Did I Make a Mistake?

[DSMLVNV]

And I live here...South Vegas Valley

 

[Electricfan]

Have you asked Tesla about exclusively using superchargers, and told them you only put 6000 miles/yr on the car? What did they say? I doubt you'd get a straight answer, but it would be interesting what they say. There are certainly threads on the forum complaining about the supercharger "throttling" the charging rate for certain people's cars and it was because they "fast charge" much more than normal. Those people are not happy. But maybe as others on this thread have suggested, its just fear mongering. That exists. That's why I'd like to hear Tesla's official answer to "can I exclusively super charge and will it hurt the battery in the long term?" They owe you an honest answer.

 

[DSMLVNV]

No, I wouldn't bother calling. I'll just get hogwash. I'm not unhappy with Tesla. I just need to maximize my limited situation

 

[Eno Deb]

J-1772 charging locations around town.

OK, I'm a Newbie, and maybe that's my problem! How long does it take to charge at one of these type stations?

Most L2 chargers from Chargepoint etc. add about 20 miles of range per hour. IMO it only makes sense if you can find one that is in walking distance from where you spend at least a few hours.

Generally, you should be fine with the supercharger if it's somewhat conveniently located for you. You'll probably not want to charge to more than 80% since charging gets much slower at a high state of charge.

 

[DSMLVNV]

Most L2 chargers from Chargepoint etc. add about 20 miles of range per hour. IMO it only makes sense if you can find one that is in walking distance from where you spend at least a few hours.

Yeah, I'm nowhere near one of those chargers.

 

[SigNC]

When you say they won't let you charge in your garage do you mean they won't let you install a L2 charger or they specifically won't let you plug your UMC into the 120v wall outlet to charge your car?

 

[DSMLVNV]

When you say they won't let you charge in your garage do you mean they won't let you install a L2 charger or they specifically won't let you plug your UMC into the 120v wall outlet to charge your car?

They won't let me do ANYTHING! ANNOYING

 

[adaptabl]

Hello: You may have seen this in another thread, but I thought I'd start a new one. One alternate note I forgot to put there was that my apartment complex will not let me charge in my garage.

Let's cut to the chase here. I only put on about 6,000 miles per year on my car. I am away for work much of the time. And I work from him when in Vegas. I don't think I'm going to be able to move, for family reasons, into a house from my apartment complex for at least a few years. Thus, I have no ability to charge whatsoever except at Super Chargers. Was this a massive mistake to buy the M3? Should I take the financial hit and sell it? It has under 300 miles. And I love it to death. But if I'm going to ruin the battery, not so sure I like that idea. Please advise. Thanks everyone!

Without home or work charging having an EV will be very difficult. Good luck.

 

[DSMLVNV]

Without home or work charging having an EV will be very difficult. Good luck.

And we're back to the negativity, Folks!

 

[Eno Deb]

Nobody can tell you how well (or not) it will work for you. It is clearly not ideal (being able to charge at home is one of the great advantages of having an EV), but given your low mileage it may not be too much of a hassle. Just try it for a few weeks. You can still decide to sell the car if it doesn't work out.

What I can tell you is that I have several friends who live in San Francisco and have no way to charge at home. I'm not sure what chargers they use, but it is apparently doable.

 

[dhrivnak]

Hello: You may have seen this in another thread, but I thought I'd start a new one. One alternate note I forgot to put there was that my apartment complex will not let me charge in my garage.

Let's cut to the chase here. I only put on about 6,000 miles per year on my car. I am away for work much of the time. And I work from him when in Vegas. I don't think I'm going to be able to move, for family reasons, into a house from my apartment complex for at least a few years. Thus, I have no ability to charge whatsoever except at Super Chargers. Was this a massive mistake to buy the M3? Should I take the financial hit and sell it? It has under 300 miles. And I love it to death. But if I'm going to ruin the battery, not so sure I like that idea. Please advise. Thanks everyone!

To me much of the benefit of an EV is lost if you can’t charge at home. Even 120v would meet 90% of your needs but if you can’t plug into an outside outlet I am not sure I would have an EV.

 

[mswlogo]

Without home or work charging having an EV will be very difficult. Good luck.

And we're back to the negativity, Folks!

Keep in mind too, that things are evolving fast. There might be pressure for your apartment complex to support charging over time. Or something more convenient near home or work. You already have the car. Enjoy it and make the best of it. Expectation is half of it.

I find that 90% of designation chargers are perks for guests at Hotel's and Inn's. Next is dealers like Nissan.
I find very few "destination" chargers that are actually usable. And most are slow compared to Super Chargers.

I don't think it's confirmed yet if Model 3 will also get hit with throttling on exclusive super charging.
Might want to stay under the radar and limit it to 80% and also don't let the battery get to low because it's when it's low that the ultra fast supercharging occurs. I don't know if the software is smart if enough to track how many times you've plugged in to a super charger vs your average charging rate getting to high. My guess is try to stick with 30-80% or even 40%-80% until more is known. Assuming that doesn't require a trip to a SC every other day or something.

There are definitely folks out there doing what your doing.

 

[DSMLVNV]

I don't think it's confirmed yet if Model 3 will also get hit with throttling on exclusive super charging.

What does throttling mean?

 

[lolder]

If it's your garage and you pay for the electricity I would challenge them on it. If it's a 120 vac outlet you can recharge at about 4 m / hr. Restrictions like this will be going on the way out, sometimes with difficulty. Read all the homeowner restrictions to see if there really is a rule about it. If there is challenge it to the best of your ability. Don't surrender !

 

[DSMLVNV]

Its an apartment complex not a home. And it's an external garage - like 5 garages in 1 building. The maintenance guy told on me, and Management said no

 

[jkliu47]

No need to worry.

The superchargers located at the Town Square are only about 6 miles away from South Vegas Valley.
Just drop by, plug in, walk over to one of the restaurants/stores or relax and spend some time reading/surfing the net/watching videos in your air conditioned Tesla.
If you charge from 20%-80%, it should take no more than 35 minutes.

And don't worry about any battery degradation - less than 5% range loss over 30,000 miles and (50/50 local/Supercharging) from my first Tesla (2013) with 1st generation battery pack. The losses are even less with the current battery pack versions.

 

[mswlogo]

I don't think it's confirmed yet if Model 3 will also get hit with throttling on exclusive super charging.

What does throttling mean?

There are a few threads in Model S/X that states they get reduced to like half the charge rate once they have used super charging a certain number of times (like folks like you that use it exclusively). I don't think you get any warning or anything. It will just cease charging as fast to protect the battery. I don't know of any reports this applies to Model 3. Folks are assuming it will.

 

[DSMLVNV]

No need to worry.

The superchargers located at the Town Square are only about 6 miles away from South Vegas Valley.
Just drop by, plug in, walk over to one of the restaurants/stores or relax and spend some time reading/surfing the net/watching videos in your air conditioned Tesla.
If you charge from 20%-80%, it should take no more than 35 minutes.

And don't worry about any battery degradation - less than 5% range loss over 30,000 miles and (50/50 local/Supercharging) from my first Tesla (2013) with 1st generation battery pack. The losses are even less with the current battery pack versions.

NOW THAT'S THE KIND OF ANSWER I WANTED! THANK YOU. AND YES, THAT IS THE SUPER CHARGER I USE.

 

[mswlogo]

No need to worry.

The superchargers located at the Town Square are only about 6 miles away from South Vegas Valley.
Just drop by, plug in, walk over to one of the restaurants/stores or relax and spend some time reading/surfing the net/watching videos in your air conditioned Tesla.
If you charge from 20%-80%, it should take no more than 35 minutes.

And don't worry about any battery degradation - less than 5% range loss over 30,000 miles and (50/50 local/Supercharging) from my first Tesla (2013) with 1st generation battery pack. The losses are even less with the current battery pack versions.

NOW THAT'S THE KIND OF ANSWER I WANTED! THANK YOU. AND YES, THAT IS THE SUPER CHARGER I USE.

Not to be negative but 50/50 is a lot different than 0/100.

 

[trm2]

Do you ever visit the Strip? There are plenty of destination chargers there also (as seen on the map jkliu47 posted)