Anxiety about charging (thinking about cancelling p85d order)

[Super_Popular]

Little off topic but driving in the snow a P85D or the boring D is the way to go. This guy is awesome and he lives in Boulder.

P85D up the Hole in the Wall Driveway - YouTube

 

[100thMonkey]

we've traveled all over the northwest, well off the SC path. if you are excited about the car (and who isn't!), you'll make it work. it may take some adjustment, but I'm pretty sure you will make the adjustment for driving the best sedan on the planet! these cars are so fun to drive it will surely make up for the occasional hassle of working around home charging limitations. what I would do: go purchase a robust industrial gauge extension cord rated for 240V or have one made up by EVSEupgrade.com or others and use the 240V adapter the car comes with and run the cord to the dryer plug when you need a faster charge than 110 V will give you. don't plan on using public chargers on any kind of regular basis as long term parking in public charging stalls is a serious pet peeve for other EV owners. if you plug into 110 at home in the garage, all the time, you might be very surprised how well it works out! initially you will probably be pushing it with all the canyon carving to be had around Boulder, but eventually, the joy riding stints will subside, somewhat and I bet you'll be fine.

 

[techmaven]

I lived on 110v, 8 amp charging for a while. If you drive 20-30 miles a day, you can probably live on 110v charging. 10 hours overnight gives you about 30 miles of rated range, or 20 miles of aggressive driving. If you work from home, and you didn't use your car for 1 day, you actually get about 36 hours of charging - overnight, 12 hours, day, 12 hours, next overnight, 12 hours. Even at 110v, that's over 90 rated miles of range. So if you work at home, 110v charging might be enough.

With a 240v, 24 amp L2 charger (the slowww kind), then 10 hours of overnight charging gets you about 120 rated miles of range.

You actually don't want the Supercharger too close, as it won't help that much with long distance travel.

 

[Drucifer]

I have had a Chevy Volt for the last 3 years, and it sounds like the perfect solution for your situation, IMHO. If you buy a used one (say 2011-2013 model), you can test the waters about charging and range and be really clear if a Tesla will work. If you figure out you can make a Tesla work in 3-6 months with the Volt, then change up with relatively little financial outlay or loss.

 

[Cottonwood]

Little off topic but driving in the snow a P85D or the boring D is the way to go. This guy is awesome and he lives in Boulder.

P85D up the Hole in the Wall Driveway - YouTube

That's me, I live in Pagosa, but also have a house in Boulder. PM me with an e-mail and we can talk privately if you want.

As others have said, you can probably get by with a 120 Volt outlet giving you 75 miles per 24 hours. If you are going to be in the rental for more than 6 months, paying for a 240 Outlet (50, 30, or even 20 Amp circuit) probably makes sense.

The Nissan dealer in Boulder is very EV friendly. Give then a call and ask for Nigel. They have a CHAdeMO that works well, but is only 20 kW.

Good luck!

 

[Saghost]

You will just need to "limit" your spirited driving to every other day or every third day, to allow 60+ hrs of charging to refill the battery. Yes, you won't be able to drive 200 mi per day, but you should still be able to get 300-400 mi per week, just not back-to-back driving days.

That's only if the OP plans to drive a couple hundred miles on driving days. If they only drive 20-40 miles per day, charging on 110V every day should work out fine even with driving every day.
Walter

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Also being from Boulder myself and the Upscale Hippy granola city that it is, i would not be surprised that a TESLA SC wouldn't be far down the line from being installed.

I found this thread concerning a Tesla SC in Boulder recently. I guess the map has said "Coming Soon" for over a year now...but there will probably be one in Boulder eventually.

 

[ReddyLeaf]

That's only if the OP plans to drive a couple hundred miles on driving days. If they only drive 20-40 miles per day, charging on 110V every day should work out fine even with driving every day.
Walter

Oops, yes, I re-read my post and it wasn't clear.

 

[Eclectic]

Since I work from home and don't commute anywhere (and Boulder is small), I will most likely use the p85d to explore the Boulder/Denver area and outside of town. I expect around 50-60 miles per day since it will be fun to drive. This means I'm more oriented towards getting the best performance out of the p85d with fast acceleration. I've heard its best to get 70%+ charge for best results. So if I only have access to a house charger at 110v, I suppose technically I could survive. But would charging on only 110v lower performance at all?

I think it all depends on what you want from a $100k+ car.

If you placed the order because you are an EV supporter and are willing to pay a premium because it's an EV, then you probably made the right choice and should go through with the purchase. Inherent in that, though, is the understanding that you are going to be inconvenienced, to a serious degree at times, for having made this choice. The P85D is a very fun car to drive and that makes up for some of the inconvenience.

If, however, you are a premium car buyer first and foremost, I think you are wasting your money. There are plenty of other great choices out there in the ICE world. We bought our P85D because we live in an area that is full of EV infrastructure. If we lived in an area without that infrastructure, we'd have bought an ICE. At this price point, unless you are an EV-angelical, you shouldn't make such a core compromise about being able to drive the car without anxiety.

 

[efusco]

Others have hinted at it, but the key here, IMO, is knowing exactly what your options are at the location where you're physically going to be living and parking your car each day/night. If you work from home and if there's even a 120v option you can be sure to have access to on a nightly basis, then I do not think you need to cancel. Spending a day in or around Denver or Silverthorn area and you can top up at a SC and still just be a little low when you get home. Someone quoted 60 miles rated range in 20 hours, in my experience, in all but the coldest weather (which you'll get in Boulder) you will actually get closer to 4 miles per hour of rated range on a 120v outlet (80 miles in 20 hours).

Looking at Plugshare, there is a Chademo charger at the Nissan dealer in Boulder that, I bet, you could establish a friendly relationship with (bring doughnuts once a month) and use when you need to in a pinch. There are also innumerable J1772 chargers in the town and while not super fast, will give you around 18 MPH range per hour--thus a full charge will take 12-14 hours depending upon your start and finish levels. Depending upon where you're living, it may be practical to leave the car at one of those for several hours to top up charge when you need to. Again, you need a map and an address to see what's practical.

And, as pointed out...even if it is inconvenient for a while, I think Boulder will have a SC soon. If you don't do a lot of daily driving and can wait it out a year, I think the SC will be there.

 

[Father Bill]

You should also look into this http://www.quick220.com/220_catalog/20-ampere-systems.html?gclid=CPLu6tLWzsUCFcskgQod-TIAUg It allows 220 Charging if you have 2 non GFCI 110 outlets. It is not full blown 240 but is significantly faster than 110. I am looking into getting this for my Condo, but I haven't gotten it yet. Many people in the Leaf community have used it to great success. YMMV

 

[Cottonwood]

Other thoughts:

1. Most of the Rec centeres in Boulder have 30 Amp J1772s at a nominal price. Get a charge while you work out or go for a swim.
2. The new JCC opening in a year in Boulder will have free 48 or 70 Amp J1772 charging for members. Get a membership there and charge while you work out.

 

[Super_Popular]

Other thoughts:

1. Most of the Rec centeres in Boulder have 30 Amp J1772s at a nominal price. Get a charge while you work out or go for a swim.
2. The new JCC opening in a year in Boulder will have free 48 or 70 Amp J1772 charging for members. Get a membership there and charge while you work out.

I think he'd be fine with a 110, or find a house with a dryer in the garage or ask if he can put a 14-50 nema in the garage.

Most breaker boxes are in the garage so it's pretty easy to do.

Most landlords are not going to care if it will keep their house rented for a long term.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

For your lifestyle wouldn't a BMW I8, or 2016 Acura NSX work better for you?

Too bad they don't make a ridiculously fast version of the Volt.

 

[Kingside]

Hey all! OP here. Wow what an amazing community and great info!

Based on the info provided I believe I will be cancelling my order of the p85d.

It appears charging without a 240v house plugin or SC nearby is just not that great. I agree it can be managed with a 110v, but this also adds a lot more charging related stress to my life.

Also, I think it's more practical to wait for the Model X to launch and buy a used p85d perhaps 8 months down the road once depreciated. If the Model X has much better range, it will depreciate the p85d further.

The main issue I see is the SC Network is actually pretty poor. If you look at the 2015/2016 maps, most SC's are outside the city and may not even be in certain cities at all.

For someone like myself that travels a lot, it's just not that feasible to rely on 110v.

Any additional info would be appreciated, but at this point I think I've made my decision to cancel my p85d order :/

 

[Cottonwood]

For someone like myself that travels a lot, it's just not that feasible to rely on 110v.

Any additional info would be appreciated, but at this point I think I've made my decision to cancel my p85d order :/

If most of your travel is by air, then the Denver Supercharger is near the airport and a perfect location.

I'd keep the P85D on order; I love mine; I don't think that you would have much of a problem.

Do what is comfortable for you!

 

[roblab]

Any additional info would be appreciated, but at this point I think I've made my decision to cancel my p85d order :/

Well, this makes me sad.

In my experience, after you get over the fear of charging, it gets to be fun and well worth it. I personally would figure out how to run a 220 line to where I need it (like when I go visit relatives), or figure which motels offer a 14-50 outlet (and some will install the outlet just to keep your business). It isn't that hard: It's the fear, uncertainty, and doubt. We all know that you have to ignore that, jump in, and enjoy the ride.

I hope you manage to get the car. I wish I could come visit and share and give ideas and encouragement. But whatever, sooner or later, now that you've looked through the window into the future, you'll go electric.

 

[Super_Popular]

If the OP travels a lot buying a $125K car really does not make sense unless he's loaded.

He will know when the time is right!

 

[RyanT]

It seems most people have range anxiety before they get the car, but once you have it you realize how far 265 miles is. I went through the same thing when we ordered a model s. We take a lot of road trips and so far range hasn't been an issue with the supercharger/chademo network and bathroom/food breaks.

 

[joer00]

I am living at our condo without a charger for over two years and >60.000 miles . It is a pain sometimes, but it gets better every day especially with Chademo recently growing fast (in my area). I charge now about 80 % Chademo, 15 % SC and 5 % L2. The good thing is that I drove 60k miles almost for free.

I take any inconvenience for the joy the P85D gives me every day. If convenient charging would be so important, I am sure I would find a business close which would let me install a HPWC on my costs. If you spend 120k for car that should not be an issue ! Talk to your favorite pub or restaurant, maybe somebody even puts a Chademo in with a little financial help from you.