when prices get extremely high; and I wanted to take full advantage of my solar system setup, when I have extra solar-generated-power after my house battery storage is full, and I am able to power the house loads that are connected to the system.
The extra solar power will be mostly during the months of April through September, when there is excess sunshine. My system reverts to the grid when my house batteries reach a certain low point of charge.
When there is enough sun, and my batteries are charged high enough around 90%, and the demand of the loads can be met, I can plug my car into the solar system-- I have a dedicated 120 volts outlet to charge the car. There are 2 settings in the car at 120 volts of about 800 watts and 1200 watts. The former setting provides about 3 miles an hour charge, and the latter about 4 or 5 miles an hour. The car can charge up to about 280 mile range. I don't want to delete my house batteries to charge the car, because the original intent was to power the house loads, and not go back to the grid when my batteries are low (usually during the night), so I have to keep an eye on how deleted the batteries might get. I may only charge the car 5 or 6 hours during a sunny day. That's only about 20 to 25 mile range. I mostly want to drive the car locally.
If I need to charge the car more often and quickly, I installed a dedicated 240 volt connection to the grid, and this will charge the car at about 27 miles an hour. I don't know how much that is costing me.
I drove to South haven, Michigan, and I charged at the "Red E" charger. I used my phone's camera to scan the QR code at the charger by which I went to the website of that charger. I put in my information and credit card, and it told me how many watts it had charged the car and the cost while charging. I could stop the charge at any time with my phone. I did it 3 different times. The third time it cost me $2.32 for a 41 miles charge. That didn't seem too bad. The mileage shown in the car isn't exactly what you will get, for it depends on how fast you drive the car.
I'm charged an extra 150. annual fee for my plates (Indiana's EV fee). I'm not opposed to a fee, since I'm not paying a gasoline tax. The annual fee is based on an assumed 10,000 miles of driving a year--which is about double what I'll probably drive it. I had to pay the full 150. when I bought the car in May, and I have to pay it again when I renew my plates for October. Why wasn't it prorated between May and October? I asked the BMV about this, and they said fees aren't prorated. So I got charged the full annual fee for part of a year, and it's based on mileage I don't drive. Not a good incentive for buying EVs.
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