Condo ChargePoint charging costs are the same as ICE gas cost

[ucmndd]

where is the nearest supercharger to you? It might make more sense to wait till you are almost empty and then go fill up at a supercharger station when you need too.

Probably Hawthorne, which while the nearest, is definitely not “near”.

Not a lot of good options unfortunately in the immediate area. Although OP could definitely get the cost down quite a bit by limiting charging sessions to 4 hours (not always practical, but the stations go from $1/hr to $3/hr after 4 hours).

A dollar for ~ 6kwh of electricity isn’t exactly highway robbery at CA prices, it’s actually pretty good. $3/hr obviously not so much.

 

[ucmndd]

OP, also note that ChargePoint will charge you the entire time your car is plugged in, even if it’s not charging. So leaving it plugged in for 9 hours like you are is going to cost you $19 like that every time, whether you take on 5kwh or 50.

Tap on that first $18.39 charge and post a pic of the charging graph.

 

[cwerdna]

This is more an indictment of ChargePoint than of EV's in general.

David99 is correct. It is up to the OWNER of the Chargepoint stations to set the price.

Here's are excerpts of some of my usage, some of it from sessions I started for other cars which is why some of the start times are so close. We have tons of Chargepoint stations at work. It is free for us employees to charge at work. Address info has been redacted.

 

[drklain]

The other thing you should always do is check how much a charger will cost you (if anything). As others pointed out, this is not unique to chargepoint. Some chargepoints are free (the one in my office building parking garage is, but you need to have your chargepoint card activated with a code for their units). Others have ludicrously high rates. Same goes for the other charging networks.

You can find prices for many online with various tools, for some you need to go to that network's website, for some you need to look at the machine itself. For every chargepoint, before you start charging there is a softkey on the charger which says "info" (or something like that" and will tell you what the rate is. Good rule of thumb...and to make the math easy, assume a "tank" of electricity is 100 kWH (I know, not even the 100Ds have that as actual total capacity, but it makes the math easy). Multiply the cost per kWH times 100 and that is your cost for a full tank of gas. If it is more than around 40 bucks, you are paying an excessive fee...of course that's my rule of thumb in Arizona and Virginia. I know California has much higher gas (and electricity) prices, so you may need to calibrate what is "too high" to local conditions...

 

[cwerdna]

Since the OP's in LA, I've heard about some free charging via LADWP. I don't know the details since I don't live down there.

This guy formerly in a Leaf group posted about a bunch of freebies before (example: Nissan LEAF Owners Group).

Here are two I gleaned from posts:
PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You
PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You

They're CHAdeMO so one would need the $450 adapter: Model S/X CHAdeMO Adapter. But, if you get more than $450 of free or cheap juice using it...

You can use Plugshare to filter for free stations with J1772 (EV Plug), Tesla (destination "chargers"), CHAdeMO (with adapter) and Superchargers (26 cents/kWh per Supercharging in CA).

EVgo has some plans: EVgo Charging Plans | EVgo Electric Vehicle Charging. If you want to charge quickly, you'd want to use their CHAdeMO chargers with the adapter.

 

[Visscher]

You find is just as expensive.

And you hardly drive and use the most expensive charging options.


I, on the other hand, find incredible savings. I drive 1000miles a week. I supercharge when away from home, and gas is expensive in Canada. Therefore, I save on gas $ each month what I pay in payments on my X.> $1000/mo.

 

[cwerdna]

OP, also note that ChargePoint will charge you the entire time your car is plugged in, even if it’s not charging. So leaving it plugged in for 9 hours like you are is going to cost you $19 like that every time, whether you take on 5kwh or 50.

Depends on how the owner set it up. Some charge by energy, some by time, some by energy and time. Some that are by time continue to charge $ if you stay plugged in. Some up the price a LOT after a certain amount of time, to encourage turnover.

Here are 4 different examples. In cp1, they charge by time (parking) and energy (kWh). At Oracle, they only charge by time and it skyrockets after 5 hours. In cp3, they charge only by energy. With target, 1st 2 hours are free then they start charging by time.

 

[Ruffles]

I'm amazed anyone would buy an EV without a home charger.

 

[Pinot.Noir]

I'm amazed anyone would buy an EV without a home charger.

I don't think that's fair. However, I'm amazed somebody without home charging hasn't researched their options a little more.

 

[cwerdna]

I'm amazed anyone would buy an EV without a home charger.

I'm sorta in that boat. I can charge at home, albeit slowly at 120 volts though (which is more than sufficient for my needs). Don't need an L2 EVSE. Almost all of my charging is done for free at work (at level 2) though.

A small % of my charging comes from free public L2 charging 5 miles from home (on the way home from work and many places) that I sometimes use on Friday evenings, weekends and days off.

A pure EV has been my primary car for over 5 years. I don't own the house I live in and the owners (my parents, who currently live elsewhere) have no plug-in vehicle.

I normally wouldn't recommend a non-Tesla EV to folks who have no means to charge work or home or some place w/reliable charging that they normally would stop at for hours on a regular basis.

 

[Pinot.Noir]

I'm sorta in that boat. I can charge at home, albeit slowly at 120 volts though (which is more than sufficient for my needs)

Does your parents house have an electric dryer in the garage? The 240V outlet can be used for charging when not drying. The 240V outlet is more than enough for my needs.

 

[cwerdna]

Does your parents house have an electric dryer in the garage? The 240V outlet can be used for charging when not drying. The 240V outlet is more than enough for my needs.

The dryer is not in the garage and thus its outlet isn't either.

It's in a laundry room connected to the garage separated by a door. I could leave the door open, but then random stuff from garage/outside could enter the garage (e.g. additional insects, lizards, rodents, etc.)

But yes, I could get an L2 EVSE w/the right plug for the dryer outlet to charge faster but it appears to be NEMA 10-30. Been ok w/o it for over 5 years now.

 

[cwerdna]

I don’t know what your times on chart are. Is that charging time? If you are parking plugged in overnight, you may be paying for a bunch of connected minutes when car is not even charging. Gotta pay attention to rate structure.

Those times look like session lengths (time from plugging in until unplug or swiping again to end session).

I'm unable to look up the Chargepoint station at the OP's address in his screenshot via ChargePoint as it might be marked private or only open to those in his charging group. So, I'm unable to look up the price. If the OP looks at ChargePoint when logged into the web site w/his account or the Chargepoint app (also when logged in), it should display pricing structure. Prices should also been station's display.

(I've been at the LA Live area for an event before and used to attend E3 and a few others things at the LACC long ago. I also use ChargePoint almost every weekday at work, for free charging. )

 

[Lasttoy]

Charge Point is very expensive. I had to use it twice.
There is no way to compare ones ICEcost. We all drive different cars.
I know a condo guy. He found a 110v outlet. Runs an extension cord every chance he gets.

 

[cwerdna]

Charge Point is very expensive. I had to use it twice.

Again, it's set by the station owner. It can range from free to crazy expensive. It's not expensive for me because the owner (my work) sets them to free for its employees.

I have also used other free Chargepoint L2 stations (e.g. at two Targets and at a county office).

I have been a ChargePoint commercial L2 station user for over 5 years, using mostly the ChargePoint stations at my work. I put on the minimum amount of $ on my account ($25 at the time), just in case as opposed to 0. I have yet to use a dime of it.

 

[bhzmark]

Wander around your parking garage on foot looking in cracks and crevices and pillars and along the wall with a plug-in nightlight or one of these to find a way to charge discreetly albeit slowly overnight for free.

electric socket test - Bing images

 

[bob_p]

Not all Tesla owners have a private garage or driveway where they can (relatively) easily install power for overnight charging.

The public chargers (like ChargePoint) are relatively expensive, and are really useful only to get a limited amount of charge to get you to an overnight charger - they will likely always be too expensive to rely on for frequent recharging.

Tesla originally intended the Supercharger network for long distance driving, and has been adding urban superchargers to support charging inside major cities, though they are also discontinuing the unlimited free supercharging program, because they don't intend to pay for frequent supercharging for those owners without access to overnight charging.

This is a dilemma for potential EV owners - not just Tesla but all manufacturers. A Model 3 may be a better choice than an S/X, because it gets more range per KWh, reducing the amount of charging needed.

And if owners can't make arrangements where they live for overnight charging, they should explore options to get a destination charger or 14-50 outlet added near where they work - and recharge during the day while parked.

Now, if we only had the Mr. Fusion option for recharging...

 

[Darmie]

Could you not find a 110v service that is at your condo? You would receive approx 40 to 50 miles a night charging.

 

[Darmie]

Also look at the workplace charging program that Tesla offers.
Charging Partners | Tesla

 

[David.85D]

I’ll second workplace charging. I found employers are really open to this. Definitely ask. Even paying the install cost would be a win for the OP in less than a year.

Compared to other benefits (shall we say $10k/yr for employer cost on full ride family health insurance), $500 or $1000 a year in electricity is chump change and gives them something to brag about.