ROMA – Lights and shadows on electrified mobility in California. Casting some doubts on the electrical transition in Tesla’s homeland is a recent study by the University of California by researchers Scott Hardman and Gil Tal, published by the authoritative magazine “Nature Energy”. According to the analysis of the two researchers, a considerable part of the customers of fully electric cars (Bev) in California, 19%, said they regretted their choice and returned to owning a model with a heat engine, as dissatisfied with autonomy and even unable to adapt their mobility needs with the use of a Bev vehicle, including the charging phases. A share that, in the study, becomes even greater, reaching about 21%, if the electrified car in question is a plug-in hybrid type (Phev). According to the answers provided by the users interviewed, one of the most considerable problems for users of electric and electrified cars is the voltage of the current in domestic systems, which in California as in other American states is normally 120 Volts, unlike the 240 present. in the thorns of the houses of the Old Continent. The outlets of homes (classified as level 1) are therefore insufficient in 70% of cases, a factor that does not improve even in the parking lots of workplaces. Furthermore, the problem also persists with public charging stations, because, according to the study by Hardman and Tal, users are not used to using them, as they have always considered parking at petrol stations “a matter of minutes”.
The problem of charging also exists for Phev vehicles, but in this case it refers to the difficulty of restoring an adequate reserve of fully electric mobility, compared to the advantages obtained at a fiscal level with the choice of a Phev. Music in California changes completely, however, in the world of electric cars of owners of a Tesla model who, according to the study, benefit from a difference like “day versus night”. The customers of the various Model 3 and Model S of the Elon Musk factory are in fact used to using superchargers capable of delivering direct current at 480 Volts that allow you to fill up in just over an hour. The research, carried out by interviewing those in California who had purchased a Bev or Phev vehicle between 2012 and 2019, also highlighted a link between the higher rate of “infidelity” in families consisting of two people and with one or two cars of owners, while electrification is more appreciated by larger families (five members and more) and in the case in which the car park is larger (four or more units). Finally, it should be noted that the percentage of men who decide to abandon the electric or plug-in hybrid car was higher than the “faithful”, while women are consistent with their choice and retrace their steps less easily. (maurilio rigo)
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