E-Car in everyday life without its own charging option: usually problem-free

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Electric cars are ideal for the city, but they don't work for city dwellers. After all, very few people in big cities have their own parking space or garage. And no wallbox means no electric car. This or something similar is the negative stereotype. The reality is different. At least for me. I live in a high-density area in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. There are almost two million inhabitants here, thousands of commuters struggle through the Elbe tunnel and over the Elbe bridges in the mornings and evenings. It can also get pretty crowded on buses and trains.

I would like to report on how it works with electric cars without my own wallbox – and without any problems. My experiences are not intended to be a lecture; I am aware that my situation in Hamburg is not universal. Nevertheless, many practical approaches can be transferred not only to other cities, but also to rural Germany.

2013: How it all began

First of all, the first part of the first sentence in this text is only partially true. Electric cars are not ideal for the city, they are just better. It makes a difference to the air we breathe when fewer and fewer vehicles emit local exhaust fumes. For me, however, the best means of transportation is – – the bicycle. Nothing is faster for the routes between the Alster and the Elbe. It's also important for desk workers to move with the power of their own bodies. Sitting is the new smoking.

The answer to everyday life with the electric test cars, whose era began for me in February 2013 with a Nissan Leaf and continued over the course of the year with a Smart electric drive, a Tesla Model S85, a Renault Zoe and a VW e-Up, is banal: I rely on publicly accessible charging infrastructure. By accessible, I mean that private parking spaces with charging points, for example in front of a DIY store, can also be used 24/7. Hamburg started building a basic public network early on. The money for this came from the 2009 economic stimulus package II, for example, and always from the tax coffers of the wealthy city state.

Initially, there was only AC

My approximately 400 km long standard test drive for test cars via the A1 highway westwards to Bremen, further north via the A27 towards Bremerhaven or Cuxhaven and back via federal and country roads through the old country was still adventurous at the beginning. I remember this trip with the early Renault Zoe very well. It could only charge with alternating current, but with 22 kW power. There were no fast DC charging parks; even Tesla's Superchargers had been announced by Elon Musk, but had not yet been built.

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The challenge in these early days between 2013 and 2015 was the combination of low availability and poor roaming. The universal activation of charging power using an app, RFID card or ad hoc is now reliable, but the idea of roaming is currently being radically undermined by the wide spread of prices offered by operators. Hopefully this won't be the case for much longer.

Enthusiasm for the triple charger

The enthusiasm in the scene about the first triple chargers is almost incomprehensible today. A DC charging station that simultaneously served direct current according to the European CCS(Combined Charging System) and the Japanese Chademo standard and also had an AC output was the cause of euphoria at the digital regulars' table and in the charging station gossip. That is now a thing of the past; the world of publicly accessible charging infrastructure is developing dynamically. The network of AC and DC charging points is now sufficiently dense in many (not all) regions of Germany. Whether urban or not. For example, there are only a few service stations or car parks on highways where DC parks have not yet been installed. At the same time, demand has increased enormously. There are heaps of electric cars in Hamburg, from the used VW e-Golf and the Tesla Model Y to the Porsche Taycan Sports Turismo. There are also electric cabs, car-sharing electric cars and a large number of plug-in hybrids.

The status quo

At many AC charging points, there are cars with charging plugs where it is obvious that more is being parked than charged. This is especially true at night. During the day, between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m., parking time is limited to three hours by the city. Provided your own charging contract does not have a blocking fee, you can combine the pleasant with the useful at night and "charge park", as I like to call it.

Because the contract we often use in the editorial office has a blocking fee after four hours of AC charging, I have to do without this option. That's standard in the industry. I test the AC power at some point during the day when demand is lower. Does the test car actually manage the promised eleven or 22 kW charging power? How high are the charging losses?

More energy content means more flexibility

Since 2020, both the average energy content of the traction batteries and the DC charging capacity of many electric cars have been high and continue to grow. A Kia EV3 that I recently drove has a capacity of 81 kWh, three times as much as a Kia Soul from 2014 with 27 kWh. The current trend for me is for these two reasons: DC only.

Sometimes the range of electric cars is so long that the 400 km standard lap is too short. Checking the DC charging performance is a very important part of a test. Preferably not just once, but several times. This goes so far that I tell the car manufacturers not to hand over the test cars fully charged or 80 percent charged, but rather with a low charge level. Simply eating up kilometers to drain the battery makes no sense.