Category: Articles & Commentaries

Discussions on topics of interest to drivers concerning things they may not understand about their vehicles as well as articles on the future of the auto industry.

How long does it take to charge an electric car?

EV logoHow long does it take to charge

Two weeks ago I changed my ride. And since I have been asked several times how long does it take to charge? Yes, its still an electric vehicle (EV) — I hope to never again put gasoline into a car!

Anyway, the question surprised me each time, as there is little difference one car to the next in the practical, every day sense. But it finally gelled in my mind as lack of information — still — in the general public. So, here’s an attempt to add to what, in truth, is a wealth of information on line.

The everyday

I’m going to divide this into two groups, and the first one is the day to day alluded to earlier. There are two key aspects to this part of the equation: 1) how far do you drive daily and 2) can you charge at home?

  • On an everyday basis, an EV can be charged with a standard wall plug, 110/120 volt. Here if you’re starting at fully discharged, it will take several days to fully charge (please stop short of 100% — see here for why).
  • A 220/240 volt plug can be used. In this case, from fully discharged (also, don’t do this!!) to 90% (for the life of the battery) will take about 8 hours. Overnight!

Home chargerHere’s where the distance driven every day is important, and in truth, few of us pay any attention to this. Most EVs today will go 250 miles, but you’ll want to save some on either end, so assume 220. If your commute is 30 miles round trip, you can go a week on a single charge and a 220/240 volt outlet or Level 2 home charger is ideal!

However, if you drive only 10 miles a day, shuttling kids to school, picking up groceries, etc., you can plug your car into a 110/120 volt outlet, which is Level 1 charging every night and never run out of “gas”!

This is the biggest deviation from driving a gas powered car — you can’t simply pull into a service station and fill up in a few minutes. But its truly not difficult to manage in the day-to-day.

Long distance driving

Here’s where the rubber meets the road. If you’re constantly behind the wheel, be it for business or pleasure, you need the Level 3 charging stations that, while still being built out, are actually easy to find. And, let’s face it, Tesla has the broadest network.

Level 3 stations pour power into an EV fast enough to get your tank 80% full in 20-30 minutes, depending on the vehicle. The charge rate drops off dramatically after 80%, so its more efficient time-wise to stop charging and get back on the road. Again, see more on that here.

What you need to know is the range of an EV you may wish to get into, and how fast it will accept a charge. The car is in control — a Chevy Bolt will not charge faster the the 50 kW it can accept, even at a 150 kW charger! But the vast majority of available EVs charge at up to 150 kW.

So that’s it for now, not that I’ve answered every possible question that can come up. Hopefully this has been helpful to you, even as I wrote as much to reconnect myself to the proper answer when I’m asked again, as I inevitably will be.

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be litera

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2024/10/how-long-does-it-take-to-charge-an-electric-car/

DashboardSymbols.com getting a facelift

DashboardSymbols.comDashboardSymbols.com

Earlier this year, we noted in a post that DashboardSymbols.com was then hosting nearly 1,000 symbols and indicators. We have since run past the 1,000 barrier rather handily.

This got us thinking about how this impacts our visitors. How is anyone supposed to find anything in what has become a quagmire? One solution, implemented several years ago, is pages dedicated to individual manufacturers, and it is how we recommend searching the site. The other is by color.

Well, we are combining the two.

Our main page, which hosts all the images that are not text, remains a difficult mess to get through and is organized by technology categories. However, this assumes a driver even knows what tech category the mystery light he or she is searching for belongs to! This is a massive oversite on our part.

We recently updated our Infiniti page, which required but a single change to a page that is already one of the simplest on the site. That said, it still holds over 80 entries.

The result is a commitment to re-ordering everything on the site by color, and the Infiniti page is the first to reflect this. Others will follow.

It will be a long slog, as there are about 50 pages that will need the work. But the work will get done, and we sincerely hope that it simplifies your experience.

Cars are changing, and among those changes is the growing number of symbols and indicators that will invariably show up on your dashboard or instrument panel. Every year, new features are added to vehicles, each of which is accompanied by a new symbol or symbols and likely a new acronym.

At DashboardSymbols.com, our aim is to help you understand what is happening to your vehicle at the first sign of trouble – a new warning light illuminated on your instrument panel. Its all here on this website. Our first intention is to bring the latest technologies down to earth and understandable for everyday drivers.

You can see the Infiniti page here.

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2024/10/dashboardsymbols-com-getting-a-facelift/

Infiniti dashboard symbols page gets a single change

Infiniti LogoInfiniti dashboard symbols

Our update of the Infiniti dashboard symbols page resulted in a single change. Not only is there very little to report, the one actual change was nothing more than a color swap.

The Pop-up Hood indicator may now ne seen in red. The pop-up hood system is designed as a pedestrian safety system akin to the Pop up hood indicatorinterior air bags. The symbol warns that the system is not available, either due to a malfunction or because it has already been used. The light appears as the front of a vehicle with the hood separated or broken from the windshield.

The pop up hood is used – that is, blown open by explosives – if a front impact is detected that is equal to or greater than that of a pedestrian and between about 16 to 34 mph (25 to 55 km/h) or curb or hole, etc. If the system has not been activated, have a qualified service shop or your dealer repair the system. If it has been used, it will need to be reset by the shop or dealer.

All that said, we believe the real reason behind the dearth of new symbols is a lack of new technology currently being employed by the company. In fact, the current Infiniti line up lacks even a single electrified vehicle. This despite the fact that parent company Nissan has been and continues to be at the forefront of electric vehicles (EVs) among Japanese car makers.

Vision QeVision Qe

Signaling a change in the near future at Infiniti is the Vision Qe, a concept EV likely to hit the market in calendar 2025 as the company’s first pure EV and the first of a new line of EVs.

Infiniti‘s website says “These new models embody our evolved design language. Inspired by Japanese design philosophies, they deliver artistry in motion and pave the way for us to achieve our goal of an electrified range by 2030.”

The last few words strike us as a bit of mistranslation, but there is no question that the car’s design is a radical departure from past models.

Infiniti‘s dashboard symbols page is here, likely to see its own radical departures as the new models come to market.

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2024/10/infiniti-dashboard-symbols-page-gets-a-single-change/

Hyundai, Kia, Genesis back up entry page overhaul is complete

Kia LogoBack up entry page overhaul

We just completed the last step of a Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis back up entry page overhaul. The intent is to fully separate the three manufacturers who now have way too many back up entry processes.

As a first step, we separated Genesis, admittedly the simplest of the three. Overall, the page used to have only a handful of entry processes, made necessary when the battery in the key fob dies. But Hyundai in particular seems to add a new one each year!

The final step was to move Kia to its own page, leaving parent company Hyundai to populate the original. Its done, and we believe that the result is a cleaner and simpler user experience across all three vehicle lines.

And given that we have 18 videos from all three manufacturers lumped together, it’s likely time to separate them as well…

Smart Keys or Intelligent Keys, or Access Keys – or whatever the manufacturer of your chooses to call them – that let you into your car and start it with just a touch use up their internal batteries at alarming rates, catching busy drivers unawares – even though the car had tried to warn you.

Our goal is to help you feel safe – and keep you moving or get you moving if at all possible – rather than leave you fretting whenever your key fob stops working. The instructions for getting into and starting most keyless start cars can be found on our pages – without roadside assistance.

The new Genesis page is here.

The new Kia page is here.

And the original page, now belonging solely to Hyundai, is here.

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2024/09/hyundai-kia-genesis-back-up-entry-page-overhaul-is-complete/

Low coolant symbol recycled for electrical equipment

Kia LogoLow coolant symbol

In a previous post, we congratulated Kia for recycling a diesel symbol for use in an electrical vehicle (EV) to describe a similar job, rather than invent something new, which would add to the mountain of symbols that already exist.

Here, we get to congratulate them again with a low coolant symbol.

Low Coolant IndicatorKia is using one of the original Low Coolant symbols not for a gasoline or diesel engine but for the cooling system of an electrical inverter. The symbol looks like a rectangle with a mouth at the top and a wavy line across the bottom, meant to represent liquid.

The company could have thought up a brand new symbol to describe cooling an electrical inverter, but chose not to add to the 1,000+ symbols already in use.

Cars are changing, and among those changes is the growing number of symbols and indicators that will invariably show up on your dashboard or instrument panel. Every year, new features are added to vehicles, each of which is accompanied by a new symbol or symbols and likely a new acronym.

At DashboardSymbols.com, our aim is to help you understand what is happening to your vehicle at the first sign of trouble – a new warning light illuminated on your instrument panel. Its all here on this website. Our first intention is to bring the latest technologies down to earth and understandable for everyday drivers.

Kia‘s symbols page is here and the inverter can be seen on this page.

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2024/09/low-coolant-symbol-recycled-for-electrical-equipment/

EV or gas? A little something to help you decide

EV logoEV or gas

I had two conversations recently, back-to-back, that really came down EV or gas. Bear in mind, I drive an electric vehicle or EV.

The first was with a waitress I’ve known for some time but hadn’t seen in a while and her “car story” that I’d thus missed. It seems her 5-year old 3-Series BMW with 50,000 miles on it simply died one day. Mid-motion. The diagnosis was a blown transmission that would cost $15,000 to repair! She ditched the car.

Being a bit of a smart @$$ and feeling a little smug, which may come back to bite me, I asked, “do you know what an EV doesn’t have?” She actually didn’t know so I answered my question: “a transmission!” (So that you know, an EV’s electric motor is connected directly to the wheels.)

She then added that her husband’s Audi goes through a quart of oil every 1,000 miles and I noted that my last gas car was also an Audi with the same engine and it too used oil at the same rate. Then, the bartender chimed in that his 100,000 mile Volvo also uses a quart every thousand miles.

I then asked, “you know what else an EV doesn’t have?”

Had to be done…

And if you are curious about our opinion on a big issue holding back EV adoption, click here. And we have a primer on EV charging here.

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2024/09/ev-or-gas-a-little-something-to-help-you-decide/

Its got to be the plug. Its about the plug!

Charge image 2About the plug

A friend passed along a New York Times article titled Should I Get a Hybrid or Go Full Electric? The title is linked. After reading it, and combined with additional information that was already running around my head, I emailed him back remarking that its all about the plug!

Two hybrids

The article explains the two types of hybrids: conventional and plug-in. Conventional hybrids have a battery that powers an electric motor to augment the gasoline engine. It also incorrectly seems to suggest that energy from braking alone charges the battery, when in fact the gasoline engine charges the battery continuously.

A plug-in hybrid has a larger battery that can powering car solely with electricity for short distances, on average 40 to 50 miles. And they can be charged using the same Level 1 or Level 2 chargers that EVs use. High power Level 3 charging is off the table, which the article misses.

But this is not intended as a critique of the article…

So, back to the point. The battery in a plug-in hybrid will be charged by the gasoline engine if its power is drained, operating exactly as a conventional hybrid.

Imagine you are the owner of a plug-in hybrid. Theoretically, if you drive less than the battery’s range, you can go indefinitely with using any gasoline. What’s needed now is a convenient place to plug in, and the willingness to, in effect, manage an EV!

Further, in the scenario described, a plug-in hybrid needs to be plugged in daily. A full EV only needs a charge maybe once or twice a week!

This is what was rummaging through my mind. The European auto market is down, way down, and only one segment one segment is up, albeit slightly. And its the conventional hybrid market.

Its all about the plug!

Plugging in is the change. As a people, we’ve grown accustomed to driving and stopping randomly for a fill-up. The plug is the change of religion. Everything else is essentially the same: a steering wheel, accelerator pedal, brake pedal, and on and on and on.

Hybrid Charging Station SignIn the interim, the EV market continues to grow, and despite problems in Europe, faster than anyone imagined, exposing more and more drivers to the “new” religion.

The last hurdle will ultimately be more places to actually use the plug!

Heck, even EVs have warning lights. Lots of them. See our page here.

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2024/09/its-got-to-be-the-plug-its-about-the-plug/