Best way to charge when you can not have home charging

[mgeneczko]

I'm ready to order my model 3 but I live in a city with street parking and no driveway. I'm trying to figure out what life would be like and if its worth it.

There is a Supercharger about 2 miles from me and other types of chargers within that 2 miles. The city is moving towards getting more chargers installed but that could be awhile.

There is the possibility of charging in front of my place but it would be if and when the spot is open. I might be able to get it after the street cleaner comes through. which is 4 day a week. So theres that and also making sure the cable can reach the car. But then it would go over the sidewalk. And theft of charging equipment.

So my questions are:

1) Can I just use the supercharger as needed? I read just using this could damage the batteries?
2) Is installing a charger on my property either at sidewalk/fence or on house worth it? How long of a charging cable can you get? The distance from possible house installation to curb is 25'
3) What side of the car is the charging port on. This would also affect the cable length.
4) Are the chargers water proof? Perhaps I can make something that they could live in.
5) Can you lock the charger onto the car so that no one can take or mess with it? I guess another thing to install would be a outdoor camera.

The challenges of city life and electric cars has a ways to go.

Thank you ahead of time and trying to see if its worth getting this car. Or at least solve my issues.

 

[TexasEV]

With street parking and no driveway, just use the nearby supercharger as needed. You may also find a J1772 near where you shop that you could use occasionally. Don’t obsess over the battery.

 

[WhiteRice]

I live in a city, own a 3. Currently paying for parking in a garage with 20 superchargers. I super charge once a week to 80%. I commute one to two times a week 62 miles round trip and do some pleasure driving on the weekends without any issues.

The charging port is on the left, and it does lock while the car is locked.

 

[Phillyasian]

I'm ready to order my model 3 but I live in a city with street parking and no driveway. I'm trying to figure out what life would be like and if its worth it.

There is a Supercharger about 2 miles from me and other types of chargers within that 2 miles. The city is moving towards getting more chargers installed but that could be awhile.

There is the possibility of charging in front of my place but it would be if and when the spot is open. I might be able to get it after the street cleaner comes through. which is 4 day a week. So theres that and also making sure the cable can reach the car. But then it would go over the sidewalk. And theft of charging equipment.

So my questions are:

1) Can I just use the supercharger as needed? I read just using this could damage the batteries?
2) Is installing a charger on my property either at sidewalk/fence or on house worth it? How long of a charging cable can you get? The distance from possible house installation to curb is 25'
3) What side of the car is the charging port on. This would also affect the cable length.
4) Are the chargers water proof? Perhaps I can make something that they could live in.
5) Can you lock the charger onto the car so that no one can take or mess with it? I guess another thing to install would be a outdoor camera.

The challenges of city life and electric cars has a ways to go.

Thank you ahead of time and trying to see if its worth getting this car. Or at least solve my issues.

I'm in the same situation as you but live in Philly. First of all, it DOES NOT make sense to put any kind of Charger/outlet by your house if it's 25' away from the curb. The ONLY thing that makes sense would be to install a curbside outlet (NEMA 14-50) in a lockbox and you can use your own charging cable;however, you would need to check what the laws are in your City regarding installing such and outlet, permits,approvals,etc. Assuming it's even allowed the cost will run you over $3K.

If the Supercharger is only 2 miles away I would go ahead and use that; that's what I'm doing. Set you battery to 80 or 90% and do a charge 1x a week or so depending on how often you use it. Refrainfrom topping off the battery using Superchargers would be the only caution. Use the app Plugshare to find out where there are FREE Level 2 chargers. Given the proximity of the Supercharger I WOULD NOT use pay 3rd party chargers in your case, they are just too slow. If you have an Whole Foods, for example, that offers free charging you can do that for a couple of hours and get around 30-40 miles added range for free.
New Jersey has tiered Supercharger rates which makes the cost very reasonable.

 

[ewoodrick]

First, check for charging options at work. Many companies are starting to provide them. Otherwise you'll probably get used to the Supercharger, but make sure that you still limit to 80 or 90% of capacity.

 

[mgeneczko]

Ok, I think I'll hold off on the charger at home for now. And research and figure it out as I go. Every Utility pole on the street is at the curb, It wouldn't take much (physically) to put a charger at the base of one and zone it for Electric Cars only. But god knows what that would take going through the city and the power company. Thanks again for the feedback, time to order! Just gotta figure out color.....

 

[adaptabl]

Ok, I think I'll hold off on the charger at home for now. And research and figure it out as I go. Every Utility pole on the street is at the curb, It wouldn't take much (physically) to put a charger at the base of one and zone it for Electric Cars only. But god knows what that would take going through the city and the power company. Thanks again for the feedback, time to order! Just gotta figure out color.....

The wiring for street lights is not sized for EV charging. They would have to be totally rewired if even possible. Also many streetlights only have power when they are on. Groups of lights are often controlled from one pole with a light sensor or timer that turns power on or off to the entire group.

 

[mgeneczko]

On the Utiility poles out front are the power lines for our row houses. Upper lines are high voltage to the transformers on the utility poles. From transformer it drops down to a line under the High Voltage line and then runs to each house. So each utility pole has the nescessary power for a charger at the base.

 

[Boourns]

I agree with @TexasEV and @ewoodrick. I'd use the supercharger as needed over trying to deal with the city and power company.

Also, the Chargpoint app is your friend. Download it now to start checking out which chargers are near you, whether they are free, and when they occupied.

 

[Charlie_T]

One issue is that using the fast charging supercharger all the time will degrade your battery faster, even if you only charge to 80%. I think Tesla puts a limit on the number of supercharges you can do at full power for that reason and will reduce your charge power after that to save your battery. You might be able to charge at a lower power rate (you can set this in the charging screen in your car) at the supercharger, but then it will take longer to charge and will inconvenience other people waiting to charge if there is a line. I would look for free or cheap Level 2 charging to use as your primary charging solution while you are at work.

 

[TexasEV]

One issue is that using the fast charging supercharger all the time will degrade your battery faster, even if you only charge to 80%. I think Tesla puts a limit on the number of supercharges you can do at full power for that reason and will reduce your charge power after that to save your battery. You might be able to charge at a lower power rate (you can set this in the charging screen in your car) at the supercharger, but then it will take longer to charge and will inconvenience other people waiting to charge if there is a line. I would look for free or cheap Level 2 charging to use as your primary charging solution while you are at work.

No, you can not adjust the rate of supercharging. The amps setting on the screen is only for AC charging.

 

[mgeneczko]

Why would Tesla make something that hurts the batteries? When the Supercharger system is being expanded so you can travel more? This makes no sense? And if they did limit full charging and I had to charge longer, wouldn't that put a lot of cars in the same boat and now charging is taking for ever and inconveniencing everyone? All on Teslas design?

 

[KarenRei]

The wiring for street lights is not sized for EV charging. They would have to be totally rewired if even possible. Also many streetlights only have power when they are on. Groups of lights are often controlled from one pole with a light sensor or timer that turns power on or off to the entire group.

Rewiring an existing conduit and adding a timer for branch circuits is far cheaper than laying a new conduit.

But, cities have to care. Meaning that EV market penetration has to be high enough.

 

[Charlie_T]

Why would Tesla make something that hurts the batteries? When the Supercharger system is being expanded so you can travel more? This makes no sense? And if they did limit full charging and I had to charge longer, wouldn't that put a lot of cars in the same boat and now charging is taking for ever and inconveniencing everyone? All on Teslas design?

This is a battery limitation. All Lithium Ion batteries work best when not fully charged or discharged. Tesla is just helping you get the most out of your battery by putting these limitations in place.

 

[Ardie]

mgeneczko,

If you cannot charge at home, then your best option would be to charge at work.

Your car is there for 8 or 9 hours, so there is no real need to put in costly fast charge equipment, or even 240v J1772 charging stations.

You can probably do quite nicely with a 120v 15A electrical outlet. It would charge at a relatively low rate of 4-5 miles of range per hour, but it won't matter. You have all day. In an 8 hour (+1 hour for lunch) workday, it would replenish 35-40 miles of range.

Since its an "ordinary household outlet," it ought to be relatively cheap to set up several outlets for you and other electric-minded employees. I mean, you aren't asking for a helicopter pad, or worse, Parking Spot #1. (Okay, so you ARE asking for a Subatomic Particle Delivery System, but we'll just skip that part.) And who knows? There might even be state or local incentives for your company to install them.

As long as the outlets are located some other place considered non-preferential, other co-workers won't complain. Much. If they complain that you are getting something for free that others aren't getting, then you can work out something with the company to reserve the parking spot for, um, ($0.11 kW/hr * 9 hrs * 20 days =) ~$20.00 per month, and take the wind out of their sails.

And, as your car is in a company parking lot (I presume), there's much less chance for mischief to occur to your unattended car.

-- Ardie
(You can ask for the helo pad after you get that promotion.)