Buy/Driving a Tesla with no home charger?

[KJD]

Sorry it's hard to picture. But no we don't park on the road. We park in a driveway but that driveway is at the front of our yard and doesn't go down through the yard to the house. This house has been here over 30 years. .

If you have a driveway that is great. ( I would call that off street parking by the way ). Do what Rocky_H said above and put an electrical outlet on a post. Simple and easy to do.

Being able to charge the car while you are home at night is one of the great benefits to owning an EV. Enjoy.

 

[rhumbliner]

I just bought 10AWG rubber coated 300 volt 4 conductor cable ...

I am not an electrician but I believe it violates code to bury that type of cable. If you decide to bury a line to your car I’d spend the few extra bucks to do it properly.

 

[Rocky_H]

Sorry it's hard to picture. But no we don't park on the road. We park in a driveway but that driveway is at the front of our yard and doesn't go down through the yard to the house. This house has been here over 30 years. My dad built a small basketball court near the road and driveway for me and my brother when we were younger but now it's where we park our cars. There is a deceleration lane/sidewalk in front of our property though.

Oh, right. When I was thinking parking by the road, I was thinking the outlet on a post idea might be iffy if you don't know if you would be able to get near enough to that same parking spot along the curb or if other people might be there in the way. But since it's on your property, you would know that your car would be parked in that same spot. So the post idea would absolutely work. But as @David29 mentioned, that might cost a thousand or two because of the amount of work. But there sure is a lot to be said for the factor of just not ever having to think about it or plan to go and wait anywhere or wonder of a station is going to be available, etc. It's just peacefully easy every morning, and something you never have to worry about.

 

[mrbaseball47]

Oh, right. When I was thinking parking by the road, I was thinking the outlet on a post idea might be iffy if you don't know if you would be able to get near enough to that same parking spot along the curb or if other people might be there in the way. But since it's on your property, you would know that your car would be parked in that same spot. So the post idea would absolutely work. But as @David29 mentioned, that might cost a thousand or two because of the amount of work. But there sure is a lot to be said for the factor of just not ever having to think about it or plan to go and wait anywhere or wonder of a station is going to be available, etc. It's just peacefully easy every morning, and something you never have to worry about.

It does make sense that adding the post with an outlet would make it more feasible. And the other guy who had done it for a year with no home charger said it gets old fast. I do plan on eventually installing a home charger. Since I plan on getting the Model Y, that wont be till 2020 at the earliest if the rumors and what Elon said hold true. Which would be fairly close to when I would be getting my house built. I dont think it would be worth spending the $2k for a year or less when there are options nearby. I mean there is a mall, couple businesses, and Georgia Power charging ports within 2 miles of me.

Someone mentioned how I would feel if drove to a charging port for it to be occupied by someone else even if they are done charging. I will be honest and say I am not too familar with how the charging stations work, but if someone else is using a port and is done, is there anything you can do? I saw the app Plug Share on Google Play and it seems like people can put in contact info so you can contact them in case you need them to move their vehicle. Did i see that right? Any other ways? I really appreciate everyones input.

 

[matto]

No way in hell I'd want an EV without some kind of charger at home. That sounds terrible to me.

 

[mrbaseball47]

No way in hell I'd want an EV without some kind of charger at home. That sounds terrible to me.

Thanks for your opinion however this was not the type of advice or response I was looking for.

 

[Frisco-Dad]

Since it appears to be your first post, you may not have discovered the search feature above. There are lots of discussions about this on the forum, so you may want to take a quick search. Warning, some posters seem to think that is a bad idea ;-)

If you can get any sort of charging at home, that is best option. I understand some people live in condos and can't charge at home, but if you ask opinions on this forum most people will tell you "dont do it".

EDIT: I'm not trying to be "Mr Negativity" here, but the absolute MOST GIGANTIC BENEFIT of owning an EV is being able to charge "at home" or "at work" when you're doing something else. The car charges when you're busy doing something else, sleeping, working, whatever....

The cost of installing a charging solution at your home, where you own the whole property and can do what ever you like, dig trenches, install posts, etc, etc, is far more beneficial than driving around town and hoping to find a charging station available when you need it. It comes down to the cost/value of your time.

 

[Rocky_H]

If you can get 120V 12A charging at home, that is your best option.

Maybe you're being too vague, but I don't see why 120V charging would be considered a "best option". I get it if someone has a driveway that is at least at the front of their house and can plug into an outdoor 120V outlet on the front of the house without having to bring in an electrician to install anything. Sure, that would be a good option--fast enough and still convenient.

But this situation is that the car is across about 100 feet of lawn to the house. You would have to lay out a 100 foot extension cord across the yard, which you couldn't really just leave there all the time, because of rain and mowing, etc. so that's not a very convenient option. (Hmm, I'm now picturing a cord reel for that so you can wind it up onto the porch easily--still kinda blah.) So, if you're going to have to trench and lay conduit and wire anyway, then 120V 12A is a pretty bad use of that. Put in something a little thicker and use 240V and a little more amps.

 

[Frisco-Dad]

Maybe post some pics and folks here can give you some ideas

+1 give us some pics to give you better advice.

Maybe build a driveway up to your house?

 

[Frisco-Dad]

I don't see why 120V charging would be considered a "best option".

I edited my post above. Any charging is better than nothing.

 

[MyJoule]

I can only say that even using a regular 120V outlet will cover the needs that the original poster asked about. Just plug the car into the regular outlet ( even if you have to drag a heavy duty extension cord to the car. But my advice would be to plug the car in every time you get home- not just "once or twice a week" even with the slow recharging from 120V, the car would replenish its charge overnight every day you traveled only 20miles. That way you can save the supercharger or other away from home charges to when you really need a charge on a trip. We've got 3 Teslas now, and I keep them all plugged in all the time, one is on a HPWC, one is on an old BLINK L2 charger and the 3rd one gets it's electrons from a standard 15amp 120V outlet using the UMC that came with the car. We plan to move one of the cars to our 2nd home this summer. Then we'll be down to 2 in one location. I have to admit it's a bit odd to see 3 Model S's in our garage at once.

 

[mswlogo]

A 100ft is nothing (assuming it's all dirt). Do yourself a favor and get some estimates for various circuits out there.
I bet you can get 20A 240V circuit out there for under $1000 (extra, for being away from the house over something attached to the house).
I don't know the code down there on how deep it has to be and they might allow being shallower in PVC or Conduit.
There might be some code rules around 120V vs 240V or going over so many amps.

You'll be MUCH happier with the car regularly topped off at home.

You don't need 50A out there. But get it priced out as well. The bigger the better but with diminishing returns.
But even a 15A 120V will be night and day for convenience. That would be similar cost to a light post !!

If the electrician can't give you options to keep cost reasonable find another electrician.

Now if it has to go under a paved driveway or something then anything might be costly.
Keep in mind the cords on the chargers are pretty long. So maybe you don't end up on the ideal side of the driveway or something to save money.

A 100ft of dirt on your own property should not be a barrier to home charging.

 

[mrbaseball47]

I have attached a pic. Hope this helps. Any questions please let me know.

 

[bart_dood]

I have attached a pic. Hope this helps. Any questions please let me know.

Interesting there are trees, can you suspend rope between them and then attach cable to it; so suspending the wire in the air? Drop the cable down and park next to it to plug in.

 

[mrbaseball47]

Interesting there are trees, can you suspend rope between them and then attach cable to it; so suspending the wire in the air? Drop the cable down and park next to it to plug in.

In the bottom right of that pic is a big area of Georgia pine trees, which honestly I would rather not park anywhere near them as they tend to sway and fall when winds get up there pretty fast.

 

[Rocky_H]

Interesting there are trees, can you suspend rope between them and then attach cable to it; so suspending the wire in the air? Drop the cable down and park next to it to plug in.

I give that a 0% chance of passing electrical code.

 

[Silent Ludicrosy]

Please forgive me if this has been asked or discussed before bit inxoulsntI find it.

My question is for people that don't have a home charging station. How difficult is it to drive a Tesla without one? I work from home 2 days a week and my normal commute is about 20 miles round-trip. Is this doable with charging one day a week? Is there anything else you think I need to consider or am overlooking. I plan on building a house soon(within 2-3 years at most) and will definitely have a garage and install a charging station then but for now I want to see how hard it would be without one.

Any questions for me please let me know. I appreciate all your help and for reading this long post. LoL

My wife drives 16 miles round trip x 5 days a week and charges in the garage on Friday night/Saturday morning. If you have something to do with your time while the car is charging, I'd say go for it. If not, charging will be a huge time waster for you.

 

[bart_dood]

I give that a 0% chance of passing electrical code.

Hahaha

 

[mrbaseball47]

So seems like the best option are either pay the redundablr deposit to secure my spot in line and see what my situation is around the time it will be delivered or have an electrician run a cable to an outlet on a post out near my car.

I'm definitely going to do the first recommendation and hope that by the time the Model Y is ready to be delivered I have my house built already.

 

[wws]

Just bury some conduit with some form of 240v out to the parking area. With the amount of driving you do, a 20 amp circuit (16 amp charging) would work fine. But the incremental cost of running a 30- or 50- amp circuit is next to nothing - assuming your panel can handle the extra load.