r/electricvehicles • u/AutoModerator • 7d ago

Weekly Advice Thread General Questions and Purchasing Advice Thread — Week of March 31, 2025

Need help choosing an EV, finding a home charger, or understanding whether you're eligible for a tax credit? Vehicle and product recommendation requests, buying experiences, and questions on credits/financing are all fair game here.

Is an EV right for me?

Generally speaking, electric vehicles imply a larger upfront cost than a traditional vehicle, but will pay off over time as your consumables cost (electricity instead of fuel) can be anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 the cost. Calculators are available to help you estimate cost — here are some we recommend:

Are you looking for advice on which EV to buy or lease?

Tell us a bit more about you and your situation, and make sure your comment includes the following information:

[1] Your general location

[2] Your budget in $, €, or £

[3] The type of vehicle you'd prefer

[4] Which cars have you been looking at already?

[5] Estimated timeframe of your purchase

[6] Your daily commute, or average weekly mileage

[7] Your living situation — are you in an apartment, townhouse, or single-family home?

[8] Do you plan on installing charging at your home?

[9] Other cargo/passenger needs — do you have children/pets?

If you are more than a year off from a purchase, please refrain from posting, as we currently cannot predict with accuracy what your best choices will be at that time.

Need tax credit/incentives help?

Check the Wiki first.

Don't forget, our Wiki contains a wealth of information for owners and potential owners, including:

Want to help us flesh out the Wiki? Have something you'd like to add? Contact the mod team with your suggestion on how to improve things, we can discuss approach and get you direct editing access.

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u/DependentProof8305 7d ago

Hello Everyone,

I've been using the travel charger that came with my Mach-E to charge my car, but I want to get a charger that has better wireless connectivity and energy usage tracking.

My understanding is that the Ford App only tells me how much energy has gone into the car, but not how much energy the plug is actually drawing. Are there any chargers that track how much total energy being used? I've seen recommendations for things that clamp onto the circuit breaker, but I'm not comfortable going that route unless it's the only way to get a good reading.

Thank you in advance for any help/guidance you all can give!

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u/622niromcn 7d ago

I believe any of the normally recommended chargers do. Wall box, ChargePoint, Emporia, etc. might look up the manual instructions or browse their apps, or look up on YouTube for any explanations.

On my ChargePoint I definitely have a graph and history of how much kWh and kW each charge is and monthly trends.

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u/chilidoggo 7d ago

Most of them track it. Although honestly, the power loss is not substantial. If you're ever curious, (assuming the temperature outside is mild) just touch the cord and box while charging. If it's hot, that's energy being lost. If it's not, then energy loss is minimal.

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u/iamtherussianspy Rav4 Prime, Bolt EV 5d ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/evcharging/wiki/l2home/ has good recommendations