considering buying a Model 3 SR+ but have no home charging and only 120V at work; have come concerns

[afadeev]

Hi I am considering buying a Model 3 SR plus in Austin before tax credit runs out 12/31.

Congrats, and don't worry about 12/31.
Tesla will drop prices to offset tax credit drop, as they've done with all prior tax credit decreases until now.

Focus on getting the right car for you needs instead!

I live in an apartment right now that has no charging access but my workplace has a 120V option. I commute only about 6 miles to work every day and might only do about 50 miles a week. I do frequently do trips to Houston/Dallas. I did want to throw some questions up for discussion.

SR+ (250 miles) will suffice for daily commute, but if you want to be free to drive to Houston/Dallas (165 / 210 miles) freely, you will need longer range that that.

I mean it is physically possible to stop and charge mid-way, each way, but it will get old fast.
Consider saving a few pennies to get Long-Range AWD Model 3 (325 mile of range), or Long-Range Model S (373 miles).

1) Should I worry about parking a model 3 in an apartment? How hard is it for someone to key in or break into a model 3?

No easier or harder, than with a regular car - braking glass windows is the common entry point.
You can burn more battery running Sentry Mode (alarm with video capture), but it wont prevent break-ins. Just provide video capture of the event.

2) Considering I really like the model 3, should I wait before I get a house with charging access to buy it?
3) How difficult will be my charging situation considering I live in Austin ?

You can make do without L2 (240V) charger access at work and home by relying on public charging infrastructure (Tesla's or otherwise), but it's WAY more convenient if you can walk to your car and find it fully charged.
Houses are dirt cheap in TX (monthly mortgage payments usually lower then apartment rent), so buying one should be on your shopping list in not to distant future.

4) Should I be worried about the usual delivery defects ?

Yes.
Search this forum for the particulars.

a

 

[RockyMT]

1) Should I worry about parking a model 3 in an apartment? How hard is it for someone to key in or break into a model 3?

No, you shouldn’t worry about it excessively because you will be topped up to 80% every day at work and that will also cover all the electricity sentry mode uses in a 24 hour period. Road trips are amazing in the SR+ too and will only get better with increased charging rates (max 170kw at lower state of charge). Take it from an SR+ owner, you don’t really need to add extra expense just to make occasional road trips a fraction shorter especially since your everyday usage doesn’t require it. Also, you can use abetterrouteplanner.com to consider trip planning which can help you compare road trip times between different models. All range anxiety goes away in a few weeks driving at most.

Rocky Mountain Tesla (fellow apartment condo dweller without home charging for 2 months already)

 

[srs5694]

This was in the news I saw recently. It was pretty well reported by various sources. Did a search and here's some of what I found:

Forbes, 10/4/2019: IRS Fails To Stop Electric Car Tax Credit Cheats

Car and Driver, 10/9/2019: Lots of People and Automakers Have Cheated EV Tax Credit, Feds Say

Road Show (CNET), 10/8/19: Electric-car tax credit issued improperly to thousands, audit finds

I've read that the IRS has denied up to 40% of claims and the media has assumed fraud. Maybe, although in my case the IRS lost my documentation.

There have been claims worded in different ways in this thread, but to be clear, the references presented by SMAlset say that individual taxpayers have been claiming more in credits than they are allowed by law, and the IRS has not (yet) called them on it. The IRS could crack down, of course, but the preceding references don't mention anything about "up to 40% of claims" being rejected; indeed, these reports indicate that too many claims are getting through -- either for higher values than the taxpayers are legally allowed or for vehicles that don't qualify at all. Of course, it could be that claims are being improperly rejected, too (or that large numbers are being properly rejected, but some are slipping through), but if so, that's not what the sources cited by SMAlset suggest.

 

[Rocky_H]

This was in the news I saw recently. It was pretty well reported by various sources. Did a search and here's some of what I found:

Forbes, 10/4/2019: IRS Fails To Stop Electric Car Tax Credit Cheats

Car and Driver, 10/9/2019: Lots of People and Automakers Have Cheated EV Tax Credit, Feds Say

Road Show (CNET), 10/8/19: Electric-car tax credit issued improperly to thousands, audit finds

OK, thank you for the links, so I could read them to see what you were talking about. But those articles aren't quite saying what your implications sounded like. They were all talking about this being a problem with tax credits being claimed on vehicles that don't qualify. All Tesla cars qualify. You had said:

Been reports of a lot of people not qualifying

You were making it sound like people had to have certain aspects about their financial or overall tax situations to qualify for it, and that seemed like a bit of an unfounded warning that doesn't apply.

One of the articles did mention one other specific thing other than people filing for ineligible car types. They mentioned people falsely filing for the credit when leasing a vehicle. Yes, you didn't buy the car, you don't get to claim the purchase credit. Leasing is just renting. So yes, I guess you could also call that "not qualifying", but that should have been pretty apparent.

 

[SMAlset]

OK, thank you for the links, so I could read them to see what you were talking about. But those articles aren't quite saying what your implications sounded like. They were all talking about this being a problem with tax credits being claimed on vehicles that don't qualify. All Tesla cars qualify. You had said:

Just to add, as far as the Federal tax credit, it's not a rebate so you have to meet the conditions on your tax return in order to qualify for it. Been reports of a lot of people not qualifying and filing for the credit and now the IRS is looking into those applications and that won't be pretty if they were claimed without qualifying. There might be other incentives through your local State or utility so if you order one check it out.

You were making it sound like people had to have certain aspects about their financial or overall tax situations to qualify for it, and that seemed like a bit of an unfounded warning that doesn't apply.

One of the articles did mention one other specific thing other than people filing for ineligible car types. They mentioned people falsely filing for the credit when leasing a vehicle. Yes, you didn't buy the car, you don't get to claim the purchase credit. Leasing is just renting. So yes, I guess you could also call that "not qualifying", but that should have been pretty apparent.

I don't see anything wrong with what I stated in my post. It's not a rebate, you have to meet certain conditions such as for an approved car bought* within the timeframe, and by IRS standards be able to claim it (Line 23 - "if you cannot use part of the personal portion of the credit because of the tax liability limit, the unused credit is lost. The unused personal portion of the credit cannot be carried back or forward to other tax year") - this last point BTW was discussed on TMC last year where people couldn't use it or take full advantage of it due to their tax liability situation.

There were a few other conditions such as the car used primarily in the U.S., not for resale (think there was a time limit before resale), and *qualifying date determined by when title passed to owner according to their state law and considered put in service--for many this is the actual delivery date. Not sure what else. This year's Tesla purchases must properly account for the phase out amount when filing since Tesla reached their 200,000 sales at end of 2018. And according to the articles there were apparently thousands of people (one article says around 16K) who didn't qualify on their tax return for the credit and took it illegally. Why they didn't varied and the articles never specified what car type.

The tax credit issue was mentioned as an aside to this new buyer as to getting a credit, he/she would need to meet all the IRS qualifications for it both from a car and personal aspect.

 

[SanDiegoM3]

Buying an electric car without viable home charging is the biggest mistake in my opinion. Never having to leave my house to charge is an enormous convenience. Think of late night drives home, you’re tired, and you need to charge before tomorrow’s drive. That’s when you want home charging.

 

[toolman335]

Buying an electric car without viable home charging is the biggest mistake in my opinion. Never having to leave my house to charge is an enormous convenience. Think of late night drives home, you’re tired, and you need to charge before tomorrow’s drive. That’s when you want home charging.

This^^^^^^

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

Buying an electric car without viable home charging is the biggest mistake in my opinion. Never having to leave my house to charge is an enormous convenience. Think of late night drives home, you’re tired, and you need to charge before tomorrow’s drive. That’s when you want home charging.

You need to have a charging strategy, but it doesn't need to be at home.

The OP believes he will be able to charge during the day at his work, and that's a good alternative to home charging.

 

[evM3Sekar]

1) Should I worry about parking a model 3 in an apartment? How hard is it for someone to key in or break into a model 3?
2) Considering I really like the model 3, should I wait before I get a house with charging access to buy it?
3) How difficult will be my charging situation considering I live in Austin ?
4) Should I be worried about the usual delivery defects ?

I live in an apt and have 120V (NEMA 5-15) outlet in my rental garage. No charging at work with a round trip of 30mi. It takes me 6h to get back the 30mi.
1. No. Difficult.
2. Not really.
3. Should be fine.
4. Not really.

 

[gkarsin]

Hi I am considering buying a Model 3 SR plus in Austin before tax credit runs out 12/31. I live in an apartment right now that has no charging access but my workplace has a 120V option. I commute only about 6 miles to work every day and might only do about 50 miles a week. I do frequently do trips to Houston/Dallas. I did want to throw some questions up for discussion.

1) Should I worry about parking a model 3 in an apartment? How hard is it for someone to key in or break into a model 3?
2) Considering I really like the model 3, should I wait before I get a house with charging access to buy it?
3) How difficult will be my charging situation considering I live in Austin ?
4) Should I be worried about the usual delivery defects ?

If I can talk to someone about these questions, I would really appreciate it .

Thanks,
Satish

I've had my SR+ for about a month now and love it. You could get a car cover and use it when parked in your apartment parking lot. You can always charge it at a Target, Home Depot or wherever there's a charger. I had very few defects like a few very small paint drips and a few scratches on the windshield. These are very small issues and I'm just ignoring them and focusing on how fun the car is drive. Nothing is perfect and you can drive your self crazy worrying about it. The quality control has definitely got better.

 

[cwerdna]

There have been claims worded in different ways in this thread, but to be clear, the references presented by SMAlset say that individual taxpayers have been claiming more in credits than they are allowed by law, and the IRS has not (yet) called them on it.

Lots of People and Automakers Have Cheated EV Tax Credit, Feds Say says

But there's a silver lining ahead. The IRS has agreed to the IG report's recommendations in audit procedures, and it will be sending notices to all 16,510 taxpayers who made ineligible claims to the IRS by February 2021. If that's you, thank you for your prompt payment.

 

[walkman05]

Thank you everyone . I have enjoyed the valuable comments and my M3 is on its way. Also an icing on the cake is that they have opened a supercharging station right next street , close to my work. That can assuage my charging concerns for a while, I believe.

 

[JWSM3Owner]

Thank you everyone . I have enjoyed the valuable comments and my M3 is on its way. Also an icing on the cake is that they have opened a supercharging station right next street , close to my work. That can assuage my charging concerns for a while, I believe.

Nice! I made the same decision you did and took the plunge even though I don't have at-home charging. I've spent the last few weeks "simulating" what charging the 3 will be like. Whenever I have a meeting, for example, I use plugshare to find Level 2 chargers near where I need to be and park there, and then calculate how much charge I would have got based on the charging rate/duration of my parking. Long story short, it doesn't seem like that will be an issue. In fact, thanks to this, I found a true unicorn: a free, metro-accessible parking garage that also offers free charging!

I'm also starting up the conversation with my condo association to get a charging solution set up, but who knows how long that could take.

Ultimately, having a Tesla without at-home charging really depends on where you live. I'm fortunate to live somewhere with lots of EV charging options, which substantially reduces the frustration factor. If that were not the case, though, I'm not sure this would work long-term.

 

[Chielectric]

Thank you everyone . I have enjoyed the valuable comments and my M3 is on its way. Also an icing on the cake is that they have opened a supercharging station right next street , close to my work. That can assuage my charging concerns for a while, I believe.

Congratulations!
I wanted to give my scenario:
No home charger, live in Chicago, work has both 120V and a chargepoint station. Commute is 18 true miles (one way) roughly 20 miles on my Tesla and more like 25 miles in winter if temp below freezing.

In a major city with so many charging options I don't feel like it's inhibitive at all to not have charging at home. Do I think about it, yes, of course I do, but when people say it's not worth it to get the car without one, they are comparing it to their current standard of home charging. You have to compare it to going to a gas station, because those of us without the ability for a home charger won't know any better. I think aside from the EV aspect, the model 3 is an excellent car period. Your particular commute shouldn't be worrisome. Hope you enjoy your car!