Tesla Motors Club
I work in a very large office building where I have a fantastic dedicated parking spot. It’s right next to the elevators, never gets blocked in and is extra wide, with the additional bonus of an unused walkway immediately adjacent. In other words, massive and convenient, where I can also easily park my ’49 Buick on the rare occasions that I take it. Clearly the best spot in the house.
The building recently expanding their EV charging capabilities and offered me first choice of one of these spots, at the same rate as my current one. So, free unlimited charging. I am testing it out for a month.
Herein lies the rub: the spot is really tight. It is next to pillar on one side and if I do a perfect and close job (which I always do
), I just manage to fit inside the white lines. It is also not deep enough to fit my Buick, but that’s okay. This spot could also get blocked in at times, though the parking attendants are super nice and attentive. Charging is mildly inconvenient, as I have to duck under some ventilation equipment to get to the cable, launch the charging app on my iPhone (TurboDock), uncoil the cord, attach the adapter, etc. Definitely more work than home, when I just grab the Tesla cable, push the button on it and plug in. Oh, and speaking of the ventilation equipment, forget trying to open my trunk if I back in.
The biggest “issue” is that the rate of charge is fairly pathetic. 15 Amps/199 V giving me a max charge rate of 9 MPH. I typically drain about 40 RM off the car each work-day, and definitely much more on weekends. In fact, I arrived to work after this past weekend with 68 RM left, and just for kicks, intentionally did not charge at home. I charged each day so far this week, though only ½ day yesterday. I am currently at 131 RM with 13 hours left to go. By the time I leave today, and return tomorrow, I will probably arrive with 150 RM and will probably finally complete a full (90%) charge by the end of the day. By contrast, when I limit myself to home charging, I charge overnight only when I feel like it. I have no concerns about making sure I am plugged in all the time.
So, I thanked the building profusely for the opportunity, and told them that I will probably just keep my amazing spot and charge at home. I suggested they make these spots available first to those that have longer commutes and smaller batteries, but they didn’t have any takers. The only people interested in the EV spots so far were Tesla owners such as myself (and one BMW i8), most of whom I believe, have charging available to them at home.
Is my decision reasonable? I sure would save some money by not charging at home, somewhere between $75 to $100 a month, but it seems to me that the convenience of my great spot and inconvenience of trying to keep up on charging is not worth it.
The building recently expanding their EV charging capabilities and offered me first choice of one of these spots, at the same rate as my current one. So, free unlimited charging. I am testing it out for a month.
Herein lies the rub: the spot is really tight. It is next to pillar on one side and if I do a perfect and close job (which I always do
), I just manage to fit inside the white lines. It is also not deep enough to fit my Buick, but that’s okay. This spot could also get blocked in at times, though the parking attendants are super nice and attentive. Charging is mildly inconvenient, as I have to duck under some ventilation equipment to get to the cable, launch the charging app on my iPhone (TurboDock), uncoil the cord, attach the adapter, etc. Definitely more work than home, when I just grab the Tesla cable, push the button on it and plug in. Oh, and speaking of the ventilation equipment, forget trying to open my trunk if I back in. The biggest “issue” is that the rate of charge is fairly pathetic. 15 Amps/199 V giving me a max charge rate of 9 MPH. I typically drain about 40 RM off the car each work-day, and definitely much more on weekends. In fact, I arrived to work after this past weekend with 68 RM left, and just for kicks, intentionally did not charge at home. I charged each day so far this week, though only ½ day yesterday. I am currently at 131 RM with 13 hours left to go. By the time I leave today, and return tomorrow, I will probably arrive with 150 RM and will probably finally complete a full (90%) charge by the end of the day. By contrast, when I limit myself to home charging, I charge overnight only when I feel like it. I have no concerns about making sure I am plugged in all the time.
So, I thanked the building profusely for the opportunity, and told them that I will probably just keep my amazing spot and charge at home. I suggested they make these spots available first to those that have longer commutes and smaller batteries, but they didn’t have any takers. The only people interested in the EV spots so far were Tesla owners such as myself (and one BMW i8), most of whom I believe, have charging available to them at home.
Is my decision reasonable? I sure would save some money by not charging at home, somewhere between $75 to $100 a month, but it seems to me that the convenience of my great spot and inconvenience of trying to keep up on charging is not worth it.