Apt Charging Station vs. Public Paid Charging Stations

[glusc2002]

I dont have a Tesla Super charging station thats free near by, at least not convenient on a daily basis. I have the plugshare app which i fully intend to use once my car is delivered later this month but was curious for other MS owners if they use public chargers over installing stations in their garage.

I realize theres a cost for public stations like $1/hr, compared to approx $200 install in your apt garage. I actually not sure if the apt unattached garage electricity meter is connected to my apt or if its part of the electricity meter of the outside lighting. Does anyone have experience with this situation. If its free, then I could front the cost of installing in the garage and take full advantage, but perhaps there's some of you who found it more beneficial to just charge publicly even at the current cost per hour.

thanks for any input.

 

[Max*]

If its free, then I could front the cost of installing in the garage and take full advantage, but perhaps there's some of you who found it more beneficial to just charge publicly even at the current cost per hour.

And if it's not free, why not still do it?

It's a lot more convenient to charge at home, than it is to sit in the car (or walk it over and then walk home then walk back and drive home) to save a few hundred dollars over the course of a few years.

 

[jgs]

If you can install charging at home, you should. It's really that simple. As @Max* says, it's so much more convenient. By the way, if you have even a common 110v household plug available, it's better than nothing. You can add ~40 miles or so from an overnight charge. For my daily driving, that's generally sufficient. (I do have a NEMA 14-50, though.)

I have a hard time believing that any pay-per-hour public charging could be cost-advantageous over installing home charging. Even "free" Supercharging isn't justifiable if you value your time at minimum wage or better. (Unless you need to park in that location for unrelated reasons, but that's not what we're talking about here.)

You mention you're in an apartment but you don't say how long you plan to remain there. I suppose if your horizon is very short term (say, a year or less) and the install cost for a NEMA 14-50 is higher than the $200 you guessed (which seems low) then it might be reasonable to limp along with only public charging. But don't do it to yourself if you don't have to.

 

[glusc2002]

You mention you're in an apartment but you don't say how long you plan to remain there. I suppose if your horizon is very short term (say, a year or less) and the install cost for a NEMA 14-50 is higher than the $200 you guessed (which seems low) then it might be reasonable to limp along with only public charging. But don't do it to yourself if you don't have to.

I'll be likely signing another year in the same unit which will be around the same time as delivery. I recall the residence office mentioning they've had other tenants set up CS in their garage too and it costs around that figure... she could definitely be wrong though. I'll inquire today again. thanks

 

[kort677]

this is a no brainer, if you are able to install the necessary hardware at your apartment why would you trade for plugging in at night and waking up to a topped off car for using a public charger where you'll need to spend time finding a charger that may or may not be dependable, then filling your time while charging, then needing to retrieve your car. time is hard to replace, the money aspect imho is irrelevant

 

[AndreSF]

I dont have a Tesla Super charging station thats free near by, at least not convenient on a daily basis.

Supercharging is not free...it's included, and we all paid for it to support long distance travel in our EVs.

But to your original question, if you can add home charging, definitely do it, as that is the most convenient setup. In addition to public charging fee, you will be "paying" with your time, while you wait for your car to charge.
Even if there is a convenience outlet in the garage near your parking spot, I would try to explore that as an option despite very slow charging rates. BTW Some electric utility companies offer a separate metering service for EVs.

Good luck!

PS. BTW if all above fails, you could consider DC Fast charging near home/work that has CHAdeMO alone with available Tesla adapter.