Charging an electric vehicle at home is trivial, despite what skeptics think, and it is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH, easier than going to the gas station.
You'll want to have a 200 amp service to your house. A 100 amp service will work, but could crimp your usage if you are trying to run your air conditioning, washing machine, and car charging at the same time.
Your electrician just runs a separate 220 Volt, single phase line from your breaker box to a convenient point in your garage. The cost of that line will depend upon the relationship between your breaker box location and your garage. Then you need a ~$180 dollar charging station, which is smaller than a lunchbox. You usually mount it on your garage wall. It has a cord (you can get different lengths to suit your needs) to connect to the car's charging receptacle. The separate circuit will have its own breaker in case anything goes wrong with the charging unit.
When you pull into your garage, you just stick the charging cable into the car's charging receptacle, which is usually located in the rear of the car. Total time to plug in the car is at most 3-4 seconds. It charges overnight (and the charging process will shut itself off when the battery is topped up), or until you need to use the car next, and must disconnect the charging cord. Total time to unplug the car and stow the cable is about 1-2 seconds.
So, instead of waiting in line at a gas station, paying with a credit card or cash, you just spend a total of 4-6 seconds every time you pull your car in an out of your garage. You pay for your electricity at the end of the month, as part of your regular electricity bill.
You never have to worry if your car is gassed up. Just hop in your car and go every morning, knowing that your car is fully topped up. And when Russian hackers shut down your local gasoline pipeline, you have no worries. Of course, in a blackout, you can't charge. But note that electrical blackouts usually are shorter in duration than pipeline outages, unless you live in Texas. And, during a power outage, gasoline pumps don't work anyway. But you can usually charge your phones from your car during a blackout, unless you've totally run down your battery.
If you live in an apartment, where you can't modify the electricity, then it is much more difficult, and you have to go to a charging station. So, at present, electric cars are not great for apartment dwellers, or very urban city dwellers who must park on the street. But if you have your own garage and electricity service, then you will save yourself HOURS every year by the simplicity of home charging. Also, no tune ups or oil changes.
And the equivalent cost to power your car is, for almost everyone, lower than buying gasoline. If you live in a high gasoline tax state (California, NY, NJ, etc.), it is a significant savings over gas. In S. Carolina, it's less significant. And if you live in Europe, it is a no-brainer to get an electric car. That's why 40% of car sales in Europe over the last year were electric. Europeans take trains or planes for long distances, and so a cheaper electric car with a dinky 200 mile range is more than enough for the vast majority of Europeans, and is now cost competitive with gas in Europe.
Battery costs are coming down fast, and range will continue to go up. My own estimate, is that electric vehicles will have a total lower cost of ownership compared to gasoline in 5-7 years for almost everyone who owns their own garage, and can charge at home. Last year, Consumer Reports (not known to be a left-wing journalistic source) compared the cost of owning a Tesla Model 3 and a comparably priced BMW over a typical 10 year ownership period. The Tesla came out $13,000 ahead in total ownership cost, even though the started the same. Of course, BMW maintenance is very expensive. Now, I don't think the Model 3 is as luxurious as the comparable BMW. But you get the gist: lower energy costs and lower maintenance costs over time really add up.
People who think electric vehicles will not be successful aren't doing the math and aren't paying attention.
